Hi I am 25 years old and have worked as a chef for 3 years now. I am looking into trying to get a visa so i can go to the usa and work. I have done some research but find it confusing with all the different visa's you can get. any information would be greatly appreciated.

Jimmy

Respectfully, your skill set does not qualify you for a US visa. If you become more experienced and famous (read = Emeril, Julia Child, etc) then you might qualify for an O-1 visa.

Read this. If you can answer "yes" to any of the questions, you might have a chance at a visa. Otherwise, you will not be coming to the US as anything other than a visitor.

Ian

I have an old school friend who works in the USA as a chef, he got a visa based on training under a very famous French chef. Still that's quite a slim chance.

Yeah, need to either be famous, or have been trained by someone famous and have a bit of experience.

3 years alone probably won't cut it.

Still, doesn't mean that it might not happen in the future....though why one would want to move to the US to be a chef?

For all the same reasons anyone would want to move to the US?

And why would they want to? Something they've seen on tele? Different work opportunities? Sense of adventure? Etc, etc, etc.

It's not an easy place to move to and it's a long term plan to work oneself into a position, so if the reason to move is, well a shit one, it would seem better to be told it's a load of rubbish now so one can concentrate on other possibilities, locations or plans.

I'm unsure why you want to work in the US, but if you want a life of travel and other (endless) possibilities, this is what I'd be doing if i had your skill set and was your age:

http://victoriaallman.com/blog

Chef is a minimum wage job which is surprising given how much the private cordon blue schools charge.

Where do you get Chef's for minimum wage?

Well line cook.

It's cordon bleu not cordon blue...even if most Americans pronounce it blue. That's one of my pet peeves.

Mine too, I purposefully typed it that way.

After five years on this board, I am sure you have heard every reason going. Being a chef here must sound like one of the more logical.

Maybe get a job as a chef on a cruise ship cruising around Florida and the Caribbean? Not sure how that would work visa wise if it was a UK registered ship.

He couldn't work on a USA registered ship, but could work for American owners who register elsewhere.

There may be possibilities to get a work visa sponsored at a later date.

(Oh by the way, I'm not sure if Jimmy is even reading this thread any more)