GregAllum

Hi all

Hope you can help, I am in negotiations with a US company in San Fran. The role is very senior exec level but I am trying to understand how I would obtain a working Visa. I would need to relocate to the Bay area with my family (2x children, 3 y.o. and 5 y.o and partner).

I have 10+ years experience in my field and have professional qualifications at Level 4/5 diploma level but no Uni Degree.

What visa would I be eligible for and would I be able to start working in the US? My concern is with no degree then I might not get a visa even though I have a guaranteed high income and sponsorship from a company.

Any help would be gratefully received, Greg

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

The company will sort your visa, they need to consult an immi lawyer if they don't have one already, and find out what you may be eligible for - it's not something you do. Not all employment based visas require degrees.

Note that if by 'partner' you mean unmarried other half, you may want to get married first, as US visas don't recognise spouses other than those with a marriage certificate. S/he could try and get an extended visitor visa, but that's not ideal and she couldn't work on it etc.

Best of luck.

GregAllum

Thanks!

We are getting married next Weds, so that's all taken care of - unless she leaves me at the altar! I hope you don't mind me asking another question or at least point me in the right direction, I'm trying to understand the US income tax system, specific to California, a bit better so I can work out what one would be paying. Would there be a resource you'd recommend?

christmasoompa

Ah, congratulations! I'll get my hat.

Not a clue on taxes I'm afraid (I don't live in the US), but the Wiki is a really useful resource so you could check there as there's bound to be an article on taxes. It would also be worth searching the forums, as the question will no doubt have been answered before with really useful links that may help you calculate it.

For San Fran, the only thing I know is that you need to be earning a LOT to make it work! Again, the forum search will give you some useful threads to read through from others that have moved there. And it may be worth starting a new thread in the main US forums with your expected salary so that those in the know can help you work out cost of living and taxes (also do mention your medical insurance offered by the company, as that will be a big factor too).

Others with more visa know how will be along to help you later on that side of things too I'm sure.

Best of luck to you for both the wedding and the move.

Blair2.0

Do you already work for that company branch in the UK? If so, that would be an intra-company transfer known as the L1 visa and a degree is not required for that. However if not, I'm not sure which visa you would qualify for and it would be best to check with the firm's immigration lawyer on that.

GregAllum

Hi Blair

It would be a new company, so no intra-transfer unfortunately. Will check w/ the company

Thanks, Greg

Fred16

Chances are it will be H1 visa
The next lottery will be in April 2019 for an October 2019 start date
There is approximately 25% chance your name will be pulled in the lottery
I failed one year, success the next year
I had no degree but 20+ years experience

I have not kept informed whether or not a degree is now mandatory with new administration

The CA company will confirm the visa they could apply for
Good luck

Fred16

H1b will not allow your wife to work, so you'll need salary to cover all your family for length of the visa

GregAllum

Fred - one question, how did you get around working until the visa was granted? Did you work a certain amount of days per year, remotely from UK, or wait till visa was granted?

Jack8602

Degrees are irrelevant if you can prove experience, and for some visa's - proprietary knowledge of the company / business systems. I have no degree, didn't affect me.

I also know several execs (CIO's) that moved to the US with zero degrees and went to LA to work for large companies.

If you already worked for the company in a UK branch, it'd be a lot easier - but as it's new employment, you'll want all that confirmed by the company and their immigration lawyers as mentioned above.

You can't work on the actual visa until it's active. Working remotely for that business whilst waiting would be a whole other matter!

shiversaint

If it's a company seeded from the UK, it could also be an E-2. It strikes me as unlikely that they'd put someone so senior on an H1-B given the lottery aspect of it, and they are pretty annoying for families as has been said, given only the H1-B holder can work.

SF is an extraordinarily expensive place to live. As a family of 4, I'd want my income to be a minimum of $200k if not more. Buying still wouldn't be realistic on that sort of money.

Get your offer information in writing, explaining all benefits (this is important, health insurance for 4 people might be a bit of a shock!) and the visa process they are intending on. If you can report back, we can advise how good or bad the visa aspect is.

sun_burn

I'm a longtime Bay Area resident (10+ years). What would you be paying ? A lot The Bay Area is VERY expensive. You'll need to dedicate some energy into figuring out whether the pay makes sense, much beforehand. CA has high states income taxes in addition to federal income taxes. You'd get a federal (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf) and CA (https://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de4.pdf) withholding worksheet at the time of joining, that you can use to determine how much to withhold each pay period. You're looking at $4-6K for rent , more for daycare/preschool ($$) and everything else.

shiversaint

This will give you a rough idea of your income: https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator

It will not be exact. For reference, Health insurance for two late 20s/early 30s adults in my family in LA is just over $800 a month, which can be paid by pretax dollars. It goes up as you get older, typically.

sun_burn

Tech companies - assuming that's the field since we're talking SF here - offer discounted healthcare plans. Every company I worked in had them. There are plans for individuals and families. It's usually quite nice, and is something worth negotiating into pay upfront, based on the benefits summary document listing the prices. There are usually PPP, EPO, HMO (Kaiser California) and HSA-HDHP options. I have the last mentioned, with a wife in medical school, and a toddler.

GregAllum

Thanks, the job offer is $300k so SF is potentially affordable, or rather Berkeley, which is where I'm looking to go. Unfortunately its a US company non-UK seeded - what other visa options are there?