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Engineer's Guide to US Visas

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Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#101

Post by geoffnorton »

rjzzleep wrote: post #68
huherto wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a MS from a good US university. I am one of the principal software engineers at my company, and I lead the technical development on some of the most critical systems. It is medium size company. But, I don't do any state of the art research, or highly specialized academic work, or anything worth publishing on academic journals. How hard is to do the Labor Certification for the EB-2 green card? Edit:grammar

IANAL, but I think in theory you already qualify. The effort is a little on the employers side. They have to post the job offer publicly in a news paper in the area, and then they have to have a good reason for hiring you. In theory I would say it's just a question of having a good lawyer. But then again those things have to be done ANYWAY if you want a green card.

Classifying the effort as 'little' for any EB based green card is nuts. Especially for an Indian citizen. In order to apply for EB-2 or EB-3 you need to first do a prevailing wage determination (about 2 weeks). Then your employer has to recruit for the position they want to offer you (30 days posted + 30 days quiet period). After this your employer gets to apply for a PERM (this is currently taking 8-9 months to be adjudicated by the DOL). If you're unlucky enough to be audited in your application you can tack another year on to this step.

After your PERM is approved, you get to file for I-140, which takes another 4-6 months. Then you get to wait until your priority date becomes current which depends on your category and country of origin. This could be anywhere from immediate to 10+ years.

Once your PD is current, you get to apply for I-485 which takes anywhere from 2-6 months and includes doctors exams, finger printing and possible interviews by USCIS. Of course while they're processing this there is no guarantee they wont retrogress your priority date and put you back into the waiting game.

Of course all of this starts again if you change employers (but you do get to keep your priority date if you had an approved I-140).

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#102

Post by mdda »

cookrn wrote: post #88
mdda wrote: post #81

I'm surprised no-one mentioned the E-2 (Treaty Investor) visa. It allows someone from a Treaty country (which includes a lot of developed countries) to start a business in the USA. It's not an intent visa, though (more on that later). I'm from the UK, and did the E-2 application myself (having found that it took as much time to explain to a lawyer as to write the application). My initial investment was $100k (enough…

I mentioned this treaty in another comment, but are the advantages of the E-2 similar in nature for non-Americans to the those afforded to Americans by the DAFT[1]? Is the E-2 only applicable for citizens of countries that have a specific treaty in place? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT_(treaty)

The Treaty country list for the USA : [1]

The US E-2 is similar to the (into Netherlands) DAFT, except for the fact that the US doesn't allow for the 'sole entrepreneur' option : You need to fund a business with the plan to employ Americans.

[1] http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/treaty.ht...

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#103

Post by ryandrake »

joncrocks wrote: post #60
wil421 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2. Health Dont believe the hype if you work for a company that is going to sponsor your visa, chances are they will provide health insurance. I pay $25 a month for myself and $175 if I had a family of 4. My girlfriend uses Obama Care and pays $21 for basic insurance. Unless you are self employed then chances are you wont be paying much and now with the new health plans even these plans are affordable.

Even with healthcare coverage however, it's just a lot more complicated. I'm from the UK, and if something is wrong, your biggest challenge is making appointments with the right people. Some of my colleagues from the UK who have had to go and see someone in the US report that it's a minefield of: a) Checking which doctors take your kind of coverage b) Co-pays c) Ensuring you know what you are/aren't covered for d) Ra…

Here's how paying for a hospital visit works in the USA if you have insurance: You go in, and before they treat you, the deal from the hospital is:

1. You'll get a number of bills. We don't know how many you'll get.

2. Each bill will be for some amount of money. We don't know how much, not even an order of magnitude.

3. Your insurance may pay anywhere from 0 to 100% of your bill. We don't know what they will do.

4. Whatever your insurance doesn't pay, you are responsible for. We don't know how much that will end up being, but you need to agree now to pay it later.

It's total insanity.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#104

Post by auctiontheory »

wil421 wrote: post #56
buro9 wrote: post #26

There are two things that give me serious pause about living and working in the USA, and that have made me not pursue or accept opportunities that I've been offered in Seattle and San Francisco. 1) Visas & immigration 2) Health

2. Health Dont believe the hype if you work for a company that is going to sponsor your visa, chances are they will provide health insurance. I pay $25 a month for myself and $175 if I had a family of 4. My girlfriend uses Obama Care and pays $21 for basic insurance. Unless you are self employed then chances are you wont be paying much and now with the new health plans even these plans are affordable.

> My girlfriend uses Obama Care and pays $21 for basic insurance.

I used Obamacare for the month of January. My plan cost $507, I received the card on the 30th of the month (so the plan was unusable before then), and they (Blue Shield) were impossible to reach. They have a very understaffed phone line for Obamacare users, separate from their "regular" service for group plans.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#105

Post by canistr »

falsestprophet wrote: post #100

This is a guide to US visa fraud. Software developers are expressly excluded from the TN visa program. If you show up at the Canadian border as an American or the American border as a Canadian and announce you intend to work as a software developer, you will not be admitted. Of course many commit fraud and represent themselves as "Computer Systems Analysts" or "Management Consultants." L1B visas are meant for those w…

It's a game of semantics for border services. If you have an engineering degree, it doesn't matter. If you get your employer to change your title from "Developer" to "Engineer" it works out.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#106

Post by rabble »

It's missing the H1B1 visa which is very easy to get but isn't dual intent. It's only available for citizens of Singapore and Chile. It requires little paperwork and takes about a week to get. If you're so lucky as having a Singaporean or Chilean passport i recommend you look in to it.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#107

Post by psuter »

speeq wrote: post #89
anextio wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USCIS is generally very wary about L-1 abuse. The US company would need a full staff and board of directors. i.e. Both sides of the equation have to be real companies doing real things who have a legitimate need to occasionally bring employees across. Neither of the companies can exist solely to funnel workers into the US.

Well, let's say I own a successful business in the UK, want to expand to the US and expect significant growth within the first year - does a L-1 visa allow me to open a new office in the US, if I hire someone competent to take over UK operations?

In your scenario, you will likely (legitimately) qualify for an E-2 visa.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#108

Post by milemi »

artmageddon wrote: post #96

Can someone further explain the dual-intent portion of this? I'm a US citizen and my girlfriend, who is from Iran, is working toward her PhD in CS here in the States. Currently, she's on a F-1 visa(the site says it's not dual-intent), and would like to remain in the states after she completes her studies to work at a US company(most likely in the valley). This caught my eye as a point of concern, so if anyone can ela…

Even if you don't marry, after graduation she can get one year of so called Optional Practical Training, during which she can apply for a dual-intent visa. This is the path I had personally taken. If you do get married, I am almost 100% sure her having been on an F1 visa is no obstacle for her green card application.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#109

Post by falsestprophet »

canistr wrote: post #105
falsestprophet wrote: post #100

This is a guide to US visa fraud. Software developers are expressly excluded from the TN visa program. If you show up at the Canadian border as an American or the American border as a Canadian and announce you intend to work as a software developer, you will not be admitted. Of course many commit fraud and represent themselves as "Computer Systems Analysts" or "Management Consultants." L1B visas are meant for those w…

It's a game of semantics for border services. If you have an engineering degree, it doesn't matter. If you get your employer to change your title from "Developer" to "Engineer" it works out.

It isn't a game of semantics.

“Engineers may not fill computer-related jobs under TN classification unless they have credentials as computer or software engineers from institutions that recognize computer or software engineering as bona fide engineering specialties offering full engineering credentials, such as professional engineering licenses.”

http://www.tnvisabulletin.com/nafta-tn-blog/2010/6/21/degree...

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#110

Post by rabble »

cookrn wrote: post #87
ashray wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you move to Amsterdam ? Is it like fulltime work or did you sponsor yourself with an EU Blue Card ? I'm always interested in learning about the various possibilities engineers have around the world! :)

An interesting option for Americans looking to move to the Netherlands (or their territories) is the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT_(treaty)

Interesting, i know a lot of americans go to Berlin but German laws make being a freelancer quite tricky. Interesting to see it's easier in the Netherlands.
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