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are approved. Find a reputable immigration attorney to represent you. Lots of visa classifications are ways to achieve a permanent residency card.
And which one do you spam for?
If the requirements are met there is no need for an attorney. If the requirements are not met the applicant pays an attorney then stays home.
are approved. Find a reputable immigration attorney to represent you. Lots of visa classifications are ways to achieve a permanent residency card.
That's not true.
There used to be more ways of getting in but not anymore. Most US companies will not sponsor anyone either. Only if you have some extremely rare and necessary skill, usually scientific or medical, might you get sponsored.
The college path is one way but I would imagine the OP is already beyond college.
The remarks about just crossing over the border---justified comments, I would say, since our government looks the other way at people who do it illegally. Now some of them are even getting a path to citizenship when they didn't even come here legally in the first place.
As I already said, I do hear about people getting transferred here by their companies. Of course, there are the marriage visas of which my dh was a participant. He likes it here but you, OP, might not. This country isn't all that it's cracked up to be, especially if you are thinking Hollywood and western movies. Nothing like what you see on tv.
There used to be more ways of getting in but not anymore. Most US companies will not sponsor anyone either. Only if you have some extremely rare and necessary skill, usually scientific or medical, might you get sponsored.
The college path is one way but I would imagine the OP is already beyond college.
The remarks about just crossing over the border---justified comments, I would say, since our government looks the other way at people who do it illegally. Now some of them are even getting a path to citizenship when they didn't even come here legally in the first place.
As I already said, I do hear about people getting transferred here by their companies. Of course, there are the marriage visas of which my dh was a participant. He likes it here but you, OP, might not. This country isn't all that it's cracked up to be, especially if you are thinking Hollywood and western movies. Nothing like what you see on tv.
I am bachelor's degree educated in business administration and on my way to do an MBA (possibly in the US). I am fully aware of the situation both economically and politically in the USA, as I've been there countless times for both pleasure and business.
I know people with MBAs working for consulting firms, well they are basically geniuses, and it doesn't seem hard for them to work for consulting groups in the US who would sponsor them and not even think twice about spending the $$$ to do it.
But we are talking about people with above 120-130 minimum IQ coming out of MIT, harvard, or the very top universities in the world, not average people.
My reason for wanting to live in the US and work there, is purely because I do enjoy the country, especially the business mentality, which is attractive for someone like me from a Western European country (where everything is much slower/bureaucratic).
Even if the situation is bad in the US, I find that it is still a far cry from the situation in Europe. The problem IMO in the USA is not the system, but some structural problems in education and so on, but this isnt the topic I think if you really have the right mentality in the US you can still easily rise to the top.
Anyway...An MBA for me is still far away unless my company sponsors me for it. As you might know it costs more than the average person can ever afford. And Im definitely not completely branching out into something that has nothing to do with my background (IT, engineering, and so on...Im a businessman too old to throw away everything and start from scratch )
So I guess Im gonna rely on the good old green card lottery, but am definitely on the lookout for European companies possibly sponsoring me.
But you are definitely right about times changing for immigration. I think the turning point was 9/11. Before, from the 60s to the late 90s, almost anybody could come to the US quite easily. Europeans from Swedish models to people with a basic business degree could hop on a plane and after a stamp at the immigration office you were good Well those times are well over. Terrorists and the economy have made legal immigration bad PR it seems.
Hope times change...But having followed the last presidential campaign, it seems legal immigration is not something either party wants to really fix yet. They have more pressing concerns it seems. Its all about illegal illegal illegal illegal immigration and Mexico. But people forget there is a whole world of legal immigrants also.
im in the healthcare sector, and even in that sector, it's becoming really hard to get the employer to apply for the green card for you, especially in this economy even with the shortage. they might initially hire foreign trained people to temporarily fill in spots, but once they see more local graduates, they will let the h1bs expire and not bother to file for green cards. so, yes, outside of marrying a US citizen or having the $$$ to invest, it's near impossible now to get a green card. i have friends that have been here for almost a decade on h1 (luckily their employers filed for their green card prior to the recession) and their green cards are still on process. those that got green cards earlier than 8 years through the EB2 process have had many years of relevant prior experience before working in the US and have bosses that were foreign trained too.
indeed! it was a fight for me to get in back in 2007. lost the h1b lottery in 2005, barely squeezed in in the 2006 h1b lottery. after that, it was the opposite but still a fight. it was taking USCIS longer to fill the annual h1b quota because US employers werent looking for foreign trained workers.
i frequently wished my dad did not squander his immigration opportunity before i was born, but then again, im hoping to make my own legacy of being able to fight for my green card in the US in the tough times through sheer hard work, persistence and prayers without the benefit of marrying a US citizen
To the OP, I hope you get in somehow if you really want to be here and you have no false illusions concerning the reality of living and working here. The system is not fair at all to good people who want to come here legally but, as we say, "Where there's a will, there's a way."
im in the healthcare sector, and even in that sector, it's becoming really hard to get the employer to apply for the green card for you, especially in this economy even with the shortage. they might initially hire foreign trained people to temporarily fill in spots, but once they see more local graduates, they will let the h1bs expire and not bother to file for green cards. so, yes, outside of marrying a US citizen or having the $$$ to invest, it's near impossible now to get a green card. i have friends that have been here for almost a decade on h1 (luckily their employers filed for their green card prior to the recession) and their green cards are still on process. those that got green cards earlier than 8 years through the EB2 process have had many years of relevant prior experience before working in the US and have bosses that were foreign trained too.
Thanks for your post, very informative.
It's interesting to note the differences between a simple H1B non-immigrant visa, and actually getting sponsored for permanent residence (green card). As you said, it makes sense that they would only go for temporary contracts and thus H1 visa instead of the more expensive and risky green card process (which also takes time, when you need a worker to start fast).
Still, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I find a company in a decent industry (rare I know) or niche, that is doing well in the long term, I dont see why I could not press them to sponsor me if I really show an intent to stay for the long-run.
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To the OP, I hope you get in somehow if you really want to be here and you have no false illusions concerning the reality of living and working here. The system is not fair at all to good people who want to come here legally but, as we say, "Where there's a will, there's a way."
Well, you know, it's not like I am asking to become a naturalized American or anything. I am simply seeking permanent residence for the purpose of work in the United States. It is really something quite basic, but in the current world it seems harder and harder to do.
Canada to the north has actually many ways to do it, especially for me in Quebec as I speak French among other languages and they are willing to take anybody to do work there. But being a big fan of the USA, I feel its either stay in Europe or USA for me
But in any case, there are always other ways in life, if the US doesn't work out, then I will move on somehow. Just wish something as simple as to be allowed to stay in a country for the purpose of work would be easier. The world has just become overcomplicated. I actually learned that for Americans coming to the EU (there are actually quite an interested amount of Americans wanting to immigrate to Europe to "find their roots" or something ), well its the same nightmare as for Europeans to get a green card. Europe just wont let them stay. (By the way there is a green card scheme called blue card coming to Europe someday...)
Interesting circumstances Everybody always wants what they dont have. Anyway thanks for the answers everyone, will keep in touch if there is any luck with the green card.
^^ This! Why do we make it so hard for our friends to move around? Western Europe, Canada, The US and Australia share a common language and similar culture. At my old company, we wanted to hire a Canadian guy that had consulted for us in the past. The process was going to be ugly. Similarly, if I wanted to move to Canada or the UK, I'd run into legal brick walls.
Even back in the eighties, I worked with a guy from Ireland who was here illegally as he hadn't jumped through all the legal hoops yet.
Mexican people hop the border here all the time, in part because legal immigration is a morass of red tape that takes years to navigate.
Good luck with your lottery, Anondragon. I hope you get in.
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I think if you really have the right mentality in the US you can still easily rise to the top.
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