
I'm a sr sft eng from New Zealand, how do I move to the US? - apatheticonion
I&#x27;d like to move to the US for the opportunities in the software&#x2F;technology sector.<p>I am self taught, so no formal qualifications but I have 3 years of demonstrated professional experience.<p>If I were to do a small government accredited certificate, or say a series of AWS certificates - would that help get me over the line for an H1-B visa?<p>How does one turn an H1-B visa into a permanent residence visa?
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gnat
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](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)

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tucaz
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.

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EnderMB
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!

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eshvk
> 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.

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g1991
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
You are right, my mistake.

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codegeek
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.

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djhaskin987
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.

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qnsi
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)

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mb_72
What about becoming an Australian citizen, then going the E3 visa route?

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_ah
Self taught + 3 years != Senior Engineer

~~~
_ah
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.

