Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
I am moving to California from Canada this summer. I will be going to school in Jaunary 05. In the meantime, I would like to dance. Has anyone ever heard of a Canadian moving to Cali to dance? Is it illegal for me to dance? Will i have a hard time finding work? Is Vegas out of the question too?
Cali_Tiffany :crossfingers: :-*
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
I posted this on the "blue" site in response to a similar query about LA clubs from Farrah Holiday, who has yet to extend me the courtesy of a "thank you."
Here's the link:
http://www.stripclubjunkie.com/forum...bbse/t1474.htm
CP
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Chili,
Thankyou!!! Im on my way there now :-*
Cali_Tiffany XO
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Tiffany, one subject which wasn't discussed at the Blue Site is the issue of the US Patriot Act, which was enacted after the 9/11 disaster. One big provision is that employers are now responsible for checking the work status of potential employees, and subject to heavy fines if they hire 'illegals'. Basically, the only 'legal' employees are US citizens, permanent resident Aliens (with a "green card"), or visiting Aliens who have been granted a work visa specific to the type of work they are seeking. If you are a Canadian citizen, that makes you an Alien in the USA.
Another change resulting from the Patriot Act was the removal of a work exemption for Aliens in the USA on a student visa in order to attend college here. Since the Patriot Act, the work exemption for general businesses was cancelled, meaning that visitors to the USA on a student visa can only work for the educational institution which they are attending.
Because of the penalties involved, most upscale and/or corporate chain clubs will want to see your US ID and US social security number, along with a US address, when filling out the job application. As a Canadian citizen, unless you can convince your US consulate to issue you a work visa for dancing, odds are that you won't be hired by these sort of clubs. There are of course many clubs which will hire any hot looking girl no questions asked, but usually these clubs disregard other laws (like prostitution and drug laws) just as easily as they disregard the Patriot Act.
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Melonie,
So disheartining to read, but thank you for the info. :((
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Tiffany, if it's any consolation, US dancers now have exactly the same problem when trying to work in Canadian clubs. For example, Niagara Falls or Ft. Erie Ontario Clubs, which are just across the border from Buffalo, NY, used to have tons of girls who lived in the Buffalo area work in clubs on the Canadian side of the border. However, because of all of this extra border security and document checking, US girls now are required to obtain a Canadian work visa. Even though this is not as difficult as a Canadian girl obtaining a US work visa, it still has major overtones like a background investigation and the automatic reporting of the US girl's Canadian income to the American Tax people (IRS). As a result, many Ontario border clubs are now having trouble obtaining enough dancers, and are starting to rely on agencies to bring them new girls. I imagine the same situation exists wherever the difference in income potential (i.e. difference in laws and permitted club offerings) once gave clubs on one side of the border an advantage, but now the new security laws have made it much more difficult to actually benefit from the cross border situation.
If you're really determined, it's actually quite easy to obtain permanent resident alien status (i.e. get your "green card"). Lots of Canadian and Mexican girls have done this. All you have to do once you get to the USA is to marry a US citizen. Then one day after your "green card" arrives you divorce him (or her as the case may be, if you're moving to California or Massachusetts!), and start working legally anywhere you want.
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Hey Melonie,
Actually my boyfriend lives in Cali, and was born there. We are planning to get married when I get there. Is the process very long after that?
Tiffany
XO
PS...Sent ya a pm
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
The timing depends on how deeply either of your records wind up being investigated. If both of you are 'fine upstanding citizens' then things could go as quickly as a couple of months after you are married, living at a California address, and file for your "green card"
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
I live in California and I've been thru the marrying someone who is not a citizen. Let me tell you this even after you get married it is not a guarntee that you will become a citizen, get your green card or even get a resident alien work status. As of right now it takes years and many trips to INS offices for the interviews. Honestly california already had immigration issues before 9/11 but now it's ten times worse. The best bet is to get a good immigration law but sometimes that doesn't work. I don't mean to break dreams but just give a dose of reality from someone who has been there and still fighting
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
I've met 2 so far in SF. They seem to be doing well, and making good money.
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Miss Jessica
Do you know if they are working at a lisenced establishement, or no?
Tiffany
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
Quote:
I live in California and I've been thru the marrying someone who is not a citizen. Let me tell you this even after you get married it is not a guarntee that you will become a citizen, get your green card or even get a resident alien work status. As of right now it takes years and many trips to INS offices for the interviews. Honestly california already had immigration issues before 9/11 but now it's ten times worse.
I hate to say this about American justice, but there are tons of factors which affect just how much grief the Immigration Service/State Dep't will put an applicant through. A lot of "profiling" is used, which is just a nice way to say that if your country of origin is on the 'A list' (i.e. Canada, UK, Aus, NZ, Western Europe) you'll have a much easier time than if your country is on the 'Shit List' (i.e. Middle East, Mexico/Latin America, Africa, Far East).
A big factor is the reliability and accuracy of personal/criminal records from the home country, as well as the time it takes for the home country to provide this info to US authorities. If the country of origin is on the 'A list', US authorities will tend to accept that the personal/criminal records they receive are complete and accurate, and take them at face value. If the country of origin is on the "Shit List", US authorities may very well assume that home country personal/criminal records may not be complete or accurate (or perhaps falsified or whitewashed), will not accept them at face value, and may decide to begin an independent investigation. This can make a huge time difference, with a Canadian applicant's records able to be checked instantly with Ottawa during one INS interview, versus a Mexican applicant's records taking several months just for Mexico City to provide paper copies (which may then not be accepted at face value).
Another factor is whether or not the applicant has a college degree or mainstream trade skill which US authorities would consider a benefit to America, versus having no particularly useful job skills which American authorities would consider a risk that this applicant would become a welfare recipient or a criminal. The applicant's financial records are a large factor in this as well. Rightly or wrongly, this is also a much larger factor for male applicants than it is for female applicants.
Yet another important "profiling" factor is of course the background of the US family which the applicant has married into. Again not wanting to admit the unfairness of the process, but it makes a huge difference whether the family in question has lived in a $1,000,000 home in Malibu for three generations and family members have steady professional jobs and squeaky clean criminal records, versus a family living in East LA with sketchy non-professional job histories and possibly a few run-ins with local police over the years.
Granted that since the passage of the Patriot Act, immigration procedures are followed much more strictly than in the past - such that every single applicant's identity, criminal record, financial history, and US family background will be checked. However, based on what these checks turn up, as well as the "profiling" factors and the judgement of the US government as to whether or not the applicant represents a desireable addition to America, it can make a huge amount of difference as to whether the immigration process gets expedited or stalled for as long as possible.
Re:Please Help !!! Canada 2 Cali
I have always been a very good girl. I hope this will be taken into consideration like u say Melonie ;)