bigjim81

Now that my dreams of becoming a canadian PR have been shattered due to the changes to the skilled worker program, I am researching the idea of a L1A visa.

Probably a tricky question to answer but what would be the best stategy for locating companies who regularly transfer workers to the US via L1A. I am currently job hunting within Yorkshire and I would need to bear this in mind when looking.

I hold a 1st class IT degree (for what its worth) and Prince 2 Practitioner cert (Project Manager).

Bit of a pipe dream at the moment but I need to start trying to position myself for this to become a real possibility.

thanks

Duncan Roberts

PRINCE is largely unheard of here so that probably won't help much. All you really can do is look for jobs at companies that have offices in the US and yorkshire then work on becoming highly skilled and/or as manager. If you couldn't get into Canada then you face an uphill battle to get into the US.

Bob

Probably better off moving to a larger city...and then look at large companies with a presence in both countries...or an organisation that might have niche services that you can plug.

HarryTheSpider

Under an L1 visa it's not just skills and qualifications, you'll also need to have worked for the company for at least 1 year and in practice you'll need to demonstrate specialist company knowledge.

Good luck

harry

bigjim81

Thanks for the feedback. I understand this is no easy feat but I am thinking more in terms of a 5 year goal to make this happen.

At the moment I am looking for companies in Leeds or possilbly a longer commute to Manchester. Has anyone here with a L1A moved from companies within these cities?

At this point I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a career change but at 29 (pushing 30) I may be better sticking with IT!

airways

I suspect you will struggle as the push these days is sending Americans to the UK to sort out failures. The UK is no longer at the forefront of driving US business. There are a lot of IT people in the US so you would have to have some pretty unique skills to be needed in the USA. Being a project manager I suspect is not going to cut it. Speaking as someone with 15 years Project and Programme Management experience and Prince Practioner. It is also never to late to change career, I did it to a totally different field.

To get transferred on a L1A you would need to be senior management and have some truly remarkable skills. My wife and I are moving on a L1A and she has been with the company for 14 years and they are a huge multinational.

HarryTheSpider

It's not unique skills you need.

The skills that brought me over to the US 2 months ago on an L1 were absolutely not unique. I'm in sales training and management - hardly unique! We primarily use one of the main stream sales methodologies.

What was the clincher is that I'm the only person in the world who has the detailed knowledge of certain company systems, procedures etc AND the skills and experience required to fulfil the objectives of my US-based role.

So you need appropriate and unique experience and the easiest way to get that is within a company... I'm not aware that US companies in the UK would necessarily advertise that they send people to the US, so I'd be asking around, as you are beginning to, for companies that are large enough in the UK as well as in the US.

Cheers

Harry

airways

Which part of you being the only person in the world with the detailed knowledge of certain company systems is not a unique skill.........

You are in exactly the same position that we are......

HarryTheSpider

I agree I'm in the same position - in my post it's simply a question of semantics.

In my professional opinion, having specific experience and knowledge is not the same as having a skill. Skill + specific experience + knowledge = specific (unique?) competence.

I didn't want to give the impression to the OP that it's just about having a skill in this sense.

Skills are generally not unique, and uniqueness in the sense of no US citizen being available to fill a role, is a critical criteria for getting this kind of visa.

The uniqueness comes from combining a readily available skill (I think the OP mentioned IT and PRINCE project management) with specific experience and knowledge that are valued by the employer. It's unlikely that these specific experiences and knowledge will be available elsewhere.

For example, in my case I have qualifications in management, engineering and training - as do hundreds of thousands of other people in the US alone. I also have knowledge and experience in delivering sales training accredited by commercial sales training companies - again, plenty of these in the US.

So far I have skills in these areas and this alone will not get me over the test for no US citizen being able to fill this role...

... until we get to the bit that is of particular interest to my employer - knowledge and experience of how to deliver, adapt and create new training that fits with the company's values, culture, systems and processes more quickly, cheaply and with greater effect than taking the time/opportunity costs to get a US citizen to the required level of capability & competence.

Cheers

Harry

airways

skill |skil|
noun
the ability to do something well; expertise : difficult work, taking great skill.
• a particular ability : the basic skills of

I rest my case.........

N1cky

Asda/Walmart were transferring people on L visa's a few years ago, not sure if its something they still do now they have been owned by Walmart for a few years though.

EricK

To get transferred on an L1A you most definitely do not need "truly remarkable skills". I work for a US company as their Network and Telecom Manager, and whilst I would love to think my skills are truly remarkable, there are 1000 network managers out there with the same skillset as me. What got me transferred is my 10 years knowledge and experience of the particular company I work for.

Bob

Aye, skills and niche skills alone aren't the key, it's specific company knowledge that is. Specific company knowledge that makes someone valuable can get them over even if they didn't have a degree or were senior management, though having those would certainly help speed up the greencard process.

airways

i refer you to the dictionary definition of skills I posted above......

bigjim81

Happy New Year and thanks for the feedback. From reading your posts it sounds like the company need to state your case very well and if they do then you get the visa? Obviously not as 'cut and dry' as this but thats the general feeling I am getting. In which case it would be a case of 'getting in' with the right company, experience and knowing the right people?