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Engineer's Guide to US Visas

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Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#181

Post by tarunkotia »

eshvk wrote: post #165
tarunkotia wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my 10th year anniversary in this country and you guessed it right, I am still on H-1B visa. Although my employer has filed for the green card, it is still a couple years away. I can decide to wait for my Green Card or I can start today. I decided the latter. Having said that, I've started on this path just recently and believe me I am facing difficulties at every step, even the the ones I thought would be the…

A point to note is that only those who were born in India/China have to deal with this long lead time. If you weren't born in any of these countries that have high immigration rates into America, you should have < 3-4 years path to a Green Card.

That's correct, I was born in India and hence will have to wait in line for my turn. It's just that if someone wants to start today can still do and need not wait for a green card.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#182

Post by dragonwriter »

rglullis wrote: post #145
jbarham wrote: post #38

I'm Canadian and worked for over four years a software engineer in SoCal on work visas (TN then H1B). My wife, an Aussie and high school teacher with several years of teaching experience in top international schools in Asia, couldn't legally work in the US. So she volunteered teaching ESL at a local adult school. Ironically many of her students were Hispanics who had originally entered the US illegally. Doubly ironic…

Since we're sharing stories: come from Brazil to the US, it took me 2 months in 2008 (the height of the crisis) to get an interview in a place where they could actually sponsor H1B visas. Got job offer. The whole process to be able to start working took another 3 months. So I had to sit on my ass for 5 months doing nothing but wait for the USCIS. I was working at a research lab that was part of Harvard Medical, there…

> so I quit my job [...] Also, forget about unemployment checks, even though I paid for Social Security like everyone else.

Social Security is a completely separate system from unemployment; the only conceptual area of overlap relates to disability.

Unemployment is a different system of social insurance which you probably also paid into -- but its insurance against involuntary, no fault unemployment. Both voluntary termination (quitting) and termination for cause generally are outside of the coverage of unemployment insurance.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#183

Post by spiralpolitik »

fitzpasd wrote: post #41

Great guide, I'd love a similar one for Green Cards. For instance, does a Masters in CS qualify you for an EB-2 filing? A search shows that the employer would have to give evidence of the advanced degree being necessary for the job. Usually you wouldn't need a Masters degree for a programmer role but I'm wondering how strict this is in practice. Concretely, if you were to enter the US on a H1-B for a SDE role with Bi…

Assuming that everybody else performing that role at the company has a Master's degree (or equivalent) there is nothing stopping filing the labor certification on day one.

As with anything immigration related. Consult a lawyer, not the internet.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#184

Post by DrJokepu »

nobodysfool wrote: post #134
DrJokepu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the customs officer admits you to the United States on visa waiver (WT/WB status) you need leave the United States within 90 days or less. In addition to that, you cannot change your visa waiver status to any other non-immigrant status without departing the United States (e.g. you cannot switch to H1B within America while on WT/WB).

You can change your visa waiver status to another status without departing the USA. My ex wife was from Italy, she came here on vwp and we got married. She stayed during the AOS process.

Your ex wife has changed her status to an immigrant status. The rules forbid changing WT/WB to a non-immigrant (e.g. H1B) status.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#185

Post by spiralpolitik »

coin wrote: post #114

"Getting a bank account is fairly straightforward, and most don't require a SSN." I don't know about this. It's pretty much impossible to open a bank account without a SSN or TIN.

You can open the account without an SSN. However most banks will generally require you to provide a valid SSN or TN with a certain period of time otherwise they will close the account.

Generally if you are in the US legally you will have one of those numbers.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#186

Post by spiralpolitik »

NhanH wrote: post #9
thomseddon wrote: post #3

To anyone with experience with a H1-B: How closely related does your degree have to be? I get the impression this is a relatively grey area - I have a BEng in Civil Engineering, in my opinion it's somewhat related, I just wondered if there is a clear guidance on this?

Another question regard the H1-B: is it a bad idea trying to file H1-B without a lawyer? I'm working for a startup, and in the spirit of not-wasting-money, we're trying to file the H1B by ourselves, would that be too risky?

Do not do anything immigration related without a lawyer. Ever.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#187

Post by jacalata »

eshvk wrote: post #165
tarunkotia wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my 10th year anniversary in this country and you guessed it right, I am still on H-1B visa. Although my employer has filed for the green card, it is still a couple years away. I can decide to wait for my Green Card or I can start today. I decided the latter. Having said that, I've started on this path just recently and believe me I am facing difficulties at every step, even the the ones I thought would be the…

A point to note is that only those who were born in India/China have to deal with this long lead time. If you weren't born in any of these countries that have high immigration rates into America, you should have < 3-4 years path to a Green Card.

I'm Australian and five years after I arrived, I am now eligible to submit my greencard application (adjustment of status).

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#188

Post by jorde »

spiralpolitik wrote: post #186
NhanH wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another question regard the H1-B: is it a bad idea trying to file H1-B without a lawyer? I'm working for a startup, and in the spirit of not-wasting-money, we're trying to file the H1B by ourselves, would that be too risky?

Do not do anything immigration related without a lawyer. Ever.

Except J1 visas and waivers, both are easy enough to deal without a lawyer if you have some help from someone who has done it.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#189

Post by jorde »

venomsnake wrote: post #73

What is the situation if you are cofounder of startup? So you own some part of US company.

Both H1b and O1 work in this case with the limitation that in H1b you can't own majority share of the company, i.e. someone needs to be able to kick you out. I'm not aware of all the details but you should consult an immigration lawyer about this.

Re: Engineer's Guide to US Visas

#190

Post by buro9 »

wil421 wrote: post #160
thisone wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

totally, I call my GP for a non-emergency and I may have to wait until the next day to get seen. Nothing like the states, where, in a similar part of the country (city/rural wise) I needed to make non-emergency appointments 4 months in advance.

4 months in advance you are seeing the wrong GP! I could easily switch to a new GP if I tried to make an appointment and they were booked that far in advance. Can you choose you GP in the UK or are they assigned?

You can choose.

It does depend on whether they have space on their books of course. But by and large, people choose a GP close to where they live, and pick the first one they like the name of on the list at one of the closest surgeries.

The way the system works here is if anything is life threatening, you just go to Accident & Emergency at the nearest hospital.

Otherwise you go to your GP for pretty much everything. You'll have an appointment within a couple of days if it's non-urgent, or told to go in immediately. They perform a basic diagnosis, and either take care of you then and there (minor first aid, basic procedures, prescriptions), or you get referred to a specialist. If you are getting referred, you can say which one you want to be referred to.

And from all of that, you never ever get a bill or see anything relating to accounts. You just get your treatment and care.

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