Hello Everyone! Can anyone aid a Scots Lassie? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: lawyers, buying)

[JennyJambo]

Hey Guys,

Having visited the USA a good few times now on vacation I have to say I love the country. So much so that I'd love to relocate and move over there permanently with my family (Husband and two kids aged 7 and 11).

I have been to Minneapolis 4 times now (shopping at MOA and sight seeing) and it's a beautiful part of the world. Of all the areas of the States I've been to it's here I'd love to settle.

Obviously the US has strict policies for entry now and that is a hurdle we need to try and work out in order to fullfill the dream over but I'm working on that!

What I am looking for is a little advice...does anyone know of a website that will list companies in the Twin Cities area who will sponsor a visa for a Brit? We need to find that to aid the move!

We both work for the Scottish Police just now as civilians so we might well need to look at a change of career or perhaps buying a business.

I'm also intrested to hear from anyone about good suburbs to look at property in and for schooling...from previous visits I like the area south of Bloomington - Apple Valley, Egan, Burnsville, Lakeville way...are these good areas for raising family?

Any ideas, hints, tips, suggestions or thoughts would be welcomed!

Thanks in advance!

[chilaili]

I'm a Brit who came over here 12 years ago on a work visa and I can tell you that you want to concentrate on the big corporations with large legal departments and preferably a couple of overseas offices as they'll be most familiar and comfortable with the process. 3M, Thomson West and Cargill are probalby the best places to start. You could also try Target, Wells Fargo, Daytons/Marshall Fields, Ecolab, General Mills, Medtronic, Northwest Airlines, Best Buy, United Health Group and Xcel Energy.

BUT the thing with visas is that the company doing the sponsoring has to be able to prove that you are the only person who can do the job and that can be tricky as some companies find that very daunting. However, I'm quite sure immigration lawyers with years of practice know all the right terminology to fulfill that requirement so don't let it put you off -- that's why companies with this experience are good to approach.

Why not also try some UK-based companies and see if they have offices over here? You also want to take a good look at your experience and education levels. If you can bring skills that are rare over here, your chances are better. Try and do some research on where the skill shortages lie, eg; medical, teaching.

One nice thing about Minnesota is that with its still relatively small immigrant communities, your chances are probably better than if you aimed for somewhere on the East or West coasts. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[pipingplumber]

Minneapolis/St. Paul also has one of the best bagpipe bands in the Midwest!!

Macalester Pipe Band - St. Paul, MN

[Woof]

I dunno anything about Minneapolis, just wandered into this subforum now, but I'd say to apply to private security or investigation firms. See if you can fill a specialty need in security, such as "international" something or other.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Woof

I dunno anything about Minneapolis, just wandered into this subforum now, but I'd say to apply to private security or investigation firms. See if you can fill a specialty need in security, such as "international" something or other.

phew! at long last the OP can put her plan into action

[Woof]

Oh crap, I didn't notice how old that thread is. I usually look.

Ever notice how there are "related threads" down below active threads? Sometimes I (and others) click on one of them without seeing when it was started, which is often years ago.

[Morwyn_7]

Originally Posted by Woof

Oh crap, I didn't notice how old that thread is. I usually look.

Ever notice how there are "related threads" down below active threads? Sometimes I (and others) click on one of them without seeing when it was started, which is often years ago.

... and yet some times an old thread and the responses still offers information for one browsing through in more current times. I am not responding directly to the OP but just adding another thought about "old threads".