I've gotten to work with a lot of amazing silicon valley engineers who are
here on H1B visas. As as I understand, losing your job does not normally
mean being sent back to your country since you can transfer the H1B visa
to your new employer.
The tough part is just getting the H1B visa since you must have a company
here sponsor you to get it. This is why the monthly "Who's Hiring" submission
here on HN requests that posters declare whether H1B's are welcome.
Thanks for the response. How 'good' to you have to be to get a H1B? Aren't there restrictions along the lines of 'there must be no American available who can do the job'? I guess my question really is: Is the H1B for really talented programmers or anyone who does a good job?
H1B is for anyone who can convince the company they are interviewing with (you don't need to be a rockstar, ninja, herokai or anything like that. You just need to be honest, reasonably good and hard-working), that it is worth sponsoring that person. Typically if the company has interviewed 2-3 local folks with no success and you wow them, they will gladly sponsor your H1B . Bigger companies can do it much easier than smaller ones.
A bigger company (with fancy lawyers) will have an easy time sponsoring someone's H1B than a startup. But I have seen startups sponsor H1Bs as well. If the startup is well funded, has traction and is a 'real' company, then I don't think they will have any issues sponsoring for a H1B.
The tough part is just getting the H1B visa since you must have a company here sponsor you to get it. This is why the monthly "Who's Hiring" submission here on HN requests that posters declare whether H1B's are welcome.