timotheus

Hi there everyone

My very bright girlfriend has just got a job at Harvard and so we're upping sticks from the UK to move Boston. It's an exciting move, and from what I've read Boston seems to be a damn lovely place to live!

Despite my very best efforts (a month's worth of CVs... sigh) I've not yet managed to even get a sniff of a job in Boston Does anyone have any experience of getting a job "cold" in Boston, or the US generally? Are there any firms that are more comfortable than others hiring overseas nationals (and the visa headaches that brings)?

I've just finished my PhD in Politics, and have been lecturing alongside that for a couple of years, so I've been looking at 'generic skills required' jobs (Management consulting, etc), but thus far have got nowt. So, if anyone else has been in my situation and has some great advice I'd been very very grateful!

Thanks all

PS: Where's good to live in Boston for twenty-somethings?

snowbunny

Is your girlfriend a citizen? Or does she have a visa, and if so, which one?

dbj1000

More importantly, what visa do you expect to come over on?

Are you looking for employers who will sponsor you for an H1-B? If so, then not only will it be extremely difficult to find a sponsor company, but you'll then enter into an over-subscribed H1-B application lottery on April 1st 2008, and you won't be able to start work until October 1st 2008.

EDIT: Or you could find a sponsor who is exempt from the H1-B annual cap... like a University. Harvard, for example.

Unless there's something you haven't told us (like you're really a US Citizen) I fear you've rather misunderstood the fact that your plan to move here is going to be extremely difficult to achieve.

Assuming your girlfriend is coming to work for Harvard on an H1-B visa, your other option is to marry here ASAP and come over on an H4 "trailing spouse" visa from hell... and not be able to work at all for as long as you're here in the US.

snowbunny

I was getting to *his* visa.... it is possible that he can come over on an H4 and have a chance of someone sponsoring him for an H-1B -- he does have a PhD after all. However, his job field .... politics?

dbj1000

ROFL! You Yanks don't want no damned over-edcucated, high-fallutin' foreigners coming over and tellin' you how to run your own damned Politics.

Particularly not in an election year!

Let that happen and the next thing you know you'll have a Democrat in office... a female Democrat even!

timotheus

Thanks for the replies thus far!

It seems like I have rather underestimated the difficulty of getting a visa (I was thinking of the H1-B)... I hadn't realised that there was a lottery for those!

My girlfriend is an Australian citizen (just to make things more complicated) and Harvard is sorting out her Visa for her. Which is nice for her.

Anyway, I am very much a British citizen, and haven't got any family roots in the US that could make this easier.

So, just to be clear: It looks like I'll only be able to get a visa to begin work by Oct 2008????

LOL: I'm not sure I'll be approaching any federal institutions for a job: my area of expertise is in evidence-based policy-making and active labour market policies... I certainly won't be handing out any advice on US politics!!!!

Thanks for the advice thus far everyone!!

dbj1000

And having just contributed a couple of minor essays to the H4-sucks thread on the Visa board right now, I'm certainly not going to recommend that anyone voluntarily submits themselves to that piece-o'-s**t visa!

dbj1000

The H1-B isn't intended as a lottery. Problem is, they receive more applications than they have H1-B visas for a given year on the first day that applications are accepted. That effectively makes it a lottery. Even if you somehow find a sponsor willing to pay the $$$ for an H1-B visa for a foreign worker, and even if their lawyer gets your application delivered at 9am on April 1st, you still stand only a slim chance of getting a visa.

And it's a crappy visa at that! Tied to one employer, only valid for 3 years at a time. Maximum validity of 6 years unless you can get your sponsor to sponsor you for an even more expensive Green Card application... and even then, you'll probably be subject to "Priority Date Retrogression" (Google it) meaning that you can't even apply for Permanent Residency for years, if at all.

Having said all that, given that you're an academic, or at least a PhD, you have a few other options. All are difficult, all are expensive, most won't work.

One is, as I said before, to get an H1-B sponsored by a "cap-exempt" employer like a University, non-profit or Government research group. Google "H1-B cap exempt". I believe they don't have to wait until October 2008 for you to start work, because they can still get H1-B visas granted under the 2007 year. But I could be wrong. They also typically have plenty of experience of sponsoring foreign workers, and have an overseas student/academic office and a pet lawyer or two. I'm sure this is how Harvard are going to get your girlfriend over there working before October next year.

Another is to self-sponsor for an "Exceptional Researcher" or "National Interest" waiver and go straight for a Green Card in the EB-1 or EB-2 category. Given that you're young, and haven't had your PhD for long (I imagine) this is a very long shot. If you have plenty of peer reviewed papers, and the money to hire an experienced immigration lawyer, it's worth a shot though. It's the only way you'll bypass having to find a company to offer you a job and sponsor you for a visa.

augigi

The gf would be going on an E3 wouldn't she? If so, you could get married and come on an E-3 dependent visa, which does let you work.

Maz

How long have you been together for? If it's over a year and you can prove it, I *think* you can both get in to NZ together. Or of course Australia. Don't need to be married for either. She has automatic residency in NZ being an Aussie.

Maybe I'm biased... (see location)

augigi

How will that help them get to Boston...?

scrubbedexpat099

There is a Boston near Adelaide.

Just needs a bit of lateral thinking.

Maz

Uh... it won't.

But if the OP can face reality, it's an extremely long shot for him to get to the US (via legal means). I'm sorry, I obviously thought that offering up an alternative suggestion might be a nice idea, rather than trying to dupe the OP into thinking that he had a snowball's chance in hell of emigrating legally, without marrying his gf. Silly me.

Maz

There ya go!

hobbes79

Wouldn't he qualify for a J-1 visa if that's the case?