Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

Who did not say, Blair?

 

I remember him saying before that he came on an h2b. I glanced the link above and he does say that’s how he came here but never mentions the occupation tied to it. So I edited my post once I saw he didn’t say it was for driving.

 

Actually, I think he was a member of the Chippendales. Things went south when they inspected his, um, 'package'.

 

I thought he came here for veggie picking and no one could drive the watermelon school bus.

Or maybe it will as the great invasion of kangaroos where they brought in Aussies to fight them off. Driving the mRooRats

 

Yes sir, I did.

 

Oh wow, can you give more details? Did you have a trucking company as a sponsor? How long was your contract and what kind of freight were you supposed to be moving? What year was that?
Also what was your classification in the Visa? Truck driver?

 

Just spent 45 minutes catching up - gimme a second.

 

2004.

In 2003 a co worker in NZ had made the comment "You can make a lot of money driving trucks in the USA"

Early days of the internet in New Zealand, 27 years old. 56kbps modem days. I found 'Truckers 4 USA" website, ran by a couple of Australians , Paul and Annette Carpenter. Paul was the mouth, Annette was the brains.

Their package was about $2700 NZD then - included flights, training and accommodation until hiring by a US trucking company.

Freymiller - now defunct D&D Sexton (Carthage,MO), the company I worked for - Rising Fenix, Mount Vernon, MO - and RW Miller, UT - were the ones I was aware of.

All Australian, NZ and a couple of South African and British drivers.

I raised a second mortgage on my house, planned my projected expenses, and set forth. I had my first house at that stage in NZ, and could see that the path to owning 2-3 more rentals would take a 10-20 year timeframe to complete.

At that stage, the USD was strong - $1,000 USD could be anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 NZD. So - as a middle management salaried employee, or transportation (light transport driver), my $30,000 NZD efforts working 50-60 hours a week, could be (30cpm times 3,000 miles a week) $45k USD - could be $67,500NZD. Why not take the chance, double my income, pay down mortgages faster and have a great experience?

And NZ was far from a third world country at that stage.

H2B visa was the entry status. AS I UNDERSTAND - it's a 'seasonal and agricultural' short term visa. Doesn't specifically state truck driving, aside from grain harvest, of which I was aware of at the time that many large farms also utilized this.

Truckers for USA (T4USA) would work with the trucking company here, who would post in the local papers "Drivers needed at 28 cpm". No responses. Too low.

T4USA would take that to the Labor department and petition for H2B visas from already recruited foreign drivers, and take that to immigration, and would get H2B visas granted - to specifically and only - work for that employer - as a truck driver only.

Once approved, back in NZ - I travelled to the US consulate, in front of a real American, who asked me a few basic questions to my very nervous self, and then a visa was granted, and on the plane I went. H2B visa stamped in my NZ passport.

The visas only lasted 9 months. By the time you got here, and got a CAR license (like a 15 year old), then written for CLP, then actually tested for full CDL, and - D & D Sexton would not allow me to drive without a SSN - (for me 6 weeks later) - There was only 6 months left on the visa - if that.

So - here is the loophole. You (Annette Carpenter) would apply for an extension, which was never addressed - immigration was so backed up at that stage, but so long as you had a RECIEPT for extension, pending review, you could continue LEGALLY for 2 years, before having to leave the USA and restart the process.

In that 2 year time frame, I had met Gretchen. I applied for an EAD (Employment Authorization Document) AKA 'work card'. This gave me another 2 year window, and I think it did not require me to work solely as a truck driver, but it gets a bit fuzzy.

We married at about the 2.5 month mark, and applied for a green card - because once you are married to a US citizen, the path to citizenship is fast tracked. 2 yer green card, then a 10 year green card, then 'Naturalized Citizenship' was achieved in about 8 years, and many thousands of dollars in filing fees, biometrics, immigration lawyers etc etc.

This is 'family based citizenship'. When I took my oath as a US citizen, in KC in 2011 - I was in a room of 30 other immigrants, the bulk of which were past the 'working age' - family members that were being sponsored in to the country. that kinda bothered me. I realized I was going to be one of the long term payers into the system, for others older family members that would soon be handed SS benefits. That was not my intention coming here.

I wanted to do it legally, assimilate, be productive, and thrive in a system and country that fascinated me by its wealth of opportunity. Not sponsor an extended family over here, (not that any of them would have wanted to).

A friend from Aussie applied for a green card based on work, using his employer as a sponsor - took him 8 years to get a green card.

Not sure if this answers any questions, relative to the discussion - I've got a bunch more thoughts, but that is /was my experience.

 

That was below the belt Opus.

 

I see what you did there.