What Visa Do I Need?

Hello, folks!

Today we're going to talk about Visa's. Boring, I know. Nonetheless, it's very important for international travel of any kind.

The U.S. offers a range of non-immigrant visa's for temporary stay for tourism, business, visiting, studying and exchange purposes (find out about each of them here). However, applicants who hold these visa's are restricted from employment outside of their visa's conditions. Basically there are two pathways to obtaining the right to work in the U.S.:

1. Temporary, non-immigrant employment visa based on the planned employment purposes. The caveat is that the candidate must be sponsored by a company. The paperwork required to file for sponsorship can be time-consuming. Unfortunately, more highly-skilled, foreign candidates can be declined employment in place of a lesser-skilled, citizen (my husband experienced this difficulty trying to find work in Australia a few years ago). Even when sponsorship is successful, this temporary visa lacks stability because the company can forfeit sponsorship at any time, and there are lots of requirements to satisfy in order to maintain or extend it. You can find more info about non-immigrant employment visa's here.
2. Immigrant visa for permanent residence. This includes family immigration, inter-country adoption and fiance (marriage) visa's. The advantage of this route is that once a permanent immigrant visa is obtained, you have a permanent "right to work" that is not tied to any specific company. The downside is that the route to obtaining said visa can be long and relatively expensive, as outlined here. 

America prides itself on its independence, and so it should. However, the consequence of it not being a part of the Commonwealth made it difficult for me to obtain the right to work here. Classed as a visitor, I was denied employment, health care and indefinite stays in the U.S. I felt like I'd been stripped of my identity. Consequently, my husband and I chose to go down the immigration path for permanent residence in our respective countries. Perhaps the most interesting experience of the process was the medical examination. These were my lasting thoughts:

...prepare to walk in single file from room to room for a two hour period, naked under a thin hospital gown, being poked and prodded in all places imaginable. In other words, say good-bye to your dignity! 

So, was the year-long, grueling process for permanent residency worth it? In my opinion, yes. Arriving into the U.S. on a permanent residency visa for the first time, I actually felt like this country wanted me. I am now entitled to health care, employment, and that pesky social security number which is required for sooooo many things. 

Here's a shout out to anyone else out there who has gone/is going through visa processes to work in another countries. No matter where you are in the world, I would love to hear your stories!

Have a great week,

Maree