Posts

And on with the blog...

PLEASE IGNORE THE DATES GENERATED BY THE BLOG SITE - I HAVE TO PUT THE DATES IN REVERSE ORDER FOR THE BLOG TO READ FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, SO I JUST ENTER RANDOM DATES THAT ARE PREVIOUS TO THE OLDER POSTS. THE ONLY DATES APPLICABLE ARE THOSE MENTIONED BY ME, NOT BY THE BLOGSITE I started writing this blog so many years ago that I am sure at least some things must have changed since I wrote it - if anyone has any info I can add, change or delete please email me at SCURTISCO at AOL dot COM and I will gladly update accordingly. This Blog the third in my series which follows the story of how I came to be an American Pharmacist. The story is told in full through: http://fpgee-test.blogspot.com/ http://h1b-lottery.blogspot.com/ http://naplex-test.blogspot.com/ Which I hope should make life a lot easier to understand for anyone trying to follow in my footsteps, since I found the process to be agonizingly painful every step of the way, and could have killed for a resource like this
1 comment
Read more

The information gradually seeps out....

OK, this is all rather complicated, but first of all let me cut and paste most of the announcement that came from USCIS on April 14th 2007: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today conducted the computer-generated random selection processes on H-1B petitions...for the 65,000 cap. The approximately 163,000 petitions received on the first five days of the eligible filing period for FY 2009 (April 1 through April 7, 2008) were labeled with unique numerical identifiers. Petitioners whose properly filed petitions have been selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008. USCIS will return unselected petitions with the fee(s) to petitioners or their authorized representatives. As previously announced, duplicate filings will be returned without the fee. The total adjudication process is expected to take approximately eight to ten weeks. For cases selected through the random selection process and initially filed for premium p
Post a Comment
Read more

The long hot summer....

Ok, where to begin with "what happened next" in this story? Well, let me try and remember because its been quite a while. First of all I could see from the UCSIS website link that I had received the all important receipt number. That is what you want to get in the lottery as it means you have been successfully drawn from the big pile. It doesn't quite 100% mean you have been accepted, but it's about 99.999% good. The only way that you would fail from being fully accepted would be if they discover an error, omission or legal problem with your application. Since the lawyers are paid a goodly sum to get it right, you wouldn't expect an issue, but I guess with 165,000 applications there might be one or two that hit an issue - although perhaps they can still be corrected. Once the authorities have confirmed the application is acceptable, they send the employer an email saying this, and the employer then sends a load of documents to the applicant which they have to l
Post a Comment
Read more

How to move to America....

If you want to move your whole house, your wife, and your 3 children to America, and you want to make life easy, there is one simple answer - TAKE A LOT OF MONEY! I imagine that many of you who follow me to America will be young, single and carefree, and will simply take one suitcase of possessions and a few hundred dollars in your pocket, you'll arrive on October 1st as the visa allows, and you'll stay in a cheap motel until you get your first pay slip. Well, that's probably what you may think will happen, but there are a variety of issues that will make life complicated even for people like you that don't have to organise the whole mess of problems that arise when you are shipping 62 boxes of goods, and need to arrange schooling for 3 kids, need a proper house to live in, or need stuff like cellphones, cable, landlines and insurance policies. So whatever your personal situation is, and however easy you think it is going to be, read on and find out what problems wil
Post a Comment
Read more

Timelines and predictions...

This entry is going to tell you about the problems around getting a Social Security Number, a "FULL" intern license, and the timeline for actually starting work and getting paid. I am writing this on August 4th 2008, prior to these events actually happening to me, but can at this point explain what I think will be the timeline of events given what I currently know. When I actually apply for real I shall probably give you a whole different set of stories but even what I know now is worth telling. After you are told that your visa/work-permit starts on October 1st, you may think that your employer is expecting you to turn up for work on that date in a shirt and suit, ready for enrollment in to the company and a lecture on health and safety in the workplace and a work schedule for the month ahead. They wont, and you shouldn't expect that to happen either. When you filled out the forms for the H1B visa application I would imagine most, if not all employers, would have requ
1 comment
Read more

Getting closer by the day now.....to STARTING work!

Please note, any comments I receive that have the posters email in I will delete for their own benefit. October 15th 2008 I am now sitting at my computer in America and have loads of things to write, even though very little has actually happened. However, I shall start by going back to getting my visa at the US embassy, and in the next blog write what has happened since I have been state-side. When I got my letter confirming I was selected in the H1B visa lottery it said I needed to go to my US consulate and have my passport stamped with the work visa (all my family had to have their passports stamped, but only adults over 18 needed to be present at the consulate thankfully). There were two basic forms that needed to be filled out ONLINE and PRINTED OFF and taken with you to the consulate. One was for the family, and one for each individual. These are fairly lengthy forms and you need to be careful you don't die from boredom filling them out. However, you must do it, and you
Post a Comment
Read more

And finally, I start my internship!

I entered the US of A under my work-permit visa on September 22nd 2008 and on September 23rd I walked in to my nearest Social Security office (contrary to my employers suggestion that I wait until 1st October) and applied for a Social Security Number (SSN) - the all important number I needed to apply to the California Board of Pharmacy for a full intern license, without which I couldn't start work. It took about a week to get a confirmation letter saying they confirmed that I had applied, and another 2 weeks to actually receive the card containing my number. I then wrote to the Board of Pharmacy informing them of my SSN and about 2 weeks later they wrote back saying they needed an actual copy of the card! I immediately emailed it to them and got an automated email back which said that the board were concentrating on processing pharmacist registrations, and would not be dealing with intern queries until October 20th. I then posted them a hard copy just to be sure, and just after t
Post a Comment
Read more