SlickNick

Hi Reader

My and my partner are in the early at stages of researching a move to America from England, more precisely Texas due to the masses of CNC work there! I am currently looking at the H1b visa which requires a US employer to sponsor your visa (as i understand it)
Is it common for Employees to take this route without meeting the proposed employee as i understand it can be costly for them? Is there anybody in Texas reading this that has another legal route that isn't going to cost me thousands, thanking anyone with useful information in advance!

Nick

sir_eccles

Not sure a being a machinist is enough to qualify for an H1B.

Bob

Do the positions require a degree? If not, they won't be eligible...didn't think you needed a degree to be a machinist.

And yes, it'll cost them around $5K or more to import you. H1B opens up in April, for a October start and your spouse wouldn't be allowed to work.

Immigration is Federal, so it doesn't matter about location.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

That sums it up.

SlickNick

Thanks guys, so the H1b is of limits as i want my missus to work as well, what is the route I should really be looking into and how much money is it all going to cost, thanks again for the advice!

Hotscot

Well since, realistically, you cannot be directly hired since your skills are not applicable to gain a visa, do you perhaps have several hundred thousand dollars to invest in a business?

Or can you come to do a degree course at university?

Unfortunately there's practically no chance of coming here to work as a machinist.

Not much, or any, other options.

You can read the wiki's as indicated to see if you fall into an applicable area.

christmasoompa

Even if your wife could work on it, as per the above posts, your job is unlikely to qualify for one.

The only routes to a visa are those outlined on the link given to you above, as a machinist you'd need either a family based or investment based route. What does your wife do, does she have a skill more in demand and a degree or masters? If so, she may be able to get an employment based visa (although note that then that would probably mean *you* couldn't work!).

Have another read of the link above and then let us know if any of those visa routes look like they'd apply to you.

Failing that, Oz or Canada maybe?

Good luck.

Speedwell

Nick, I recommend you look for a position in, say, Aberdeen with one of the US-based energy-related companies there. The one I work for is presently under a hiring freeze, but others are not. I know many expats who worked in their home country for a while (a year or more) and were subsequently transferred to the US. A year or so is not long when you consider how long visa and immigration processes take. Consider this.

Owen778

I'm not sure that's good advice. If CNC machining doesn't count for the USCIS definition of "specialized knowledge", then an L1-B visa wouldn't be applicable.

Speedwell

If I didn't know of people who successfully transferred through work with just this job description, I would not have mentioned it. I don't know every detail of their visa paperwork, but I do know that the company transferred them. This company is large enough that they may have some agreement to import foreign workers that only large international corporations can have, but if this is true, then that's all the more reason why this approach is reasonable.

Owen778

OK, fair enough, that seems surprising. I guess that depends on how USCIS interpret "specialized knowledge" in this case.

Bob

Well it can be pretty specialised and considered a niche skill, but would need to be a niche skill, not just the run of the mill bit of machining and setting up of gear.

I have no idea about Texas, but there might also be state requirements to get certified to do the work and this can cost anything up to a few grand as well as filling out a period of apprenticeship time and would need to be done for insurance reasons if nothing else.

Steve_

"Specialized knowledge" doesn't mean the same thing for L-1B necessarily, it can mean knowledge of that companies processes for example.

Steve_

And the reason why is because they can't just go out and hire a bunch of Germans to do it.

CNC machine work might meet the definition of a specialist occupation if you're a programmer for example but H-1B is subject to a quota so even if they want to do the paperwork, odds are you won't get it. It is possible to get H-1B without a degree but you have to show "equivalent" experience which is pretty tricky.

Have a look at the wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

Has all the statistics at the bottom.

Some H-1B applications are quota exempt, such as teaching at an institute of higher learning which is why the numbers exceed the quota.

Owen778

Understood - I'm in the US on an L1-B, and I ended up writing most of the RFE reply for my visa, after our HR department and the attorney's office did a bad job of the justification of specialized knowledge. As far as I can tell, the underlying concepts are easy to understand, but there is no precise definition.

SG1

Also look at North Dakota, Lots of Oil Rigs Need CNC workers and will Pat times the wages of Texas..