cassecouilles

I am one of them and the funny thing is they make it sound like its not that much but overall its a 20% paycut per pay period. No one can survive on that for nearly the rest of year.

That really sucks :-s I'm a state employee as well, though I work abroad. Luckily for me, our laws in Belgium protect us and legally my employer is not allowed to force us to take leave without pay. I can imagine that when you have rent, a loan, daycare, etc to pay that it has devastating consequences. I've already made peace with the fact that our original plan of getting married in the US in May will alsmost certainly NOT happen. It really sucks, and I wish it didn't have to be this way, but there you go. There's no sense in getting all worked up about it. The people at CSC are just people too, probably scared and frustrated at what's going on, and are doing what they can. It's not like they look at the mountain high stack of files on their desks and think: hah i'm going to screw you guys over and work EXTRA slowly for the next couple of months. They're doing what they can. I still wish they were doing it a tad faster though :-p

I have been here in the US for nearly three months now and have had no luck finding a job. I do not have a college degree and back in the UK I had a decent job paying a fairly good wage. I have applied to many positions here and have had interviews as well, but no luck at all so far. In my opinion it is extremely difficult finding a job without a college degree as the market is flodded with graduates from colleges applying for admin assistants etc. Even though three months may not see such a long time, I am quite disheartened by it all. Even before I have moved here, I have decided to go to college, but I still need a job to get through life and pay bills.

I'm sorry to hear that :-s That isso strange, in Belgium you'd get hired BECAUSE there are so many college graduates vying for the same positions... they "typically" expect more pay, more benefits, etc and they tend to leave sooner as soon as a more attractive offer comes along. It's for that very same reason that I have never been without a job. Before I step on anyone's toes, I'm not saying every college or university graduate is like that but here it does seem to be a common stereotype... one that's helped me a lot in the past :-) Technically, you and I can do the same as any college graduate in the admin field, but we're cheaper. At least, that's how I hoped they'd see it :-p

I hope you have more luck in the future finding a job. Where are you? I read some people here had the most luck finding employment through a temp agency, maybe that would help?

My favorite new tool:

http://dashboard.uscis.gov/index.cfm?formtype=6&office=2&charttype=2

It looks like they have a back-up of 9 months for I-129F cases, and the back-up is getting longer.

I try not to let these posts about backlogs get to me but... dammit. This is insane, why can't they hire more people to make up the difference? If more petitions are being filed, more money is coming in, right? Argh! This is frustrating, it throws everything off, like when to cancel your rent, quit your job, ... Okay, end of rant.

Actually, my fiance is military so I've done some research on this. I'm pretty sure you can only have it expedited if the military spouse is due to be deployed abroad. For example, my fiance will be stationed in Cali for a year starting May. We're about 4 months into the process. Imagine that they tell him that he will be deployed abroad (say, to the middle east) in June, than we could file an expedite request and the odds are that it would be approved. Why? Because if I only get my visa approved in June, than I can't make it to the US in time for us to get married before the 90 days expire cause he'll be gone. I can't wait in Europe for him to be back from deployment either because my visa would expire. At least, that's how I THINK the thought process goes :-)

Not me

Hi guys,

just came across this thread on Reddit, hiring managers (i think mostly in the US) telling you what to do and what NOT to do when writing a cover letter or resume, going yo a job interview, etc.

Don't know if this is allowed on visajourney and I apologize if it's not, but I know I find it very informative and I will definitely save it for when I start looking for a job in the US!

Good luck everyone!

I must admit, this has been a huge concern to me. I don't leave for the US till March 10, but I've been having a little peek at what exactly is out there. Everything of any note seems to require a degree of which I don't have one.

I'm currently on a £60k job with a tonne of responsibility, but it's fairly specialised, being at an airport. It's pretty much all I've known though. I was hoping the Heathrow connection may open a few doors, but I'm moving to Monterey whose airport is smaller than terminal 5 LOL. Heathrow isn't gonna hold much sway if there are no positions going. I am fairly worried I'm gonna end up serving Big Macs if I'm honest.

There's nothing obviously wrong with serving Big Macs, but I'm gonna find it difficult being responsible for 1,400 movements a day at the worlds busiest international airport for possibly working in a fast food joint for I suspect minimum wage.

Exactly. I think the hardest thing, for me, will be to get used to being dependent on my husband. At least in the very beginning, until we get the whole work permit thing going. I'm used to being independent, I make a good salary (more than my fiance ) so it's going to hurt to not be like that anymore. If I earn less, okay I can take it and I don't mind, if I have trouble find a job, any job, and have to ask him money to buy a loaf of bread (so to speak) I know I'll be downright depressed. Also, I'm used to having a job that carries a certain responsibility, I do it well and I like the respect that I get from my fellow co-workers. I'll miss that. But truth to tell, if I end up baking burgers at McDonalds... then by heck I'll serve the best Big Mac you've ever had :-p

I've noticed that one big draw back for many people on this forum has been the lack of references from American supervisors. I'll probably be lucky when it comes to that, because all of my supervisors since I started at the embassy have been Americans. I've asked them for references and they are more than willing. Do you have a linkedin profile? If not you should get one, try to get connected with Americans, possibly Americans in the area that you're moving to. You'd be surprised who shows up on your "People you may know" feed just through the connections you do already have. I have friends that managed to find jobs using ONLY linkedin. In dutch we say "Een nee heb je, een ja kan je krijgen" which loosely translates into: you've already got a no, you could stil get a yes, OR You won't know unless you try :-)

This really IS an interesting topic, and one that I have been agonizing on for a long time. Ten months to be exact, when I had our little boy. My future hubby is Mexican but has lived his whole life in the US. His parents always spoke Spanish to him and his siblings but he was never interested in learning. Result: he speaks English without an accent and really bad "Spanglish". I however, have a Spanish mother and a Belgian (Flemish) father. When I was little, we lived in Spain. They used to communicate together in French and when I was 4 we moved back to Belgium where I went to a Flemish school. Result: At age 5 I spoke Dutch, French and Spanish like a native. Books and TV took care of English by the time I was 11. German came later on in high school. Languages have always been a huge part of my life, a major help when looking for a job and I absolutely want my son to have that same advantage in the future. When you're able, teaching your children different languages is a huge gift you're giving them.

Right now my fiance is still abroad serving in the military and I am still working here in Belgium while Ian goes to daycare in Dutch. I speak Dutch and French to Ian, figuring he'll learn English soon enough when he gets to the US in May. But even once we get there, I'll never stop speaking French and Dutch to him because I don't want either of us to forget. I'll also encourage my fiance's parents to speak Spanish to him. I do hope I am not overwhelming him and realize it might cause him slight problems in the beginning (my brother had trouble keeping all languages apart) but still believe that in the long run,it'd be for the best. That being said, if when he gets older he's truly not interested, I wouldn't force him. Gah, so complicated!

I will be living in Camp Pendleton, close to San Diego, for the first year. After that we're moving to Lincoln Park, close to Detroit.

My boss, who's from DC always says: why on earth would ANYONE move to Detroit? It's dangerous, the food sucks, there are no jobs...

I don't know about Detroit but I found Lincoln Park to be okay and some of the best food I've ever had was in Charleston and Detroit. The best french fries ever I ate in the US... though being from Belgium I nearly feel blasphemous for saying so :-p I hope I find good bread though, and get used to cooking. I like making italian pasta dishes but the few times I tried my hand at it in Detroit for my fiance it wasn't edible because I couldn't find the ingredients I am used to :-p He ate it though, even told my dad it was really good afterwards. It must be love.

Can you just send food to the states? I will probably do the same with some beauty products, unless I can find the same products over there. And chocolate. I'll have my family send me lots of chocolate!

LMAO the visual of someone peeking in and poppin' me a smile from the crack

I can look back on it now and laugh But I once had a very unpleasant experience with that as well. I was walking around Times Square with friends and around two AM the men decided they were hungry so we headed to MacDonalds for a burger. As they were getting their orders I went upstairs to use the restroom. Again, with space missing between the door and the next stalls. I had three drunk idiots (tourists) come inside the ladies room and stick their faces to the crack and leer at me, yelling obscenities all the time. I stayed in that toilet for 30 minutes until one of the guys I was with downstairs got worried and came to see what was taking so long. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck :-)

Hi Guys!

Are there any other lucky DV winners who are moving to the US on their own? Which is without family and friends, having nothing in America??

I am one of these people it will be hard as ** to start everything from the very beginning having no friends around...

... soo, that's why I was hoping to find some inspirational stories here

If you have any experience or have similar plan, then please share your thoughts - good tips will also be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Lucy

Congrats! Where are you moving to?

Is this thing true?

I've always wondered....

Oh boy... unfortunately yes :-p BUT he makes it seem a lot worse than it really is. Our government is completely messed up. No denying that. But honestly, there's no better place to lose your job or get sick. You'll always get financial help and medical care, whether you can afford it or not. Granted, many people take advantage of our social security which is one of the many reasons we're doing so badly economically right now but for me it's very comforting to know that, should I get fired or otherwise lose my job tomorrow, I know I can look for a job within a reasonable time frame without ending up on the street... providing I fill in the necessary paperwork :-p

The job market is not too bad (compared to other countries in Europe), Belgians are pretty friendly and outgoing, good food, lots of things to do and visit... I'm happy here :-) But then this is my home.

Here's my own experience and I do believe there are other factors at play - it's not just about whether or not you have a degree - it's whether you have relevant experience in place of a degree, where you live ( I live in Orange County, California) and how you come across at interview:

Once I had my EAD I didn't know where my skills and personality would be best suited in the US job market so I became a temp with an employment agency for 6 months. ($25 ph)

Another temp agency helped me get a position which lasted five years - starting pay $55k - got laid off in reduction in force - ending pay $65k

Unemployed 9 months April 2010 to Jan 2011 - but ended up with 54 interviews and 5 job offers - none of which paid less than $55k and landed a job in which starting pay was $72500 and now earning $76k.

I do not have a degree of any kind and work in administrative positions as an Executive Assistant -so it can be done if all the factors are in your favor if you can find a company who will look past your lack of degree!!

Good luck.

A bit late in getting back to you but did want to say that I found your post very comforting. I haven't been able to keep track of this website as much as I'd like to because it's been crazy busy at work and with a baby that's just starting to crawl at home it seems like I don't have enough eyes or hands to keep track of everything.

Any time I would ask people I know at the embassy, americans, about my chances of getting a good job in the states they would say: "without a degree? Maybe as a waitress." That would always depress me. Not that there's anything wrong with waitressing, as they would say in spanish a job is a job, con mucha honra :-) But been there, done that while in college, you know. I've worked to be where I'm at right now, taking the circumstances that forced me stop going to school full time in stride, and I'm rather proud of what I've managed to accomplish despite of that. I'm willing to start all over again from scratch... but I hope I won't have to :-)

Taking on a totally different life with radically different environment can be either an adventure or a curse. It depends on what kind of person you are and what you want in life.

Beautifully said :-) I hope I am the adventurous kind and that I will embrace my new life the way your wife has. That being said... I take my hat off to your wife, it had to be quite an adjustment (am sure there are some funny stories there) :-p

Hello folks,

I've been following some threads on this website about the beneficiaries adjusting to the states. Honestly? I'm a bit scared :-) I keep reading because I tell myself I want to know what to expect, I don't want to be blindsided by these feelings when my son and I finally make the move, plus I've read some very interesting and useful advice about staying busy while waiting for that first job. But it is a tad disheartening and sometimes I almost dread leaving all that's familiar behind. I'm sure not everyone had such a hard time adjusting, right? What are some really positive experiences you had? Things you absolutely LOVE about your new life in the US? Maybe even funny anecdotes from your adjustment? I don't know about you guys, but I would love hearing about those as well :-)

Here's my take:

3.) I disagree completely with the suggestion that you must start a credit history. Unless you PLAN to borrow money and go into debt, you do not need to do this EVER. I, and many people in this country, do not believe in living your life in debt and the stresses and problems associated with that are at an unbelievable high. If you can afford a "car note", then you can afford to wait a few months saving that money, buy a cheap car, drive that until you have saved for something fancier, and go from there. No one ever NEEDS to owe more than 4000$ ever on a vehicle when decent ones can be bought outright. (I and my son both drive such vehicles--they are NOT beaters.) The only thing I make payments on is my house and that would be bought with your spouse. (This is contrary to the very successful marketing of credit companies but it is how most people in the world live--if you don't own it, you simply don't have it. If you really need/want it, you find a way to earn it before you have it. )

THANK GOD :-p This whole concept of purposely going into debt just to prove that you're capable of buying stuff on credit and then paying it back seems so alien to me.

It seems so surreal to me that in order to have a good credit score in the states you have to prove that you're able to go into debt (or spend money you don't have) and then pay off your debt. Or am I over-simplifying things? What's wrong with not having a credit card because you don't believe in it and managing your money well enough that you never have to go into red? Imagine my fiance and I get married and decide to sell his house and buy another home, can we even get a loan together? It just seems so confusing :-)

Wait whyyy do you need a bank statment/?? Do you have to have some kind of savings for you to do a k-1 visa?? I thought all you need was like a paystub to show proof of income?

Check on the embassy website in your country, it might be different. But on the embassy website in Brussels it says you need this:

Statement of an officer of the bank identifying the details of your account(s): date opened; total amount deposited for the past year and present balance.

It's just a quick trip to the bank if you do need it.

Hi guys,

I'm trying to be pro-active and to keep a look-out for any jobs that I might be qualified for, even though I am only moving to the States in May. I've already posted my resume on several websites like monster.com, indeed.com and linkedin. I know it's awfully early but I cannot stand the thought of being without work for months, let alone years.

Now, I know some of you have done the same. Based on some threads I've read, some of you actually already had a job lined up before moving to the states. I was wondering how you guys went about explaining when you would be available for work? I mean, ok I know that once I move to the States in May there will be paperwork to handle (I can look that up in the guides) that can or not take a long time. So did you guys just take your moving date, slapped on, say, three months on top of that and stated you would be available around that time?

I appreciate your thoughts on this :-)

Cass, if you edit your Timeline and add the correct service center, you'll get a more accurate estimated date of approval.

If your receipt number starts with EAC it means Vermont is processing your petition, if it starts with WAC it's being processed by California.

Thanks, I did and now it moved from being approved sometime in March to the end of January ;-) Yay!

I'd like to know the answer to this as well ... for non-military, that is. (I'm sure the expedition due to military makes things move a lot faster!)

I'm starting to gather my materials for the I-134 and have heard that Chase (my savings bank) might balk about that letter, so I was thinking of going in this or next week to get it started or see if they're going to be nice and easy about it. If they do give me a letter right away in November or December, but our interview doesn't end up being until March ... is that a problem?

We're not having it expedited since we can't risk my visa expiring before he's actually ALLOWED to get married :-) When we started this process we weren't even aware that you could do this.

However, I did call the consulate here in Belgium and they said that such a bank statement is valid for one year. If you do it now it'll be valid till November next year.

Hi guys,

My fiance has started gathering the documents we'll need for the embassy interview. It's very soon but since he's abroad on deployment and needs to het his documents from the states he wants to be sure there will be no extra delays afterwards. we only just got our NOA1.

Anyway, that statement from the bank that you need to present with your I-134 (I think that's the form don't have it in front of me), how recent does it need to be? If it's dated, say today, and the interview is only in March, will that still be okay? Or is it better to wait at least a couple of months more?

Thanks!

My fiance always sweeps his carpet in the living room, and he's the USC. First time I saw him do that I told him (quite logically I thought): "you're just moving the dust around, you need to vacuum a carpet". He just frowned at me, went: "silence woman! that made too much sense" and went right back to sweeping the carpet :-p I'm sure it's just a man thing though, not cultural. He's military, so he's even more neurotic than I am. Boy, is he in for a shock when we live together full-time, with a one year old baby :-D

I just thought of two things that I find "weird" about the states. One: the public restrooms. I'm not sure whether it's like this in each state but I absolutely loathe using a public restoom in America so far. Not that they're not clean, they usually are, but there's like an inch missing between the door and the wall or next stall on each side! You can actually see the people standing beyond the toilet in the hall. I mean, I might be paranoid, but if I can see them they can see me right? I always drape my jacket and scarf over the slits on each sides :-p I was on a college trip in Manhattan once, and we were having dinner in a restaurant in China Town. I went to the restroom downstairs, and there was a little lady there to keep it clean and help the guests I guess if they needed something. So there I was, in the toilet stall, totally just going about my business when, for no particular reason I looked up... through the slit and straight into the eyes of the little lady who then proceeded to cheerfully smile and wave at me. I nearly fell in the darned toilet :-p

Another thing that we're not used to in Belgium is the way soda is watered down in the states. When we request a coke somewhere we just receive it in a glass, more often than not no ice, and with a tiny slice of lemon. In the states you receive goblets of coke, which is nice, but there's so much water in it from the ice that it just detracts taste. It's not a bad thing... just very different.

Ive heard Belgium and Denmark are lovely places to live and Belgium wasnt even overly expensive if I remember Correctly

In my humble opinion Belgium is lovely but then again I'm biased :-) It's pretty expensive though compared to some other European countries... but cheap compared to Ireland and Switzerland for example. Switzerland is insane... but beautiful.

Hi guys! My fiance and I sent our petition in on Oct 1st 2012. Last week we had still not received an NOA1 so my fiance decided to call the USCIS customer service to see what's up. Apparently they've already rerouted our petition to the California Service Center and they stated our NOA1 date as Oct 2nd. I don't really see how that it possible since we only filed on the 1st and the petition was sent from Switzerland but oh well :-p

What I mean to say is that if it seems like an inordinately long time since you've sent your petition and you've still to hear something back just give them a call. They're pretty friendly and if they don't know the answer right away they'll promise to call you back... which they do :-)