christmasoompa

You cannot work at all in the US without employment authorisation - even remotely for an employer based elsewhere in the world and even if paid elsewhere. So you'd still need a visa to do what you are proposing.

Giantaxe

It sounds harsh, but really this. If I had the kind of jobs that the OP and their spouse have, I would not consider emigrating to live in California. It's just so darned expensive to live here, and you're likely to be scraping by absent a high tech - or equivalent - salary. And, more generally in the US, you have the health insurance issue to deal with.

Alanbmx

I have read about that a little so was thinking that’s but maybe visa would be easier if I was already proving I can earn money even as I enter the country

Pulaski

No, the opposite is true, if you already have the job and are performing it from outside the US, where is the imperative to give you a visa to live in the US?

scrubbedexpat099

Well certainly some categories imply that.

Alanbmx

sorry for late reply , busy close to the week hb1 visa im thinking , given my work experience in my field I think I would be of good value with the amount of years in my job , , and I believe my qualifications transfer over ( going to look into this Further )

Pulaski

And the bad news is that the H-1B (I assume that's what you meant), has only a limited number of visas available annually. and is usually 3-4 times oversubscribed, so each year there is a lottery for applicants and therefore the chances of any one person being invited to apply is somewhere between 25% and 33%. Oh and applications are made in March but you can't start work until October, which is also going to discourage many employers.

So from an employer's perspective, there is only a 30% change of your job applicant getting a visa, and they can't start work for over six months! ..... And this is why you have been advised to get a job with an employer who may be willing to transfer you over because the L-1 visa for transfers is unlimited and applications can be at any time without having to succeed in a lottery.

Alanbmx

and I suppose I would have to have a job ready and waiting for the visa to be granted?

Pulaski

The employer applies for the visa, full stop. So "having a job waiting" is a requirement for any work visa.

There are very few visas that permit someone to apply for their own work visa, typically under a "national interest waiver", which means you have knowledge that is of strategic interest to the US, so usually some niche scientific knowledge.

Alanbmx

ah I see , so yes I would have to be outstanding for an employer to go to that length for the job , not impossible but very unlikely, I see , thanks for all the information, I’m surprised on the amount of reply’s , take it everyone on here has been on this journey?

tom169

I dare say the majority of us came to be in the USA via a family connection to a US citizen.

SanDiegogirl

Not everyone.... some came based on spouse/relative based visas, others via job transfers with their current companies, and others with offers of new jobs in new companies.

steph0scope

so your wife is quite happy not to work the whole time you are here )assuming you are even selected from the lottery of applicants)? Does your line of work usually pay enough to support a family on your wage alone? I think you mentioned California, the most expensive state to live in....

tht

It’s not that simple, many H1b’s are really used to transfer lower cost employees over from other countries. They want to come so take a lower wage and are tied in as it’s harder to move while on a visa.

There are also visas for outstanding employees like the O and also ones for unskilled labor like the H2b - take a read through them all: https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...ategories.html

Pulaski

I would guess about 50:50 work v family visas. And of the work visas I would guess about 70% on L1, about 10% on H-1B, about 10% on uncapped H-1B for research/ education, and the rest on something else EB-2/EB-3, O-1, J-1, etc.