Frozen East Coaster needs to get to North Carolina

[Jenni77]

I am so lost! I need some help please!

I have fallen in love with the most amazing man who is located in North Carolina. I am a born and raised Maritimer and am hoping to move down there with him as soon as I can. I've looked at a ton of different sites, including this one, but I'm not sure if I have found what I need.

I know I need to apply for a work visa,and the TN one is the one people seem to be pushing for. I have a 4 year bachelor of arts degree with a major in Criminology, but my degree does not seem to coenside with any of the occupations listed under the TN visa. So are they telling me my degree is useless? I'm not sure what I should do!
At the moment I am employed at a transition house for abused women and I am a crisis intervener here.

Thoughts, ideas, anything? help!

[Reba]

Why are you looking at work visas and not a fiancee visa or marriage based visa?

TN visas are only valid for one year, and need to be applied for again every year. If your plan is to relocate permanently, TN really isn't the way to go.

Are you planning to get married at some point? Or are you thinking TN so you can try out living together and see if it works out first? Which then of course, because of the short time span, adds more complications if you decide to stay and marry.

Have a look at a marriage based immigration website forum http://www.visajourney.com there's all kinds of info there for couples who want to be together in the US. And yes, dozens upon dozens of Can/Am couples, and a specific Canadian forum for us Canucks.

I married a man here in North Carolina and then got a K3 spousal visa, (now, for all intents and purposes, a defunct visa). Another option is a K1 Fiancee visa, current processing times on K1 is just under one year I think. Once you've been granted the K1 (you'd have to have an interview in Montreal for it), you go to the US, get married and then apply to Adjust Status. The adjusmtment of status once approved gets you a green card, and you can stay in the US permanently, or until you get tired of it.

There's a bit more to it than that of course, but basically that's the gist. And it can all be done without hiring an expensive lawyer.

[Jenni77]

Well, we've talked about the fiancee visa as well, but that's a huge step, and we wanna make sure we are established first. At least to some degree.

I just need to get down there and work ASAP. I was wondering if anyone knew the approximate wait times for a work visa? I know it's on the USCIS site, but I am so overwhelmed with a lot of this stuff that I'm having some problems getting a straight answer. Also, can you go down to the US as a visitor after you applied for a work visa and wait until it is issued while you are down there?

and what about Wait times for a work visa if you have fiancee status? does it change at all?

So many questions, and so many different sources of info that I am just confused. Someone here in town that I was talking to said I could possibly go through my MLA to other government avenues to see if things go any faster. Anyone know if that is an option?

Sorry for all the questions!

[Reba]

no idea what's an MLA so can't help you there.

A TN can be obtained fairly quickly, but you have to have a job offer first, and you have to be qualified, which means university degree that directly corelates to the job offered.

If you have a pending fiancee visa petition, the likelihood that you'd be granted a TN is less than nil. The fiancee visas take less than a year to prcess, and they are dual intent, whereas the TN visa is not. A TN visa is a temporary visa, it expires every year. A K1 fiancee visa is expected to apply to adjust status and stay permanently in the US after they are married. With the adjustment of status application is an applicaiton for employment authorization, which takes about 90 days to process (after you send the application), so you'll be out of work after arrival for several months.

If you're qualified, and you Need to work as soon as you arrive, then check out the TN. But you may well be denied if it somehow comes up in your interview that you are looking for the work permit so you can be with your boyfriend. Check out the TVVisa Expert website for info there.

[Steven]

Someone here in town that I was talking to said I could possibly go through my MLA to other government avenues to see if things go any faster. Anyone know if that is an option?

Your MLA won't have a clue. The only people worth talking to are the USCIS (or a decent immigration lawyer). Or us. But you really need to spend some time reading through all the instructions on the USCIS website. Phoning them is an exercise in frustration.

[Jenni77]

Well you guys have definitely been able to give me more answers in a few posts than I've been able to suck out of all the government websites :O

I don't think a TN visa is an option for me. Although I have my degree and work experience in the area, there are none of the categories listed on the NAFTA site that are applicable to me. *sigh*

It's so frustrating. I am now attempting to get more information on the work exchange program available through the Canadian government. I'm not sure if I can 100% go through that in my field either. And even then, it's convincing a company or organization to take me on as a trainee and exchange participant.

And basically with a fiancee visa I'm still not going to get down there to be with him for a year.Props to all of you who have done this already, I am pulling hair out Going back to school is looking the most promising at this point in time, although the prospect of putting myself thousands more in debt is not a comforting idea!