Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
Mar 4th 2014, 6:41 pm
#16
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Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 58,679
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
My typical advice in a situation like this is: You say she already has the job offer (I'm guessing in writing?). Have your friend contact the company who wants to hire her. She should say something like, "I am very interested in this offer. Please let me know which work visa you intend to submit a petition for."
Use that exact wording "Which work visa you intend to submit a petition for".
If the employer has an answer, then great, they can go from there...and it's the employer's responsibility to get the petition submitted, usually with the help of an immigration attorney, which the employer chooses and pays.
If the employer is clueless, then they've probably never done this before, and have no idea what's involved. Then your friend can say "My understanding is that you will need to contact an immigration attorney to decide which visa I qualify for, and to submit the appropriate petition to get the work visa started. Please keep me informed of your progress."
If she never hears from the employer again, then they aren't interested enough to pursue getting a work visa for her, and she can take that job offer off the table.
Rene
Use that exact wording "Which work visa you intend to submit a petition for".
If the employer has an answer, then great, they can go from there...and it's the employer's responsibility to get the petition submitted, usually with the help of an immigration attorney, which the employer chooses and pays.
If the employer is clueless, then they've probably never done this before, and have no idea what's involved. Then your friend can say "My understanding is that you will need to contact an immigration attorney to decide which visa I qualify for, and to submit the appropriate petition to get the work visa started. Please keep me informed of your progress."
If she never hears from the employer again, then they aren't interested enough to pursue getting a work visa for her, and she can take that job offer off the table.
Rene
Mar 4th 2014, 6:43 pm
#17
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,005
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
My typical advice in a situation like this is: You say she already has the job offer (I'm guessing in writing?). Have your friend contact the company who wants to hire her. She should say something like, "I am very interested in this offer. Please let me know which work visa you intend to submit a petition for."
Use that exact wording "Which work visa you intend to submit a petition for".
If the employer has an answer, then great, they can go from there...and it's the employer's responsibility to get the petition submitted, usually with the help of an immigration attorney, which the employer chooses and pays.
If the employer is clueless, then they've probably never done this before, and have no idea what's involved. Then your friend can say "My understanding is that you will need to contact an immigration attorney to decide which visa I qualify for, and to submit the appropriate petition to get the work visa started. Please keep me informed of your progress."
If she never hears from the employer again, then they aren't interested enough to pursue getting a work visa for her, and she can take that job offer off the table.
Rene
Use that exact wording "Which work visa you intend to submit a petition for".
If the employer has an answer, then great, they can go from there...and it's the employer's responsibility to get the petition submitted, usually with the help of an immigration attorney, which the employer chooses and pays.
If the employer is clueless, then they've probably never done this before, and have no idea what's involved. Then your friend can say "My understanding is that you will need to contact an immigration attorney to decide which visa I qualify for, and to submit the appropriate petition to get the work visa started. Please keep me informed of your progress."
If she never hears from the employer again, then they aren't interested enough to pursue getting a work visa for her, and she can take that job offer off the table.
Rene
Mar 4th 2014, 6:46 pm
#18
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
Hypothetically if this is this a job she could do remotely, they could form a British subsidiary company and hire her as an employee, then after a year they may be able to petition for an L-1 visa for her. But she would have to be an employee, not an independent contractor, and I'm going to guess that they have no interest in forming a British subsidiary just to employer her.
Last edited by Pulaski; Mar 4th 2014 at 6:55 pm.
Mar 4th 2014, 6:47 pm
#19
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Thread Starter
Joined: May 2011
Location: New Mexico, USA
Posts: 231
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
Thanks, Noorah. My friend has already shot herself in the foot, I think, because when they offered her the job (not sure in what medium) they also said "do you know what visa you'll need?" and that's when she started saying stuff like "oh I'll find out, let me look into it." She could still say what you suggested though, starting with "Having done some research my understanding is that..."
Mar 4th 2014, 6:56 pm
#21
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,159
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
It is a shame..when someone thinks they have the opportunity of a lifetime...and then the warm, fuzzy dreams are shattered on the cold, hard anvil of reality.
Mar 4th 2014, 7:04 pm
#22
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
The misperception is, I think, the result of two generations in the UK who have grown up used to the idea that they can up-sticks and settle anywhere in the European Onion. They just don't realise that it doesn't work the same way for the US, and that the differences are more than just distance and the North Atlantic being in the way. That so many British and Americans do find a way, against the odds, to move between the two countries, further compounds the misperception.
Mar 4th 2014, 7:06 pm
#23
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Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,005
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
The misperception is, I think, the result of two generations in the UK who have grown up used to the idea that they can up-sticks and settle anywhere in the European Onion. They just don't realise that it doesn't work the same way for the US, and that the differences are more than just distance and the North Atlantic being in the way.
Mar 4th 2014, 7:37 pm
#24
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Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
You are correct Rose.
Your friend takes no part in the employment visa process other than to provide information to the employer/employer's agent.
The company that has offered her a job must take full responsibility if obtaining a visa for the purposes of employment.
If they do not have the resources internally they should consider hiring a qualified specialist.
If you don't mind, do you know the kind of job and have they offered a relocation package?
Your friend takes no part in the employment visa process other than to provide information to the employer/employer's agent.
The company that has offered her a job must take full responsibility if obtaining a visa for the purposes of employment.
If they do not have the resources internally they should consider hiring a qualified specialist.
If you don't mind, do you know the kind of job and have they offered a relocation package?
Mar 4th 2014, 8:00 pm
#26
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Location: Dubuque, Iowa, USA
Posts: 3,770
Mar 4th 2014, 8:34 pm
#27
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,159
Re: Offered job but told to do the visa legwork on your own?
Oh I know, I know...but sometimes I try to soften the blow. Depends how cocky they get...you know the ones...
