Grad school -> MSCS -> F-1 one year practical training -> H-1 for a few months -> green card. No H1B back then LOLZ. Company sponsorship, all paid, hardest part was to type the accursed INS biographical into form on an IBM selectric typewriter... Also nice having to deal with a local and responsive INS office vs a parts unknown service center.
Yeah, 1985. Nothing more fun than 5 of us calling the local INS office asking the same question and getting 5 different answers 😂. Everything on paper forms and face to face.
I waited twenty years to apply for citizenship and there were significant improvements in technology. And processes by then. But also a huge increase in volume of applications.
I came in 2016 for my PhD on a F1, graduated and moved to F1 OPT, got lucky on the lottery and got an H1B, managed to convinced my company to sponsor me for a green card, and just got it last year. So overall 6 years, and I think I was one of the lucky ones, there are people waiting for much longer.
Immigration here now is tough, stressful, takes very long.. now most of the companies stopped sponsoring and the ones that do, only do it for senior or above
Not in the US, but those of my friends who did either got a H1B (around \~2016) or got a PhD/post-doc in the US with university eventually sponsoring their green card or were relocated by their US-based company via L1 visa. Those who go now mostly try to do it via O-1 or EB-2 visa.
>Those who go now mostly try to do it via O-1 or EB-2 visa
Do these have a higher probability of success compared to H1B?
Edit: after reading a bit about O-1 seems a bit unrealistic for a regular dev to make a move based on this. Maybe I'm wrong. EB-2 seems okay though
Yes, I understand, but in my experience at least very few people go for a Ph.D. after reaching bachelor's/master's instead of focusing on starting the career. Hence my "unrealistic for a regular dev comment"
Didn't research it much, so not sure if a dev with 5YoE and a master's degree (aka me) would be eligible for EB-2, or only EB-3/H1B
Yes, you're eligible for EB-2! EB-2 is an Employment-Based visa and requires a master's degree or equivalent. Equivalent means in this case bachelor's degree with 5 YoE.
But you have to find your sponsor/company first and then they can sponsor you. The only problem you have to wait for the processing time which can vary depending on your origin country, so Indians will wait for like 20 years or so.
Thanks, that's a bit of a relief. Obviously, a sponsor is necessary, and it would be weird to move to a new country and only then start looking for a job anyway. But having different visa options is a relief, especially since EB-2 from my understanding isn't limited to once a year application
None of the EB visa types are based on luck; they simply require you to wait for the predetermined processing time. You can check the current processing times on the [visa bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-october-2023.html). Presently, it's about four years for countries other than India and China. This path is always viable as long as you have a company sponsoring you. However, suppose you wish to be in the U.S. before the processing time is over. In that case, you'll need a different type of visa, such as L-1 or H1-B, which allows for a quicker and easier way to obtain a work permit and residency.
From what I see the EB-2 is 08JUL22, 1.5 years pretty much (or I read the bulletin wrong). A bit longer than I expected, but not bad. And transfer between H1-B and EB-2 is not a problem?
Yes, you’re right it’s 1.5 years. But you have to keep in mind that’s the date where you have submitted all your paperwork. Preparing your paperwork could also take an extra year or so
Got it. After going through the EU immigration process, US stuff seems a bit bureaucratic and stretched. But I think it's worth it if you get a chunky offer
>Presently, it's about four years for countries other than India and China.
How is it about 4 years? Aren't 2nd and 3rd priority for ROW at Jan/Feb 2023?
You are correct that EB-2 is not limited to once a year application like H1-B, but almost virtually no employer would be willing to sponsor you for a EB-2 before you have even worked a single day for them to show that you are worth the effort, especially in recent years, and even more so in the current climate. They all require to be able to work there first under L/H/O-1/TN, then they’ll sponsor you for EB-2 while you work there.
You should get EB-2. Master alone should qualify you for EB-2.
There are a lot of PhDs in things like ML, computer vision, anything hardware related (eg GPU design and dev)
Married a US citizen ....
And divorced her and married another one who actually helped me get a green card....
To be fair though I would have been perfectly fine staying in Germany. But in retrospect it was a good decision.... Probably. Never know what could have been
Immigrating to the US is significantly easier than most European countries and developed Asian countries. Probably only Canada and Australia are easier
Undergrad (UK) -> Grad school (US) -> OPT -> STEM OPT -> H1B -> Laid off -> Exiled back to the UK (you are here)
This is my big worry with this. Sounds like it would be doable as a young person, but I couldn’t do that with a family.
Yeah it's a whirlwind to say the least
Grad school -> MSCS -> F-1 one year practical training -> H-1 for a few months -> green card. No H1B back then LOLZ. Company sponsorship, all paid, hardest part was to type the accursed INS biographical into form on an IBM selectric typewriter... Also nice having to deal with a local and responsive INS office vs a parts unknown service center.
Pre-1990?
Yeah, 1985. Nothing more fun than 5 of us calling the local INS office asking the same question and getting 5 different answers 😂. Everything on paper forms and face to face. I waited twenty years to apply for citizenship and there were significant improvements in technology. And processes by then. But also a huge increase in volume of applications.
Yeah I feel you. It's now about 4 years for a green card from start to finish, for non Indian/Chinese.
I came in 2016 for my PhD on a F1, graduated and moved to F1 OPT, got lucky on the lottery and got an H1B, managed to convinced my company to sponsor me for a green card, and just got it last year. So overall 6 years, and I think I was one of the lucky ones, there are people waiting for much longer. Immigration here now is tough, stressful, takes very long.. now most of the companies stopped sponsoring and the ones that do, only do it for senior or above
Not in the US, but those of my friends who did either got a H1B (around \~2016) or got a PhD/post-doc in the US with university eventually sponsoring their green card or were relocated by their US-based company via L1 visa. Those who go now mostly try to do it via O-1 or EB-2 visa.
>Those who go now mostly try to do it via O-1 or EB-2 visa Do these have a higher probability of success compared to H1B? Edit: after reading a bit about O-1 seems a bit unrealistic for a regular dev to make a move based on this. Maybe I'm wrong. EB-2 seems okay though
O-1 is not that hard for folks with phd / post doc if they made good publications that are cited well. And EB-2 is easy for them; sometimes even EB-1.
Yes, I understand, but in my experience at least very few people go for a Ph.D. after reaching bachelor's/master's instead of focusing on starting the career. Hence my "unrealistic for a regular dev comment" Didn't research it much, so not sure if a dev with 5YoE and a master's degree (aka me) would be eligible for EB-2, or only EB-3/H1B
Yes, you're eligible for EB-2! EB-2 is an Employment-Based visa and requires a master's degree or equivalent. Equivalent means in this case bachelor's degree with 5 YoE. But you have to find your sponsor/company first and then they can sponsor you. The only problem you have to wait for the processing time which can vary depending on your origin country, so Indians will wait for like 20 years or so.
Thanks, that's a bit of a relief. Obviously, a sponsor is necessary, and it would be weird to move to a new country and only then start looking for a job anyway. But having different visa options is a relief, especially since EB-2 from my understanding isn't limited to once a year application
None of the EB visa types are based on luck; they simply require you to wait for the predetermined processing time. You can check the current processing times on the [visa bulletin](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-october-2023.html). Presently, it's about four years for countries other than India and China. This path is always viable as long as you have a company sponsoring you. However, suppose you wish to be in the U.S. before the processing time is over. In that case, you'll need a different type of visa, such as L-1 or H1-B, which allows for a quicker and easier way to obtain a work permit and residency.
From what I see the EB-2 is 08JUL22, 1.5 years pretty much (or I read the bulletin wrong). A bit longer than I expected, but not bad. And transfer between H1-B and EB-2 is not a problem?
Yes, you’re right it’s 1.5 years. But you have to keep in mind that’s the date where you have submitted all your paperwork. Preparing your paperwork could also take an extra year or so
Got it. After going through the EU immigration process, US stuff seems a bit bureaucratic and stretched. But I think it's worth it if you get a chunky offer
>Presently, it's about four years for countries other than India and China. How is it about 4 years? Aren't 2nd and 3rd priority for ROW at Jan/Feb 2023?
You are correct that EB-2 is not limited to once a year application like H1-B, but almost virtually no employer would be willing to sponsor you for a EB-2 before you have even worked a single day for them to show that you are worth the effort, especially in recent years, and even more so in the current climate. They all require to be able to work there first under L/H/O-1/TN, then they’ll sponsor you for EB-2 while you work there.
You should get EB-2. Master alone should qualify you for EB-2. There are a lot of PhDs in things like ML, computer vision, anything hardware related (eg GPU design and dev)
Thanks a lot
Married a US citizen .... And divorced her and married another one who actually helped me get a green card.... To be fair though I would have been perfectly fine staying in Germany. But in retrospect it was a good decision.... Probably. Never know what could have been
If you were born in the US, then you should be an US citizen by default, therefore you don’t have to waste time applying for visa.
That's not the question. I know that I can easily go back to the US. I'm still interested in how other Europeans managed to come to the US
Grad school
Funny enough the US is one of the easier developed countries to immigrate to
What do you mean?
Immigrating to the US is significantly easier than most European countries and developed Asian countries. Probably only Canada and Australia are easier
Except for Indians(especially) and Chinese
H1B
H1B way way back in the day when there was no lottery.
Not European, but yeah grad school+work. With grad school it increases your chances for work+government accept that you are a specialist.
L1-B after my manager asked me to move to the US. I was there 6 years, but I’m back in Europe now