TN-status holder wanting to switch to a different profession - options?

[Phire 1]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen currently on a TN-1 status expiring in April of 2014. My visa is for a profession that makes me depressed in a city that is even worse, so I'd like to transition into a different field - web development. I've got a good portfolio of past freelance work and I've got contacts in the industry in both countries, and I'm pretty confident in my ability to get a job doing this work if there weren't the work permit issue.

The problem is that my boyfriend (a mid-level advertising exec) lives here and is a citizen, and we'd like to stay together, ideally in the US for a variety of reasons.

I don't think I can continue on a TN visa - web development is not on the approved professions list, and even if it were, none of my higher-ed credentials (two bachelor's degrees and a grad diploma) match up with the field I want to enter into.

What are my options here? What are my chances of getting approved for an H-1B when I have only freelance experience and no credentials in this field? (Will there even be any H-1Bs left, or do I have to wait till next April and possibly apply from Canada?) I don't have enough capital to start my own business under the investment visas.

Am I missing something obvious? Should I look for a post-graduate CompSci program that'll admit someone with a non-CompSci bachelor's? Or is our best bet to look for work in Canada, since Canada doesn't seem to have numerical caps on temporary work permits? We're not opposed to the idea of getting married for a green card, but we'd like to exhaust our other available options first.

[Boiler 45,664]

You can go a round and around and then get married.

Or you can get married.

How about a Student Visa to get an IT degree as an option?