MovingOutOfTheUK

Okay. This is a very broad question.

I just graduated from University but lack significant work experience. My skills are mostly relevant to the technology, IT, computer industry.

The UK is getting worse and worse, IMO.

What first steps can I make? Do I need to work in my home country extensively before I'd even be considered for a particular visa?

Jack8602

Have a look at Pulaski's thread first: Pulaski's Ways: How to Live and Work in the USA : British Expat Wiki

Lack of work experience will be your biggest hindrance and i doubt you'd get sponsored for a H1B where a company can basically take you on straight away. These jobs are somewhat difficult to get a hold of anyhow.

Your best bet would probably be to find a company with a US Prescence and ask for a transfer on either an L1A - Management level, or L1B - Specialized knowledge. Assuming that your IT role is specialized.

What area of IT are you working in, what systems are your specialty? I'm also in IT

Moses2013

You might find it extremely hard to get work without experience but one option I can suggest is to find IT work here in Ireland. There are plenty of US IT companies with offices here and it might be a lot easier to transfer later on. Just a suggestion.

Octang Frye

<<<SNIP>>>

The US is hard to get into. Consider other places - Europe, Canada, Australia, South East Asia.

mrken30

Maybe Europe is the place to go as those door will be closing soon. Might be an easier way out.

Move to the right country and you could try the Green Card lottery

Green Card Statistics

Zoe Bell

?? I thought the Greencard lottery was based on place of birth ??
Thats kind of hard to chance retrospectively!

mrken30

I thought it was based on citizenship, my mistake.

mikelincs

IT is based on place of birth.

Twinkle0927

If you were born in the Cook Islands (or if you're married to someone from there), it looks like the lottery could be a good option, OP. 20% of their entrants won. Might ask someone from the Cook Islands to pick my Powerball numbers.

Moses2013

It's also based on your parents nationality. If you were born in the UK but your parents are from Ireland and only lived in the UK for a short period of time (due to work etc.) you could qualify based on their nationality.

mikelincs

This from an online source...

If both of your parents were born in a qualifying country and did not live (reside) in your country at the time of your birth, you can claim any of your parents' country of birth.

My bolding of the quote.

Moses2013

Just saying that there are still chances if for example your parents were only there for a short period of time or let's say they were working in a hotel etc. At the point of birth they could have still been registered in another country but just worked abroad.

Finally, if you were born in a country not eligible to participate in this year’s green card lottery program, you can be “charged” to the country of birth of either of your parents as long as neither parent was a resident of the ineligible country at the time of the your birth. In general, people are not considered residents of a country in which they were not born or legally naturalized if they are only visiting the country, studying in the country temporarily, or stationed temporarily in the country for business or professional reasons on behalf of a company or government from a country other than the country in which the applicant was born

mikelincs

Still only a very very small chance of winning, do the lottery (not DV) and win millions and then buy a green card.

Dmac_

I moved from the UK to the USA via the EB-1A route. It's probably the hardest visa to get - but gets you a green card (permanent residency) from the start, and skips the employer sponsorship and labor certification processes. The tradeoff is that the standard of evidence you need to prove your exceptional ability is considerably higher. Unless you're a child prodigy of some sort, it's basically impossible you'd satisfy the requirements straight out of university, but keep this in mind as a long term goal (as all things relating to US immigration are).

Most of the info you'll find online regarding this subject will relate to employer sponsorship. That means you're relying on other people, many of which may have no idea what actually hiring an "alien" entails. But since you have a tech/IT background, the possibility for entrepreneurship is probably higher than in other industries. If you can become known in your field to the extent where you have recognition - I'm talking about interviews with you online, maybe even in magazines, or commonly, patents (I didn't have any of those myself, but could argue equivalent contributions to the industry), you have a shot at this path.

So... get out there and create some killer app (or whatever the equivalent in your particular line of work is), maintain an online presence, embrace your inner media wh*re to get one press, and you have a fighting chance.

Just remember - you are going to have to be exceptional and prove it. It's very difficult - but it's not impossible.

Having said all of the above - L1 (intra-company transfer) is probably your best foot in the door, but of course that involves getting hired by a multinational corporation.

brownknees

Try Bechtel,Hammersmith in London.They always have IT people on their job sites in many countries.