Who wants to sponsor me!?

Robbie Comeau

Robbie Comeau

Como's back. back again
How do I get a sponsor If I want my green card to come down to CALI?

I need to get my card quick cause I want to move up in March or April of 2009.

Will it all process through before this time?

Robbie
 
By the thread title, I thought you were joining AA...

Let me know if you want to come to Oklahoma, instead. Lots of oilfield work here - and several DVXusers. :)
 
Robbie, I dont know crap about Green Cards, but if he doesnt pop in here, might want to PM Mikko. I believe he knows how all of that works pretty well, or perhaps could at least point you in the right direction.
 
Rather than type out a long response... you can't get a green card by march or april. Granted you would have a quicker time of it being from Canada than my wife did being from the most populous Muslim country in the world, but it ain't gonna happen that fast. Plus, getting a green card is not as simple as deciding you want one.

Best thing to do is to get yourself into the country legally on an extended stay. For you, that would mean getting a visa and going to school here. Then you can meet a girl and marry her, or find an employer who would be willing to sponsor you, etc... :) (though in most cases you are not "legally" allowed to work any off campus job while in this country on a student visa. And, don't know about Canada, but my wife had to show some outrageous sum of money in a bank account (like 15 grand) to even be considered, and that was 5 years ago.

Later,
Jason
 
FWIW an acquaintance of mine moved to LA from Montreal at about the same time I moved here from Maryland; we sort of started our careers more or less simultaneously.

Weirdly enough, his name is 'Rob' too...

...anyway, Rob got a visa based upon his particular education (or maybe it was work) background, that let him hook up with an LA company that could employ him based upon some kind of 'special skills' loophole in the visa program. Now, what was really happening, was that he found an employer who liked him and wanted to bring him on board, who was willing to basically stretch things a bit and submit that he was the best/only guy for the job. Whichever type of visa he got, he had to return to the Canadian side and re-enter the US either once or twice per year; I forget. But eventually he landed with Foundation Imaging, who liked him well enough to back him for a more permanent visa.

I expect that the visa system has changed since then, but I guess the place to start looking is with an LA company - not necessarily a production-related one, to begin with - that will agree to back you for a work visa to get you started in the market here. Perhaps that can be part of your schedule, when you first visit here...



ps - not to be discouraging, or anything, but my wife arrived legally in the US in the 1980s when she was a kid, and she wound up becoming a citizen by virtue of our marriage almost 20 years later. In the mean time, the rules changed so frequently and the goalposts skipped around so much that her green card process - started not long after her arrival - had still not reached its conclusion, by the time we got hitched.
 
What SadMax said, sounds a similar experience to what some folks I know have done... Though, that route can be difficult and you almost definitely need to be in a larger city.

If you go to school, you get a year of OPT (optional practical training) upon graduation that you can use to get a job working somewhere that may turn into a sponsored job and a ticket to a green card or a work visa as max mentioned above.

www.uscis.gov Read, read, read....

Later,
Jason
 
Another 'I know a guy'-type story: My mother and brother moved down to Jacksonville (from Toronto) in July '06. Even though she was legally married up here (to a Penn State fella), her marriage was not officially recognized down there. So her and her beau had a civil wedding, then she applied for green cards for herself and my brother that July and literally got them by the time New Year's rolled around (I was there at the time, on the beach, with nary a snowflake to be found...:)). Thing is, is that she works, and has been working for many years, for an American company - she either telecommutes or travels (primarily in and around the US) for business...

So, FWIW, it's possible that someone can get a GC in a relatively short amount of time, but realistically, not likely. The rules and restrictions have probably changed a lot in just the last coupe of years...
 
DHS/Immigration refused to recognize the validity of a marriage performed in accordance with Canadian law, as sufficient for US citizenship?

Wow.
 
My aunt lives in India, and her green card application's been in the works since 1995. No green card yet.

(although, as others have mentioned, I'm sure a Canadian would get a green card much faster)
 
Can't you just take a two month vacation to the states? Or have you decided to relocate here permanently? If the latter is the case, please do give us up to a 6 month courtesy warning so that we me construct our under ground Como shelters and Como-free bars and nightclubs. :grin:
 
Once the process starts (for green card) you get your work permit within 90 days (or get denied) of the time they begin processing your paperwork. This is generally pretty quick if you are immigrating based on having an immediate relative that is a u.s. citizen (spouse, brother, etc.) Then, it can be another 6-9 months on average (if there are no hold ups) until you receive your green card. Average numbers there.

Though, the place where many people run into issues is when they get stuck in the hell of FBI background check. The problem with that one is, you cease to be able to get any updates other than "Background check pending". You could just be sitting on a desk for weeks, months, or years if you get stuck there, and there isn't really a way to get updates.

That happened to my wife (being from what is considered a "high risk country"). Luckily we had a friend who had been through that, and our congressman happened to be on the immigration committee and had a really kick ass secretary. We called his office and after being told the same old "background check pending" for several months. The secretary calls us back a week after we first contacted her and told her that the wife's background check had cleared and that the green card would be out to us in a few weeks.

Best thing in your case would be to get into the country (legally) on some sort of extended visa... Student visa being a relatively easy and long term method. Once you are in the country, you have more options available to you.
 
I want to come and see what it's like to live on my own (with a friend)

So we'll be getting an apartment. I'll be looking for work on craigslist, but moneywise, I'll be fine.

I want to explore somewhere other than Canada, and live there for a while. And now that I know some people on this site, I can go see them and stuff especially in L.A..

It'll be an amazing experience.

Robbie
 
Robbie Comeau said:
I'll be coming with 4-5 k. (American?)
Click to expand...
Ok, that will get you a month, maybe two if you don't eat much... or drive... or much of anything else... And I'm sure L.A. is pretty pricey. I would scour the local papers for a regular job, and hope to pick up something on the side from CL for some experience. Of course, Zac and several others are out there, so you never know. Seriously, I wish you the best and hope it works out.
 
Would I even get a job for just a month? Would they even hire me? Wouldn't it be so confusing with banking and them paying me and what not lol. I know nothing.
 
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