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z0331 posted:I always liked this chart to really illustrate how difficult it is to become a US citizen. This is depressingly true. I spent my whole career and education studying as hard as I could to try to get to the top of my profession in the hopes that I would become attractive enough to be seen to be an asset, and to be allowed to emigrate to the US. I've found that this was pretty much the opposite to what I needed to do. I can't even enter the green card lottery. UK citizens have been barred from entering that for what seems like forever. The only method I can see is H1-B, but despite applying for multiple jobs I pretty much get either no reply, or an incredibly short, rude, go away. Being an educated, industry certified professional seems to mean nothing. I guess I could get investment, but who the hell has $200k sitting about. It's almost like the US actively despises UK citizens. And yet ever single US based IT professional I deal with in the US seems to have an Indian accent. It's loving dire. I guess I'll keep applying to ads in the hope I win the contracting lottery one day... 
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Nov 10, 2012 19:18
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Ashcans posted:Honestly I don't know why you would want to come here anyway, but your two best options are probably: Tried 1, but those opps are few and far between. I'm a little too old and too child bound for number 2! Number 3 is an option, but it just seemed a little messy. That will most likely be the way I have to go though eventually. As for why? I suppose the grass looks greener on both sides of the pond! My guess is it's probably similarly brown though, and in my industry the US is where it's at.
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Nov 10, 2012 20:31
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flavor posted:
Hey it's only natural. If someone where to post about how they immigrate into the UK I would probably say the same thing! Anyway, this is spooky. I sent another few applications yesterday, and strangely it seems I've got an initial telephone interview for a possible long-term contracting position in NYC! Weird eh? So I have a couple of more specific questions. I understand the H1-B is a skilled-worker Visa which is a sponsored by employer. This is likely going to be my only way in. Thankfully I'm pretty highly certified in my career, so it shouldn't be difficult to justify. The particular application says "EAD Preferred". I wasn't familiar with the EAD. I've read some stuff online, but US immigration information is difficult to grasp so perhaps someone can put it into clear english?
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Nov 11, 2012 12:45
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An Cat Dubh posted:EAD stands for Employment Authorization Document, basically a work permit that allows you to work in the U.S. You can basically work anywhere in the U.S. with an EAD and the employer doesn't need to sponsor you like they would with an H-1B. Only certain categories of nonimmigrants (non citizens or residents) can apply for an EAD. One example would be people who have applied for Adjustment of Status to permanent residency (green card). While they are waiting for their application to be processed, they can apply for an EAD to work until they get their green card. Got you, so these are people who are already resident in the US, say on a student visa or something, but don't have the right to work on their current visa. They get the EAD whilst adjusting their status to one which will allow them to work.
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Nov 11, 2012 14:58
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An Cat Dubh posted:I think I may have overcomplicated things a bit by mentioning Adjustment of Status. That's just the technical term for applying for a green card when you are already in the U.S. in a different status. I was giving an example that people who apply for a green card can apply for an EAD so they can work until they get the green card. Only people with certain visas or certain 'statuses' (like waiting for a green card or asylum application to be processed) can apply for an EAD. Just as a note, if you are married and you do happen to come to the U.S. with an H-1B visa, your spouse will not be allowed to work and cannot apply for an EAD. Yep, understood on the last part. My wife doesn't work at the moment anyway. She's a teacher so the chances are her qualifications would be meaningless without further study anyway. Incidentally, once you're in the US on an H1-B is it possible to move to other visa types or are you fixed to that type. The H1-B is time limited as far as I'm aware, and I understand you are tied to the sponsoring employer too.
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Nov 11, 2012 15:32
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Ashcans posted:So one someone doesn't seem to have a clear drive, yea, I'm pretty skeptical. This is keeping in mind that Dave is a UK citizen, which means that he has much easier routes to move to and work in most of Europe and big stretches of the Commonwealth. Does the US really beat out all those options? Now he says that this is where his industry is happening so I guess it does, but I see enough people who uproot their lives and make significant sacrifices to come to the US only to end up disappointed (or discovering the joy of 'at will' employment) that I'm not so enthusiastic. Hey, I just want to say thanks for the advice from you and Cat. I don't know the business yet, that's for the call tomorrow, but it was described as "Major Healthcare", so maybe it is some kind of research org.? The answer as to why is a complicated one, but it's one I expect to answer many many times if/when I go down this route. I get the feeling from your (pl.) answers that you're in some way related to the process, so it's only natural you would ask, or be cynical. I know it's quite fashionable in the US at the moment for a lot of people to think things are rosy over in countries like the UK and Scandinavia because of headline things like the NHS. The truth is it's not great. Yes, I could go anywhere and work anywhere in the EU, but it only takes 10 minutes of looking at the economic status of Europe to see why that would be madness, even forgetting language/culture barriers. My mother-in-law lives in France. It's a good job she's retired because there are literally no jobs, and the xenophobia and protectionism is unbelievable. I've worked in pretty much all the countries of Western continental Europe, and none of them made me feel welcome in the way that working in the US does. Germany is the only country I've ever been told to "gently caress off, you go home Englander" in. Also, commonwealth membership gets you precisely sweet-FA in most other commonwealth countries, like Aus or NZ. Even regardless of all that, I'm not leaving because it's poo poo here. I'm looking into it because my bits and bats of time working in the US have always been incredibly positive. I work in IT, and every other country I've worked in has always been following the US's lead. We've got some industry here, but it's never going to be like it is in the US. It's like someone in Finance, they're always going to want to be in NYC, London or one of the other big financial centres. I'm not a starry-eyed teenager blinded by 'The American Dream' here. I'm aware the US has got it's problems, but my experience is that those problems are not totally removed from the same ones we have in the UK. They're just general life/economy problems. I'm also not exactly selling up and burning bridges here either. I've got a good grounding, and any position I moved to would likely be well paid.
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Nov 11, 2012 18:38
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flavor posted:Immigrations processing takes time! Ha! At least people have stepped into the breach. Incidentally the agency involved in my interview never answered my calls, told me they would call me about an hour ago, and guess what? They haven't. Fuckers.
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Nov 12, 2012 19:29
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