Canada, Australia, Bahamas.....where to go??HELP!!

I hope somebody can help me out with this one.....im sure there must be one or two in a similar situation!:

I am a qualified accountant from the UK, 25 years old. My girlfriend is American and we have been together for 3 years. We are not intending on getting married in the near future. I was hoping to live and work in the US for maybe 2 or 3 years, with the H1B seeming to be my best option. However, after much research this seems very difficult as there are restrictions on quantity of these issued and having to find a company to sponsor me (please correct me if i am wrong!!)

As a result i think it maybe easier to move to a different country and to take my girlfriend with me. Due to my work, and after carrying out some research, i think i could obtain a work visa and employment in a few other countries for example Canada, Australia and the Bahamas. Can anybody tell me of any countries that are worth considering as a next move, both in ease of gaining a work permit for my partner and for a good quality of living standards.

My situation is further complicated as my partner has a small child who will require schooling. Can anyone offer me advice on where my girlfriend and I stand on obtaining schooling in any of these countries??

I would appreciate any advice!

trisash wrote:I hope somebody can help me out with this one.....im sure there must be one or two in a similar situation!:

I am a qualified accountant from the UK, 25 years old. My girlfriend is American and we have been together for 3 years. We are not intending on getting married in the near future. I was hoping to live and work in the US for maybe 2 or 3 years, with the H1B seeming to be my best option. However, after much research this seems very difficult as there are restrictions on quantity of these issued and having to find a company to sponsor me (please correct me if i am wrong!!)

As a result i think it maybe easier to move to a different country and to take my girlfriend with me. Due to my work, and after carrying out some research, i think i could obtain a work visa and employment in a few other countries for example Canada, Australia and the Bahamas. Can anybody tell me of any countries that are worth considering as a next move, both in ease of gaining a work permit for my partner and for a good quality of living standards.

My situation is further complicated as my partner has a small child who will require schooling. Can anyone offer me advice on where my girlfriend and I stand on obtaining schooling in any of these countries??

I would appreciate any advice!

Is it not an option for her to come to the United Kingdom?

If you're looking for a permanent move then out of the three you mention, Australia probably offers the best opportunities in terms of immigration and employment (the waiting times for Canada are very long).

If you don't get married you may well still be able to show a period of cohabitation as equivalent to marriage. Depends on the country's laws.

Does your girlfriend have the legal right to remove her child from the US and can she demonstrate this? (ie what rights does other parent have?)

Many thanks for the response. There is no problem as far as taking the child out of the country (as far as i am aware), but the question really is to where?!

As far as the UK goes, in the case of my girlfriend she does not qualify as a "skilled worker" and so it is very difficult for her to work or even stay in the UK for a prolonged period of time.

Any more advice would be gladly appreciated!

I certainly don't want to push you towards UK if you'd rather go elsewhere, but if you have actually been living together for two years or more, your other half may qualify as your unmarried partner - see "Do I Need a UK Visa?" on http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk