Thread: What are my chances?!

I recently married my American fiance who has recently managed to get her proper visa to live and work in the UK and be with me for 2 years.

After the 2 years we want to go back to America to start over.

As I am married to an American citizen does this make it any easier for me to get a visa for the US?

I also work for the UK Border Agency at a major UK airport and job wise, does America have a programme where government workers can transfer accross?

My biggest worry is employment, as I don't want to have to start all over from the bottom up. I am not what you would say a skilled worker such as a plumber/builder and am concerned that I will find it tough to get employment in my field of work.

Also what are the timescales for getting a visa? I have heard horror stories that it takes 2 years and costs a lot of money which scares the hell out of my wife!

Has anyone been through the circumstances I have?

Any advice would be really helpful

Many thanks to everyone who reads this and contributes

Originally Posted by gib1981

I recently married my American fiance who has recently managed to get her proper visa to live and work in the UK and be with me for 2 years.
After the 2 years we want to go back to America to start over.

As I am married to an American citizen does this make it any easier for me to get a visa for the US?

First, congratulations on your marriage.

Yes. As the spouse of a US Citizen you will be eligible for a green card if you satisfy the requirements. Your USC wife will be able to file an application for you to obtain a green card for you to have permanent residence in the USA. Be sure and leave plenty of time for the paperwork to be processed before the date you wish to move. Get her to file an I-30 with the USCIS, this gets the ball rolling and you can download the form for free on the official USCIS website. www.uscis.gov . Check out the information there and you will find all you'll need to get started. The forms you fill in and send off will be acknowledged each time and they will tell you what you need to do next.

Originally Posted by gib1981

I also work for the UK Border Agency at a major UK airport and job wise, does America have a programme where government workers can transfer accross?

No. There is no transfer program for that kind of thing to take place. Both countries and the departments that control the borders for those countries are totally seperate. In any case you would need to be a US citizen to be employed in a federal position where security clearance would be needed. That can't happen until you have been a permanent resident here for 3 years as the spouse of a US citizen.

Originally Posted by gib1981

My biggest worry is employment, as I don't want to have to start all over from the bottom up. I am not what you would say a skilled worker such as a plumber/builder and am concerned that I will find it tough to get employment in my field of work.

Employment here is a problem at the moment, the US generally is in a slump. Because of the housing sales slump, builders and plumbers are hard hit, so it wouldn't be an advantage to be one ;)
Maybe retraining would help? You won't get a job with a federally controlled agency as you won't actually be a USC, but I guess you may get a job with a private security company doing general work. However those kind of jobs are generally "entry level" and don't pay much.

Originally Posted by gib1981

Also what are the timescales for getting a visa? I have heard horror stories that it takes 2 years and costs a lot of money which scares the hell out of my wife!

Timescales for the processing of the paperwork are variable depending on when you file, but as the husband of a USC at least you won't have to wait for a visa number to become available. Best thing is to start early. I'm not sure why it scares the hell out of your wife if you don't intend to move to the US for another 2 years. The costs will all be listed on the USCIS website. Whether it costs a lot of money is all relative to what you call "a lot", but if you want to live here then you won't have a choice but to pay the fees for the process, right?

Originally Posted by gib1981

Has anyone been through the circumstances I have?

Probably only a few million people every year

Originally Posted by gib1981

Any advice would be really helpful

Hope that it did help. Feel free to fire away with any other questions, and someone will try and answer them.