Hey!

I JUST moved from Toronto to LA, so I’m sure I have some pointers that could help you out.

First of all, prepare yourself for A LOT of research. I used to think that because I was Canadian and lived right near the US, it would be easy for me to go down there and just mind my own business. This is where I was wrong. We, as lovely Canadian people, do not get any favor treatments (even though we’re awesome, I know).

I’ll start by listing ways to go live in the US regardless of music options, then I’ll narrow it down a bit. I made so much research on the topic that I’m hoping it can benefit someone else too!

First of all, the ultimate easiest way to go about this is simply to register in school. Community colleges are way more affordable than actual Universities (unless you get scholarships or financial aid). I’m guessing that since you’re a bit older, you probably don’t want to invest into a degree in a fancy US university, so Community College can be an option. The fees are about 2500$ for a semester, the visa (which is really more of a ‘status’ than proper visa) is free and stupidly easy to get. If you compare the costs of other immigration solutions, this is still your fastest, easiest and most cost-effective solution. Plus, you get to learn.

You can, as you mentioned, get sponsored. I don’t know if you have a degree or not, but if you don’t, you’re basically screwed for this. To get sponsored by an employer in the US, that employer has to prove that there is nobody in the entire country as qualified as you for this particular job. If you don’t have a degree, this is very hard to prove for the employer and most employers are not that much into sponsoring international workers, with the recession and all.

If you have a degree in any of the professions listed under the NAFTA (a quick google search will give you the details on this), it might be a bit easier for you to get an actual job. But none of these professions have anything to do with music.

You can get an internship….but even that is pretty hard. If you look at http://www.swap.com, they’ll give you a few details on that. Basically if you have graduated from university for more than 1 year, you can’t take on an internship – but you can still take on an Apprenticeship. Now good luck finding those…that seems to be pretty rare at the moment.

There is also a ‘temporary worker’ visa, I believe it is called H2B. These are mostly seasonal jobs though, like working in a summer camp or an amusement park or something. I don’t think it is worth looking into at the moment. Recession has made things really hard for international workers wanting to relocate to the states and the process to get those visas is getting increasingly complicated anyways – most employers don’t even bother anymore. Plus you would have to work full-time hours and wouldnt have any time to practice music or anything.

You can also go to the US for up to 6 months – there is a debate whether it is 6 months per year or 6 months per visit. The thing is that whenever you present yourself at the customs, you are at the mercy of the customs officer. Even if in theory you are allowed 6 months per year to visit as a tourist, a lack of ties to your home country or any other reason that can make the Officer doubt your legitimate reasons to travel to the states is enough for him to deny you entry. And that’s no good, really.

Basically, as a musician, your options are limited. You can, of course, get a visa to perform, but this visa is attributed for a specific gig you are getting, or if you are touring for example. So it is not something you can use to move to the States.

On my end, I decided to go the ‘school’ way. It took me a lot of frustrating research before finally caving in. I signed up to a small community college here in California and we’ll see how it goes. Even though I already have my degree in music, I will still take music classes. It’s free lessons, free access to quality practice studios and what not. Yeah, I will have to suffer through boring easy ear training classes, but hey – if I’m the most advanced student in the class, I might get the chance to spark interest amongst my teachers and get some side gigs or something. You never know, really. It is not too expensive and it will also allow you to meet people and network a bit – a lot of the international students are older anyways so you might make new friends that are in the same situation as you are.

My suggestion to you is to not waste time exploring avenues that are time-consuming and unnecessarily hard like the work visas – unless you meet the NAFTA requirements, apparently those visas are easier to get. But even then, you need to find an employer first…which is quite hard from where you are right now. It’s a bit like the egg and the hen; you can’t really meet employers without going to the States first, but you can’t get to the States before you have your work visa…confusing. And oh so frustrating.

The best way to go about being sponsored…if that is really what you want, is to contact employers directly. Find people that you would like to work with and inquire about any apprenticeships or sponsorship or whatever. Make sure you have all the information necessary for visa stuff to explain to them, as a lot of employers may not be familiar with the idea – and by seeming like you know what you’re doing, you’ll inspire trust.

Also, you can look up an agency called International Arts & Artists. They are based out of Washington I believe (maybe I’m wrong) and they offer US opportunities for artists. My location (La Verne, CA) was quite specific so I didn’t get to find any opportunities through them, but if you’re pretty open about where you’d like to go, there’s a lot of opportunities. The lady, Anna Smith, who handles the program is really nice and easy to deal with. The fees are pretty hefty though – its almost as much as going back to school, but a tiny bit more complicated.

Anyways…this is probably the longest answer I’ve ever posted on here and I hope nobody fell asleep halfway through….and I hope I helped you with your questions!

seems like we’re getting our own little group of L.A. MW people going here.

Thanks for the heft reply,Andre-Ann! I’ve been considering the possiblity of moving to the states and you pretty much covered all the bases in one post.

Hi Andree-Ann, very insightful answer!

I have a few questions though:
- What’s the name of the VISA you got?
- Can you legally work with that type of VISA? I read on the Musicians Institute website that you can’t work off campus with the F-1 VISA, but you can however apply for a Optional Practical Training work permit after the program is completed ( http://www.mi.edu/admissions/international-students/visas ).
- Can you join the Musicians Union?
- How long is it possible stay (legally) in the States after the school is over?
- Is it possible to (maybe successfully) apply for a Green Card after you graduate?

Thanks,
Alex.

Thanks for the answer, it seems almost impossible to permanently move to the US.

One more thing though, as I understand from you first post you moved there to network. Say you land a gig touring with a pretty well known act, can you take the gig?

I remember hearing about a guy having to interrupt his collaboration with Don Dokken because he didn’t have the proper papers and had to leave the US.