E2 to Green Card?? mission impossible!

[flying chippy]

I am sure it has been asked many times before. However, being a new member i hope you will humour me.
My wife, two sons and I have our interview with the embassy on June 10, the final hurdle for our E2..fingers crossed. One has to ask,is there hope for us and thousands like us who so desperately want to achieve that elusive 'Green Card'
If it only achieveable by sponsership, as i have heard so many times,
is anyone looking for either a Carpenter, Helicopter pilot, Chef, or Aircraft Technician when my elder has finished his course in a couple of years!!
If anyone knows of a reputable (or not) lawyer that gets results in this field, i would welcome your correspondence. [email address edited please use DM]

[u]ADDENDUM</u>

AFTER A VERY NERVOUS WEEK PRECEEDING THE INTERVIEW, IT WAS A PIECE OF CAKE. VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD & MY SON DID NOT GET A GRILLING, AS WAS SUGGESTED. THE EMBASSY LADY, LISA PITTMAN WAS VERY POLITE AND HELPFUL. SHE EVEN SUGGESTED OPTIONS OPEN TO MY SON, FOR STAYING IN THE COUNTRY AFTER 21.
THANK YOU US-EMBASSY....WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!!

[blott]

I'm not sure that your elder will be allowed to work in Florida unless he has a separate visa? Good luck for your interview.

[esprit]

No E2 kids cant work at all, not while on E2 anyway and dont get an SS number.. Moreover he cannot be sponsorred unless he has a bachelors dgeree from college or several years experience in his field. And remember the labour certification bit " that there is bo American available to do his job."

OK. E2 to green card. Well it cant be done. There is no route between the two. The only way is to change status. There are some attorneys using smoke and mirrors on this one, Basically you go for labour certification through your own business or a friends and convert to a work visa and from there to green card. It only works if you are in a profession where there is a real shortage or where the job description is such that you wont get many US applicants, eg somone with knowledge of the British grocery trade. You have to be either a graduate or a specialist with experience in the field the job is advertised in and the job has to be relevant to the sponsorring business. It is hence quite restricted and very long winded as it takes an age to get labour certification, then another age to get H1b ( which are now capped at 65,000, a third of last years), then renewal, then up to three years to get green card.
Easier way, train to be a nurse ( straight to green card without labour certification) except they wouldnt let my son train here on an E2 visa (!!) or marry one of the kids off to an American!!
Even better, dont come out on E2 at all, rethink thw whole thing to get an L1. I am on E2 and you would be amazed at the retrictions this visa puts on you and your kids. Sorry to be a wet rag just as you are excited and going for your interview, I was like that this time last year. But one year in, I realise just how restrictive and risky E2 is for you and more particularly for older kids. You hear horror stories of people being sent back home, some kids who have been here for years. How old are your children?? The courses you were mentioning for your elder didnt sound like degree courses which will make a work visa after college really difficult. The threat of being sent home at 21 when their E2 dependant status expires unless they can manage to get their own visa is ever present.

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by esprit
No E2 kids cant work at all, not while on E2 anyway and dont get an SS number.. Moreover he cannot be sponsorred unless he has a bachelors dgeree from college or several years experience in his field. And remember the labour certification bit " that there is bo American available to do his job."

OK. E2 to green card. Well it cant be done. There is no route between the two. The only way is to change status. There are some attorneys using smoke and mirrors on this one, Basically you go for labour certification through your own business or a friends and convert to a work visa and from there to green card. It only works if you are in a profession where there is a real shortage or where the job description is such that you wont get many US applicants, eg somone with knowledge of the British grocery trade. You have to be either a graduate or a specialist with experience in the field the job is advertised in and the job has to be relevant to the sponsorring business. It is hence quite restricted and very long winded as it takes an age to get labour certification, then another age to get H1b ( which are now capped at 65,000, a third of last years), then renewal, then up to three years to get green card.
Easier way, train to be a nurse ( straight to green card without labour certification) except they wouldnt let my son train here on an E2 visa (!!) or marry one of the kids off to an American!!
Even better, dont come out on E2 at all, rethink thw whole thing to get an L1. I am on E2 and you would be amazed at the retrictions this visa puts on you and your kids. Sorry to be a wet rag just as you are excited and going for your interview, I was like that this time last year. But one year in, I realise just how restrictive and risky E2 is for you and more particularly for older kids. You hear horror stories of people being sent back home, some kids who have been here for years. How old are your children?? The courses you were mentioning for your elder didnt sound like degree courses which will make a work visa after college really difficult. The threat of being sent home at 21 when their E2 dependant status expires unless they can manage to get their own visa is ever present.
[/quote]


Its 12 years experience in his field.....in the job they want you for......my husband had to be a test Eng for those 12 year...his time as a test tech did not count....I'm on another site to do with moving to the US....and someone there said H1Bs are taken till 05 now.....

[esprit]

There is quite a lobby to stop them altogether, Chrizzy. The reduction from 195,000 last year to 65,000 this year is stopping work based immigration by the back door. I am seriously worried for my son who will need one at the end of his degree. Will this visa still exist by then?

[flying chippy]

Thanks for your replies, why should the kids 18 & 14 not have SS numbers. how do you get on for things like driving license & bank accounts when they almost always ask for these??
chris

[blott]

Kids don't get SS numbers as they're not there in their own right - they're just there because their parents are. This is what leaves them vulnerable to deportation when they reach 18 and aren't going into a college degree or 21 if they are doing a degree.

Non-resident Florida home owners can get a driving licence and a bank account so there's no problem getting these without SS numbers.

[esprit]

Blott is absolutely right in what she says, E2 kids have no rights at all and from 18 on, can be deported unless they go to college. I know it happened to an 18 year old here since the age of 6 who left school and didnt get into college, he was US educated and as American as apple pie.. I have replied to you by DM. They will quiz your 18 year old at the embassy interview as to what he is going to be doing here so be careful.

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by esprit
There is quite a lobby to stop them altogether, Chrizzy. The reduction from 195,000 last year to 65,000 this year is stopping work based immigration by the back door. I am seriously worried for my son who will need one at the end of his degree. Will this visa still exist by then?
[/quote]


A lot of the jobs that the H1B is used for.....tech ones....are going to India......they don't bring the people over anymore.....when hubby lost his job here....he was offered one in India......thats going to be the only place you can get a job with an American company soon.......

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flying chippy
Thanks for your replies, why should the kids 18 & 14 not have SS numbers. how do you get on for things like driving license & bank accounts when they almost always ask for these??
chris
[/quote]

You don't always need a SS number...each States has different rules...me and my kids never had one until we got our greencards......some States will tell you you can't get a driving licence without one......but in most cases that is untrue......it just takes a bit more work on your part.......