What Chance In Middle Age? What Visa Type?

Hello There!

What a fantastic resource this forum is! I've done a few searches and quite a bit of reading, and really found any definitive answer. What we want to know is:

Are we wasting our time even trying? Hubby and I are in our late 40's.

We are both Canadian citizens living in Canada.

Hubby is in IT, a network administrator with about 30 years' experience in the field. He doesn't have a degree but has many certificates confirming his skill on various platforms and systems, along with training certification (ie: he's been trained how to teach his skills to others).

I am a photographer. This is my second career - I was in the travel industry for about 25 years prior to making my hobby, my career!

From the reading we've been doing, along with job searches, we've come to the conclusion that hubby's skills are the ones that'll get us into the US.

The biggest obstacle that we can see: Most jobs require some sort of confirmation that he can legally work in the US ... and most visa applications require a job offer. Bit of a chicken/egg ... how to get around this?

Our other question would be about what type of visa would best suit our situation? Our long-term aim would be to achieve residency in the US.

The TN sounds like the "easiest" but seems very dependent on whether the border guard is having a good day or not ... what do we do? Get a job offer, sell everything, or pack everything up and ship it out, only to have a border guard say no?!

Is there some way that my mother could be considered a dependent? She's retired and depends on us for food and shelter. We don't have any children.

Hope you can help!
Thanks!

Btw, I have a brother who's a green card holder, married to a US citizen, living in the US, if that helps widen the range of visae that might be available to us.

Been doing quite a bit of reading on the official US Immigration website, as well as various "advice" sites.

It would seem that, in order to be able to apply for permanent residence in the US, a TN visa won't work.

We'd have to go for something like an H-1B, EB-2 (not sure about this one - we'd not be transferring within a company, or investing) or EB-3?

Am I at least on the right track?

TIA

It would seem that, in order to be able to apply for permanent residence in the US, a TN visa won't work.

I don't think that is your problem--you can use the TN as a stepping stone to a green card and it is only slightly trickier than using an H-1B.

The issue would more be your husband's lack of a degree. I don't think that industry certifications alone can substitute for a degree in the computer systems analyst TN field. Plus I don't think that a photographer can qualify as a TN occupation.

With his level of experience, he'd definitely qualify for an H-1B, but it can be trickier to get and is only available at certain times of the year. For example, the quota for the current fiscal year has been reached and no new H-1B's will be available until Oct 1, 2012. Still, though, if he has a strong network (of the human variety)--he might find a way to make it happen by then.

The H-1B has the added advantage that you don't apply at the border so have a bit more advance notice whether it has been approved or not.

Does he have some community college? He'd qualify for a TN if he could get even a 2-year college diploma with his experience.

He'll want to start the green card process quickly after moving to the USA as you won't be able to work as a photographer until you can get EAD's (employment authorization document) as part of the green card process. Alternatively you could spend part of your time in Canada (working as a photographer) and part of your time with him in the USA until you get the EAD's.

Thanks so much for the feedback, CGC! Much appreciated.

Hubby did an accelerated community college course in education, ie: he's qualified to teach. Don't know if that'll help.

Yes, I know photography isn't a "needed" skill ... we'll definitely by riding on hubby's skills, if at all.

I read somewhere that the H-1B applications will be open again from April 1st ... but that could be an old posting that I saw.

The trick is the chicken-egg question ... can't get a job (most of them, anyway) without proof of legal working status in the US ... can't get a visa without a job offer ...

Will keep on trying!

Thanks again!

Hubby did an accelerated community college course in education, ie: he's qualified to teach. Don't know if that'll help.

Unfortunately I'm guessing this won't help--needs to be a 2 year diploma in his technical field, not in education. Perhaps a qualified attorney could tell you more but that is my guess.

I read somewhere that the H-1B applications will be open again from April 1st ... but that could be an old posting that I saw.

They will be open for applications on April 2 (since the previous day is a Sunday and also to assure you this is no joke)! The visas will be for jobs that won't actually start until October 1 or later. Some years all the visas are taken in the first few days of April. Last year they filled up by November 22. What happens this year is anyone's guess. Of course the issue here is that when the economy is weak, jobs are hard to find--but when the economy is strong, H-1B visas go fast.

The trick is the chicken-egg question ... can't get a job (most of them, anyway) without proof of legal working status in the US ... can't get a visa without a job offer ...

linkedin.com is your friend (or his friend as the case may be). I'm sure he has colleagues/friends he's worked with and knows who are now in the USA. If you know someone on the inside it is much easier to get past these bureaucratic hurdles, especially if you take the time to research it to make it as easy as possible--as I know you're doing.

Thanks, CGC! All very useful info!

We actually do have a couple of contacts in the area that we're interested in moving to, and hope to reconnect with them when we're there on holiday in April ... might be a good time right now to start re-establishing the contacts so that there's little delay in April to set something up for October.

Glad to know that linkedin is an established good resource, because that's where we've got our (his!) search set up ... hubby has a pretty extensive and widespread network ... we just have to be careful about tipping our hand and upsetting current employer without a firm onward offer ... check linkedin every day, though. Also check craigslist every day ... occasionally a credible position pops up on there, too, with real contact info, real company name, etc.

Thanks, again!