Totally off topic.... USA VISAs

DLMUK · Nov 13, 2017

Hi,

Sorry if this is not the right place for this, but I thought as there will be a lot of engineers on here who may well have done what I am trying it could be a good place to get real world advice. I will understand though if this post gets deleted

I am a British citizen currently living and working in the UK. I am looking to make a move to the USA for a few years. My company does not have an office in the US, however our distributor has agreed to employ me if I can obtain a VISA.

Our distributor does not have experience hiring people from overseas and has asked me to do the initial donkey work. From what I can see there are plenty of methods for 'inter company transfers' which I wouldn't qualify for.

Does anybody have experience of anything similar or know the immigration process?

So far from what I can figure it is a case of completing the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, and then submitting this and waiting for the VISA 'lottery'.

I am married and my wife would need to come over too

thanks

cardosocea · Nov 13, 2017

I worked for an American company and managed to get a limited working visa for the US (basically only offshore).
At the time (2010), to get it processed was a nightmare and it took something like 3 months, and to be able to actually get it the company owning the installation (not the company I worked for) assisted by getting a letter from the coast guard for a different vessel than the one I would be working on otherwise I had the option of waiting for the vessel to arrive in the US or be deported on arrival.

Part of this was due to the ignorance or inexperience of the US embassy employee that handled my process and, perhaps rightly so, assuming I would be making a move to steal an American job... despite the fact that I was hired in a place making more money than people doing the same as me in the US and working about 40% less... and already for an American company.

My back to back at the time was Norwegian and it took hours to get all the visas he requested in Oslo. Basically handed everything in and the next morning had the passport with the visa delivered at his home in Trondheim.

You may get a different treatment... but considering I had Scottish colleagues being deported on arrival from a maritime vessel with an onward journey plane ticket within 3 days of getting to shore I wouldn't bet on it being an easy process.

What I found really interesting was when that same drilling company then offered to pay for me to be working full time in the US because they couldn't find the same qualifications (actually, I think it's more finding people with my qualifications willing to work in that industry) in the US.

Good luck though and keep us posted!

mk42 · Nov 13, 2017

All I know is the visa process is a mess. Best of luck!

JRW · Nov 13, 2017

DLMUK
Why don't you and mk42 just switch?
He can move there and you here.

mk42 · Nov 13, 2017

JRW said:
DLMUK
Why don't you and mk42 just switch?
He can move there and you here.

I was talking about the visa process being a mess, I wouldn't touch politics online with a 10 ft pole

I edited for clarity.

JRW · Nov 13, 2017

Agreed
But I will always defend it. You should too
I'm done with comments

harryting · Nov 13, 2017

Try Visajourney.com

CapinWinky · Nov 13, 2017

https://www.uscis.gov/

You pretty much have to be sponsored by the US company to get an actual VISA and the best VISA to get is going to be the H-1B, which has an annual cap, so best to get your ducks in a row to be ready to jump on it in 2018 during the probably 3 day window to get in under the cap.

The distributor will need to do two steps and it will cost them $1,575 in filing fees:

1. Obtain an LCA (Labor Condition Application) from the DOL (Department of Labor). This basically says they aren't intending to treat foreign workers like **** (we will not kill off thousands of them making a football stadium in the desert). Really easy, takes about 7 days for approval. Nothing is specific to you, they just need this to participate in the VISA sponsorship.

2. File form I-129 on your behalf (also called the H-1B Petition). Approval for this form depends on you and where you're coming from. A guy from Southampton is probably going to be approved in a few days, unless you're name doesn't sound British enough.

You will need to do one step, maybe:

1. As soon as their LCA comes back, file for the H-1B as a US Embassy or Consulate. I don't know the details, but sometimes the I-129 is enough and the worker doesn't have to do anything on their end.

Everyone I know that has come in on H-1B had immigration lawyers from the sponsoring company handling it and all got approved during the tiny window each year to get under the VISA cap. One guy from south america with some DUIs in the US had to switch to a different VISA type and he was kicked out of the country for 6 months, so don't do that.

I do know one contractor that sponsored his Italian friend to come over without using a lawyer, but that guy had a masters, so he wasn't limited by the VISA cap; took them three weeks from start to finish.

jraef · Nov 13, 2017

CapinWinky said:
https://www.uscis.gov/

You pretty much have to be sponsored by the US company to get an actual VISA and the best VISA to get is going to be the H-1B, which has an annual cap, so best to get your ducks in a row to be ready to jump on it in 2018 during the probably 3 day window to get in under the cap.

The distributor will need to do two steps and it will cost them $1,575 in filing fees:

1. Obtain an LCA (Labor Condition Application) from the DOL (Department of Labor). This basically says they aren't intending to treat foreign workers like **** (we will not kill off thousands of them making a football stadium in the desert). Really easy, takes about 7 days for approval. Nothing is specific to you, they just need this to participate in the VISA sponsorship.

2. File form I-129 on your behalf (also called the H-1B Petition). Approval for this form depends on you and where you're coming from. A guy from Southampton is probably going to be approved in a few days, unless you're name doesn't sound British enough.

You will need to do one step, maybe:

1. As soon as their LCA comes back, file for the H-1B as a US Embassy or Consulate. I don't know the details, but sometimes the I-129 is enough and the worker doesn't have to do anything on their end.

Everyone I know that has come in on H-1B had immigration lawyers from the sponsoring company handling it and all got approved during the tiny window each year to get under the VISA cap. One guy from south america with some DUIs in the US had to switch to a different VISA type and he was kicked out of the country for 6 months, so don't do that.

I do know one contractor that sponsored his Italian friend to come over without using a lawyer, but that guy had a masters, so he wasn't limited by the VISA cap; took them three weeks from start to finish.

^^^

Side note: If you come here on an H1B visa and your wife comes with you, she cannot work here (unless she has her OWN H1B visa). That little detail burns a lot of people...

Bred222 · Nov 21, 2017

I'm also looking for some useful information about USA visa, so this thread is very helpful for me. Thanks for sharing, guys!

Totally off topic.... USA VISAs

DLMUK

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cardosocea

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mk42

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JRW

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mk42

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JRW

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harryting

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CapinWinky

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jraef

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Bred222

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