The Visa Waiver Program is not being abolished in October 2004.
Visa Free travelers seeking to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program on or after October 26, 2004 should note the following:
All travelers will require individual machine readable passports. Note: This requirement is already in place for passport holders from Andorra, Belgium, Brunei, Liechtenstein and Slovenia.
Passports issued on or after October 26, 2004 must include a
biometric identifier. If your passport is issued prior to this date, provided it is an individual machine-readable passport, you may continue to use the passport to travel visa free even though it does not have the biometric identifier.
Travelers seeking to enter the United States prior to October 26, 2004 should refer to the current visa waiver regulations.
Many folks seem to think that its very difficult to move to the U.S. legally or to be able to spend more than six months out of
the year in the states. The truth, however, is that the U.S. has some of the most liberal immigration policies in the world -you simply have to know how they apply.
While the U.S. does not offer a "retiree" visa per se, there are a number of other options available specifically to UK Citizens...
Family based residency
(If any members of your immediate family are residents or citizens you may be entitled to residency in the US)
Immediate family includes
parents, children and spouses. Depending upon the status of the sponsor (resident or citizen) and the relationship with him it can take more or less time to obtain your residency. There is no waiting period for someone marrying a US citizen or the minor child of a US citizen, though there will be a processing period that can be 12 months or more.
At the other extreme, brothers and sisters of US citizens may apply but there is a 12 year waiting period!
The B Visa (Tourism/Business)
Most UK Citizens travel to the US without a Visa. However, if you go through the trouble of obtaining a "B" Visa, you can stay for up to six months at a time. If you don't abuse your visa privileges, you can actually spend more than eight months per year, provided you break up your visits in smaller fragments of say, four months each. What you will not be able to do is spend six months, go out for one week, and come back for another six months. If you try doing this you run
the risk of having your visa cancelled.
Student Visas
Student Visas are relatively inexpensive to acquire and will allow you to remain in the US for the duration of the academic program - even if that's several years. It is inexpensive because the school itself will handle all of the visa work - thus you don't need an attorney. It will, however, require you to show that you have enough funds to take care of tuition and living expenses without working.
Some
retirees, particularly those with academic interests prefer this visa as it allows them to live in the US year round, without having to work. But the academic program is not limited to physics or nuclear science, you can enrol in a literature, language or art program.
The E Visa (for Entrepreneurs)
Under a US-UK Treaty, any one of her majesty's subjects may receive a visa of indefinite duration for the purpose of setting up a business in the U.S. There is no
minimum investment figure, but the BCIS (the successor to the INS) will look at the type of business you are starting and whether it is has any potential to provide for more than your own sustenance. In practice, this means that you will be required to show that you are staring an enterprise, not merely making an investment. In practice, it also means that should budget no less than £50,000 as an investment, unless you can show growth potential in some other way (i.e. large orders or
contracts to be executed).
Property owners will be please to know that it is possible to have your U.S. real estate investments considered an enterprise. To do so, you must generally own more than one property or be in the process of purchasing more than one property as an investment. You must also have an experienced US Immigration lawyer which will be careful to present your real estate investments as a real estate management and investment enterprise. This will generally require
carefully drafted assertions as to your level of participation in the management of the properties.
The L Visa and later Permanent Residency (for Executives and Business Owners with Multi-National Operations).
US Immigration law allows foreign businesses to transfer their executive personnel to the U.S. to operate the US branch, affiliate or subsidiary. This provision, though originally intended for big multinationals, applies with equal force to small businesses
having operations on both sides of the Atlantic.
The requirements are relatively simple. The executive who will receive the visa must have worked in an executive capacity for at least one year with the parent (non-U.S.) company. He must have spent that year in a category that is "executive or managerial", which generally requires the supervision of other employees. Finally, the company must be opening a branch, subsidiary or affiliate in the U.S., which generally means that
the parent company must continue its operations outside the U.S., rather than simply shift all of its operations from the UK to the US.
Unfortunately, if the U.S. branch is new, you will only get the Visa for 1 year, at the end of which you must apply for a renewal. The renewal will only be given of you can show that the business is still operating and in good standing. Once the U.S. branch becomes stable, however, (i.e. once it hires one or two additional employees), the executive may
apply for a relatively quick and painless residency process.
The H Visa and later Permanent Residency (for Professionals and Skilled Workers)
The US will also provide long term visas for any foreign skilled workers who obtain employment in the US. You will generally be required to have at least four years of university studies or its equivalent in experience (they equate three years of experience with one year of university). But the most important factor is that you
have a particular skill, that your employer needs your skills, and that your employer has sufficient funds to pay you a salary which is equal or higher to that paid to US Citizens in the area.
There is one exception to that requirement: if the employer is a new start-up company, it does not have to show any financial documentation. As such, your family may decide to start a new company in the U.S. and hire you as the professional, thereby getting you a proper H Visa. Initially, you will be
given 3 years on the Visa, at the end of which term you will need to show that the company has enough income to pay your salary. Some foreign nationals, particularly those involved in freelance work use this arrangement so that their clients actually hire the company, which in turn pays them a salary.
Professionals may also apply for residency if they additionally show, through a separate application process, that there is a shortage of US workers in their field. This is a time
consuming process generally lasting about three years. As such, it is common for many people to obtain an H Visa which will permit them to live and work in the US while their Work-Based Permanent Residency application is pending.
Immediate Residency for Professionals and Persons of Extraordinary Ability in their Field
As the US population ages, the demand for healthcare workers has increased significantly. As a result nurses and some related health care workers are
eligible for immediate residency provided they take and pass their respective professional examinations.
Additionally, professors, researchers, athletes and artists of extraordinary ability always have the door open in the USA. To show you belong to this class, however, extensive documentation may be required as to who you are. It is nonetheless a category intended to range from an unknown Oxford professor to famous movie star.
The Lottery
There is an annual
lottery. Applicants should contact the US consul. The winners will get residency. There are specific numbers of winners allocated by country. The chances of admission from the UK are very small. The applicant and his or her spouse are both covered by the visa. So are any dependant children under 21. A couple who are not married can apply under a discretionary provision, but it is more complex.
Can anyone apart from the applicant work in the US?
If you have an L
(executive visa) or an E (Entrepreneur) visa your spouse will be entitled to work in the US in any job.
With the exception of the Tourist and Student Visas, it is extremely unwise to apply for any of the other visas on your own. This is because many of the actual requirements are not listed on the forms instructions. As such, you will at best end up taking three or four times as long to process the visas, and at worst you application will be denied creating a permanent stain on your
immigration record and making it more difficult to obtain a visa in the future. Legal fees for these services range from about £3,000 for the L and E Visas to £2,500 for the H Visa. The government's fee is US$130, except for the H Visa which carries a government fee of $1,130.
In each case, the normal processing time is about four to six months, unless you pay the government an expedite fee of $1,000. |
