Imigration
By rod977
@rod977 (118)
Portugal
September 16, 2011 3:41pm CST
Hi Mylotters! Ok, here it goes: I wanna live in the US for a long time. It has been my dream. There are much more opportunities than in my country. And it's an amazing country. I always loved it. I wanna live there for the rest of my days. :D But I don't quite understand the process. I already researched on the web but I didn't understand for real. I don't know what am I suppost to do because it has a lot of things to do. There is passport, which I don't know the benefits. The visa to live more time there, Citizenship, Green card and there is Naturalization or something like that that I don't understand absolutely nothing. Can someone explain me "step by step" XD how this works? And if you do me a favor, can yo tell me some places that I may fit better?
2 people like this
6 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
16 Sep 11
Hello eod and welcome to myLot. Things are not very good here rightt now as far as jobs go. It seems that I read or heard that you have to have a sponsor. Some one to turn to for help. The best thing to do is go to the American embassy in your country, They will have all the information you need. I believe it is in Lisbon.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (223117)
• Chile
18 Sep 11
I checked your profile, but you did not put how old you were. Going to live to another country is not as easy as it seems. And accordsing to the US residents that write here, at mylot, the US is not the Garden of Eden right now, as work opportunities go.
I know a woman that went to work there many years ago (she had university studies yet she worked at a beauty shop for some time) and then married a US resident. They were the typical higher middle class family with a nice house, good schooling for her children and both were professionals. Now they are selling their house and noone will give them more than half the price. Yet they have to pay the whole mortgage to the Bank.
Think it over before you leave your beautiful country.
@marguicha (223117)
• Chile
19 Sep 11
From what mylotters tell, I would not try to live in the US now. There is a lot of unemployment and some people canĀ“t even afford the gas to go to their jobs, the mortgage or rent of their house and the health care of their children. I have an american friend who works selling houses and she says that the business amounts to zero. Noone wants to buy even if houses are half their original value.
As for the dollar in the international market is very low as compared to what it was.
@zionsphere (673)
• United States
19 Sep 11
I agree. America is having a lot of issues right now. I already live here, and I'm seriously thinking about moving to Canada, where health care isn't an issue, and the economy inst half as bad. People are really struggling here just to survive. Even the very educated ones.
@rod977 (118)
• Portugal
22 Sep 11
Don't try to compare the US to Portugal. Portugal is so much worse. You can't imagine. The woman that you know just doesn't have many lucky. Here we have debts that you can't imagine and the unemployment % is bigger. There are more unemployees in the US because the country is bigger. And beautiful? There is almost nothing to see here. And the opportunities here are really low.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Sep 11
I can not comment very accuratley on this, as I am Australian, not a US citizen.
I think the US immigration laws are very similar to ours. It is very difficult to migrate.
I am aware that many student scome here on study visa, and then get jobs. If they can get a job that is full time for at least 6 months, they can apply for permanent resident status.
If you have a needed skill, such as being a Doctor it is also much easier to immigrate.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
16 Sep 11
rod: USA has got strict immigration rules as any other country. You need a passport and a visa to work in USA. For that you need good qualification or extra abilities such as an artist, cook....etc.
Obtaining visa is a difficult process and after that only one can get green card and all that. I suggest you consult immigration attorneys in this regard.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
16 Sep 11
rod977: I forgot to welcome you to mylot. I wish u success in all your efforts.
@Awinds (2468)
• United States
16 Sep 11
Well first of all, good luck with your dream! I hear things are a bit tough in Portugal right now, so doing whatever you can to better yourself is good. I will warn you of one thing though: the US has a nearly 10% unemployment rate right now so it is good if you have an in demand skill before you come over here. Otherwise you find yourself in a slight nightmare situation.
First of all, do you have any family here? Relatives are a great boon when a non-citizen is trying to get citizenship. If not, then you should try to get an employer to sponsor you. Both options will speed up the immigration process. If not you can still make it, but the process will be a bit longer and you will have to be responsible for your own income and accommodations and all that. Your excellent grasp of English will help you a lot though!
That's about all I know. I was born a citizen so I don't really know what the immigration process is like. I have never really researched in depth either. However the official us immigration website (www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis), should be able to tell you everything you need to know. :)
Good luck!
@huilichan8 (1378)
• Singapore
17 Sep 11
It seems that it's easier to migrate to the US than Canada.
@huilichan8 (1378)
• Singapore
16 Sep 11
You might hv to apply for a work visa first, cos you can't juz migrate there.