H1B - IT jobs at present time?
 

I am potentially being made redundant from my UK based IT job and would like to relocate to the USA. I have spent a lot of time there over the years and know that it's really where I would prefer to live.

My questions are:

1 - Are there any recruitment agencies in the UK or US that specialise in H1B or Green Card IT recruitment?

2 - Otherwise how do I go about finding a US employer willing to offer me an IT job on a H1B basis (I could fund the legal expenses etc)?

3 - Would my age (43) be a barrier to getting an IT job in the USA?

4 - Has the H1B quota been used yet up this year?

5 - Would any employer sponsor a Green card directly (the main benefit being that my wife could then work)?

6 - How long do people think it would all take to arrange?

I have generally marketable IT skills and am fairly sure I would find work if I was already in the US (with residency or whatever) - the question is really how much harder is it from outside at present?

If I had the choice of taking severance (about a years pay) now or holding on and perhaps waiting until I actually had a job offer and H1B in my hand before resigning (with no severance) - which would be the best option (in your view).

Re: H1B - IT jobs at present time?
 

But of course you'd like to move here! Wouldn't everyone?? :)

1) Try looking at http://www.h1bvisajobs.com. I haven't used them, but they look interesting.

2) When I got a job here back in '99, I searched the web for companies using my specialisation (object-oriented development) and applied to those that had vacancies. Applied to hundreds before anything happened, though.

3) I moved here at 40, and got an H1-B transfer to a new company at 42. It is more difficult for the over-forties, but not impossible.

4) I don't believe so. What with the recently raised quota and the poor job market here, I think there are plenty of visas left.

5) In my experience with IT firms, if they'll sponsor an H1 (and the vast majority will not) then they will also sponsor a green card. Be warned, though, that employment-based green cards can take several years. You will have to plan on your wife not working.

6) After getting the job offer, my H1 visa took about five months to process. That was before 9/11, though - it'll probably be longer now.

Getting the job offer will be tough, no doubt about it. The job market it in the US is poor right now, especially here in Dallas where the telecomms industry died. Most companies can find the talent they need without importing people.

Once you have trialled a number of companies in the US to see whether they have vacancies, it might serve you to come to the US for a while on a visitors visa and attend interviews in person. You will obviously have to return to the UK while the H1 is being worked, but for me showing up in person made all the difference. Employers will choose the person they have met over the person they have merely taked with on the phone.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply - I've seen a few sites that offer to sell you lists of companies supposedly sponsoring H1B applicants.

I tend to assume these offers are probably dubious value for money but I would be interested to hear otherwise.

No, I was really hoping to find any agencies that actually specialist in UK to US recruitment, Computec used to be one - but it seems to have gone away. Maybe the market is not big enough or the US employers are looking at India for their IT needs.

Actually a lot of people I speak to at work wouldn't want to live in the US - the idea of 10 days vacation for one thing puts them off.

However the reality is that weekends are useable for recreation in a way that they are not in the UK due to the appalling weather.

I wish the US would operate more like Canada and offer residency cards to qualified applicants without the need for employer sponsors.

We Brits (despite being the biggest/only ally of the US) are not allowed to enter the Green Card Lottery program. Iraqis and Afghans welcome of course. That bugs me...