My boyfriend is looking to California for a post doc postion, but his final decision hinges strongly on if I'll be able to travel with him. As his common law partner of 3 years, and a MSc graduate, what are my visa options? Is a common law partner recogonized as a " lawful partner" (we won't be getting married within the next 3 months)? How difficult have others found it to prove their qualifications for an IT visa cap-waiver (the IT visa cap was recently reached)? What are my chances for getting just a regular visa for a simple 1-2 year tech. job? I'm aware there's tons of visas out there, but any direction would be of help.