Tygo

New Member
Hi there, I'm Tygo, currently living in portugal (europe), I would like to move to the United states, alone, specifically Austin Texas, not permanentely (for now) but at least 6 months minimum would be ideal. I work as an online freelancer, in video creation and media specifically, so I can't really get a work visa because I work online by myself and it's not even directly related to the united states, and I can't get a visa based on family or marriage.
If I go as a tourist I believe I can only stay 90 days (the easiest way) or 180 with the tourist visa but I don't know if I'm even allowed to work online with that, so I'm not really sure what to do... I though I heard somewhere that maybe I could go as a tourist and then hire a lawyer that would help me extend my stay for as long as I want, is that a possibility? And if so how much would that cost and where can I search for a lawyer to help me? I'm of course afraid to get scammed when it comes to that.

I just really hope there's a simple option that can allow me to be living in the US let's stay next week, and stay there for at least 6 months, if such thing exists, but I haven't been able to find anything useful. That's all thanks for reading, I look forward to the answers a lot!
 
There is no visa to just come and live in the US in the way you describe. You can come in as a tourist on a B visa for 6 months and try extend after that (not for as long as you want, for a maximum 6 months more, lawyer not needed) but it doesn’t sound like you will actually be in the US as a tourist as such, so you may not even be allowed in at first entry much less allowed to extend. If you come in on ESTA/VWP (90 days visa free, if your passport qualifies) you cannot extend your stay.
Working online for yourself while you are in the US may also be seen as a violation of B visa/VWP status, it’s kind of a grey area but if you are doing it to actually fund living in the US it becomes less grey.
 
There is no visa to just come and live in the US in the way you describe. You can come in as a tourist on a B visa for 6 months and try extend after that (not for as long as you want, for a maximum 6 months more, lawyer not needed) but it doesn’t sound like you will actually be in the US as a tourist as such, so you may not even be allowed in at first entry much less allowed to extend. If you come in on ESTA/VWP (90 days visa free, if your passport qualifies) you cannot extend your stay.
Working online for yourself while you are in the US may also be seen as a violation of B visa/VWP status, it’s kind of a grey area but if you are doing it to actually fund living in the US it becomes less grey.
Thanks for the reply. Well yeah I would be making money to pay the rent of course. In that case, if I wanted to move to the US permanently for example, would there really be no options for me just because I work online "globally"? It seems like it would be beneficial for the country to have someone they don't even have to pay and yet they spend most of their money on the country so I find it hard to understand why make it so hard on people like this. I guess the B visa is an option, thanks for your time
 
Thanks for the reply. Well yeah I would be making money to pay the rent of course. In that case, if I wanted to move to the US permanently for example, would there really be no options for me just because I work online "globally"? It seems like it would be beneficial for the country to have someone they don't even have to pay and yet they spend most of their money on the country so I find it hard to understand why make it so hard on people like this. I guess the B visa is an option, thanks for your time
No, most if any countries do not have visas where you can just “move“ because you want to (if that was the case there would be many millions more people just arriving on them….)- if you are an EU national you of course have that right within EU borders, but otherwise you need to apply for a specific type of visa that meets the requirements of whatever visa types a particular country offers. If you have some kind of skill to offer a US company or organization you might look into a J visa for internship or exchange to give you the experience of living in the US, but that won’t be working for yourself.
 
No, most if any countries do not have visas where you can just “move“ because you want to (if that was the case there would be many millions more people just arriving on them….)- if you are an EU national you of course have that right within EU borders, but otherwise you need to apply for a specific type of visa that meets the requirements of whatever visa types a particular country offers. If you have some kind of skill to offer a US company or organization you might look into a J visa for internship or exchange to give you the experience of living in the US, but that won’t be working for yourself.
Some countries have visas for digital nomads, where it works kinda like a tourist visa but they can stay longer, work online for themselves, just pay an initial fee and also prove a certain level of income per month, but not the US unfortunately t.t.
I understand it would be a mess if a lot of people could easily move between countries but at the same time, it doesn't make much sense to me to be at such disavantage just because I wasn't born in the country I want to live in, it's not really about deserving something but more so luck, but oh well.
 
Some countries have visas for digital nomads, where it works kinda like a tourist visa but they can stay longer, work online for themselves, just pay an initial fee and also prove a certain level of income per month, but not the US unfortunately t.t.
I understand it would be a mess if a lot of people could easily move between countries but at the same time, it doesn't make much sense to me to be at such disavantage just because I wasn't born in the country I want to live in, it's not really about deserving something but more so luck, but oh well.
Well then you need to find one of those other countries. US also has visas other countries don’t , not everything suits everyone.

PS so many people would be desperately happy to be able to live in the EU as you do, so much for “disadvantage”.
 
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