
Ask HN: Dev Bootcamp sounds great - but what about visa when finished? - alpha_beta
I'm a software developer with almost 5 years of professional experience and both a Bachelor and a Master in Computer Science. In the past year and a half, I've been working as an iOS developer in London. I'm now considering moving to the Bay Area and I would love to apply for the dev bootcamp (http://devbootcamp.com/), where I would learn Ruby On Rails. I think this would be a great complement to my background, assuming I could get a spot, but I have a major problem: getting a visa when the bootcamp is finished! As an european citizen, I need a visa to live/work in the US. As far as I understand, in order to work in the US, I need a H1B visa, but these will probably be exhausted by July 2012. The next bootcamp will be finished in December, so I could only apply for a visa in April 2013, which means I would be unemployed until October 2013! In conclusion, my plan to join the dev bootcamp sounds unrealistic, unless I'm missing something. The only alternative I could see is getting hired now with a sponsored visa and start working in December/January, which is something I doubt a company would agree.<p>Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with this? Any advice would be appreciated.<p>Thanks.
======
anonhacker
1\. You probably won't get a visa to do devbootcamp (Since its educational it
would require an F visa (devbootcamp can't help you). 2\. With a BSc and and
MSc in CS devbootcamp is not going to be of any use for you, get a book and a
mentor and learn Rails yourself. 3\. Companies can petition for your H1 for a
future date no worries as long as the cap has not been exhausted, it is a
regular occurrence. The problem will most certainly be how companies can
accurately judge your abilities remotely. (People have cheated often on
technical video conference interviews before)

~~~
alpha_beta
Thanks for your comments. I agree that I can learn Rails myself, but I assume
the dev bootcamp would be a good proof that I actually know it and I assume I
could learn more in less time. Besides, if I learn it myself, I could come up
with an idea and build a web app, but would that be enough for a company to
consider me (specially when there are probably many developers already with
professional experience trying to move to the Bay Area)?

About the H1 visa, the problem is that, according to what I read on the
internet, it's estimated that it will be exhausted by July this year. In the
meanwhile, I was also told that J1 visa is a possible alternative, but I
haven't investigated that possibility yet.

If a company decides to hire me, but is afraid I might be cheating on a
technical video conference, I wouldn't have any problems to go to the US for a
face-to-face interview, even if I would have to pay the costs myself, simply
because I don't cheat. If they are happy with me on a video conference, I'm
sure they would be happy after a face-to-face interview.

~~~
Spoom
I think if you learn Rails, build an app in it, and open-source it on GitHub
or similar, that would be fairly strong evidence that you know what you're
doing.

If I were in your position, I would go to the source ( <http://www.uscis.gov/>
) and examine the visa categories that are available to you. Immigration law
is complicated, but not as complicated as, say, the tax code. If you've
completed a Masters in CS, you can probably navigate it yourself. Protip: Do
not lie or mislead USCIS or USCBP (i.e. customs) as you can be banned from the
country easily.

Unfortunately it may be very difficult for you to get a visa to DevBootcamp as
it's almost certainly not a SEVP-certified school, so ICE / USCIS won't grant
visas to people to attend, and you can't just get a tourist visa if you're
intending to study. I would instead learn Rails yourself, start / open source
a project, and try to get a job offer here with a company that will help with
your visa situation (once you have a job offer, immigration becomes much
easier as long as the company is game). I guess my main question becomes, is
DevBootcamp the _only_ reason you want to move to the US?

I'm an immigrant from Canada but I'm more familiar with family-based
immigration as that's how I came across (fiance visa).

~~~
alpha_beta
Dev Bootcamp is not the only reason I want to move to the US and that's why I
posted this question. My main goal is to have an interesting job in the US,
but I was in doubt between applying for an iOS developer job from London or go
for the dev bootcamp first and then look for a job where I could eventually
use my knowledge on iOS and Rails, as I think it would be a good combination.
I'm starting to be convinced that I should go for the first option and I'll
continue learning Rails on my free time.

~~~
yashchandra
Yes unfortunately the option to learn on your own and apply for a job in the
US is your best bet. Immigration law in the US is very strict and confusing.
Focus on getting a good job offer and once you are inside the US, you can try
and get your employer to file for your permanent residency.

------
lachyg
Do you have a degree? What field is the degree in?

~~~
alpha_beta
I have a BSc and MSc in Computer Science.

------
biopharma_guy
If you have a Bachelor and Master in Comp. Sc. then you should first give it a
shot by trying yourself before entering to Dev Bootcamp. There are several
amazing ruby on rails guides and resources which I think you will have no
problem to follow putting some time and effort into it. Heck I even can
understand ROR up to some extent being from Biotech and Pharma background.
First go to railstutorial.org. and try yourself. If you feel you are not
motivated enough to pull it off yourself then consider applying for Dev
Bootcamp.

~~~
alpha_beta
Thanks for the advice. I just thought there would always be other candidates
in front of me with Rails professional experience, so I would always be at the
end of the queue. The dev bootcamp would be my strategy for moving further in
the queue, but I guess that's not the only way.

