I'm a sr sft eng from New Zealand, how do I move to the US?

gnat · on April 10, 2019

Hello, fellow Kiwi. I married an American (in 1996, simpler times) and most of the immigration bullshit just melted away. (Still married 23 years later, with kids off to uni, so be careful of the possible consequences of your actions!)

Another way in is to work for a year or two for an international subsidiary of an American company, which can then bring you to the USA under a different category of visa. That's an L1-B and you get five years in the USA.

Various immigration sites eg https://www.path2usa.com/h1b-visa-petition-requirements tell me you're buggered if you don't have an equivalent formal degree to a USA 4-year Bachelors. AWS, work experience, diplomas, certificates ... don't seem to cut it. For the best info, talk to an American immigration lawyer who deals with this day in and day out. (Ask friends who have done what you want to do for a recommendation, or look back through HN archives for recommendations)

tucaz · on April 10, 2019

Maybe I can help.

I’m on a H1B currently starting the green card process.

I don’t have formal education, but have been working as a developer for the past 16 years (13 at the time of the VISA application).

If you don’t have a degree, you can make it do with 3 years worth of experience for each year in college you don’t have. In my case, 12 years.

The experience is proved by employer letters and an “equivalence analysis” made by any college in the US where they write a piece of paper saying you have the equivalent knowledge of someone with a bachelors degree.

The challenge, really, for the H1B is the 85k cap (65k if you don’t have an advanced degree) and the application window which closes at April 7th.

Once your application is submitted you need to win the lottery (there are usually around 280k applicants) and wait for the VISA to be processed.

Potential employers are usually discouraged because they have to apply for you in April and you can only start working (if you are lucky) after October.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

EnderMB · on April 10, 2019

I've been interested in moving to the US for a while, and after a bit of research and help from people on here, the recommended routes were:

H1B: Hard to get, but a FAANG-level company could probably get you in

O1: Apparently some people get into the US this way. If you've built something notable, maybe this is an option?

L1: This seems to be the default - work for a company with an office in the US, and then transfer to the US office.

I have absolutely zero knowledge of the US visa process, as a Brit, but it doesn't seem to be an easy process. Good luck!

eshvk · on April 10, 2019

> H1B:

The problem now is that the visas seem to be harder to obtain and have a longer delay. I know people who were stuck waiting for multiple months to do a transfer.

> L1:

My understanding is that this doesn't provide a path to a green card.

g1991 · on April 10, 2019

L1/L2 visas are dual intent, if memory serves - you can absolutely apply for perm residency and citizenship using L1 as a starting point.

eshvk · on April 10, 2019

You are right, my mistake.

codegeek · on April 10, 2019

I suggest you find a US employer who either has some presence in NZ or they let you work remotely for a while. Become an important part of the team. After that, doors will open where the company may go out of their way to help you get a visa.

djha-skin · on April 10, 2019

I believe h1-b requires a master's degree from an American University, at least that's what my friends tell me. Someone is free to correct me though. That's what several of my indian friends did. They came here on a student visa and got a degree in Texas or Kansas or some other cheap state University, they got a master's degree, and they used it to get an h1-b.

profstasiak · on April 10, 2019

it doesn't require american degree. I am not sure as well, but I think you have higher chance to get visa (but maybe it was like this in a past, and now there is one pool for all people)

mb_72 · on April 10, 2019

What about becoming an Australian citizen, then going the E3 visa route?

_ah · on April 12, 2019

Self taught + 3 years != Senior Engineer

_ah · on April 12, 2019

In case the meaning isn't clear: as a hiring manager, if I'm going to expend money paying lawyers to sponsor your visa, I want to make sure you're worth it. A 3-yr Sr Engineer mostly doesn't exist. This means that: (a) you are lying, or (b) you have title inflation because your current company has no idea what real talent looks like.

In this situation, I'm not even going to interview you. If you want to pass the first cut, I recommend thinking more strategically about how you're presenting yourself. Then you can get through the interview process and on to the visa discussion.

Or I could be wrong, and you could be an absolute frickin' genius who made Senior in 3. But the odds say no.