Britain to America: Can I Study College?
Hi all,
I'm new to this forum as of about 2 minutes ago because I've had a burning question for a while now.
For an extremely long time I have always been interested in joining an American PD. My dad works for a UK police force but ever since I went on holiday to Florida for a few weeks, policing in America has always seemed many times more appealing than the UK law enforcement.
I did some searching, found out the majority of departments there require all applicants to be a US citizen. After more and more researching I further found out that to go about getting citizenship, one must have had a green card for 3/5 years depending on marital status.
As the minimum joining age for many American PDs is 21 upon starting training, I wanted to get the 5 year of permanent residence out the way as fast as I could so I deduced in my confused mind that possibly emigrating to the US *on my own* may be a plausible idea at the ripe young age of 16.
As of writing this, I've been 15 since April so if I were to apply for a green card it would have to be soon. My question was if this would even be possible. Are there any laws depicting one can not live/study/work in the US without a parent or guardian at 16? Would my application be denied?
I have many questions and I understand no one here may be a lawyer but any help is appreciated. Thanks!
I'm new to this forum as of about 2 minutes ago because I've had a burning question for a while now.
For an extremely long time I have always been interested in joining an American PD. My dad works for a UK police force but ever since I went on holiday to Florida for a few weeks, policing in America has always seemed many times more appealing than the UK law enforcement.
I did some searching, found out the majority of departments there require all applicants to be a US citizen. After more and more researching I further found out that to go about getting citizenship, one must have had a green card for 3/5 years depending on marital status.
As the minimum joining age for many American PDs is 21 upon starting training, I wanted to get the 5 year of permanent residence out the way as fast as I could so I deduced in my confused mind that possibly emigrating to the US *on my own* may be a plausible idea at the ripe young age of 16.
As of writing this, I've been 15 since April so if I were to apply for a green card it would have to be soon. My question was if this would even be possible. Are there any laws depicting one can not live/study/work in the US without a parent or guardian at 16? Would my application be denied?
I have many questions and I understand no one here may be a lawyer but any help is appreciated. Thanks!
The us immigration system is much more complicated than you think, you'd need some sort of skill or trade to move there to work (or be famous/start a business) in the first place and even then it would take you years to get a green card and even then it would take you years to become naturalized (Become a us citizen) It's not worth all the hassle of gaining some sort of skill or trade to move there and work for years just to quit to attempt to join the police force which may not even happen. Plus even I'm making it sound more simple than it is, even with a skill there's a lot of money, time, stress, and political bull crap involved in immigrating to america. Theres a cap on the amount of visas given in a year, and you'd never be given one if they found out this was your true intent just to join the PD. You wouldn't get any sort of visa at the age of 16 unless you had a family member in the states, you could study at a university there at 18 (Yes the degree could help you acquire a visa) but that doesn't go towards that 5 years of permanent residency.
In fact, just research the US immigration system and you'll understand why it's a waste of your time and impossible to do in the frame of time you were suggesting especially with no source of income/skill or being famous/renowned
[edit] Just another thing, i'm pretty sure most if not all US police force's only accept natural born US citizens.
In fact, just research the US immigration system and you'll understand why it's a waste of your time and impossible to do in the frame of time you were suggesting especially with no source of income/skill or being famous/renowned
[edit] Just another thing, i'm pretty sure most if not all US police force's only accept natural born US citizens.
(edited 6 years ago)
Hi Harold
Thanks for your response.
It's a shame you say that, because I clearly had it in my head I would be able to emigrate at 16 to both work and study simultaneously.
I was also surely told that it didn't take years to have a green card petition accepted, moreover the side of around 9-12 months. Still though a long time yes.
I ask you what do you suggest for me and my situation then? I did always have a backup plan of staying in the UK, getting a BSc then an F-1 to go to the states and get my Masters in law before finally applying for the green card under the EB2-NIW... it would just take such a long time and by the time I apply for the PD I myself would be somewhere in the regions of about 28/29 if I'm being realistic. That would be a shame on top of the massive amount of debt that I'd be in. Not a route I'd like to take.
Nevertheless, please leave your suggestions. I'm more than determined to reach my target.
Best regards.
Thanks for your response.
It's a shame you say that, because I clearly had it in my head I would be able to emigrate at 16 to both work and study simultaneously.
I was also surely told that it didn't take years to have a green card petition accepted, moreover the side of around 9-12 months. Still though a long time yes.
I ask you what do you suggest for me and my situation then? I did always have a backup plan of staying in the UK, getting a BSc then an F-1 to go to the states and get my Masters in law before finally applying for the green card under the EB2-NIW... it would just take such a long time and by the time I apply for the PD I myself would be somewhere in the regions of about 28/29 if I'm being realistic. That would be a shame on top of the massive amount of debt that I'd be in. Not a route I'd like to take.
Nevertheless, please leave your suggestions. I'm more than determined to reach my target.
Best regards.
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