Which visa?

[Athers]

Hi folks,

I am a school teacher here in the UK, and have been for the last 8 years.

I am intent on moving over to the US either on a temporary or a permanant visa. Problem is, I do not know which visa would be best for me.

I have been visiting Myrtle Beach over the past 3 years on holiday, and as a consequence I have got to know quite a few people over there, some in the education business.
During my last visit (March) I had an interview for Horry County Schools. The interview went very well and I know they are keen to employ me.
Problem is, they advised me to join the VIF program which would allow me to get a J visa and work over there on an exchange basis.
I applied for the VIF program as soon as I returned to the UK but was rejected.
The reason for the rejection is that my teaching degree was in Physical Education, but I was applying to teach Mathematics and apparently you are not allowed to teach in a subject you werent trained for. Silly thing is is that ive taught full time Maths for the past 8 years. I am head of faculty and have an excellent track record of results.

My question is this, Is there any other routes open to me? Can you apply for the J visa independantly? And is it a requirement that to teach Maths I would need to have a maths degree?

Thanks for anyone that can help in any way.

[sakura]

Not knowing where Myrtle Beach was confusing...it is in the state of South Carolina.

From what I have researched, you would need professional certification in mathematics to teach in the US. Mostly this is via a college education degree or higher education certification, other times it is through alternative certification (e.g. if you obtained your degree or teaching certificate in one subject but not wish to teach another subject).

Having experience is good but they have a lot of certification processes to ensure standards.

SC board of education: http://www.scteachers.org/cert/foreign.cfm

http://www.scteachers.org/cert/exam.cfm

These are to teach permanently in SC. As an exchange teacher, you would probably need to contact SC board of education to find out exactly what you need. But mathematics is a difficult one because it is quite complex and specialist. VIF didn't answer your type of situation (qualifed in a different subject) properly in their FAQs section, but I suppose PE to mathematics is quite a jump.

The J-visa is usually an exchange visa so it is arranged by organisations. I don't think you'd be able to apply for it on your own or through your school - only through places such as VIF.