Legal Question in Immigration Law in

Re: Immigrating to the USA from Canada

No, not really. You sound like someone looking for adventure, starting out in life, just wanting to come to the US to live and work on your own. There isn't any way to do that legally. If you want to do some long range thinking, which would involve your starting a business in Canada and running it for a few years, setting up a transfer to the US, get in touch.

Re: Immigrating to the USA from Canada

Let's be clear about one thing: "immigrating" to the U.S. does not include getting a visa that isn't an immigrant visa. Some visas are available to satisfy your needs but they're non-immigrant visas, i.e., temporary visas and you'll have to return home at visa expiration. For example, you can be a student studying English at a non-college and get a student F-1 visa (unlikely for a Canadian!). NAFTA is out for you because all the jobs on the NAFTA list require at least a baccalaureate degree. You could try an H-3 for a temporary training visa with a U.S. company. There are other categories such as the J-1, L-1, or O or P visas but these are temporary as well.

Incidentally, you can immigrate to the U.S. if you have a close relative who's not a spouse such as a parent, child, or sibling. Or, have a U.S. employer petition for you. Of course, there are long waiting lists for all these methods that must be endured before your visa number is current.

Liem Doan, Esq.