morph2007

Hi,

I have been looking at the various companies for ages and cannot make my mind up about which company I should use.

I work in IT with about 15 years experience and an honours degree (also in IT).

About 3 years ago I used H1Base (I forget which option - but it was then top offered - I see they now have a garunteed service) and the nost I got back from it was an email from Inkorpa saying they could get me set up over there (for $5000 approx.).

I also get approached by many indian agencies which sound very legit etc., a few of which I have approached the Better Business Bureau and found there dealings to be false (they also want large sums of money to prove commitment).

What would you recommend?

Manc

ask yourself, how can they make guarantee's about something they ultimately have no control over?

Ray

You need to find an employer ... not a agent

krizzy

I don't know if its the same everywhere....but if someone leaves hubbys IT company they just replace him/her with someone straight out of college so they don't have to pay them a living wage.....

AdobePinon

Easy - none of them.

Bob

If your in IT, shouldn't you be a bit puter savvy enough to have googled and found that all those "agencies" are just a bunch of scams?

Jerseygirl

Maybe he works at Dixons.

BigDavyG

Get yourself hooked up with a big consulting firm like accenture or bearing point, or an indian outfit like congizant, infosys or wipro. They all have uk outfits. Better still apply to work for the uk arm of a us company - the chance for a move could come soon enough.
You will have virtually no chance of getting an H1 anytime soon through an agency.

morph2007

JerseyGirl - Maybe you should read before you make your comments?
How many people do you know with degree's, let alone brains that work in places like that?

I came onto this forum looking for genuine help not some half assed comments.

To clarify my point I have an honours degree; work bloody hard for my wage in the United Kingdom in my own business and I am looking to move to the United States.

Unfortunately, with the perm salary being so low in the UK I cannot afford to go with the big names to get an intercompany transfer so my options are limited to looking for work in the same way I do in this country with the added stress of sorting out a visa to go with.

I dont fancy bigomy as I am already married and I think my present wife might just object, I dont have $100K to invest I am simply looking for a legal and cost effective way to move myself and family into the United States.

Manc

no offense, but seriously, there isn't one.

dbj1000

You got good advice - that none of the "H1 Agencies" are anything other than scams. Big Davy G also gave you good advice about your options.

There's no easy way to get an H1-B visa, and if you're in IT you'll have a huge amount of competition. The intra-company transfer route really is your best bet if you've set your heart on moving out here.

Otherwise, consider Canada, all of Europe... anywhere really other than the US, where it's damned near impossible to move over here without marrying a US citizen.

Oh, and relax. The silly comments are just that - silly comments. Don't take them so seriously!

Elvira

Good luck!

MightBe

So with your own business there.what make you think you are going to be better of here.
And why would they pick you against 1000s of Indians who would work for less.

PS. its bigamy.

dbj1000

Not if you're a bigot married to two people, it isn't!

And I do hope you're not implying that he's not highly edumacated.

dan_alford

I'm an IT bod and I can tell you that its very hard to get an H1B. The biggest blocks of H1B go to India and to China. A lot of the larger companies, the ones that are most likely to do the H1B, have outsourcing in these countries and so hire H1B's from them so there is no language gap.

For example, Memphis has a small indian community but I would hazard a guess that 80% of them or relatives work at FedEx. The salary is crappy and the hours are too but they are happy to work them. We have had 3 programmers at our office who have come from FedEx on an H1B transfer to get better wages/hours/working conditions.

From your post I take it that you are a contracter and married. Do you have kids? If you wanted to contract in the USA you would have to provide your own health insurance and that is not cheap. The contractors I know here usually have thier spouse/partner at full time employment to make sure they have the health insurance.

I think your most realistic option would be to take a permanent position in the UK for a multi national and go for the transfer. You might make less money but you wouldn't have to shell any out to agencies. If you think you won't make enough to live on then I would reconsider the H1B as you would be over a barrel as far as immigration rights are concerned and a lot of companies will hold the threat of termination and loss of H1B as a big powerful barganing chip.