blakey_oafc

Background :

Worked for a US company, based from the UK for the past 3 years in a senior managerial role.

A competitor yesterday offered me a very good salary to "move" to Orlando and run a new division in their company. This would be as sales director earning $80,000.

I'm 29 years old, married with 2 children who are both under the age of 5.

The company have given me some time to consider their offer and are arranging to fly over to the UK in 2 weeks so we can finalise everything, amongst other things.

They have suggested that I work from the UK as a consultant until we have taken care of everything.

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Questions and Help :

What should i expect to happen?
Is their anything i can be doing?
Can my children go to school in the USA?
Can this happen?
Anyone long term living in Orlando who can advise on (rental) suitable gated communities?

Any help, advice etc would be most useful.....

Thanks in advanced.

Blake.

crg

Before you spend too much time on this, find out how they plan to get you permission to work.

The company would have to get you an approved petition in order to work for them. If the petition is approved, you would then obtain a visa for the family to accompany as your dependents.

Since you have not worked for this company before, the L category/visa is out of the question for the time being.

That mostly leaves the H1B, but it would be hard to get an H to work in sales or to manage sales people. An H4 dependent (spouse) could not work at all. The kids could go to school.

Hopefully the company has a plan that doesn't get you into trouble with immigration. They should not ask you to come work in the US without authorization.

Orlando is somewhat affordable, but the commute to the city from your home may be a long one unless you don't mind living in an area with bad public schools. Orlando also has a burgeoning crime problem.

blakey_oafc

Thanks for your reply.

Do you have any information about this petition and what it entails?

The company are going to hire me to work for them from the UK whilst we get the Visa moving... would that not mean the L category visa could be feasible?

Just to reiterate, the company are not about to offer, nor would I accept a position which didn't follow immigration rules.

Thanks Blake

ian-mstm

You would need to work for them for a minimum of 1 full year before you are even eligible for an L visa... but, if that happens, then yes it's quite feasible. I don't believe they can even start the process until after you're eligible.

Ian

crg

It depends. Do they have the same job in the UK or would you be employed in a different capacity?

Do they have an office or subsidiary in the UK?

It would take a year and the year can't include time you spend in the US for meetings, vacation etc.

Here is some light reading:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87229.pdf

Noorah101

Hi Blake,

You should ask the company (or better yet, the company lawyers) exactly what visa they are planning for you to get. That way, you'll be able to pinpoint exactly what you need to do. It's hard to guess what will happen, when we are just guessing which visa you qualify for.

You say they are coming to the UK in 2 weeks to finalize "everything". You need to ask them what "everything" includes? It certainly can't be finalizing your visa, because that takes much longer than 2 weeks. If it's just to sign a contract so you can start work from the UK, I suggest not signing anything until you know exactly what visa they are planning, and when they will submit the petition, etc. Get exact dates in the contract so you're not left hanging.

Rene

arthur36

Similar thing happened to me.

The company employed me for 1 year in the UK then started the process, took about another 6 weeks for L1 transfer.

They found a European Job for me for the 12 months but I could not travel too much to the USA in that 12 month period as that time in the USA is added to the 12 months.

If it is a reasonable sized company they should have all this figured out.

I think you may want to try and get a bit more salary too. I don't know how this compares to your sales job, but experienced sales engineers I know are on around 100K, before bonus - however I have heard Orlando is fairly inexpensive (real estate, etc) so that could be why is seems low.

Hope this helps.

JAJ

And not just permission to work. Prospects for getting a green card also need to be considered, unless there is a clear intention to return home at the end of the assignment.

meauxna

Maybe this was just a typo but I can't get past it without asking.. The employers are coming to the UK to meet you and make the offer?

Or they want you to come to the US in 2 weeks?

Awesome Welles

Does this company in Orlando have offices in Lake Ellenor Dr and Kingspointe Parkway, by any chance?

Bob

Have a read of the wiki, there's a very good collection of articles covering the various visa types.

Your other none visa related questions are better off being asked in the main US forums, where you can also do a few searches to see what info other people have provided about Orlando, as there has been quite a few threads on the place in the past.

If the jobs a goer and the visa doable, there's also a good entry in the wiki about what to look for in a relocation package. You'll want to consider long term plans for greencard, repatriation considerations if things don't work out and medical insurance will be very important considering you've got a couple of young kids.

city-data.com is also a good place to look for info on neighbourhoods and schools and http://www.greatschools.org/ for schools.

blakey_oafc

Just been informed that a specialised Attorney At Law Office in Orlando have been tasked by my employer with helping to get me a HB1 Visa.

I'm currently waiting for a call from them....

In the meantime anyone who has applied and been granted a HB1 visa that was a business professional and not a student i would love to hear your story, procedure or advice !

Many thanks to everyone who replied it is valuable information and much appreciated.

meauxna

If you will not answer our (clarifying) questions, what is the incentive to answer yours, or write out stories?

The H-1B is only for specialized employment, not students.

Steve_

So you can't do intracompany transfer, unless they set up a foreign division and employ you there for a year.

You might get H-1B if the job requires "specialized knowledge" and you get in under the quota and you have the relevant qualifications.

blakey_oafc

Hi,

Not sure there are any relevant qualifications. The company want me because i have a track record of building up profitable business in an industry sector that is very specialised. The last 5 years have been spent doing the same job for another US based company but I was registered to work from the UK.

My proposed new employers have stated they will do everything in their power to employ me because nobody can meet expectation.

I know that last paragraph doesn't get me a visa, but it does make me realise there is absolutely nothing I can do now.... For once, my destiny is in someone else's hands