HELP! Want to move with my child to Nevada

[alasvegas]

I know the court process I will have to go through for custody,(that has already started) what I want to know is what are the best way to go about getting VISA, what type do I need I have. I am a skilled worker, Telecommunication Technician and Computer Technician as well as an Apple Certified Technician. My daughter is young, under 10. I own a home here and will be selling it to buy another house down there. After the sale of my house and my savings I will have over $50,000 to start off with. I cant find a company to sponsor me, does the government take into consideration promise to hires? I am so lost and this is going to be a really long process so anything that can help me would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you!

[Reba]

Unless your qualtifications are listed under NAFTA and eligible for a TN visa, I doubt you'd have any other avenue open to you to the US. And as the TN is a temporary visa only, by selling your home in Canada, even if you do qualify for the TN, you may well be denied because you're not supposed to have immigrant intent.

[Steven]

You've got to have a sponsor for any sort of work permit (which means a job offer), from the sounds of it you'd be aiming for "Systems Analyst" if you did TN-1.

I suppose you could get E-2 treaty investor with $50,000 capital, but it's a very complex visa to go for. Essentially you would end up being self-employed which is not the end of the world if you work in IT.

You really need a good immigration consultant for E-2 as you have to do a business plan etc.

Also it's pretty difficult to get permanent residency if you are in E-2, although it's not impossible, for example if you get married to a US citizen, you can adjust status. Otherwise if you stay in E-2 you have to maintain "non-immigrant intent" which can be a hassle. For example your child gets basically no status in the US, they can go to school until they reach 18 but that's about it (although they can become an F-1 student to go to college).

It's an option for you but not something to casually approach. It's a lot of paperwork.

[Reba]

But then if she uses the $50k to invest in some business to qualify for an E2 visa, then she's got no money left to buy a house.

[Steven]

You've got to have something to invest it in, if you set up a business you need an office, could be the same address as the house. But that will look suspicious, which is why you need an immigration consultant who has dealt with these applications before as they will know all the pitfalls.

I met a couple from the UK in Orlando a few years back who had opened a B&B and they lived in it, they didn't tell me what visa they had, but they weren't LPRs, so I assume it was E-2.

The problem is if you have kids, a friend of a relative of mine had E-2 and they lived in Florida and had an interior decoration business, but it wasn't really practical to stay forever because their son wasn't going to go to college (couldn't afford full tuition in the US as he would have been an international student) and he had no legal status once he was grown up. His only real relative overseas was an aged grandmother he didn't get along with so they decided to give up on it.

I guess the logic is if you do it this way, have your kids *after* you move because then they get US citizenship.