Tell HN: My own version of the American dream

I have the same story with you, I also came from a small country with has nothing special in IT, and working as a Software Engineer in the US is a paranoia dream for me. Except one thing (luckily for me), my family immigrated to the US and I have to follow them.

If you are still looking for a job in SF (or anywhere in this Bay Area), go ahead and create an impressive profile on Angel List (https://angel.co/jobs), this is the website for startups company looking for developers, and I got my first job after 2 weeks in the US by this way (they found me on this site when I was in my home country, and ~1 month long phone calls/interviewing/testing/waiting...).

Spending your time create/contribute to some cool project on Github should help, the people here love that. It's the best way to prove yourself as a good developer.

We all have a dream to live for, and it's great to meet and sharing with people who has the same dream as I have.

Good luck to you, and welcome to the Bay Area ;)

Cheers,

Henry Tr.

So you get a job at a decent startup that actually has viable potential (likely not), get 1% equity (likely half that, since you said you're not an expert), work super hard effectively two full time jobs hardly making ends meet, and then your startup beats all odds (likely doesn't), and gets acquired for 20 million dollars (likely less).

You've just made $200,000 before taxes. Was it worth the risk and the effort?

Correct me if I've got my assumptions wrong please. Chance to unicorn doesn't count, coz at that level of probability he might as well just keep buying the lottery.

A little word of caution. You haven't mentioned your visa situation, but given that you said you can stay for 6 months I'm going to assume you are on a B2 visa.

When you arrive in the US, be ready to explain why you are NOT planning on moving here or finding a job. You aren't coming to SF to look for work, you're coming as a TOURIST and are going to see some sights, and then head home. Also, the longer you say you are going to stay in the US, the harder they will grill you. I would even suggest booking a refundable/changeable return flight a few weeks after you land, and say you are only going to stay for a few weeks. You can always "change your mind" after you get here, because they will almost always stamp you for 6 months in your passport regardless of how long you say you want to stay.

Remember: it's against the tourist visa rules to even THINK about working here or look for a job. So do not mention anything about looking for work, or wanting to live in SF, or even that one day you would like to live here. As far as they should know you love your home country and can't wait to get back there. It also helps if you own property or have dependent family in your home country (this gives you a reason preventing you from illegally immigrating). Failing this, get a letter from an employer saying that you have been granted x weeks vacation and will be expected back at work on a particular date.

If you haven't applied for the visa yet, then get your story straight, and everything above applies x10 for the visa interview.

Take it from someone who learned all this the hard way :)

Now, with that out of the way I would love to meet up when you get here. If you're interested, my email address is in my profile.

I burned two startups first so consider it experience :)

Sorry to be negative, but it will be almost impossible for you to get a job here this way, unless you are from a country that has a flexible work visa arrangement (Canada, Australia, etc). In fact, you could get banned from entering the country for 10+ years if you lie as to your intent for entering the US and you get found out. And if you tell them your intent is to find a job, you will also be denied. It's a no-win situation.

No companies can hire you, unless you already have an existing H1B. If they want to sponsor you, the earliest they could attempt is April 2016, for work in October 2016. And this is if you have a university degree to qualify you for H1B.

You could apply for graduate school, that's probably the easiest way in, and then once you get your degree, you could go on OPT, which gives you 19 months to get an H1B.

Or you could marry someone in the US, but if it's deemed fraudulent, then you would also be barred from entering the US as well.

You could join a large company that has offices where you are, and then transfer to the US on an L1 visa, which would give you a green card very quickly, and then you could quit and do whatever you want afterwards. However, there is the option that the company could take back your green card if you leave too quickly after getting your green card.

Again, sorry to be so negative, but just coming to the US and looking for a job will not work, not in this environment. You need to do it properly, but unfortunately, there is a very slim chance of actually getting a job.