Trying to move to the US November 08

Hi there, I am hoping to move to the US next November, I have been a a bunch of websites and I have no idea where to start. I find the sites overwhelming to the point where I dont know which Visa I am going to need. I am currently a student and I hoping to get back into the golf industry.Can anyone lead me in the right direction? There is no embassy or consulate in my town, but I love to know where to call and actually talk to someone.has anyone been through this process that can offer advice?

I'm not sure that the US offers visas to golf pros, I don't think its on the list of TN professionals.

What are you in school for now? Will you be getting a degree of some sort?

There aren't any Shreddies in the US? Wow.
I wont be looking for golf pro jobs.I will be having a diploma as an Executive Office Assistant, and I know there is a possiblity that they are a dime a dozen however, I am hoping that because there are many options with this type of work I can still work in the US.

nope, no Shreddies in the US.

Sure you still wanna move?

I'm not sure that a diploma for Office Assistant is on the TN list either. Here's a list of jobs with qualifications required
http://www.us-immigration-attorney.com/nafta-jobs.htm

Additionally, the company who hires you for the position has to fill out a form stating that they looked high and low for a qualified American citizen and didn't find any. Its not quite as easy as it first seems.

Hi everyone. I currently live in Montreal and am planning on re-locating to the states in the winter. This is somewhat of an unexpected change, I never thought I would be moving to the states. So I am completely clueless and have no idea what to do or where to start.

My field is vocational counselling and I have my MA in psychology. I've heard that to get a visa a company needs to hire me first. Is this true? Can I get a work permit before entering the country? Is this a lengthly process?

Any help will be really appreciated.

Yep, you need to have a job offer first

Here's more info on the TN visa http://www.us-immigration-attorney.com/tn-visa.htm

Just out of curiosity, why do you two want to move to the States? Greener grass?

Lol greener grass. no seriously, I will be moving because of my boyfriend, either to San Francisco or LA (fingers crossed for San Fran). He will move in a month or so, and I'll move in January, so that will give me a few months to look for work.

Why are you moving to the States?

Do you know how open companies are to hiring Canadians? I'm a little concerned that they wont want the hassle, but who knows!

BTW - thanks for the link

I think you are hooped for a TN visa. You need a job offer and a plane ticket when you show up at the airport, and your job must be one of the types posted above.

The only other option I know of is an H1-B (?) but those are harder to get. I think you need a job offer as well, but it's not of a specific type. One of my regular taxi drivers got one without a job, but he came over as a student, and his brother sponsored him, or something.

My immigration lawyers tried to get me one once, but the US government only does so many per year and I missed the cut. If my company's lawyers can't get me an H1B I don't see how people without lawyers do it!

Then there is the holy grail for immigrants -- the green card. That takes years and thousands of dollars though. At least, it has for me and everyone I know who has one.

As for companies hiring Canadians, I didn't have a problem with my company getting me a TN, although I had to do all the legwork myself since our HR department had no clue (TNs were brand new at that time). I am a highly experienced and specialized engineer though.

My wife is a nurse and she was passed over by a few smaller companies after they interviewed her. We strongly suspect it was because they didn't want to be bothered with a visa. In fact, she met one of her interviewers a year later at a conference who confirmed that.

She finally found a job at a big hospital with a beefier HR department who had no problem with foreigners and visas. In fact she is now highly valued there and hobnobs with VPs all the time. They are sponsoring our green cards, which is costing them around $10k. So there you go.

I married an American actually, and I've been here almost 3 years and don't like it very much at all. I'd really like to go back to Canada, and maybe we will some day. That was our original plan, but my husband has a juvenile record that was mis-filed so Canadian Immigration deemed him inadmissable.