Jack92

It's always just been a dream to move to the US from the UK so I've never seriously looked into it, however, I'm now in a much better position, career wise, to actually, potentially, make it happen. I work in IT and I'm acquiring good knowledge and experience, so I have a few quesrions:

- What is the Visa type for getting over through having good knowledge in a certain field ?

- Approximately, how long does the process take, start to finish, from applying for the job to actually moving.

Any further information or advice would be amazing, thanks.

christmasoompa

There are various visa types, it will depend - do you have a multinational employer that can transfer you? Do you have a degree in a subject relevant to your job? A masters degree? Etc, etc.

Have a read of this to understand the various visa options, and if you can give people more info i.e. your qualications, how many years of experience, if there's any chance of a company transfer, etc, then they can advise you better. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulas...rk_in_the_USA_

Good luck.

civilservant

You're looking an either:

H1B

- Oversubscribed, there's a lottery each year with an approx 25% success rate
- April application for an October start (subject to the above)
- Spouse receives an H4 and cannot work. Kids age out at 21.
- Must have a job offer from a US employer, they pay the fees, job must require degree.
- Can be sponsored for a Green Card

L1

- Company that you currently work for wants to transfer you to the US
- Must have worked for them for 1 year out of the last 3
- Must be a manager or functional manager
- Must have a degree or 12 years of equivalent experience
- Spouse receives an L2 and can work when they obtain an EAD
- Can be sponsored for a Green Card

Note that both of these options requires an employee to want to sponsor you, and be happy to bare the cost of thousands of $$$, not to mention the waiting time.

Getting a job offer is the easy part, if a company is not willing to shell out to get you there it's irrelevant. There is no visa that you can apply for yourself for having 'good knowledge in a field' It takes written papers/peer reviews etc to qualify that way with an O1.

Pulaski

Consistent with the advice already given above, you either need an employer willing to transfer you or you need to find a US employer willing to hire you. Finding an employer willing to even look at your CV is going to be tough, though depending exactly what your skill set and experience is in the IT sector it might be possible. ... Then they have to be willing to wait until October 2020 at the earliest for you to have (based on the prospective employer's application) a visa valid for work.

Pulaski

I see that you looked at Canada a couple of years ago, when you were 25.

As you are still less than 30, Canada has to be a lot more likely for you as you are eligible for the "working holiday" visa, where, you can apply for your own visa and pretty much rock-up and starting looking for work, feet on the ground in Canada. That has to be a much more likely proposition than trying to find an employer to sponsor a visa for you in the US.

Jerseygirl

tht