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edge: giving up the american dream


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Hi, I have been slurping up as much info on this wonderful website and just want to introduce myself. We have been living in the USA for 5 years now - hubby came over on a managerial transfer and we renew our visa twice and then applied for the greencard which was denied.???? So now he is on a skilled worker visa - well I don't know how many of you guys have looked into USA as a country of choice but they have an extremely complex immigration system - to put it blunt it is like driving with a blindfold on. Bottomline is : we were told by our immigration lawyer it will take between 7-14 years for us to get a greencard.

We have a 11 year old girl ( Bianca) and twins who is 5 ( Michael & John) . Problem is that my oldest would "age out" in this process - which means they will turn 21 and will not fall under our family anymore and would have to then apply on their own for a visa to be able to stay. Well this is certainly not the future we wanted for our kids.

And on hubby's H1B visa I have a H4 visa which restrict me from working . EISH- I can not contribute financially for 14 years - that is crazy!!

So we have talked a lot about choosing Australia as our new home. I have family in Canberra and my sister in law is awaiting their visa for WA. That would be great because we don't have any family in the US.

Hubby is in IT - he has 20 years experience in various fields - . NET, Sharepoint etc and I use to be a hairstylist and beauty therapist with aromatherapy and reflexology dipolomas as well , although I am not job-ready in those fields - I did that many moons ago. We have a few options :

1) 176 - Family sponsored

2) ENS - if hubby can find a company to sponsor him .

3) 475 - there IS a company that would sponsor him - in Sydney

But from all my research it sounds like coming over with a PR is just way better. So why do you think would this company offer to sponsor him for the 457 and not ENS ? My take is it must be because the application cost is cheaper . Can only certain companies do the ENS - I have not looked into what the requirements are for the employer .

Elize Smit

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The reason is nothing to do with cost of visa as many companies requitre the applicant to pay the employee portion anyway. The reasons are:

1. Not wanting to commit to a long term contract with the employee (2yrs for regional and 3yrs for city)

2. Lack of knowledge that Pr is an option

3. Misunderstanding that Pr applications take much longer than 457 visa. Not necessarily the case.

Welcome to the forum.

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Hi Elize,

It is not easy to get into America, believe me. My sister filed a family petition 7 years back for us. Suddenly there was movement and we thought we would get into America at last but the immigration dept told us it could take several more years before our application is approved.

You know Elize, I was so unhappy, cause I really wanted to go to America. It would also be nice seeing that I have family there, but I believe things works out the way it should. We just came back from a LSD trip to Aus, and honestly if I must choose between Aus en USA than I'll pick Aus.

Good luck with your decision!

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Hi Elize and a HUGE welcome to the forum

Sure you will find the answers to any questions you have right here.

Enjoy and all the best.

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... and then applied for the greencard which was denied.????

Hallo Elize. Ons is ook in die VSA en wag op Groenkaart-goedkeuring. Mag ek vra: Is die kaart afgekeur ná "labour certification" gedoen is?

Ek probeer nie opdringerig wees nie, maar omdat ek en my gesin met dieselfde proses besig is, wil ek graag weet.

En ja, die owerhede hier maak dit oneindig moeilik vir 'n mens om permanente verblyfreg te bekom. My vrou mag werk - ek nie. Dis taai!

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I have lived a year in the states, i only saw New Jersey and Maryland. I think USA is nice but Australia is just as good.. Probably better values here.. Difficult to compare USA to Australia as the USA is really like 50 countries and each "State" can be readically different. IOn new jersey 18 wheeler trucks would stop to let us cross the road whereas in Maryland it was the reverse.

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We have been living in the USA for 5 years now - hubby came over on a managerial transfer and we renew our visa twice and then applied for the greencard which was denied.???? So now he is on a skilled worker visa - well I don't know how many of you guys have looked into USA as a country of choice but they have an extremely complex immigration system - to put it blunt it is like driving with a blindfold on. Bottomline is : we were told by our immigration lawyer it will take between 7-14 years for us to get a greencard.

Elize Smit

Elise, I know of a few cases of this same issue. A friend I have has a pharmacist wife who got a visa for the USA. He was not allowed to work. So he was selling his products on eBay from South Africa, then taking the money to the USA on holidays. After about 7 or eight years he can finally work and open a business account. They had their visa upgrade in stages but after 10 years he does not have a greencard even though it is close (as far as I know).

He then tried to convince me we shoud go there because nurses after going accros for the test in the USA could go straight onto greencard.

Another guy I know was also refused PR in the USA even though his employer wanted him to stay in the USA.

For this reason we came on an independant skilled visa (my wife refused to be involved in migrating if there was a possibility of refusal to remain)

There have been many of these here, so I would strongly recommend not doing sponsored if you can get in on a PR skills visa.

Also you can do the whole thing yourself and control what happens as long as you are thourough and organised

Check the immi.gov.au for all the requirements of a sponsor and applicant

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Hallo Elize. Ons is ook in die VSA en wag op Groenkaart-goedkeuring. Mag ek vra: Is die kaart afgekeur ná "labour certification" gedoen is?

Ek probeer nie opdringerig wees nie, maar omdat ek en my gesin met dieselfde proses besig is, wil ek graag weet.

En ja, die owerhede hier maak dit oneindig moeilik vir 'n mens om permanente verblyfreg te bekom. My vrou mag werk - ek nie. Dis taai!

Janneman,

Ons greencard aansoek was op n L1 -A visa - rede dat dit afgekeur was - who knows really, you know the only thing unamerican in america is USCIS. Ek dink die immigrasie lawyer was te optimisties, die aansoek was ingedien in die hitte van die recession - miskien was dit 'n oorwegende faktor en dalk het ons buite die kwota geval .

Ons is tans al by immigration lawyer no . 3. No. 1 het ons lelik ingedoen, nooit gefile nie, en seker net die geld laat rente trek vir homself, hy het actually die geld terugbetaal maar ons in 'n baie benarde situasie geplaas want toe ons 'n 3 de opinie kry by no. 3 toe vind ons uit die extension was nooit gefile nie en ons was unlawful as gevolg van hom.

SO ek het glad nie 'n affiniteit vir immigration lawyers nie - sal verkies om dinge self te doen .

Baie sterkte Janneman - beste raad wat ek by 'n ander ou op die beach eendag gekry het - educate yourself hoe jy ookal kan. USCIS is glad nie so verbruikersvriendelik soos immi.gov.au nie maar ek het boeke gelees oor die immigration wette , gaan kry vir jou 'n koppie koffie by Barnes en Nobles en bestudeer hulle. Ek kan NOLO se boeke aanbeveel. US immigration made easy 14 th edition. LOL Dit is al by die 14 de edition en dit is nog glad nie makliker nie.

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I have lived a year in the states, i only saw New Jersey and Maryland. I think USA is nice but Australia is just as good.. Probably better values here.. Difficult to compare USA to Australia as the USA is really like 50 countries and each "State" can be readically different. IOn new jersey 18 wheeler trucks would stop to let us cross the road whereas in Maryland it was the reverse.

Byron, we are in the southern part of California - which is probably one of the best parts of the country. And after 5 years it really feels like home, but I have been study Australia and talking to my brother and I am convinced that Australia is a beautiful place .

What exactly do you mean with "better values" ? Are you referring to moral values or real estate?

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Elize, dankie vir jou terugvoer. Baie sterkte vir julle ook.

My vrou het 'n H1-B-visum en haar aansoek is ingedien vóór die resessie getref het - "labour certification" is ook suksesvol afgehandel. Nou wag ons op 'n nommer. En ja, ek kan ook getuig van 'n prokureur wat slapgelê het...

(Dankie dat ek jou "thread" 'n bietjie kon skaak. :thumbdown:)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey! Don't give up your American Dream?

OK! SA has the first highest Rape crime-stats in the world...1st!

SA has the second highest Murder and Manslaughter crime-stats in the world...2nd!

SA is rated 10th in the world according to all other crimes committed!. This varies from year to year!

But! Compare that with Britain and Australia versus the USA? Read on!

http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/guncontrol_20010302.html

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South Africa ranks 2nd in the world when it comes to homicides - 50 per 100,000.

Australia and the UK have 1,5 per 100,000 and the US sits in 24th place with 4,2.

It's clear from the statistics provided by Nationmaster that violent crime in South Africa is extremely high - a total of 24,553 (reported) homicides were committed vs Australia's 302. Even the US, which has more than 6 times the population of SA, reported "only" 16,204 homicides.

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The reason is nothing to do with cost of visa as many companies requitre the applicant to pay the employee portion anyway. The reasons are:

1. Not wanting to commit to a long term contract with the employee (2yrs for regional and 3yrs for city)

2. Lack of knowledge that Pr is an option

3. Misunderstanding that Pr applications take much longer than 457 visa. Not necessarily the case.

Welcome to the forum.

Or none of the above.

The real reason is that on a 457 visa you are obliged to work for the company who sponsored you, and may not work for anyone else, except if you can get the alternative company to also sponsor a 457.

This gives them a better chance of keeping you in their employ. It also legally binds you not to do any other work - you can't moonlight at McDonalds when you're on a 457. There have been recent cases of people deported from the country because they worked more than one job.

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Hi Elize,

We've had friends who waited over 10 years for their Greencard, don't think they have it yet. We were also in the USA on the same visa, but because I turned 18 that year, I would have had to lodge on my own if we wanted to lodge for a Greencard as I would have been too old.

Good luck with your decision and I really hope things work out for you!

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