j1 one year visa question

canadabound1

hi,
my one year j1 visa ends this september. The company I am working for want to keep me on after september. Is there a visa I can apply for that will let me stay beyond september?
Thanks for the help

spideog7

canadabound1 wrote: »

hi,
my one year j1 visa ends this september. The company I am working for want to keep me on after september. Is there a visa I can apply for that will let me stay beyond september?
Thanks for the help

When did you graduate? If it's been less than a year ago you can get another J1, otherwise H1B would be the way to go, but you've left it late to apply. H1Bs start in October but the application opens in April and they usually fill up pretty fast. There's a website that shows how many are left if you want to look it up.

canadabound1

thanks for replying spideog. I graduated in december 2012, so I have missed out on getting another j1 visa. do you know the name of the website to see how many H1B visa's are left?

spideog7

canadabound1 wrote: »

thanks for replying spideog. I graduated in december 2012, so I have missed out on getting another j1 visa. do you know the name of the website to see how many H1B visa's are left?

It was filled by April 7th 2014, it's been filling up fast recently. When I applied it didn't fill until the end of the year (although I had applied in April anyway).

What's your profession? There are other options, you should probably discuss it with your employer to see if they are willing to sponsor you and if so get them to contact a good lawyer.

canadabound1

my profession is civil engineer including a degree in renewable energy. my boss said he would be willing to sponsor me but told me to find out what visa etc. I needed because he doesn't know. Could you briefly tell me what the other options are/ give me websites so I can look further into them? thanks spideog, really grateful for your help

rabalder

Hi ,
The H1B visas are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, for this year and last year. Demand has outstripped supply within the first few days of the opening application date (1st April). A lottery was conducted to determine who was to get one. For example, for the H1B visa this year, it was figured around 170,000 applications were received in the first five days. A cap of 65,000 visas are issued every year. The same happened again last year, demand outstripped supply.

I had an organisation apply for a H1B visa for me this year, unfortunately I was not picked in the lottery. I have no other alternative options for a visa to work in the States other than the H1B visa. TBH Iam gutted as this was an organisation that I really wanted to work for, and I have no other visa options that apply to me.

I'd advise you to ask your employer to seek advise from an immigration lawyer to see what your options are. The employer has to file the H1B visa, and pay all associated costs for the filing fee. Plus they also have to go through some clearance/paperwork to make sure they are in the clear in regards to US immigration/ visa requirements.

Sorry if this sounds not very hopeful

rabalder

You may find some information on other visa options on the US Citizenship and Immigration services site: uscis.gov

canadabound1

hi rabalder,
i was wondering if you could get in by greencard? it says on the uscis.gov website that you can get a greencard through a job offer but forms such as I-140 have to filled out etc. I say you have seen this, would this be an option for me?

ProudDUB

A green card isn't an option, not as this stage. Unless you win one in the annual diversity lottery, they are very hard to get.

canadabound1

you would think if you have a job offer, there would be some sort of visa etc. to let you stay in the country if you missed out on the H1b visa?

ProudDUB

The H1B visa is the visa to get if you have a job offer. But there is only a finite number of them to go around. If they gave them out to every single person in the world who wanted one, there would be no jobs left for actual Americans. 65,000 does seem a rather stingy amount for such a large county, but they do have to draw the line somewhere.

TimeToShine

Does the sector you're looking to work in have any impact on your likelihood of getting one? Surely the US has higher demand for some expertise than others.

canadabound1

ProudDUB wrote: »

The H1B visa is the visa to get if you have a job offer. But there is only a finite number of them to go around. If they gave them out to every single person in the world who wanted one, there would be no jobs left for actual Americans. 65,000 does seem a rather stingy amount for such a large county, but they do have to draw the line somewhere.

I agree with you ProudDUB but you would think if people like myself missed out on the H1B visa route because they were only offered a job after april, there would be another route for them

ProudDUB

You don't have to convince me of that. I agree that it would be great to have other options. But unfortunately the politicians in Congress decide on these matters. They are the ones that you have to convince, not me, as they are the ones that decide how many visas are dolled out. They care far more about what their constituents think about immigration issues, than they do random people in other countries. Their constituents can vote them into and out of office. You can't.

lonestargirl

TimeToShine wrote: »

Does the sector you're looking to work in have any impact on your likelihood of getting one? Surely the US has higher demand for some expertise than others.

There is a separate pool of 20,000 visas for foreigners who have attained a graduate degree in the US. A number of organisations are also H1b exempt meaning that they can apply all year round and have to pay a lower fee. This is mainly universities, not for profit organisations and erase arch organisations.

spideog7

TimeToShine wrote: »

Does the sector you're looking to work in have any impact on your likelihood of getting one? Surely the US has higher demand for some expertise than others.

There are O visas if you are particularly well qualified in what you do. I believe there are special visas for Doctors and Nurses too. The H1B is not available to every sector either, you have to qualify for it.

So in short, yes the sector you work in matters.

TheBoss11

Would I get a 1 year working visa for USA with a business degree?

spideog7

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Would I get a 1 year working visa for USA with a business degree?

If you have graduated within the past 12 months and it was a full-time degree program from an accredited university, yes.