Pulaski

Almost certainly, many US unis offer on-line degrees, but whether a purely on-line degree has much credibility if prospective employers find out it was puely on-line is another matter. ..... That said, IME in most cases you won't be asked, and nobody will ever pay much attention, .... but they might in a heavyweight science or technology subject, where practical lab work would typically be expected.

You pays your money and you takes you choice. ..... But you should definitely research what the status of such a degree would be vis-a-vis the "protected" H-1 visa class for holders of US Masters degrees!

tht

I decided to do something similar at about age 21, and your estimate is right, it took me about 10 years (I maybe could have done it a year or 2 faster with more focus, but I also gave living in New Zealand a try). I already had a UG degree and during those 10 year worked my way up to a Managment Level role in a small finance / technology company with a US parent company. I also completed a post graduate degree in business (while in New Zealnd). After I had worked for the European subsidiary for a couple of years they decided to move me to NYC. Their lawyer filed for an L1a visa and after I arrived they also filed an application for an EB1c Green Card, that process took about another year.

Doable if you are focused and as a bonus getting to the level for an L1a to apply in the right industry also has some financial benefits.

Good luck.

aquatone

If the OP has an IT or software engineering inclination I don't think you can go too far wrong to focus on these areas in the UK. You really need to follow technology trends and anticipate where there is going to be a future shortage. For example at the moment in the SF Bay Area it is really, really hard to find good data analysts and data scientists for all the various social and e-commerce platforms starting up, and literally everyone wants to hire front and back end web developers. These are the roles employers will readily sponsor visas for or transfer personnel from UK based subsidiaries. As a manager I have written letters in support of sponsored individuals several times. The trick for you is to anticipate in what fields there is going to be a future demand when you are ready in 10-years, so you need to keep connected.

When I emigrated to the USA 21 years ago working in feature film visual effects technology was an example then. There was a huge shortage of skilled professionals in that area and it almost seemed there was a dedicated plane regularly landing at Heathrow you could just walk into and get a new job and life in the USA. Though I never planned it that way, it was clear that there would be a window of demand that would eventually close so I made the move. Those days have long gone in my industry unless you are an exceptional talent as home grown skills have saturated demand, but windows will open in other upcoming industries and fields you can target. Some are not that hard to identify, AI, VR/AR FinTech for example.

Chris

rpjs

A bit late to this party but just wanted to note that in the software engineering field there’s a huge number of medium to large (but not huge) companies with a presence in both the US and the UK. All three companies I’ve worked for in the US have had a trans-Atlantic reach and only my current employer is in any sense a “household name” and is not of the Facebook, Apple, Google size and probably never will be.