How hard would it be to get a US company to sponsor a visa?
Discussion
I'm mid 40s with a family and have worked in the financial markets all my life. I'm currently in HK but have always wanted to live in the US. I'd like to live somewhere in the south and work in a different industry than finance.
If I turned up in Atlanta (say) and found a company that wants to take me on, how hard would it be for them to sponsor a working visa for me? I don't have any specific IT or STEM skills that are usually in demand. My idea would be to accept a lower paid position in return for sponsorship. Is this realistic?
I'm financially secure but I don't really want to invest in a business first thing.
If I turned up in Atlanta (say) and found a company that wants to take me on, how hard would it be for them to sponsor a working visa for me? I don't have any specific IT or STEM skills that are usually in demand. My idea would be to accept a lower paid position in return for sponsorship. Is this realistic?
I'm financially secure but I don't really want to invest in a business first thing.
You would have to find a role that you can fulfill and an American can't, in so much as the visa process a company would have to follow costs money and isn't guaranteed. so they would really need to want your skill set. I think there are a limited amount of that type of visa available and a lot of competition, I think it is an annual process to, not something an employer can just file paperwork for and get it sorted out a few weeks later. I don';t think a google developer type is the only skills, I know a Scottish lady who is a quantity surveyor and lives in California, apparently once upon a time the shermans were gagging for quantity surveyors.
One route that I know can work is to find a job in the UK with a company that has a US presence and then angle for an internal transfer. That can take a long time, but so can fighting with a lot of people for that company sponsored visa. It's very common to see jobs advertised in the USA that state "no visa sponsorship" or words to that effect, every role that gets advertised probably gets an avalanche of Indians applying.
I think as well, looking for work having arrived in the US (as a tourist presumably) is a breach of visa conditions so that's a risk you would take. If that went wrong you might get in trouble, which would harm future prospects.
One route that I know can work is to find a job in the UK with a company that has a US presence and then angle for an internal transfer. That can take a long time, but so can fighting with a lot of people for that company sponsored visa. It's very common to see jobs advertised in the USA that state "no visa sponsorship" or words to that effect, every role that gets advertised probably gets an avalanche of Indians applying.
I think as well, looking for work having arrived in the US (as a tourist presumably) is a breach of visa conditions so that's a risk you would take. If that went wrong you might get in trouble, which would harm future prospects.
Frankly, you can either change career, or country, but not both. A US firm might sponsor you for your financial markets expertise (or transfer you internally if they have a US branch) or you can try and change career in a place where you have residency rights (though in HK, unless you have Mandarin/ Cantonese, also tough)
But a US firm isn't going to sponsor a career changer with no track record in the new field
But a US firm isn't going to sponsor a career changer with no track record in the new field
As already alluded to by others, this isn't really a straightforward process - very much complicated by your desire to change profession. Outside of finance, what are your aspirations? I ask, because you would, in all likelihood be required to demonstrate some level of expertise to have even a snowball's chance.
I am originally from the UK and have lived in the US for 20 years. I have been the beneficiary of several different employment-based visas and have also sponsored several petitions as an employer.
In my experience, most sponsors have some prior professional attachment to the beneficiaries they are petitioning for. L type visas are invariably (though not exclusively) intra-company transfers of managerial or specialized workers, who have been in the employ of the non-US entity for at least a year. These types of visa are relatively easy to process if all of the supporting evidence and documentation stacks-up and is presented to USCIS in the right way.
H type visas are more burdensome, though they do not require the same professional attachment to the petitioning company, as with an L. That said, they are frequently harder to attain, despite being more restrictive to the beneficiary. Trickier still, they are subject to an annual numbers cap which is invariably over-subscribed very significantly.
E type visas are more restrictive still, have a lot less in terms of beneficiary protections and have a requirement that the sponsoring entity is a non-US company - but one which qualifies as a treaty trading organization, headquartered in some specific countries (HK being one, I think...)
There are one or two others, which are perhaps not worth mentioning due to their temporary nature, or very specific requirements/limitations - sporting excellence, education, clergy, professorial etc.
Most UK expats find their route into the US by marriage to a USC - which is, by far, the least tortuous route. If you have more money than you know what to do with, you can effectively buy your way in by utilizing an EB-5 investment. Minimum qualifying investment, that you are somewhat unlikely to ever get back, being $500,000.
Employer sponsorship does have cost implications for the petitioning company - but not as scary as most imagine. The real road-block is the administrative and bureaucratic gymnastics they have to go through to hire a non-US employee.
Happy to expand on any of this if it would be helpful.
I am originally from the UK and have lived in the US for 20 years. I have been the beneficiary of several different employment-based visas and have also sponsored several petitions as an employer.
In my experience, most sponsors have some prior professional attachment to the beneficiaries they are petitioning for. L type visas are invariably (though not exclusively) intra-company transfers of managerial or specialized workers, who have been in the employ of the non-US entity for at least a year. These types of visa are relatively easy to process if all of the supporting evidence and documentation stacks-up and is presented to USCIS in the right way.
H type visas are more burdensome, though they do not require the same professional attachment to the petitioning company, as with an L. That said, they are frequently harder to attain, despite being more restrictive to the beneficiary. Trickier still, they are subject to an annual numbers cap which is invariably over-subscribed very significantly.
E type visas are more restrictive still, have a lot less in terms of beneficiary protections and have a requirement that the sponsoring entity is a non-US company - but one which qualifies as a treaty trading organization, headquartered in some specific countries (HK being one, I think...)
There are one or two others, which are perhaps not worth mentioning due to their temporary nature, or very specific requirements/limitations - sporting excellence, education, clergy, professorial etc.
Most UK expats find their route into the US by marriage to a USC - which is, by far, the least tortuous route. If you have more money than you know what to do with, you can effectively buy your way in by utilizing an EB-5 investment. Minimum qualifying investment, that you are somewhat unlikely to ever get back, being $500,000.
Employer sponsorship does have cost implications for the petitioning company - but not as scary as most imagine. The real road-block is the administrative and bureaucratic gymnastics they have to go through to hire a non-US employee.
Happy to expand on any of this if it would be helpful.
My current boss, who now lives in Nantwich, worked for a US company, and got a promotion to Global Quality Director. Was then transferred to the USA with sponsorship, and got himself a green card aftrr 3 years Came back after 8 years because he didnt want his kids to become American, and his parents were getting old.
Was then working for their US owned rival as Global Quality Director but based in the UK. He has brought some bad habits back.
My sister married an American and is a resident alien. 30 years later she got divorced and lives near her kids in Dayton. She appears to have picked up an accent.
Was then working for their US owned rival as Global Quality Director but based in the UK. He has brought some bad habits back.
My sister married an American and is a resident alien. 30 years later she got divorced and lives near her kids in Dayton. She appears to have picked up an accent.
My kids are nine and would pick up American accents if we lived there. While there’s nothing wrong with that I wouldn’t want it for them, or mid-Atlantic.
I had no plans to move to HK until an ex-employer offered me a job here nearly seven years ago. It’s been a great place to bring up kids but I’m a bit tired of it now. I’m eligible for Permanent Residency next January, which means I can work without a visa, and vote. Not that that means anything anymore. Kids here seem to acquire their parents’ accents.
Thanks everyone for the input, it’s been very helpful.
I had no plans to move to HK until an ex-employer offered me a job here nearly seven years ago. It’s been a great place to bring up kids but I’m a bit tired of it now. I’m eligible for Permanent Residency next January, which means I can work without a visa, and vote. Not that that means anything anymore. Kids here seem to acquire their parents’ accents.
Thanks everyone for the input, it’s been very helpful.
nsa said:
Understood. I'm probably looking at an internal transfer then. I might also consider some longer holidays there and maybe that scratches the itch.
Why would the $500k be a write-off?
The $500k investment required is within what they call "Regional Centers" or "Targeted Employment Areas".Why would the $500k be a write-off?
My understanding is that these areas are parts of the US that have been identified as areas requiring investment. There's a reason a lot of domestic money doesn't end up there...
My attorney has worked with some EB5 investments (for other customers) that haven't swallowed up the whole $500k and has provided some repayment...but not the full amount (let alone the interest they claim). As always, there be sharks in the water!
They went to change it from an investment of $500k to $900k. Due to various law suits, last I read is that it was still at $500k but they are trying to reinstate the increase to $900k.
Assuming you're not divorcing your wife and marrying a local girl, it sounds to me like you'd be best off buying/starting a business and petitioning for an E2 visa (5 years) to find out if you actually want to be here full time.
nsa said:
My kids are nine and would pick up American accents if we lived there.
It's reality for both them and you. I haven't been here that long but if you don't start talking with something of an accent, it's hard to get understood especially on the phone. I spend a lot of time on the phone so it trickles in. I love the word y'all - flows off the tongue so well 
The Moose said:
It's reality for both them and you. I haven't been here that long but if you don't start talking with something of an accent, it's hard to get understood especially on the phone. I spend a lot of time on the phone so it trickles in. I love the word y'all - flows off the tongue so well
Good synopsis of the EB-5 option. I think the salient parts are that:1. - Regional Centers are 'for profit' administrative entities that are really good at creating fees for consultation, administration, permitting and sticking stamps on envelopes and the like. That proportion of the investment will never, ever get recovered.
2. - Targeted Employment Areas are those schemes that wouldn't ever attract conventional investment due to their lack of investment viability.
Hence, the more cynical (realistic?) consider EB-5, not to be an investment, but more a means to buy a green card.
Regarding accent adoption - I think it is a given, the the case of young children, who adapt to 'fit in'. This is a very natural behavior and in some cases a necessity to be accepted (by other kids).
Despite living in the south eastern US for two decades, my northern UK way of speaking has not changed - some of my phraseology is different - to avoid confusion, but my accent is very much English. For me it would require a conscious effort and would be clunky and fake. Additionally, sounding a little different is a distinct advantage in my line of work.
My daughter was 19 when we moved here and she sounds just as English as the day we left - though her distinctive Yorkshire accent only returns when she visits friends in the UK or they come here. She is in law enforcement and is known commonly as "Brit-Cop" in her agency.
Matt Harper said:
Hence, the more cynical (realistic?) consider EB-5, not to be an investment, but more a means to buy a green card.
Agreed. When we were weighing up our options and doing our numbers etc, we looked at the EB-5 as a spend of money and anything that comes back would be a bonus rather than an expectation for an investment in the traditional sense. Obviously important as if $500k you get back in a few years is a very different expense to $500k you never get back.
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