need some advice please

Hi, first let me say thank you for the great site. Okay so here goes. I am the mother of 2 beautiful and talented girls and they want 2 things first to get into modeling and acting and second to becom...

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Canadians in the USA

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ashkins67
New Member

Joined: 16 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Location: cambridge

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:15 am

Hi, first let me say thank you for the great site. Okay so here goes. I am the mother of 2 beautiful and talented girls and they want 2 things first to get into modeling and acting and second to become US citizens. We have been through hell and back with the abusive marriage that I got out of and we want to start new and it has been a dream to lve in the US for as long as I can remember. My youngest is 13 and wants to start going to different modeling and acting schools in the US. Is there any kind of visa we can get to live there and become US citizens. My youngest is even more determined to live there when we are at home and they play the national anthem for the US she always stands and sings it. lol Please tell me if our dreams can come true or are we stuck here in Canada. I know I can find someone and get married but I want to be on my own and work and live in the US and buy a house and maybe just maybe be happy for the first time in a long time. Thanks all so much for taking the time to read this. Have a great day all.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1592
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:43 am

Hmm, difficult with kids. My default answer when I can't think of anything else is you could do E-2 and start your own business, but the problem with E-2 is that your kids have no status in the US really. They can go to school there and when they go to college they can do F-1 (if you can afford foreign tuition costs). But they can't work unless they get some other status.

A friend of a relative of mine was in that exact situation, they had an interior decorating business they set up in the US and it was all going okay but they had to leave because their son was basically hung out to dry when he left school. Wasn't really practical for him to be thousands of miles away as they had few relatives.

Failing that if you've got the qualifications necessary and the right occupation you can do TN-1, which isn't hard to get really but once again your kids have no work status or right to remain, or H-1B if you fall inside the quota and your employer likes paperwork, but once again, your kids have no status. In both cases they're temporary, although some people on here seem to have stayed in TN-1 for years on end. The slight advantage with H at least is that you can get in-state tuition rates in some States if your kids are H-4, but likely they would have to go to F-1 anyway when they reach majority.

If you're loaded you can do EB-5 immigrant investor, either by setting up or buying a significant business in the US (minimum investment, $1 million, or $500,000 in an economically depressed area) or by using the investor centre programme (minimum investment, $500,000, you get it back after six years with interest). This does give you and your kids permanent resident status.
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Steve.

ashkins67
New Member

Joined: 16 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Location: cambridge

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:59 pm

What do I need for the H visa? Once I am there can I not apply to be a permanent citizen? How do they get a visa to be able to be an actor or model there? We just want to become US citizens and they want very much to get into acting and modeling.

ashkins67
New Member

Joined: 16 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Location: cambridge

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:19 pm

Hi just a quick question. For the foreign investor programme where you invest $500,000.00 for six years. Where can I find out information about that I have looked but can't find any. How will that get us citizenships? Who his might be an option for me for next year so I would like to find out some information about it. Thanks so much.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1592
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:45 pm

Foreign investor center program. Try banging that into a search engine. It's fairly obscure. Once you qualify for it you enter as LPRs, that's it pretty much. But you have to be able to live without $500,000 for six years.

Acting and modelling in the US is not a casual thing to get entry for, it's very hard to get and it's gotten harder in recent years. You have to basically be at the top of the field to get it, either H-1B or O-1.

Any entry in something like H-1B requires an employer to sponsor you. H-1B has a quota also so your odds of getting one are about 1 in 3 and you have to apply by the deadline, which is October 1st. Plus it's valid for three years and can only be renewed once.

Which is why nearly everyone uses TN-1 instead. Depends on what your qualifications are as to whether you can get it. Kind of a broad subject to summarise in detail here, have a poke around on the USCIS website.

From the sounds of it your problem is going to be your kids. There are very few types of entry that allow your kids to work.
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Steve.

Reba
Moderator

Canuck in NC

Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 1451
Location: North Carolina

Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:12 am

In order for the kids to get some sort of entertainers visa for acting and/or modelling, they would first have to become estblished and be considered exceptional in the field there in Canada. And THEN apply for a visa to the US after they've established themselves in Canada (which would mean getting enough credits to become members of ACTRA, do lots of work in Canada etc etc etc).

Gone are the days of showing up in LA and waitressing until you're "discovered".
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Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1592
Location: Calgary