Lesley1020

Hi Daniel,

I would add to what others have suggested with the student route. YOu could look up some universities in any areas you are interested in online, they usually have a section dedicated to International students. Of course, you would need a bucketload of money to study here. There are international student loans available, but typically you need a US citizen to co-sign. There is information here, if you need it in the future at any point for reference.

http://www.iefc.com/international/tc...&LP=ISLP&cnt=2

Also, when you are a student in the UK, you could look into a couple of programmes that would allow you to do an internship or work a summer in the US.

http://www.bunac.org/uk/workamerica/
http://www.councilexchanges.org/partners/

Or, if you don't want to consider any of those options right now, once you have graduated, and if you are still exploring these options, you could as others have mentioned, try for an H1B visa, or if you find an employer willing to sponsor you, you can apply for permanent residency through labour certification.

Good luck with the exam results tomorrow!

TouristTrap

Hi there. Living in FL is like living on the Costa del Sol, in other words, it is a touristy place, not a major employment center outside of Disney, and very few IT companies of any kind.

Gaming companies are mostly all situated out in California.

Good luck with your exam results

djhsolutions

Wow.

I'm actually taken aback by the wealth of replies received in this thread, I wasn't expecting such a generous amount. Thankyou for replying.

In the meantime, I have looked at every reply I have been given and I'm interested in the results received, I think you people have given me a lot of avenues and paths to look into.

My course allows me to take an "industrial sandwich year" between years 2 and 3 for work experience, so I might look into the concept of working over in America, apparently the University has a lot of ties with companies over there.

Also, it's worth noting that my course focuses around Games Computing itself, but it also gives me the skills and knowledge for work in the more 'general' IT sector, i.e. software engineering.

Florida was one option for me, but I do realise that to find something useful I will have to expand my geographical boundaries, which is why I put "Florida/USA" in the thread title. California was in fact, second on my list to look into, so I'd be interested in looking into there.

Finally, I understand that this is a long long time away, but I figured it would be best to look into things now, obviously a lot can change within 3 -5 years, but planning early can only reap the rewards in the future, instead of just taking a one off decision.

I received my results yesterday, and they were actually a lot better then what I'd expected, so I did get into my chosen University without any problems. Looking forward to next month now .

Thanks again, I will ensure to archive this information for future reference.

Daniel.

TouristTrap

Congrats!

Duncan Roberts

Electronic Arts has a big development facility in Orlando. Apply for any of their jobs and you get sent a test, then you can see what games developlers are required to know.

Bob

EA are also having a huge recruitment drive and throwing parties all over the place if you can get into one of them, few in blighty.

CitySlicker

I am speaking hypothetically, of course, but how much is the going rate for a 'tart' to get the greencard. I would be able to put my hands on several hundreds of thousands of USD. All legally acquired.

Having only been to the US on holiday I don't know much about the place but from what I have seen I could give the place a go. I am in New Zealand at the moment but originally from the UK so the greencard isn't an option. Probably fair to say my skills wouldn't be in demand there either.

fatbrit

If you can find several hundreds of thousands and want to move here, an E2 would allow you to live and work here, but not permenantly, I'm afraid.

If you could stretch as far as five of those hundred-thousands, an EB5 could be your ticket to the infamous GC. Ten would be more likely to seal it for certain.

And you wouldn't even need a condom!

CitySlicker

Thanks for the suggestion.

Alas, several in my case would be between two and three.

It's fair to say that I am not much of a business person either, i.e. no past record of business etc. Sniff.

fatbrit

Would like to be more optimistic, but this is not an easy place to move to. Further suggestions here.

CitySlicker

Thanks for the link. I agree that I don't really have any options other than the 'tart' one.

I am by nature an opportunist, so maybe I will do what one of the other posters suggested in getting an ICQ account and brushing up on my charm.

PS I went to Arizona (Yuma and Lake Havasu to be exact) a few years ago on a stop off between the UK and NZ. It must have been the hottest place I have ever visited. 120 in the shade (not that there was any).

fatbrit

Yank birds generally go for the accent. Not met many I could live with, though!

It's a dry heat! You get to like it. Lake Havasu is quite pleasant. Yuma is a bit of a dump IMHO, though interesting to pass through on the way to the beach at San Diego.

CitySlicker

In my case they'll need to go for the accent as the looks aren't much. Last year, I shared a house in Auckland with a guy from the Czech Republic. He had found himself a 'tart' but ended up not being able to live with her.

As regards Yuma I do remember someone coming up to me, when I was filling the car, asking for money. I think I scared him off by roaring 'Whaaaaat'. Yes I liked Lake Havasu. I spent one night there on the way to Death Valley. I didn't get as far as Phoenix. I presume you are living there.

My preference would be for the Western states - I have only visited the West coast states and a few inland ones.

Maybe I should become a Mormon and go to Salt Lake City.

fatbrit

Difficult to compete with the beauty of Slav girls IMHO.

Yep -- I'm in Phoenix. It's 'burbs for as far as the eye can see.

There's a religious minister visa could be worth looking at...

CitySlicker

Yes he said that the Prague women were the best.

I don't think I would make a good religious minister or indeed a good missionary. From what I understand the Mormon church is based in Utah and maybe they would 'help' one of their own members get into the states. But quite frankly I think the ICQ route may be better for a person like myself.

Actually, I once applied for a job in Arizona (amongst many other places in the states) before I left the UK. Then I was training to be an actuary and applied to a company called Oxford Life. I think it was either 1999 or 2000, I'm not sure which. Anyway suffice it to say that they don't recruit unqualified actuarial staff from overseas. At present here in NZ I am in year 2 studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at uni - I gave up the actuarial exams about half way through as they were just too hard. Engineering seems easy compared with them.