A new, very exiting website was launched recently. It is a new Freelance Market called Flexitwork. You can visit this website at www.flexitwork.com. This market is exclusively in Portuguese.

They are dedicated to providing you with the best place to find the best freelance talent.

Founded in 2022 in the United States by Daniel Dias, Flexitwork has come a long way from its inception to its launch.

Daniel Dias has over 15 years of international experience in team leadership in large, medium and large companies, and this passion led him to start his own business because he knew how important it was to have access to highly qualified professionals quickly and easily for any kind of project. This need has become even more urgent due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the turning of the trend from the typical office work to a more hybrid or 100% remote side, where people are no longer so willing to commute and create community where work resides but want to reside with family and work remotely.

I hope you enjoy the website as much as i enjoyed it.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

I have an L1A Visa and it is valid for 7 years (3+2+2). 3 years have passed and it is time for me and my wife, that has an L2 Visa, to renew it. Many things went wrong with the renewal. The immigration lawyer firm that handled my case did a lot of mistakes but in the end, all went well.

Let me tell you what i know and what you need to do to avoid these mistakes.

One of the things that you need to remember is in order to have a driver’s license renewal you need to have the renew Visa and I94. The rules change in every state so be dure to call DMV to know more about it.

The lawyer company needs to give you the I-129S with the case number 3 months before the expiration date so you can arrange a Visa interview in time. There are waiting times for the interview that you need to check to plan ahead. Use this link for that https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html.

To renew thins kind of visa you need to leave the US and go to a US embassy. If things are done properly your wife can stay and ask for an extension to USCIS while in the Us by mail. I’ll get to that later. I am from the EU and to avoid travelling so far i thought i could go to a US Embassy in Canada and just to it there. You can the problem is that the waiting times, if you are not Canadian or living in Canada are much higher than the ones displayed in the above link. They can go to 4-6 months waiting time.

First thing go to this website and fill the DS-160 online. https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

After you have a DS-160 go to the embassy website and book the interview. This link is an example if you want to go to the one in UK. https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/niv/users/sign_in

This is the paperwork you need to take with you:

• • Form I-129, completed by US employer
  • Prior L1 status
  • Previous I-94
  • L1 visa
  • 3 x Pay stubs
  • Confirmation Form W-2 that shows are employed with the L1 employer
  • An extension support letter signed by the employer explain to USCIS the conditions of your employment and reason for your stay in the US
  • 1 Photo 2×2 inches
  • Passport valid for at least 6 months on the time you get in back into the US

So i went to EU to my home country and my wife stayed in the US. You can take your wife with you and she can renew it also at the some time. You both will get the I94 at the same time and can renew the driver’s license on the next day. If you decide to ask for an extension by mail for your wife, she probably only get an answer if it was approved after 2-3 months. So that is 2-3 months without the ability to drive.

Everything went ok in the embassy, they approved my renewal. After i had the ok from the embassy i had to wait 5 days to get my passport back. I enter the US with no problems and i gave my I94 to the lawyer company to start the process of renewing my wife’s Visa. Before you would get the I94 from the USCIS officer when you enter US. Now you go online and you print it. Just go to this website https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/.

I gave my I94 to the lawyer company 2 weeks before the Visa expiration and they failed to file in time the request to extend my wife’s Visa so the only option she had since she was out of status, was to get out of the country and do the same thing i did.

The request to USCIS to extend the visa must be filled at least 45 days before the Visa expiration. Have that in mind.

My concern now is that my wife is out of status and what can happen to her. The law firm told me she has a 6-month window to ask for renewal in a Us embassy without any consequences. I found that it was a half-truth. Legally if she renews the Visa max after 6 months of expiration she would not be penalized. If you do it after 6 months you will probably be banned from Us for a year.

I found out that if you are out of state, even if less than 6 months, even if the probability is very low when flying domestically a USCIS agent can ask for your status and extradite you. Another thing i read is the USCIS agent on customs when you re-enter US after the Visa renewal can deny you entry if you overstayed in the US.

Plan wisely, be aware of the time frames.

My interview and my wife’s last 5 min to have the renewal approved and in order for us both to travel to EU the costs were about $8000 (flight cost, hotel, car rental, food, etc)

I wish US had a better policy to renew the Visas where you could just go to a government agency in the US instead of leaving the country. The process is very costly and time-consuming.

Let me know if you need more details about the process and good luck. On the next post, i will speak about obtaining the Green Card process.

Hi,

I am here to talk to you about what you need to do after you arrive to the US to settle in. The housing, Social security, Taxes, driving licence, authorization for your wife to work, opening a bank account and your first cell phone.

When i started a new position in the US, the company that hired me arranged for temporary accommodation for 6 months so i did not had to worry about housing for some time.

The first thing you need to take care is the social security number SSN. The SSN is widely needed so do it as soon as possible. Go to the SSN office and take with you your Visa, I-94 and proof of address. It took 3 weeks for my SSN card to arrive by mail. During those 3 weeks i went to 2 or 3 banks and only one allowed me to open an account without SSN. I was able to open an account on Bank of America quite easily. Now i have an account where my salary can be deposited and my card took more or less 2 weeks to arrive.

Next thing i needed was a cellphone so i could stop using my foreigner one. Lucky me my UK phone could be used without roaming or any fee on the US. I had no luck getting a cellphone with a contract without a SSN so i had to wait the 3 weeks to be able to get one. You can easily get one if you pay it in full.

I had to start thinking on getting an US driving license. I could use mine from Europe for 6 months max. Go to the closest DMV office. Take proof of your address, Visa and your I-94. You will have to do a computer test where you have 30 questions and you can fail maximum of 5. They will let you repeat the test a second time if you fail the first time. It is strange when you see 14 year old kids doing the test also because yes a 14 year old can get a special license to drive to School.

After you passed the computer test you just go around the block to do the driving test that is quite easy. The tests are much more demanding in Europe. The drivers licence will be valid till the date of your I-94.

If you wife has a spouse Visa, she can get authorization to work in the US filling the I-766 (EAD) document and then go to the SSN office.This is quite a simple process and does not take long.

You probably need to buy a car. If you have funds for it buy a car you can pay in full. If you need credit your interests will be high since you don’t have a credit score yet. In the US you have a credit score that allows companies to know how good you are with your finances and if you are safe to give a loan for example. You can see details about credit score here on this Link.

After the 6 months have passed i started to look for a house to rent and it is quite simple process when you have a drivers license , SSN and bank account. In the US the drivers license is widely used as an identity card.

So this are the basics to settle in.If you need to know more about something in particular let me know.

See you on the next post about renewing the Visa.

Well, time to pack and prepare the trip “over the lake” like i heard so many times in the UK. So what do i had to prepare and take? I will talk this in sections:

1 – Clothes and stuff – All my clothes were packed and shipped by AMJ Campbell International, this group subcontracts other companies local and abroad to do the shipment.

2 – TVs, Stereos, electronics in general – In US everything works with 110v not 220v like in Europe so have a look at the electronics and see if they work with 110V, many do like modern TVs, laptops, etc. All the others i sold online before i moved abroad, well almost all of them. I kept an old stereo i had because it had sentimental value, i just went online and bought a converter/transformer from 220v to 110v, be sure it can handle the Watts that your device needs. Also buy a socket converter since the power sockets are also different.

3 – Pets, 2 dogs and 1 turtle – The only company i trust to fly my 2 dogs is KLM, a Dutch company that has a good reputation about the way it treats pets and i wanted to go on the same plane as them. So i booked my flight from Netherlands to US (Texas -Houston) and also arranged for my dogs to go on the same flight, just call the airline and see their rules and regulations, like size of kennels and what they need to have. They have options to fly as cargo (had to use another company), as luggage , in the cabin, so see the rules here on this LINK .

For the turtle it was a different story, it had to go as Cargo so i could not do it directly with KLM. I used a  third party company that i do not remember the name but if you need info on it please contact me and i´ll find out.

Because i chose KLM i had to drive from UK to Netherlands with a Friend so i was able to catch the flight there. Unfortunately in EU is not common to find one way car rental as it is in the US.

4 – Furniture – Too expensive, only took a small one person sofa because it had sentimental value, it is cheaper just to sell it an buy new ones in the destination.

5 – Valuables like jewellery – Do not ship it, take it with you, i had some semi valuable jewellery to take, i just put all in a small stroller, they will be checked in customs but if you declare the items you have nothing to worry about. Usually you have a $1600 exemption, see more here on this LINK. On the Airport they just looked at it and moved on, nothing really happened, i did not have diamonds and rubies, just small items in Gold and silver.

6 – Important paperwork – Take it with you if possible, if not ship it but be sure you do not need it on your destination, your goods will take weeks to arrive if not more.

7 – Bicycles, tools – just ship.

Unfortunately is difficult to find a company that will take all specially when there are so many restrictions on US customs. Another issue i had was that i was going to live for the first 6 month on an apartment, before i can see some houses and make the final move, so where was i going to put all the boxes? They would not fit in the apartment. Usually if you use a good transport company they will have storage place and will keep things for you for a while for a fee and that was what i did, after 6 months they brought all the stuff to my new house.

Like i mentioned before US customs have a lot of rules, things you cannot ship, like foods, guns, and other things that you can see on these documents:

Dangerous Goods Waiver Form

USA 12

Rented a van in the UK, packed everything  and on the road i went. I first made the stop on the company to ship my Turtle as cargo on the same flight , then i went to the Airport to made the check in. The Dogs already had to be inside the Kennels. In summary my 10 years Husky and 6 mixed breed dogs arrived very well at Houston Airport. Avoid going trough Chicago, Chicago is a huge messy Airport. In the airport you have certain people that for some money will take your bags in a trolley and will help you get outside, just do it, i gave the guy $20 and i never moved so fast trough  customs. I believe he even knew the people in customs since they checked almost nothing.

On the check out process they will ask you for your visa papers again and ask a few questions, just because you had the ok from the embassy it does not assure 100% that they will let you pass when you arrive, so have everything with you at hand.

In Houston i went to the nearest Car rental and rented a 12 seat van , they always say they do not permit pets, just clean the car very well after – specially vacuum all the hair and they will never know.

I reached my apartment after a long trip ready for a new start.

Well, i am going to start writing my experience in how i got here in the USA. First of all i tried to enter US  for many years and get a Visa. The first advise i wish to give is never give up. If that is what you want continue forward.

You can have a visa by several ways. By being a student, by employment, holidays, sports, or even trough a lottery. I went to their website to find all the information https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/.

So after i decided i wanted to go to the US i made the decision to find work on an international company that could sponsor me a way there. After 3 years working harness in UK i grab an opportunity for a position to the US, so in my case i was sponsored  a Visa. All the process took 6 month till i got the visa. I am going to speak in particularly about the employment sponsored Visa. All the information needed is in this website https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/temporary-employment/ .
When you are sponsered the company will ask you for a lot of documentation, nothing major they will probably fill almost everything for you, but some documentation is for example the marriage certificate and your degrees and diplomas certificates in English. My documents were all in Portuguese so you will have to translate it to English by a service US Immigration approves . I used US Certified Translation Service https://www.uscts.com/. They are quick, good and  not the cheapest regarding the cost but not the most expensive also. I think at least you will have no problems when you use this service.

After the documentation is all ready, your company will start the process with the US Government and you will have to wait and you company will let you know when you can arrange the interview on the US Embassy, in my case in UK. So below is a copy of the email i received from Human Resources regarding the interview in the embassy and the preparations:

“Hello Sergio, please find detailed information regarding your Embassy Appointment.

The following documents will be included in the L-1 petition. (These items will be mailed to your work address unless instructed otherwise, you should be receiving them on Tuesday 8/9 or Wednesday 8/10):

1. Form I-129S(3 sets).  
2. Form G-28 – Notice of Representation(3 sets)
3. Copy of blanket L approval notice.(3 copies are enclosed in the file) (case #/ petition #: EAC1410751807)
4. Support letter from U.S. Company(3 sets)
5. Documents regarding B/E US and B/E UK
6.  Org Charts
7. Employment verification letter, employment records, job description with B/E UK
8.  Signed US Offer letter
9. College degree and training certificates
10. copy of your passport ID page
11. copy of your spouse’s passport ID page and marriage certificate

To book your appointment with the U.S. consulate in London, please follow the instructions below:

• Go to https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/niv/information/niv After creating your account, please follow the process and guidance for each of the below steps:

• Determine your visa type (You are applying for an L Intra-company Transferee visa (or blanket L-1 visa) and your wife is applying for anL-2 dependent visa. The petition number is: EAC1410751807. (your wife uses the same petition number if required)

• complete form DS-160 for you and your wife (link: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/) -> see attached FAQ
• Select a courier return location;
• Pay your U.S. visa fee via debit card (Visa or Mastercard);
• Schedule an appointment for you ANDyour wife; 
• Appear at the U.S. embassyfor an interview (you and your wife need to attend a personal interview) – see attachment.
• Bring the items listed on the checklist (L-1 file prepared by B/E, passports, appointment confirmation page, fee receipt for each applicant, Confirmation page from DS-160 submission , originalmarriage certificate, etc.)
• Pay the Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500.00  (The fee(s) can be paid in cash or by credit card, or money order. Please be prepared to pay with cash if the credit card verification system is temporarily unavailable. Payment by credit card is billed in US dollars.) The Border Security Act fee of $2,250 does not apply.
• The US embassywill keep your passports and will return the documents to you by courier when the application has been approved.

The average visa processing time for successful applicants is five-six  workdays.  However, in some cases, processing can take longer. Applicants who received an “Administrative Processing” handout at the interview, can check the status of their case on the Consulate web site.   When your passport has been processed and handed to the courier company, you will receive an email with your tracking number.

Embassy Location: 24 Grosvenor Square London, W1A 2LQ

For additional information regarding the process, please visit the Embassy web page:  https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/

Before applying for the visa, please watch the Consulate YouTube video for tips on applying:   https://uk.usembassy.gov/visa-videos/ “

So on the interview day, be sure to be there 30min sooner, the process takes more or less 1 hour. You will wait outside the embassy for your turn, you will pass trough a metal detection like on airports and then  you´ll get to waiting room where you wait your number to be called . When you get your turn you go to a cabin where you give all the documentation and your finger prints are scanned, be sure not to have any finger tip damaged otherwise you will not pass this stage. After all is checked you are asked to go to another cabin to pay the $500 Fraud Prevention Detection Fee and then return to the original cabin. After this stage i went to a waiting line to get the interview . The interview was quite quick and simple, just asking where i was going and why, what i was going to do there and for how long. A colleague of mine  also had a question regarding the marriage date, and that some question was made to the spouse separately nothing major really.

After this you are told if the visa was accepted and they will retain the passports and they will send them by post or you have to get them in the embassy, this you can choose when you arrange the interview. I choose the UPS certified mail and i received the passport and other important documentation.

Be sure to take with you the passport and the documents you received also from the embassy.

After a a week i believe we received the passports with the visa and started the process of moving with my wife, 2 Dogs and 1 turtle.

On the next post i will talk about the move preparations to the US and what i went trough to arrange everything.

Thank you and if you need more specific details let me know leaving a comment on this post.

Well, i did not write on this space for a long time and i am sorry, since my life has been a roller coaster i was not able to.

It happened again, i moved again. From Portugal to Netherlands, then UK and now USA.

In the next few days i will write a big post about all the things i had to take care to move the US, Visa, Paperwork, travelling with Pets, Arriving, the different way of life, and after 3 months being here what do i feel regarding this move.

Stay connected, during this next week i will have all ready and be free to ask me whatever you want.

See you soon

This is a mystery that i would like to solve, so if you have an answer for me please post it.

I lived in many placed around Europe but UK is the only place i see shoes, usually mens on the side of the roads and not the pair but just one.

This appears a lot and mainly on the busiest highways.

I have some theories, some strange theories about why this happens.

First theory:

Since i see some news about road rage, maybe someone just tries to hit the other driver with the shoe. I have seen worth things in the road so maybe it is possible. So how that works? You get home and your wife asks you where is your other shoe and you just say that you wanted to help the other driver from falling asleep on the road hitting him in the head with the shoe, that is possible, right?

Second theory:

Maybe some cinderella was running from the cup cake party and left the shoe behind while running for not paying, i have no idea, but that i see a lot of shoes on the road next to the side walk and i do not know why.

Maybe is just a case of littering but why not the pair, why only one shoe?

If you know or think you know just send me your theory.

Hi all, i am now living in this house in Bedfordshire, UK for 2 years and i have small and big spiders in the garden and also inside the house and i believe they enter inside the house because of my dogs.

I have seen some big spiders like this one on this BBC report but they are not poisonous but scary if they are on top of you. I never kill any insects or spiders i just grab a glass and a paper and put them outside. There are some long legs ones, really thin spiders that are indoor spiders, they will die in the outside so i just let them be or just put them in my garage, they help keeping the bugs in lower level.

Now, what i really wanted to talk about is about the spider in the picture, it is called “fake black widow” it is dark brown or black and has a image in is back. This spider is small , not aggressive, but is poisonous. I have grabbed some with my hand to put them outside and they are just really afraid of you. It is really rare when they bite and that happens when they are stepped on or trapped inside your clothes.

The bite injects a bacteria called “flesh eating bacteria”. Usually you end up loosing a finger or worse so it is good to be careful and be aware of the first signs of a bite and run up to the hospital.

See this BBC report or this page for more information. If you want to see how the injuries look like just write on goggle images “fake black widow spider injuries” i will not put them here because they can be shocking.

I decided to do this post because i always had this spiders in my house but never knew they were poisonous so maybe you also have them in yours. The number is increasing due to the climate change and when they are more active and bigger is in the Autumn.

Thank you and till next time.

It has been 2 years since i entered UK. Before coming to the UK i was for 2,5 years in the Netherlands so as suggested by a reader of this blog i will try to make a comparison of this 2 countries, maybe not always with facts but with what i felt about the 2 countries and then i let you decide.

I will name the good and bad for me regarding the 2 countries and in the end i will tell you wish one i prefer.

This will also be an exercise for me while i write to put in black and white what i really felt regarding this 2 countries.

One thing i can say is i do not felt/fill at home in both Countries, i think being away is alway that, is being away, never having the filling that is Home.

So lets start with the Netherlands:

Good:

– Everything is Clean – I do not remember seeing any litter in the street, gardens, etc

– Cycle – You can go on your bike everywhere the bike pads are great

– English – Everyone will get English language

– Services – Usually the service quality is ok

– Security – I felt very secured, i think the criminality is low

Bad:

– Dutch Food – The food is really bad, i cooked always at home

– Dutch Language – Dutch is really difficult to learn, city hall services barely speak English and when you speak English you are looked as an outsider

– Private Medicine – Is mandatory to pay for an private medical insurance. The basic insurance will cover almost nothing, so it is just pay, pay and pay

– Everything is privatised  – Even if you have a lake near by you have to pay for park or for entry or for some other reason, you pay for everything.

– Outsider – Dutch do not like outsiders and they would prefer you go away

– Privacy – No privacy, you feel that you re being watched every time you go on the street

– Taxes – you pay a lot of taxes and the tax warning letter always comes on Fridays/Saturdays, so your weekend is ruined.

– Direct – Dutch are proud in being direct but they are just plain rude, they use jokes to mess with you and they think they are entitled to give you lectures about what you are doing.

– No epidural, your kid will born the old way, no pain relief

Now let continue with the UK:

Good:

– Taxes – Still a lot of taxes but much less then in the Nethertlands

– Food – You can find good UK restaurants and more familiar food in the super market

– Jobs – There is a lot of jobs in UK and you can improve your carrear

– Privacy – There is more privacy, we can go on the street without being watched

– Outsider – There are many foreigners in UK, you just feel as one more, but English do not like outsiders also but you feel much less then in the Netherlands

– Health care – The Health care in UK is public

Bad:

– Litter – There is litter everywhere

– Services – Bad services, rude, most of the times not on time, but i feel is improving

– Security – It is more complicated for a women to walk on her own on the street with out being bothered by a guy

– Bulling – Kids here are bullied in school all the time

– Health care – Public hospitals are not very good from what i hear in the news, if you have an emergency specially on weekends you can be in trouble

In the end between the 2 countries and in my situation i would choose UK, if i had kids for example maybe not so it is a question what is your situation.

See you next time.

Litter-uk

I am 36 years old and i am from Portugal, lived there for 25 years , then a few years in the Netherlands, some time in Spain  and for about 2 years here in UK and i never saw nothing like this. Here in the UK you see litter everywhere everything is dirty in the city and in the country . It is amazing for me also the in small cities and villages you do not see containers to put the garbage, you see in London but most of the time they are full like in the picture. Where i live you have to take the garbage with you and place it in you garbage container in your house or next to a supermarket.After i investigated this for a while i discover it was not always like this, if you litter in the past you would be called litter bug by your peer and now it is like is not cool to take the garbage with you.

I remember that i would not litter because my mother taught me not to do it, also in school and it was cultural, if you did it on the street in my home country people would look at you even would intervene, the most shy to say something even would pick it up for you, just to keep everything clean. There were some places that you could see warning signs if you litter you pay a fine, but i remember my city to be clean but i also remember during the summer people from the interior would come to the beach and would leave litter in the sand My impression is that people with no studies have more probability to litter.

To have an idea how much litter you can find in the UK there was an exercise to clean the country side where some “Litter heroes” clean it up, without any pay and they found this amount of garbage in 1 mile:

I saw these number in a website called http://www.litterheroes.co.uk . I found something written on this website that amazed me “Urban litter is just about under control. Drop a plastic drinks bottle on a city street and the Council will pick it up – it may take a few hours or a few days, but it will be picked up eventually.” That is why in my opinion this will not change here in the UK.  Here it is ok to drop litter in urban places because it will be picked up, they want to introduce bigger fines but if you do not pass the message that litter is not ok, it is not cool in the schools, inside the homes and on TV nothing will change.

I have a small story to tell you regarding something that happened to me about littering.  I lived for 6 months in Hertfordshire and near my place there were containers to separate the garbage for recycle and also normal containers, but there was always garbage in the floor. When Christmas arrived i received a lot of boxes from my home country with gifts and food and like always happens on this time of the year the containers are not big enough for all the garbage. Usually i keep the garbage till after Christmas holidays so the garbage companies could collect it without it being in the streets, but not my neighbours, piles and piles of garbage were on the outside. Since i had a lot of carton boxes, i flatten them up an left them at the side of the carton recycle bin for it to be collected. What happened next amazed me. I receive a letter to go to the council to testify because i was accused of littering, me who always respected the environment and always recycled , and around my building was litter everywhere. If i did not attended they would consider myself guilty and would there for pay a big fine.

Once i was there they showed me pictures of my address and name in one of the boxes and they wanted to blame me for the all lot of garbage ,not only the 2 carton flatten boxed i left next to the recycle container. This was done like in a police station with a tape recorder to save my testimony , ridiculous it is the least i can say. I was able to prove the other tones of litter were not mine and because i was moving out of that city to live somewhere else i was not prosecuted .

Uk spends a crazy amount of money to try to clean the litter:

So to conclude, in my opinion the only way to change this is not by using fear and fines but change mentalities starting in schools and in the family houses.