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We are two cousins who are looking into the possibility to move to Minot. My mother is from Minot, or Carpio so I have a bunch of relatives in Minot that I would like to visit again and spend time with.
I have been searching around the internet trying to find websites where houses/apartments are put of for sale or rent but I’m not finding all that much unfortunately. We have been thinking about this for a while and have a real desire about making this work out. I sent an e-mail to the US embassy (check the bottom of the post for their reply). From their e-mail it seems that it might be a bit hard to get this project up and going but nothing is impossible.
Seeing that I am both a Norwegian and an American citizen it should be easier for me to move to the US then my cousin. As far as I understand he would need to go under a tourist visa, which only gives him 90 days in the country. If he want to work in the US he would need a work visa, and for that to be possible he must be able to do a job that there are no US-citizens who can do, and therefore the employer must hire a foreigner. I have heard that one can go as a tourist and find a job, the employer then have to do some paperwork and one can get a work visa. I don’t see why it should be so hard for a Norwegian citizen to get into the states.
Our plan is basically to leave Norway, move to Minot get us a job and a car so we can get around and start a new life in USA. Just like our grandfather’s brother did many years ago. There are multiple reasons for us choosing Minot instead of more popular places like New York, Florida and so on.
*Family
*Heritage
*Minot’s location (we could visit Canada)
*Minot’s history (e.g. “Little Chicago” Al Capone’s hub for alcohol smuggling, and Native Americans)
*Høstfest
*Scandinavian Heritage Association
*Life experience
*Environment change
So why am I posting here?
Obviously we are in need of help. What websites should we check for cars and housing? And what websites should we check for job listings?
I have checked [Mod cut] for job listings and cars, but I did not find all that many jobs and even fewer cars and no pictures of the cars. We don’t really have any certain date for our departure from Norway, but we are thinking about leaving in August.
A little information about us might be interesting.
My cousin Kjetil, was born 06/29/1989. He has attended one year of art history at the University of Stavanger. He has also worked at a window and door factory on and off as a season worker or extra help for the last four years.
I (Chris) was born 10/11/1988 and have gone to school for “sales and service”, before working two years at a screen-printing factory where we printed on t-shirts and other clothing. I also got experience with a digital printer that can make vinyl stickers and such. After those two years at the factory I started school again, and will soon be finished with the last year of school needed to apply for universities. I spend most of my day on the computer, and like to try new software. I also fiddle a wee-bit with websites but nothing high-tech.
Here is the mail I got from the embassy.
Quote:
If you believe you have claim to American citizenship, you should contact the Embassy’s office for American Citizen Services to apply for a passport. [Mod cut] Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship by a Child Born Abroad[/url] Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship by a Child Born Abroad
And
[Mod cut]
For non-US citizens, p[color=#1f497d]ermanent immigration to the US is most often based on family relationships with U.S. citizens or long-term employment with a US company. For information about family-based or employment-based immigrant visas.
If you are interested in working in the US, you may be able to do this on a non-immigrant temporary work visa. Before you can apply for a work visa, you must be offered a specific job by a specific employer in the US. That employer has the responsibility to send an application, or “petition”, to US Citizenship & Immigration Services (http://www.uscis.gov/), to have your employment approved. (This is not always easy, because that employer must convince USCIS that they cannot find someone who is a US citizen or already a legal resident of the US, who can do that job, and therefore must hire a foreigner.) When you get a copy of the approved petition, you attach that to your visa application, and apply for your work visa here at the US Embassy in Oslo.
[color=#1f497d]You can interview for a job on the Visa Waiver Program or another type of non-immigrant visa (tourist or student visa), but you must enter the US again with the work visa in your passport before you start to work. For more information about temporary workers. [Mod cut]
If you would like to study in the US, you can first apply to be accepted to a specific school or institution, and then apply for a non-immigrant student visa. This would allow you to stay in the US for the duration of your specific study program.
[color=#1f497d]If you do not have family or employment ties to the US, you might want to read about the Diversity Visa or so-called Green Card Lottery. It costs nothing to apply, and you can do it yourself on the internet. There is a registration period each year, so if this year's lottery is now closed, keep checking the website for information about the new registration period, usually in September or October. [Mod cut]
Best regards,
Immigrant Visa Section
US Embassy
Henrik Ibsens gate 48
0244 Oslo, Norway
e-mail: oslovisa@state.gov
Last edited by ElkHunter; 03-29-2010 at 12:39 PM..
Reason: New users cannot post links
You may also want to check out student Visa's and maybe take a few classes your first semester here... it might buy you some time to figure out the work Visa thing and will help you integrate with people your own age... also gives you a place to live.
Thank you for the answers. I checked MSU's website and see that they have a few interesting topics. I'l have to contact someone here in Norway and see how to proceed when applying for MSU. I checked some of the websites magiccity posted and found a couple houses for rent.
How much can we expect to be able to earn? Where two people, both of us would go to MSU for some classes but also want jobs. I don't know how the classes at MSU are, if they are fulltime or we would have time for work also. Basicly we are wondering about what kind of appartments we would be able to afford. We would need a car also to get around to work and school.
I'm aware of that the pay-checks are way lower then in Norway, but then again the living expenses are not as high as they are over here.
I'v heard that we could expect a starting pay at 8$ an hour? What sort of places would we be able to get jobs? MCDonald is maby not are biggest hope. And how many hours can we expect to work during a month? I'm just trying to figure out how much money we would have available if we both had a job, so that it is easyer to find an apartment.
One thing I noticed about companies who got apartments/houses for rent are that they arent that good to post pictures of them. So it will be exciting to see what we actually arrive to when we show up to some apartment we agreed on renting ^^
This is my first impression of Minot State from the website so maybe someone else would have a better opinion. Minot State's classwork appears geared toward teaching and the sciences. Either is fine but don't just take classes, complete the degree. Otherwise, you don't get the increased pay for having attended college. Good geologists are becoming difficult to find and I would think that the oil industry would be wiling to intern/co-op a student who wants to go into that field. Oil industry interns can make a great wage over the summer and gain experience for the first job out of school. If you are interested in it, Minot would be a good place to be.
I'm not sure on general wages. Minot has to compete with the oil field for general laborers but it does have a military base and college so those tend to lower wages by bringing in traditional lower wage scale labor (military spouses and dependents, students). You might make $8 to start but could be making more in 3-6 months if you have a good work ethic and stick around.
Allright, now I have shipped an e-mail to the "MSU switchboard" with some general questions and information. Now I'l just sit back and wait for an answer. I can just give up contacting the correct people working for the Norwegian government, seeing that us Norwegians love our vacations and everything with schooling is already closed down for Easter.
I doubt any of us are going to go for anything that would get us into the oil buisness. Maby we would make some money and whatnot, but there is a lack of interest ^^ Thanks for the tip tho
I got a nice e-mail in return from MSU who where quite helpfull. I've also seen all of the videos posted on their website and i must say that MSU don't seem like a bad choice. OK, it costs money but we couldnt expect it to be free. In Norway all public universities and schools are free of charge, and the government have some deal where they give you money for school outside (or inside (private schools) Norway) and about 40% of the totalt amount of money you lend is removed from the total amount upon completion of schooling. So hopefully they will help us attend MSU.
I have visited Minot a bunch of times during my life, and I have seen some of your winters. One time i was outside having a cigarette and i figured "yea il make a snowball". I have NEVER touched so cold snow in my entire life. The cold itself was ok, but the wind made it way worse then what it actually was.
Here in Norway (our part of Norway) we are used to rain and more or less nothing but rain. We might be lucky and have two months of sweet summer, and the rest of the year it basicly just rains. This winter is the first winter for like 10 years we actually have had a reasonable amount of snow that havent rained away the next day.
We are both prepared for cold, and snowfilled winters. Actually we are more or less looking forward to some snow. We are tired of the constant rain we get. The only thing I (only one with a driver license) is worried about, is having a car in the cold weather. How much should we expect to have to pay for a usable car? It dont mather if it looks like a piece of junk, as long as it gets us from A to B.
Here are som pictures from where we live if someone are interested in looking at Norwegian pictures.
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.990918%21img990899.jpg (broken link)
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.402094%21img402014.jpg (broken link)
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.400470%21img400415.jpg (broken link)
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.400724%21img400708.jpg (broken link)
We are the largest sheepfarming area in the country:
http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.400587%21img400567.jpg (broken link)
Spot on TravisW! We are from Bjerkreim which lays in Rogaland.
We don't care about what the car looks like. It could be hot pink for all we care. As long as it is drivable and wont kill us or break down it sounds smooth. Does anyone know about how parking is at MSU? And do any of the car dealers have websites we can check?
Spot on TravisW! We are from Bjerkreim which lays in Rogaland.
We don't care about what the car looks like. It could be hot pink for all we care. As long as it is drivable and wont kill us or break down it sounds smooth. Does anyone know about how parking is at MSU? And do any of the car dealers have websites we can check?
Here is a list and map of some car dealerships and most if not all do have websites from which you can check their used car inventory.
For used cars...you can go to a dealership or you can use used car dealer. My advice....at the price range you want...do have an inspection done or double check to see if the dealer you are buying it from did one. Most dealerships do an inspection before they put it on the lot to be sold. If you go more private sale...say person selling to a person...that is not the case usually and it is up to you to take the car in for an inspection to be sure it works ok.
If you think your car will be parked outside a whole lot and not used for a while....I would suggest getting a vehicle with a block heater installed. Many do around here. Many apartments offer outside outlets and you can use an extension cord to plug into the outlet and into the block heater. It just makes the car easier to start. Especially if you are looking at older cars. Also make sure the car battery is quite new as this will also help with starting in very cold weather. I dont use my cord-block heater unless it is say below -15F for a period of time. I havent had any trouble it is warmer.
Craiglist along with classified from the Minot newpaper is a good source of info about private car sells. Usually these will be a bit better deal money wise but maybe a bit more risky due to the above.
My wife is from Minot and went to MSU back in the 90s. So we frequent the town. I dont know much about MSU to help you out as I didnt go there.
I live in the Grand Forks area....and as you are probably aware the area is very thick with Norwegian heritiage over our way. The Univ of ND aviation school is a big name school in terms of pilot training. I heard they will start training tower control personnel from Norway soon. They will come over here for training to Grand Forks.
Good luck!
-- Dan
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Minot State coursework
