Registered Nurse and Web Designer need some info please

[Creature]

Hello all... my wife is a Registered Nurse and I am a Web Designer and we are eager to move to the United States. My wife has 3.5 years education and 5 years experience and i have 2 years education and 3 years experience. We are looking at California as some of my wife's former nursing class mates are currently working in San Jose. They have been helpful but all of them are single and do not have any experience with family immigration. We have 2 children both under 10 years old. It appears my wife won't have any problems finding work as there have been recruiters from California hospitals at our local college looking for employees. Our concern is what I can and can't do. If I can't find an employer to sponsor me is there any way for me to obtain a work visa if I plan on developing websites from our home in the USA (self-employment)? Is there an average time frame for obtaining a work visa? (if it doesn't take too long it may be worth it for me to wait until my wife's application is processed and accepted). I will read through some more posts while waiting for a response.... this all seems overwhelming but we are ambitious enough to make it work. Any info and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[sjohnson2]

Can I gain E status as a self-employed professional?

No. The principal applicant should be going to the USA to 'develop and direct' his/her trade or investment, not to be a factor of production or trade in his/her own right. Thus accountants, IT consultants, doctors, lawyers, etc, cannot obtain E status to enable themselves to practice their profession in the USA.

I would have posted the link for you, but I haven't posted enough yet.
You should find more information at workpermit.com though.

Good Luck

[Steven]

I knew a dentist who had E-2, that bit doesn't really jive with my experience. I know someone who is an interior decorator who has it as well. I have to admit I haven't read the regulations in great depth because they are so complex for E but it's worth double-checking at: http://toronto.usconsulate.gov/content/ ... ment=evisa

-- Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:39 pm --

Anyway the problem with this one is that it sounds as though your wife can easily get TN-1 but the TD derivative doesn't allow you to work. So if you can work out an E visa then she could work as an E-2 spouse if she files an I-765. But web designer I think is going to be tricky to pull off as an E visa, you'll have to check into it in more depth.

If her current employer has a US concern you might be able to do an intra-company transfer but I think that's a long shot, but L-2 dependents can work.

-- Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:18 pm --

Actually I've just had another thought on this one - your wife can join the US Army reserves as a nurse with a six year commitment after she's been in the US for two years and that basically gives her LPR status very quickly and you would get it as a dependent.

Plus if she's really lucky she would get an all expenses paid tour of Afghanistan. Bizarrely she might actually end up looking after Canadians if she did due to the size of the US Army medical operations.