WORKING without a VISA (Canadian)

It's illegal for her to work without a work permit. Does she have any banking job history? A friend is Canadian who works for Scotiabank & the bank helped get her permit. Otherwise, I suppose she'd have to go through regular channels. I don't think it's easy. Good luck!

Obtaining a legal work visa is a long drawn-out process in most cases unless the applicant is offered a job for which no "legal" applicant is available and the prospective employer agrees to be the sponsor.

There ARE illegal workers here but I wouldn't recommend going that route because the penalties are huge for both the employer and the employee. Maybe the Ritz will pay you enough so that you can support both of you and she can go play in the sun while you toil! Cheers and good luck!

I would also be willing to marry her, does anyone know if that would get her permission to work? I am also looking for a studio apartment on St Thomas for the month of March onward. Thanks for your help.

Gee, Nate...what if you found her unattractive? Haha! J/K! I knew a girl, that was also not a U.S. Resident, didn't have a Visa, but got a job for a company on STT...it worked for a while, being under the table...then Immigration...they found out about her and she fled the territory...all the way to the BVI! Haha! Then she had to flee there when BVII found out about her...as far as I know, she is still running. Highly recommend that your friend go thru the proper channels...

I would also be willing to marry her...
Please, Please don't say it like that to her! As a woman I have to look out for her!!! Make it sweet.

I know, I know, not very romantic, but it may be the only way. Did I mention that she works with horses as a trainer. Is there much horse activity on the islands?

No horses on St. Thomas that I am aware of.

pony club on stx - don't think a position for horse trainer would be available.
If you marry, then you have the right to apply for a green card on her behalf.
This will take time and $$$$$ and there is no guarantee that they will grant her a green card. I also believe that there is no actual right to abode in the US until the green card is issued.

The law regarding work permits/green cards is simple. If the business that is seeking to hire her can prove....a) that they cannot fill the position internally, b) that they have advertised the position in the US for 6 months or more and can still not find a US hiree due to the specialized nature of the post, then you can APPLY for a green card.
A temporary work permit is pretty much the same deal.

Illegal is not an option on such small islands. There is always a drive to flush out the "illegals" and they won't take ethnicity etc into account.

there is a race track on STX in addition to the pony club and a couple of trail riding businesses.

Being willing to marry her and wanting to marry her are two different things. Hopefully it wouldn't only be so she could get a work visa!!

Having been involved with an Englishwoman for a number of years. I've looked into this extensively. If you marry her you should do it in Canada and apply for her green card there at the nearest US Consulate. ICE prefers it that way. You could try the fiancee visa process but that is a heck of a lot of red tape and still requires marriage for a permanent green card. And of course, it goes without saying that the US government is looking for a legitimate relationship. I'm unsure how long Canadians may reside in the US without a visa but I think it is six months. Search US immigration law or go to google groups and type in fiancee visa (K1). Good Luck.

Dear Nate,

Just to ram the point home, the answer to your question if marrying your gf would get her permission to work is a resounding NO. As Jane said, marriage to you would permit her to START the process of obtaining a green card but this usually - no exaggeration and wherever you start off the process - takes years and, in the meantime, she wouldn't be legally permitted to work anywhere in the US.

As far as accomodation is concerned, you won't have a problem finding something once you're here. Come to your job at the Ritz, get yourself settled in and then get yourself a second job if necessary so you can support your girlfriend. You can then vicariously live the vacationing style of life in the islands through her and she'll be SO relaxed when you finally get home! Cheers!

Please do this the right way. You really don't want to get arrested for marrying her so she can get her green card. If you were going to do something like that you would have had to tell nobody. ICE uses paid informants. It is not worth a felony. Another couple was just arrested for this last week in stx. The islands are a very small place no matter how crowded it seems sometimes and everyone knows everyones business eventually 😉 Good Luck

And BTW, if your name really is Nate and you are starting at the Ritz in February, you won't be hard to find...

OK, so the marriage thing was a bad idea. Sponsored work is our last chance. She can bartend and waitress if anyone knows of anything.

Nate: The marriage "thing" is not a bad idea, it just depends on your motivation. "Honey, I love you and I want to grow old with you" is pretty nice! 😉

and this was the process 30 years ago and I am sure it has changed as 'gotten more difficult'. This is my experience after having been married 4 years in the host country of Germany. The process was rather quick but did take at least three months. You go to the consulate to apply and do the whole process of background check. She than had to have a medical exam. Then they complete the paperwork after a couple of weeks. You take the paperwork with you and present it to immigration on arrival in the US. The green card is sent later.

Does it still happen the same way today, I don't know.

One of the problems you might have is that she is a Canadian and not of the country you currently reside.

She bore me a great son and 18 years of........well not going there 🙂

And if she's just going to bartend under the table she's probably taking a job away from some local American.....

Nate...read my post under ART FRAMER.
To be sponsored by a company...they have to be unable to find an American who can do a particular job. ie Corporate VP, Surgeon, Scientist etc. NOT a bartender.
It will cost the sponsoring company many thousands of dollars in filing fees, lawyers etc and agreat deal of effort on their part. They will have to advertise the post for 6 MONTHS usually in US media and be able to prove that there were NO US citizens who could do the job.
This is not going to fly young Nate. Stay where you are if you want to be with her....or have a long distance romance.

Thanks, Jane.

When I read Nate's latest post early this morning when he said, "Sponsored work is our last chance. She can bartend and waitress if anyone knows of anything," I wondered if I should respond and tell him he just wasn't getting it, or just ignore it. I opted for the latter. But, since you opened up the door...

Nate, do please pay attention. Working as an illegal bartender or waitress is the same as working as an illegal lawyer, physician, accountant or anything else. Notwithstanding that a huge number of restaurants and many other small businesses all over the U.S. pay, "under the table," the penalties leveled at an employer for employing a bona fide citizen or registered alien "under the table" are totally insignificant in comparison to the same employer who hires an illegal alien either below or above the table.

Yes, there ARE people here who will hire your girlfriend "under the table" knowing she's not legal but the employer is taking a mighty big chance, knowing that he or she faces an immediate $10K fine if caught (and I believe that's just for a first offence.) Some employers are willing to take that risk because they assume nobody will ever tell. That's the employer's position and maybe some can afford to take the chance.

Conversely, your girlfriend, as the employee, will of course take the major brunt. Forget a substantial fine and think more in terms of deportation back to country of origin combined with a big "X" next to her name if she tries to enter the U.S. again for quite a long time.

I guess just take your chances if that's your druthers but, in the wake of 9/11 and the general paranoia about illegals entering the U.S., do please think through your options very, very carefully. Bureaucracy can be a real bitch, particularly for a "newbie" here or anywhere. Cheers!

Oh, by the way and just a thought, is your girlfriend reading this thread or are we hearing just the male input on this subject?

OK. I am definately seeing that this plan is not going to work. Thank you guys for all your input on this. I am not really sure what I am going to do now. I am supposed to be on ST Thomas on the 13th. I think i knew all along that the "work thing" wasnt going to be good for her there, but its hard to give up on. Thanks again for the advice, and maybe ill see you on the island.

I don't know much about schools in the VI, since I'm not yet a resident, but I do know that a student visa is a lot easier to obtain than a work visa . . . does she have any interest in furthering her education? Of course, it would require some tuition $$$

Nate log in and PM me

Sorry flounder. cant log in to the site, it wont accept my password. send email to my account casadelsoul@hotmail.com.