i decided to move to NYC in 2001 after my first visit to NYC in September that year. At that point I had little post university work expensive. I moved on a L1a in 2010. In the mean time I had gained both work experience, New Zealand PR (indefinite returning residents visa) and and a graduate degree (done while working in New Zealand) and had lived and worked in the UK, New Zealnd, Sweden and Ireland. For an L1a it’s about being senior management (not just managing people, it can be a function as well, I had no direct reports, but was on the board of directors for the Irish subsidiary). I think if I had just focused on the US I could have achieved it in 7-8 years with some luck, but I made sure I had other options rather than just the US. I would visit the US at least 2 times a year, often a lot more to make sure I developed my networks and kept relationships I had built through work active. It was one of these that eventually led to an offer of job setting up the EU subsidiary for the US parent and it was that time where they eventually decided to transfer me to NYC.

If you are smart, hard working and understand that it is likely to take up to 10 years it should be doable (assuming no rule changes in that time), but a lot can happen in 10 years, so live your life everyday and don’t just focus on the dream.

Regarding H-1s, things are getting harder now, but it’s all sort of degrees as long as your employer is willing to sponsor. It’s easier to find a sponsoring employer with certain degrees, engineering, accounting, computer science, information systems, economics. Basically professional type degrees where big employers are willing to sponsor. They don’t have to be big though, just that the bigger ones tend to sponsor more. I know a good number of people who got their H-1s after undergrad/grad. We all were international students in the US.
Also the L-1 is not necessarily senior management like was previously mentioned.

That depends if you are talking L1a or L1b, the later being for specialized knowledge:

https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoption...porary_workers

Not really. Unless I don’t know what senior management is. An AVP at a global bank is nowhere near senior management and got an L-1A. It’s executive or managerial.

Yes that’s what the link says. As you note these things are relative to the organization:

”The L-1A visa is for intracompany transferees who work in managerial or executive positions in a company that is located outside the United States.“

“To qualify for the L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager, you must:

• Generally have been working for a qualifying organization abroad for one continuous year within the three years immediately preceding his or her admission to the United States and
  
• Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in an executive or managerial capacity for a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations.
  

Executive capacity generally refers to the employee’s ability to make decisions of wide latitude without much oversight.

Managerial capacity generally refers to the ability of the employee to supervise and control the work of professional employees and to manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization. It may also refer to the employee’s ability to manage an essential function of the organization at a high level, without direct supervision of others. See section 101(a)(44) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii) for complete definitions.

Note: To be eligible to qualify for L-1A classification, the employer must meet the General Qualifications of the Employer.”