Staying in NY for half a year?

[Bram]

OK, so my sister has been talking for a while now about travelling to New York for about six months. She might be quitting her job and taking up a study next year, and she'd like to visit the States after she quits the job and before she starts college. Obviously, she doesn't wanna do six months of sightseeing; she wants a temp job or something.

Now I realise you can't 'just' get into the USA for a longer period of time. Does anyone know offhand what sort of stuff she needs to look into? I'm thinking of:
- What kind of visa does she need?
- Does she need to arrange for a job / place to stay before she gets there?
- What's the maximum lenght of time that you can spend there without a green card?
- What, exactly, is a green card?
- Has anyone here ever done somthing similar or knows anyone who did (or is planning to)?
- Are there any good online resources for finding out about stuff like this?
- What is the cost of a halfway decent apartment in NY?

Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

[Bram]

Bump.

[Royal Ass.]

Contact the American Consulate.  They should be able to answer these questions.

[Bram]

OK, that's a decent idea. Strangely, I hadn't thought about that yet.

Noone has any personal experience with this?

[Englishman_in_NH]

Before I emigrated over here from the UK, I got a work visa fro a summer. I believe it worked partly because I was still in school, but it was a few years ago, so I am not positive if this was a requirement.

Either way, I was required to be sponsored, either by an employer or another credited firm. There are companies that will pay all costs of visa plus a little extra to sponsor you so that you do not need a job prior to leaving. Sorry that I cannot remember the name of the company that I used in the UK. Definitely check with the US Embassy, although checking out their website should help, as I seem to remember it explains all their different visas and who is eligible.

Hopefully this helps, even if I am a bit vague on the process. Good luck.

[Dante]

uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/index.htm

everything you need should be there.....

[Bram]

Great! Thanks a lot, guys.

[jpmeyer]

Before I emigrated over here from the UK, I got a work visa fro a summer. I believe it worked partly because I was still in school, but it was a few years ago, so I am not positive if this was a requirement.

Either way, I was required to be sponsored, either by an employer or another credited firm. There are companies that will pay all costs of visa plus a little extra to sponsor you so that you do not need a job prior to leaving. Sorry that I cannot remember the name of the company that I used in the UK. Definitely check with the US Embassy, although checking out their website should help, as I seem to remember it explains all their different visas and who is eligible.

Hopefully this helps, even if I am a bit vague on the process. Good luck.

That sounds about right.  A friend of mine came here from Sweden over the summer and intends to work here for a year, and I believe that he went through a similar process.

[BigMac]

As far as i know the green card actually is the same as the visum. As far as i know you actually need to have a job beforehand now before you can go work in the states now. I could hook you up with a friend of mine that surely has some information about that. Give me a call and i will see what i can do.