First a little bit about myself, my name is Clare Edwards I’m a UK Architect who’s been living in London for the last ten years. A couple of months ago I moved to Los Angeles with my husband. Moving to LA was a big move and I spent the first couple of weeks sorting stuff out and generally getting to grips with living in a new country. Because of my visa status I wasn’t able to work but knew that I wanted to take full advantage of my time in Los Angeles so I contacted to the director of Architect-US program.
The work team of Architect-US has been so helpful and really made the process of obtaining my J-1 visa understandable. Because I was already living in Los Angeles I was in the position to contact local Architecture practices myself. I applied for and was offered a position at Bittoni Architects. Architect-US worked with myself and my placement practice to arrange all the paperwork. The visa process can be a bit confusing at times but Architect-US has been amazing at explaining how everything works.
Because I was already living in Los Angles my situation was a bit unusual. I had to return to the UK for a couple of weeks, to get my visa approved by the London Embassy, so I’ve had the chance to catch up on some British TV and food! But I’m ready to return to Los Angles now and start the next chapter of my time there.