Pashtun

Hello everyone,

I am new here, so hello! I had posted this on another forum, but didn't get any response, so I thought I will try here...


I have a few questions that I hope someone will be able to answer. I am currently an Undergraduate UK student and I want to move to the USA eventually. I know that this is not easy! I am planning to do a Masters course here in the UK and the possibly do another one in the USA and will then possibly go on to do a Phd. However, when I go to the US for Graduate studies, I want to find a University where I can eventually stay and get a job as a member of faculty/professor/teaching assistant - with the hope that I will get sponsored from the University. I have spoken with the Fulbright Commission in London and they said that there tends to be more 'leeway' in regards to getting Visa's for academic jobs, in comparison to a multi-national company, for example where you have to physically go out and find a sponsoring company. They also said that Universities are very adapt in the visa processing procedures and approval rates are generally high, especially if the proposed faculty member is a former student of the same institution. What does everyone here think about this? Is this a correct assumption that I should take?


There is one particular University in the US that I am certainly going to be applying to and an important thing that I need to state is that the subject area that I plan to specialize in is very specialized - there is only one University in the whole of the US that teaches this subject, (a language) and they have only started teaching it as part of academic programs this year. Even in the whole of Europe, there is only one institution that teaches this language at a University level or academic context. I am a native speaker of this language and I want to be part of a University faculty (the one in the US) that is looking to develop and encourage study and research into this region. Before I go to the US, I plan to do an undergraduate level course in this language at the European institute - for the purpose of helping me to get admission to the US one. Even though I am a native speaker of this language, I think it would help that I have some kind of a qualification in it - especially if I want to teach it.

I am able to do what I want to do and there is an opportunity for me to become a member of this faculty in the US that is currently still in its infancy stage visa wise and what kind of visa would I need? Is there a kind of visa that I can apply for myself (considering my proposed specialism), without the help of the University? I know for a fact that in the US, there is a huge demand, even from the US government itself for linguists who are native speakers of this language and there is a shortage of US Citizens who can speak this language. I have even been offered jobs with the US government for my language skills (apart from this language, I speak 4 others) but when the question came to my citizenship they said that they can only hire US citizens for security clearance purposes. By the time I complete my Graduate studies, I will be specialized in certain regional aspects of International Relations and languages of a certain region.

On a side note, I have also heard that Graduate students who graduate from US Universities have a special H1B Visa cap - is this correct?

Thank you in advance!

(sorry for the long post!)

scrubbedexpat099

I suppose you could apply for an investment visa, or marry a USC.

No problem with H Visa's at the moment, no jobs.

And I think you would have to be gay to work for the US Government.

Does remind me of a similar thread a few months back.

Bob

Bit iffy. Sure they sponsor and the advantage there is the H1 doesn't have a quota and you don't have to wait till Oct to start, but the catch is often they dont' have the money to spend on sponsorship unless you've already got some experience to make it worth it. Phd might get a J1 etc instead. Few threads on academia you could search out.


Getting a masters from a US uni also gets you a chance of further H1B visas.

And no, you can't sponsor yourself for a visa. There is a good wiki here that you should read to go over your options.

Might want to post in the visa section about the visa avenue too.

Pashtun

Really? Could you shine some light on this - I have attempted searching, but couldn't find anything. It might have some info that might be useful to me. Much appreciated.

Pashtun

Will do the search on the academia and visa's. I think you might be right about the money thing - I guess if worst comes to worst and I cannot get the visa I need, then Ill go to France and teach out there - the only hurdle I would have would be learning French to be able to teach at an academic level! Probably a lot easier then the USA visa hurdle...

dunroving

Just some quick points (and some questions).

My question is why on earth would you do two masters degrees? It won't help your immigration status any, in fact it might be interpreted as you being indecisive. Only in certain situations do people do more than one masters. usually you progress from a masters to a PhD. And why would you do an undergraduate degree in your first language? It's not exactly a foreign language ...

Re: H1B being more likely to be approved if you are applying for a job at your alma mater, I've never heard of that before (i.e., I think it is incorrect - whoever you spoke to at Fulbright obviously is not an immigration expert).

This may even be frowned upon, job-wise (academic incest - many universities actively discourage hiring of their own graduates).

Re: your comment "I want to find a University where I can eventually stay and get a job as a member of faculty/professor/teaching assistant" - how would you know this ahead of time?

In connection with the above, choosing a very specialised area of study is job suicide - sounds like if you didn't get a job at that institution, there would be no other options.

So, it seems you have a lot of re-thinking to do.

Pashtun

You seem curious! Well, the reason why I may want to do two Masters is because i might go into two different specialisms and most importantly it will give me the knowledge and background that I require in order for me to do further academic research. For example, I am studying International Relations which is a very broad subject and I plan (an example) to do a research project at Phd level about countering terrorism within a particular region using peaceful approaches to conflict. Notice that counter-terrorism and transforming violent conflict AND the region concerned are three seperate elements of International Relations. Also, one Masters degree can be research orientated and the other is taught. Research based Masters gives you the skills to go into research, as well as being given the opportunity to do a research project whilst on the course. However I have interests in different aspects of IR and I cannot do these on one Master degree program. I might do one taught Masters, then a research one and then go onto a Phd that allows me to research other areas of interest that I have. I have to first do a taught one, which will give me knowledge.

In regards to your point about getting an undergraduate degree in my first language .... firstly its not my first language (English is!), second, let me ask you a question - why do English native speakers do degrees in English language and Literature? Third, getting an undergraduate degree in my 'first' language is not what I want to do - I am thinking of getting a certificate or Diploma in that language (in France), to complement my undergraduate degree.

I have never heard of this before, which is why I thought I should come here and ask!

I personally thought that universities would actively seek to employ their own graduates - i could be wrong though. My assumption is based on the fact that most US universities offer foreign students an 'Assistantship', which is basically teaching undergrads in return for tuition as well as a small stipend for living expenses. It is generally the case because most international students do not qualify for federal funding/fellowships. It would seem logical that if you are hired as a teaching assistant/teacher during your own studies, the liklihood of you getting onto the faculty after your graduation is higher. Do you have experience that brought you to your opinion of universities actively discouraging hiring of their own students?

I understand what you mean. I dont think its a matter of knowing ahead of time, its a matter of me being able to get a job as a professor after Graduation and like most graduates, I would want to be hired soon after Graduation. Since people tend to study or take subjects/do courses according to their career interests (mine being a professor or academic research) I don't think planning ahead of time is wrong. I would rather first find a University where I know I have reletively good chance (not gauranteed, but good chance) of getting a paid job and a career that I can settle into full time. I first need to understand the immigration implications whilst planning. No one knows anything ahead of time - if you are studying for A Levels, for example - there is no gaurantee that you will pass or get the grades you want. If only we knew things ahead of time, life would be much simplier!

Actually, there would be many options, in my field - but I dont expect everyone who is not in this field to know all the different avenues of it. Some of them include Diplomacy and working for NGO's (such as the UN). The reason why I am targeting the US, is because there is no institution that has a faculty that teaches what I want to specialise in. Indiana University is the only one who has taken the first steps to initiate a faculty (this year!). Apart from this, there is an institution in France (only one in Europe!) but the problem would be language. So, as a fall back, if Indiana doesn't work, ill come back here to the UK, set up faculty in a UK university myself or learn French to academic standards (which takes time!) and work there. However I do not want to spend at least 3 years learning French, when I could go to the US and join an already founded faculty, even though it is still in infancy. this would allow me to use my time in studying towards my specialism, instead of using it merely to learn French and THEN study towards specialism! Hope this makes sense...

However, I do plan to learn French - enough to get me through one year of study to get the Diploma and I also want to have a working knowledge of it, as it is a UN language.

dunroving

It is quite natural that I would be curious - in order to provide advice, it is often necessary to ask questions - plus, your vague reference to "a language" without simply saying, for example "pashto" tends to invite curiosity.

My opinions are based on having completed a masters and PhD in the US as an international stduent, having been a teaching/research assistant during my (post)graduate studies, and having taught in US institutions of higher education.

The issue regarding not hiring your own is not really to do with whether you believe in the quality of your own graduates, but more from a desire to expand the breadth of perspectives among your faculty members (i.e., not all in the same mold).

I assumed this was your first language because you described yourself as a native speaker. Understandable assumption based on your post.

My point still stands regarding doing two masters ... for example, if you do a taught masters (which usually includes independent research, inicidentally) and then wanted to gain further research experience, it makes much more sense to continue to a PhD rather than doing a second masters by research. Your described path of studies appears to be unnecessarily costly and time-intensive. Certainly, people complete more than one masters degree, but not in the way you are suggesting.

Pashtun

Oh, I am not questionning your curiosity at all. A person referring to a language as a 'language' is a matter of personal of words. If somebody is talking about pencils, they don't nessesarily have to state the colour of them. I think the main reason why I didn't mention the language name Pakhto, is because not many people have heard of it and is generally easier to refer to it as a language. However, I didn't come here to debate about choice of words or the Pakhto language and I am sure you didn't, either.

This puts you in a perfect position to advise. So, in regards to my original post - you are a prime example of a British Citizen (which, I may be, wrong - I am assuming you are British) who has gone out to the USA and has, during (post)graduate studies taught/was a research assistant at a University as an International Student and is someone who has then subsequently taught in US institutions of Higher Education. Going by the latter, I am assuming that you managed to aquire a Visa to continue teaching at an Institute of higher education. This makes me believe that what I may want to do, is do-able. Can I please ask from your experience and point of view - how different was it to obtain sponsorship from the institute concerned, in comparision to say a worker of a multi national coming to the US to work?

I totally agree. And my understanding is that hiring someone who is International will help to expand the breath of perspective within the faculty. However, if the aim of a faculty is to hire someone who is a native speaker of the language, as well as qualified in it, but they also have someone already within the department who is that AND is a specialist of the same region in regards to International Relations and is someone who has a European and North American perspective of IR and the region concerned, then I do not believe that a faculty can expand the breath of perspective more then this, don't you think? The fact that there is a shortage of qualified American Citizens/Nationals who actually speak Pakhto, let alone qualified in it shows that the liklihood of them keeping me on is higher then letting me go after I graduate. So far I have only come across one American person who can speak Pakhto and she learnt the language. If you can enlighten me, please do so

Yes, I am a native speaker of this language, but I do not consider it my first language. This is my personal stand on this. Others can call it whatever they like. I am also fluent/native speaker of other languages. When I mean native, I mean being able to speak the language in a way where an actual native speaker wouldn't actually distinguish that you are in fact someone who learnt the language. Others call this near-native speaker. Personal choice of worlds I guess. In regards to Pakhto, it is the language of my parents origin. However, I didn't come here to debate about fluency of a language and I am sure you didn't, either. Also, you are free to assume as you please




I understand your point and with all due respect, I didn't come here to discuss my Masters/careers options - however I do appreciate your concern. I just wanted to know the relative ease/difficulty visa wise of staying in the US and getting a job in academia after completion of studies, preferably with the same institution. I still haven't even decided which or what Master(s) I will be doing, or where for that matter. I could be doing my first Masters in the US and not do a second Masters at all - I am still planning and like I said, with all due respect you are entitled to your opinions and I thank you for your advise about how many Masters I should do, in accordance to what others do. How many Masters I do, how much its costs and how long it takes is something that I have to decide myself and is something that is upto me. I understand your point about confusion, however I do not plan my education to please American Immigration officials - I do it according to my interests and what I want to do. If that means getting immigration officers confused (I don't understand how, especially if they will both be in a similar discipline!) and the consequence of this is not getting an American visa, then so be it. America, for me, isn't be all and end all.

meauxna

Respectfully, you should have posted your questions in the Immigration forum if you want to keep the conversation confined to that topic. By posting in the lifestyle forum, answers will wander a bit away from immigration-only.
You could PM a moderator from this forum or 'report' your post to ask to have it moved.

Michelmas

With all due respect, site your source. There are 250 million people in the US. Have you spoken to them all? [I know you haven't spoken to me]. You have no idea how many people [who are already USC and can work for the US government] who can speak Pashto / Pakhto.

As for being a native speaker, by you description, you are very fluent, that is all. As you are not from that area [even if your heritage is] you can never be native [this is not merely a choice of words either.] If english is your "native" language, any of the other languages are merely levels of fluency. And I am unimpressed by your linguistic skills, as i am also "fluent" in Japanese, arabic, russian and BS with english as my mother tongue.

Bob

why did I read that as bullshit with English

dunroving

From my experience, and as I think has already been stated on one of your threads (by yourself, maybe?), it is easier in many ways to get an employment-based visa in academia, compared to other types of jobs. There's no cap on numbers of visas awarded, and therefore no timeline/timescale restrictions.

Many (though certainly not all) universities are well-versed in visa applications, which also makes things easier.

Being already in the country (as a postgaduate student) also makes things easier (in terms of travelling to interview, convenience for employer). For another thing, you can apply for EAD (permission to work for 12 months in the US following graduation), during which time you can apply for your H-1B (or rather, your employer can apply), and subsequently for a Green Card, for example an EB-1 (?), if you have outstanding qualifications and experience.

Regarding non-immigration questions, this is a public forum so you have to expect that other issues will be raised. It's not simply a free immigration advice clinic. Also, when dealing with US immigration officials, you'll need to get used to being asked all kinds of questions - getting the hump, or correcting the immigration officer on what he/she should be asking would not help your cause.

As suggested, you should ask for this to be moved to the Immigration section (but even there, don't expect all respondents to stay on-task to your personal agenda).

Michelmas

because that's exactly what it meant.

dunroving

Just a complete red herring - out of curiosity, why do you call yourself Pashtun, but refer to the language as Pakhto? Is it not Pakhtun/Pakhto, or Pashtun/Pashto?