Construction Industry Professionals
#31
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 12
Re: Construction Industry Professionals
Pretty much the same story for me, although I'm a landscape architect (the education/qualification process in the UK is pretty much the same as for an architect). I just had to suck it up and work my way up over here. Had to work under a licensed landscape architect for several years before I could take State licensing exams. Most (all?) state Bureau's of Occupational Licenses wont recognise overseas education. It has to be from an accredited university, which will only be in the US or maybe Canada.
#33
Re: Construction Industry Professionals
After a little research I discovered that the "CIOB Americas Chapter" (covering USA, Canada, Caribbean and Central & South America) has 400 members. Sounds more like an expat social club rather than a professional institution. I wonder, though, how on earth people manage to retain their chartership, as there are no CPD events/training in the USA.
#34
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2012
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Posts: 189
Re: Construction Industry Professionals
Well it was the company that wanted to hire me that applied for the visa. I think it was an EB-3. They had to go through Labor Certification, which basically means proving no US citizen was available to take the job. Still not sure how they managed to do that. Probably just advertised the job locally for the minimum time and didn't get any responses from anyone with my specific skills. It helped that the job was in a town that not many people would think of moving to, and it didn't pay that well, so that probably limited applications they received. Took 2 1/2 years for the visa to be approved during which time I was back in Blighty. Not sure why the US company stuck with it so long. By then I had a great job in England, so it was tough to move to a crappier job. Always would have wondered if I didn't though. Anyway, worked my way up and am not doing too bad now. Although would probably move back to the UK if I weren't so rooted here now (and house prices there were sensible).