

Ask HN: How do I get a job at a SV startup as an international? - applepi

I am CS student approaching graduation and I would love to work in Silicon Valley and get inspired by the environment and the energy there is around. So I wanted to ask you how to best achieve this goal of mine.
I will be getting my MSc in CS in Italy in April and in May I will be defending my MSc thesis in the US (kind of a double degree), so I thought I&#x27;d stay a week in San Francisco to do some interviews with startups. I know H-1B visas are only issued once every year and there&#x27;s only a limited amount, so how those hiring international usually work? Also, when is the best time to apply for open positions if I will be in SF in the second week of May?
Thank you in advance for any help!
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mtmail
There is no short-cut around getting a work visa. The company needs to spend
time and money to even start the visa process and it can take months to years
to get all cleared. The company also has to prove to the government they
weren't able to find a US person to do the same job. That's much easier if you
are some kind of expert in your field or the job description matches almost
only you.

Alternatives are the yearly Greencard lottery or getting hired by a subsidiary
of US company in Italy and then do an internal transfer after a year. That
rules out most startups.

May I suggest moving to Berlin instead? Inside Europe you can move and work in
any country.

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neumino
There are alternatives like F1, J1 etc. You can get transferred with a L1 one
year after moving.

It also doesn't take years to get a H1-B...

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asdasdasdwtf
F1 is for students AFAIK,which does not apply to the OP since (s)he's
graduating. Aldo J1 I think is for internships, which could be a temporary
"fix", but in the long run (s)he will need an actual work visa.. I'm
interested too,what's the process for a work visa, once the company decides
you're a good fit?

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sylvainkalache
I would suggest you to follow TechMeAbroad. They are working on a platform to
connect SV companies and candidates from abroad. It's not live yet, but soon
to from what I heard.

[https://twitter.com/techmeabroad](https://twitter.com/techmeabroad)
[https://www.facebook.com/techmeabroad](https://www.facebook.com/techmeabroad)

