Swansea Osprey

Hi

I'm new to the forum and have looked to see if my question has already been asked. In 2007 I was in contact with a Train Operating Company in regards to employment the Manager wanted to hire me but getting a Visa looked like a big issue please see a copy of the email below

Chris,

A review of your Resume is very impressive.
We have discussed with one of our attorneys in regards to consideration hiring you as a Locomotive engineer, unfortunately the immigration laws are very strict here in the USA.
See below.

Good luck in your career and if I can be of further assistance let me know.

Regards,

Bob Purgavie


Robert,

I was not able to open the CV, but I think there is not much hope here in immigration terms for this position. You could sponsor him for a green card (permanent residence), but this would require testing the U.S. market to see if there are any qualified U.S. workers for the position. More importantly, the employment based immigration process for this kind of position is very backlogged and it could easily take 4-5 years or more to get approval to hire him as a permanent resident. He would not have the right to stay and work here while that process is pending without a valid non-immigrant work visa, and I don’t see any good options for that. The most common work visa is an H-1B and I doubt that it would work here. It requires a showing that the position is one that requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specialty area. My guess is that this position does not require a bachelor’s degree. If it did, then the earliest you could get an H-1B approval for him to work would be October 1, 2008, and the application would have to be applied for by April 1, 2008. There is a non-professional non-immigrant visa that might work, but those have also been exhausted for the current fiscal year and the maximum period of time you could get on that would be less than a year. You would also have to show that the need for the person is a one time occurrence or seasonal need. You might not be able to renew that visa once the green card process started.
Thanks.

Roger M########, Attorney

I have recently had an interview with an Australian Train Operator ( still waiting to find out if I was successful ) and they will sponsor me and family and visa will be no problem ( seems different in US ) , I have been in contact with the USA manager recently and he has send me out an application form and is going to contact me in the New Year ! Just wanted to know whether the Attorneys response still applies now ( even though they will sponsor me ) ? Me and my family always go to the States on holiday and would prefer the States to Oz do before I emigrate to Oz ( if I get job ) thought I would give States one last try ? Thanks

ian-mstm

Well, the US is still one of the most difficult countries to get to. If the US company is willing to sponsor you, the position still needs a Bachelor's degree and you must either have a degree or 12 years of progressive experience in lieu of. The earliest they could apply is April 1, 2012 for work starting in October 2012.

Ian

Swansea Osprey

Don't need a Degree in the UK to be a Train Driver and I have been employed on the Railway for 10 years ( 3 as Mechanical and Electrical Technician , 7 as a Train Driver ) so it looks like there is nothing I can do ?

GeoffM

Does your wife have any skills that meet the requirements (see stickies at top of forum)?

Noorah101

Nothing has changed since that letter was written.

Rene

ian-mstm

You don't need one in the US either... and if the job doesn't require a degree, it's not usually eligible as an H-1B.

Ian

Swansea Osprey

Ok thanks for info guys ! Looks like its stay in the UK or OZ it is then ! Gutted I thought finding a company to sponsor you would have been the hard part

srefre

Well currently yes, but depending on how desperate you are get to the US, you could always consider further education or a career change?

Swansea Osprey

Do you mean just get a Degree ? I thought the job you were going to do had to require that you need a Degree in order to apply ?

scrubbedexpat099

There is more than one way to skin a cat, you will not be going through sponsorship by an employer in your current job.

PS US does not have TOC's, somebody else asked what your wife does.

Swansea Osprey

She works for an Airline so no good !

tonrob

It depends on what she does for that airline.

Swansea Osprey

Graduate Team Leader in the Customer Relations Department for Virgin Atlantic ! She does not have a Degree though !

ian-mstm

You need to think outside the box. If she works for a company that has offices in the US, it's possible for her to transfer to the US side of operations... that's an L-1A or L-1B visa. You'd get a derivative L-2 visa and would be allowed to work in the US for anyone you want. The L- visas could also lead to green cards if the company's on board with that.

Ian

Swansea Osprey

Thanks Ian Virgin Atlantic is based in the states and also there is Virgin America as well ! On other news got offered the job in Australia today oh decisions decisions.