Oh holy crap DH might have a job in NY, starting next month...

[topsmart]

So we recently had a fantastic childfree few days in manhattan for his 40th, what a brilliant place we enthused... he gets chatting to a pal and before you know it we're into second interviews for a job over there. No decision from the company until next week but my head is spinning. What do I need to know before he starts negotiations?
We have 2 DD, age 4 & 10 (youngest due to start reception in September). What salary would he need to earn for us to rent in Brooklyn? What's even a good bit of Brooklyn to live in?
We've done a Big Move before, from London to Manchester, and couldn't have coped without help from the mumsnet hive mind, so am seeking whatever guidance or pointers you have!
Currently looking at my dishevelled house in despair, how on earth will I get it rent-able...
And I'll have to resign from work.
And I'll have to step down as President of my WI...
Excited! And scared! Help!

Frank Sinatra came from Hoboken

OK on the H1 visa you would not be able to work at all, so you need to make sure that would work for you.

Also, I'm pretty sure that you can only get an H1B visa through the annual lottery. This is hugely oversubscribed and it is literally pot luck if you get one.

You can put in an application now for the October 2018 lottery, but the deadline for this year has already passed.

There are only 85,000 H1B visas available and this year they had about 250,000 applicants.

Anyway, the earliest your husband would be able to start work on a H1B visa would be 01 October 2018, and that is assuming he gets a visa through the lottery.

As an aside, my husband works for a huge tech company in the US and he didn't get an H1 visa, so it literally is a lottery, no favouritism.

And Cake Boss is in Hoboken too! The proper bakery which is so much better than their Times Square store

So if you're looking at H1, you're not going anywhere until October 2018.
The number of H1 visas is capped each year and the cap has already been reached for this year (it was reached within a few days) so it would be April 2018 that you would apply for a start date of October 2018. And there's no guarantees that he would get it, it's like a lottery.

www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-reaches-fy-2018-h-1b-cap

On an H1 visa you will not be allowed to work so be sure that you'd be happy with that.

The types of visas and criteria for each can be found here

uk.usembassy.gov/visas/temporary-employment/petition-based-visas/

For the H1B

To qualify, you will require a bachelor’s or higher degree (or equivalent) in the specific specialty for which employment authorization is being sought. It is the responsibility of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine whether the employment constitutes a specialty occupation and whether or not you are qualified to perform the services.

And Trump has already said he plans to make it much much harder to bring in workers from outside the US on H1 visas...

Feck. We're screwed aren't we. I've instructed DH to get onto his agent pronto, wonder why she was so confident? She normally knows her stuff, gives v sage advice.

"......wonder why she was so confident?"

Maybe becasue she's an agent and not an immigration lawyer!

Ummm yes possibly! But she's a creative industries agent at one of the best US companies, who deals with lots of people moving to US for work from all over world, so is intriguing...

No chance your DH could qualify for an O1 visa - Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement if he's in a creative industry with an agent. This is the one that "celebs" would get if they got work in the US.

www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement

I know our immigration lawyers warned us at the beginning it was a long process, there were lots of hoops to jump through, etc, etc

If she suggests he just goes on an ESTA and works self employed - don't ! If he gets caught there will be problems.

Yy, don't just go and work illegally, especially with a family!!

Oh god no, we'd never do anything like that! All got to be done properly. I'll ask about the O1, cheers. Clearly we do need expert immigration advice! I'd not had a chance to consider anything before my original post, feel like an eejit for assuming visa would be last of our worries

You shouldn't feel like an eejit, if you are told 'don't worry it won't be an issue' then how would you know, unless you have been through the process.

At least you know now before you go making big plans / life changing decisions.

Sort the visa, the rest will follow x

Thanks Brit - agent says we'll try for an O1 visa but she'll be speaking to immigration lawyers. Sounds like she does know what she's doing, phew!

He must be a very talented man indeed if she thinks he would qualify for an O1

I like to think so 😂 It's a telly creative job, he's produced beeb things before.

If an O1 visa is the right one, there should never have been any talk of an H1B. The 2 visas are night and day in terms of who they're for. One's for skilled workers (most of whom are in IT / tech jobs), the other's for famous actors, celebrities and people who have reached the very pinnacle of their industry and are world renowned in their field.

I'm not saying this doesn't apply to your DH, if he fits the criteria for an O1 great. But to pivot from an H1B to an O1 in the space of a day kind of suggests that the agent doesn't really know visas.

Hoping and praying this guy gets the O1 visa even if it's just so the OP can come back and say he got it.

Sensing some people in this thread are a bit jealous?

Ummm that's DH's poor memory, not his agent's fault- he couldn't recall what sort she'd suggested, so asked her for clarification and she came back with the O. I've got no worries about her.

Ha ha ha forfucksake bloody hope so! Lots of hoops to jump through before then eh? Realise we're in a v lucky position. Which is lovely for DH as he took a gamble on freelancing a year ago, in order to be able to do short term contracts which interest him, so it's v cheering so have such positive signs after his stressful starting-up-a-business year. That sounds like this is the first work he's found! It certainly isn't, it's just lovely that he's recognised for being awesome at what he does. Go DH!

Very exciting!

www.visajourney.com has masses of information and a lively message board.

Don't want to piss on your party but when Adele performed a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR she apologised for cancelling previously because they wouldn't give her a visa. Adele! Freaking Adele! had trouble with US visas!

So please be very thorough and cautious .

Feck! If they won't let Adele in, we're screwed!
Am trying to be zen. If this doesn't pan out, I've now got shit loads of info ready and waiting to tackle the next US job offer. And will have time to get the house sorted! 😂

Well she got in eventually!
Fingers crossed for you: it's a great opportunity!

Ah, don't worry about Adele. The US are notoriously tough with their visa requirements: I don't know what happened in her case, but sometimes people who we would normally expect to be able to travel under visa waiver arrangements aren't able to because of actual of alleged misdemeanours (like saying that they once smoked a spliff). And sometimes people leave it far too late to apply for a visa, perhaps because they didn't realise that they would need one, and rather than saying that there was an admin cock up at their end, they just say "I couldn't get a visa"

Fingers crossed for you OP!

(forfucksake - who on here is jealous? Most of us posting already live or have lived in the US already!)