Tutorial - Tutorial - Working and Living as a Canadian In America
quad damage
Hey guys,
I have just posted this on my 'art dump' but figured I would post it here just in case any one was interested. Basically, this is an attempt to outline my adventure beginning work in America as a Canadian. In no way is this how every situation will play out, an official 'how to' or anything like that - just trying to spread my experience since A LOT of people ask about working in the States and what you 'need' to do that.
If you are interested in this subject and have any questions I could answer - I would love to try and help out and maybe add them to this short story.
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Intro
I am a Canadian who happily works in the United States. In my little adventure, I have hit every imaginable bump in the road or at least it seems like it and thought it would be great to write down my experiences while they are still fresh in my mind.
This in NO WAY reflects on or will discuss my employer, our relationship, what Im doing at work, my artwork in general or anything else other than the ramblings of one Canadian who is snug in Americas digestive system.
I am not an immigration lawyer or expert, dont take what I say seriously this is more of a conversation over a pint rather than idiots guide.
This isnt the sort of thing that I would usually write, but after dealing with this transition I felt really motivated to write some things down that may help others when they find themselves in a similar situation. In no way is this criticizing the system, my job, the industry, governments, etc. but instead is merely just an observation and an attempt to share what little knowledge I have gained. Consider it half blog entry, half tutorial, half Luke Skywalker and half Darth Vader.
Obtaining A Work Visa
If you want to work in the United States - Get a job in the United States. Seriously. This may sound obvious, and if it does, good, but many people attempt for a work Visa with no job lined up. Make it clear what sort of experience you have and if they have lawyers at their disposal to help you out. If they are looking at you, have brought you on site, given you a test, etc. they probably already know the deal but you can never be too safe. Having the backing of a company and their lawyers was a huge bonus in my situation and gave me an advantage that I am very grateful for.
After you get the job you will need to obtain a work Visa. My work Visa is a TN Visa, so that is all I really know about but there are apparently others that you could go for. The TN Visa is part of the NAFTA agreement established by Canada, America and Mexico. Within it there are listed careers and the requirements needed for said career in order to obtain the Visa. I am a Graphic Designer, there is no entry for Game Developer and Software Engineer isnt exactly what I do. Think of it like explaining to your grandmother what you do for a living. Not that the border officials are senile or anything, but they most likely have no idea what it is yo do 'exactly.' So, to avoid confusion: You make pictures. You make them for video games. You design graphics, as it were, for video games.
When I applied for my work Visa, I had only one year of schooling but more than the minimum of required work experience (which is 3, but I had 5.) However, since much of my legitimate work experience is freelance work it is harder to prove this to immigration officials when the time comes. Anyone can say Sure, I worked for MegaGames in December 2008. Get solid studio experience if you do not have a bachelors degree and pair it with at least 1 year of school even if it is a dinky college of a relevant nature. I never thought that that piece of paper would do something good for me, but having it in the stack of paper work Im about to explain to you certainly made my life easier.
I have been an advocate of the self taught route for quite a while, even though I had attended school myself. It was and, to a certain degree, still is my opinion that you do the majority of learning on your own and that 'game art' schools are a giant waste of money - HOWEVER - the piece of paper that I obtained from this school was crucial to me getting my work Visa so, I must admit, casting my bad feelings aside - I am glad that I went to school when I did.
First, I needed to obtain as many experience letters from my former employers as I could signed that vouched for my time working for them and all of this time needed to add up to at least 3 years of experience. Luckily, everyone Ive ever worked with is awesome and quickly did this for me. I also needed to obtain a letter from my schools Education Director that more or less stated the same thing just regarding my schooling along with transcripts of my schooling to go with my original diploma. This is basically a way to prove that your experience is legit. Again, good luck proving Freelance experience - To someone not in the know, it seems very sketchy.
Also, you will need the official job offer letter from your employer and information on them. Basically, this is all listed in the NAFTA paperwork and is only something that your employer can provide.
Many people I have talked to will say It all depends on the official at the border if they are having a bad day, so will you. That may be the case, but the person in charge of my Visa was extremely approachable and easy to work with. It could be that America had just kicked Canadas ass at our own game in my city in the Olympics or he could have just been a nice guy, not sure.
Try to look nice for your interview. You will get profiled and if you look like a slob, youre going to get treated like one. They arent paid to be nice people, theyre paid to be a line of defense for their country. I have many tattoos, two full sleeves and a half leg sleeve. It was very important that I dress up and look nice which was advised by lawyers and friends who had been through this experience as well. For the first time in my life, I was dressed in a suit and, though I felt awkward, I feel as though they treated me like a professional when they probably wouldn't before.
In general, during your Visa interview try not to make things more complicated than they need to be. Immigration officials dont care how talented you are, they want to see if you meet the criteria given by NAFTA. Dont use terminology to sound educated on the subject because they arent and will probably just get confused. Order all of your papers, in a neat folder, as they are listed in the NAFTA requirements. The people at the border are doing a job anything you can do to make their job easier is a good thing. Colour coded? Awesome. Papers ordered in the same order as the NAFTA checklist? Awesome. This is the same for us if someone names their files properly. Can we still do the job, yes, but isnt it so much better when you dont need to search for things?
All in all, my Visa experience something that many people will tell you is a Hellish process and is equivalent to facing off against a pit bull was actually very easy and pleasant. Just make sure you follow the rules, look nice, be nice and have everything organized twice.
Some great advice from a friend was, 'Follow the rules. If you follow the rules and have everything NAFTA requires - they have no reason to deny you.' I found this to be true and, at the very least, it made me feel more confident at the border.
Land of the Free (Plus Security Deposit)
As a Canadian in America, you have no credit. No credit means no history. No history means a hard time proving you are not a dead beat. For my first apartment, I had to pay 3 months rent up front 1st month rent, 1 month damage deposit and 1 more month deposit as a liability for not having any credit. Not BAD credit, just no credit history. I also had to drop deposits for cable and power. This may be different based on who you deal with or what state you are in.
Before all of this, though, you will need to obtain a very important piece of information the social security number. This number is like the life blood to Americans and is similar to a Social Insurance Number to Canadians though seemingly much more crucial. Before I could get a place to live or have anything hooked up, I needed an SSN. Though this may seem like common sense, it wasnt at the time for me.
The problem with getting an SSN as an alien is that you need to have a Visa and proof that you are, indeed, working for this company. So, if you can somehow obtain a Visa weeks before you actually move to the states, you can apply for a SSN and possibly have it ready before you enter the country as a resident.
Also, be prepared to pay for renters insurance which seems necessary here. Probably a good idea to have anyways but it was never presented to me as being mandatory in Vancouver, Halifax or Fredericton.
Your average American or average person anywhere for that matter will have no idea what is involved in the Visa process or working in a different country under a work Visa. Try not to get frustrated as you will be explaining your situation many different times throughout this entire ordeal. Many people have not had to go through the experience of setting up shop in a new country and are generally only used to dealing with residents of the country who already know how things work. Because of this, there were a lot of things that I ran into as a last minute Oh yeah youll need this situation. SSN, insurance, deposits in the form of bankers checks all were last minute surprises for me.
Oddly enough, I got a bank account very easily and only need to show a valid piece of ID which was my passport. Which leads me to...
Dont Lose Your Fucking Passport
When I first got to America, there were a lot of things I needed to take care of on a daily basis. Going to the bank, going to the SSN office, going to my landlords office, etc. and would often need identification the only valid ID I had was my passport. Many places will not accept your out of state ID, including bars, so I had to carry it with me most of the time.
While enjoying a delicious lunch with a friend, I had foolishly left my bag which contained my passport, cell phone, pay check and glasses case - in the restaurant. This is something I never do. I had never lost anything important up to that point, honestly, and can only blame my forgetfulness on sleep deprivation.
About an hour after I had returned to work, I realized that something was missing. I scurried back to the lunch spot as quickly as possible to see my bag toppled over on the floor. Rummaging through my bag, I could see that my passport and pay check were gone. On the brink of turning green and smashing through a few brick walls, I went back to the office to tell my HR manager what was going on. As I am feeling my purple pants and white dress shirt tear apart in rage two complete strangers come to the office with my information in hand. Apparently they had found it on the floor and wanted to return it to the office. I was very lucky and never carry my passport with me or if I do, its stapled to my chest.
The solution to this is to get a state ID / drivers license. Of course, you cant get this until you have a SSN and a valid address within the state. So, this is the last thing you will be able to get but probably the most useful as losing your passport (which your TN Visa is clumsily stapled to) could be a giant pain in the ass.
Mothership Connection
If you have a significant other that you enjoy keeping around, you will have a very hard time having them live with you legally unless you are married. My long time girlfriend and common-law spouse, at the time, who had been with me for 10 years couldnt legally live in the United States or be rolled into my benefits. Common-law arrangements do not translate outside of Canada. Though there are spousal equivalents, it seems to be very difficult to prove this and doesnt hold as much power as the Canadian version. As cold as it sounds, the solution to this is to get married it makes life a lot easier if you were willing to make that commitment anyways but just put it off.
The spouses Visa is based off of your own TN Visa and is a TD status. This means they can go to school and can live with you as long as your TN Visa is valid. Everything becomes based on the TN and, in many ways, the spouse becomes your responsibility.
Of course, if the spouse / significant other has a degree or is able to work in the United States, they are fully capable of obtaining their own work Visa.
Man's Best Friend
Someone who wont be able to get their own Visa, however, is the family house pet. I have a cat and very much wanted her to come to America with me. The process to do this is very straight forward and, in my experience, easy. My cat is huge, so I needed to make some different reservations, but for the most part all you will need to do is have a rabies shot for the animal and a letter from the vet stating that the animal is in good health this letter needs to be within 30 days of the animals entry into the states. In this case, good health means that the animal isnt patient zero. Not carrying any diseases, not on the verge of death, not a danger to airline staff.
My cat is huge 20 lbs. so I needed to buy her an airline approved carrying case and she had to be stored with the luggage under the plane. This broke my heart as my imagination had her shifting around with bags of dirty underwear and bathing suits. You will also need to provide the animal with dry food and water within 4 hours of the trip. For my trip, I had to pick my cat up in customs during the first stop over I only had an hour to do all of this and would recommend giving yourself more breathing room. Going through customs, getting all of my luggage, rechecking all of my luggage and giving my cat a morale boost made my schedule very tight and nearly caused me to miss my (our) flight. Granted, this falls on the shoulders of the airline but who wants that stress either way? Ultimately, she made it fine after a 9 hour trip was mildly shaken up as Im sure cats have no concept of flight and was back to her sleeping 90% of the time self.
End
This has been the hardest thing Ive ever done. It has been totally worth it and I would do it again in a second. I had help along the way from friends, but it was still a very complicated situation that took some time to figure out. Like pulling a tooth, its painful, takes time, but once it is done life is a lot better.
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Replies
I came from Brazil tho. A bit different sittuation.
I would be very, very, VERY surprised if you were able to get a US visa of any type with just a high school diploma. For whatever reason, US immigration considers them the be-all end-all of who is and isn't worth entry. Possibly once you've hit a decade or two of on-the-job experience you could wave it, but it would probably be faster and cheaper to get a degree than work around it.
Another thing is that even if it's possible, if it's too expensive or too much hassle, a company will just not bother. The more hoops to jump through, the more expensive the immigration lawyer will be.
I'd do a write up like this for Iceland, but it's really just two lines:
1) have a job offer from an icelandic company
2) have proof of no (serious) criminal record in your home country.
It was a very interesting read, even though im British :P
Thanks for taking the time to go through all this.
Adam, for once I agree with poop. Actually, i guess I do a whole bunch of times...but still...American immigration seemed very black and white to me. Basically, here is the checklist - do you have all of the items? Yes, pass. No, fail. I would even start to recommend that if going to America is a future goal for new artist or something to even consider finding the cheapest degree possible as long as it provides paperwork. Honestly, that's all they did for me and my school is practically unknown. Just having that (original) piece of paper made the official go 'check.' My schooling is only 1 year + 5 years experience. Oddly enough, since that paper looked pretty official, I think that it was almost more valuable than the done of reference letters I had. I also had all of my ROE papers and tax forms at the ready, but didn't provide them because it would be very confusing.
glib> Hah, yeah man, tell me about it. I dressed 'worse' at my own wedding.
Gav
Anyway, nice write up Gav. I never realized you had to go through so much BS to get into the US. And the credit thing, blows. It's better to have shitty credit, then no credit at all! Also, how the hell did you find an apartment that let you keep your cat haha. I have a hell of a time when I want to move, its impossible to find anyone that allows pets anymore.
I think how it works is 2 years of experience = 1 year of college, so 8 years would work.
4 years for non canadians AFAIK, so with 12 years work experience you can have the equivalent of the required bachelor's degree
Great thread GAV, I just went through all the same stuff as you during the last few months. Man it's been a hassle and I'm so glad I got everything in order now. Especially not having credit history is very annoying, I've paid around 3000$ now just for deposits on appartment, phone, utilities etc. Getting the SSN has taken forever as well. Soooo glad I have it now, you really can't get anything done without it, I wish i had known this beforehand, I'd have applied for it before I moved here..
I really didn't expect this much hassle at all to be honest, I guess I was spoiled by how easy it was when I moved to Sweden. All I had to do then was sign up at the tax office which took like 30 minutes..
To get the VISA I just barely qualified since I don't have a college degree. However, I did 3 years of college before dropping out, and have 4 years of industry work experience. So the Blizzard immigration lawyer managed to convince immigration my experience equals an american Bachelor's degree. Definitely get those college years done guys if you plan to go here
Also, it sounds like maybe I should pay the last of my dues to school and get my long overdue piece of paper.:poly122:
Not well, I can assure you :P I was offered a job in the US but couldn't get immigration certification to go out there from the UK and after 4 months of faffing around I gave up on it. This was just out of school really and although it wasn't for games work I still had a full time job waiting for me (family friend :P). But as far as UK-to-Canada goes, the Visa took less than a week to approve and I was out there for 5 years for software programming.