America

srdb20

Hi all ive been wanting ot move to the states for a while,
I was just wondering if any one has any advice on how o go about it!
E.g Visa, jobs...etc

Any good links or webpages
Any info at all please post it up thanks, or is there anyone here who has moved to the states any opinions!

Thanks all!

Grem

Hey there,
If your a skilled worker and can do something that an American citizen cant do (say if they had a shortage of engineers) then your sorted you'll get a visa.

Check www.usembassy.ie - it should give you any info on Visas.

But if you arent a skilled worker then you have little or no chance of getting a visa to work there, unless either yourself or one of your parents was born there. Its something ive wanted to do for a few years but its impossible. You could go over illegally and chance your arm at working in an Irish bar or something but if your found by immigration officials you might be deported or worse still banned from visiting the states ever again.

srdb20

Cheers man,

Ive a few qualifications with regards to computers...

Is that the type of stuff they look for?

Ruu_Old

Theres always lots of construction work over here, at least when i travel up to Chicago, everytime i go up there somethings going on. Unsure about computers, check to see if your credentials are going to be any use here. Best check out the US Embassy website and read about the different types of visas available, dont hesistate to PM if you need any help, best of luck

por

You can try to get legal work in the states a few ways

1. As a student with a J1 for the summer
2. H1B, very popular in the late '90s for IT work, basically a work permit valid for 3 years and extendable for another 3. Not very popular since downturn in IT sector. Once you get it you can apply for Green Card through sponsorship from company.
Put your CV on monster.com, some comapny may bite and sponsor you for a H1
3. Green Card lottery, see details on http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=114094.
Application is free, be wary of websites charging you for lottery application. Like http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/, it may look authentic and the info may be correct but they charge for lottery application.
4. Marry an American citizen.


If you want to go illegally then try that, you'll have no medical insurance, bank account, find it very hard to get drivers license, very hard to travel on internal flights etc. but you could get work in construction if you are male and as a waitress or nanny if you a female.

Look at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service website for all the details.

Gandhi

Have you thought about Canada at all? They have a more logical system of applying for entry, as opposed to the "luck of the draw" system in the US.

Also, you can get to citzenship status in Canada within a few years, which would put you in good shape to get a work permit for the US. From what I hear, for a Canadian citizen it is more or less a formality to acquire a US work visa.

If you are going to try to get a job and get sponsored in the US, the best sites are:

www.monster.com
www.dice.com
www.careerbuilder.com
www.hotjobs.com

Another option is to get a job with an American company in Ireland and get yourself transferred over on a H1B which you then gradually upgrade to a green card / citizenship.

And of course, keep applying to the green card lottery. At 55,000 visas a year, someone has to get them!

Tom Dunne

Lads, I hate to rain on your parade, but it is incredibly difficult to get a visa for the US.

J1 - as I am sure you are aware, is for students. Valid only for the couple of months.

Green Card - as mentioned above, it's a lottery. Something like 6 million apply for it each year, so go work your odds out. One thing to note is that you should not apply through a third party - don't be foolish enough to pay someone to fill out a form on the web for you.

Company Sponsorship - if you have a PhD, and serious experience in a highly specialised area, sure, you will get a company to sponsor you.

If, like me, you get a temporary transfer over to the US with the Irish arm of a US company, it is extremely rare that you will be able to extend your stay and apply for citizenship (unless you have the aformentioned highly specialised experience and the company is willing to sponsor you).

Unemployment is still a concern in the US - it is very,very unlikely that an average Joe Soap will be employed/sponsored by a US company when they can employ a US citizen.

galwaydude

Ye it is really hard to get in the door in the states.
You have only 3 options.

1: Marriage to an american citizen or if your mother/father was born there. I think that may go beyond to brother or sisters.

2: Lottery system, extremely hard to get with so many people trying to get in.

3: Sponsorship, i was told by an IT manager that it can cost up to 30,000 dollars for a company to get your visa and stuff but there are ways around that but its a difficult path.

In saying that im off to the states in late january for a few years maybe for good who knows.I opted for option 1 as met my gf who happened to be american in dublin 2 years and we are getting married in april. Cant wait

Your best bet is forget that rip off number the american embassey have for some helpdesk in germany or god knows where as they are useless as well as charging 2.40 a minute. I rang them numerous times and all they said was check the website rap.They hadnt a clue.

Try calling 001-800-870-3676, we did and they were very helpfull.Moreso than anyone in ireland or that joke of a helpdesk. They will give you the options if you can understand their accent.

Pm me if you want more information. You should definately pm Ruu as he was very helpfull to me when i was looking for info on here.Best of luck mate

Gandhi

tom dunne wrote:

Lads, I hate to rain on your parade, but it is incredibly difficult to get a visa for the US.

I don't think anybody is saying it is easy - but it is not impossible. Massive amounts of people come to the US legally every year.

>>J1 - as I am sure you are aware, is for students. Valid only for the couple of months.
True - though it is a good way to get your feet on the ground. If someone is serious about getting sponsorship, it's a good idea to base yourself in the US legally on a temporary visa while on a job hunt.

>> Green Card - as mentioned above, it's a lottery. Something like 6 million apply for it each year, so go work your odds out. One thing to note is that you should not apply through a third party - don't be foolish enough to pay someone to fill out a form on the web for you.
Yes, it is a lottery but it is free and only costs you a few minutes of your time on the web. Remember that a lot of those people who get an offer don't respond, and even though the criteria for entering might seem trivial to someone in Ireland (clean police record, finished secondary school etc) that eliminates quite a few people in third world countries.
If you watch for news on the lottery, they sometimes move the timeframe at the last minute, which cuts down on the applications. They did that they year I won it.

>> Company Sponsorship - if you have a PhD, and serious experience in a highly specialised area, sure, you will get a company to sponsor you.

There are still tens of thousands of people getting sponsored for H1-Bs every year. Many technology companies are locating in out-of-the-way areas, where many American graduates are not willing to move. You can increase your chances by being flexible about location, how much travel is involved etc. Also, if you are in a technical field, there is still a shortage of qualified people. You would be competing with other foreign workers (Chinese, Indian etc.) but you do have the language advantage.

>> If, like me, you get a temporary transfer over to the US with the Irish arm of a US company, it is extremely rare that you will be able to extend your stay and apply for citizenship (unless you have the aformentioned highly specialised experience and the company is willing to sponsor you).

Yes, but it is still a possibility. I certainly wouldn't tell anyone to bend over backwards to get their company to transfer them over and they would immediately be offered a great job. I do know people who have gotten green cards etc. this way.

>> Unemployment is still a concern in the US - it is very,very unlikely that an average Joe Soap will be employed/sponsored by a US company when they can employ a US citizen.

The economy is improving here. Jobs are not falling out of the trees like they were in the mid to late nineties, but there are still jobs around. My neighbour recently got sponsored to be a java programmer right in San Fran - she doesn't even have a degree in CS, but got the job. That is a bit unusual right now, but not unheard of.

I agree that there is no easy, sure-fire way, and a big part of it is dumb luck, but it is still worth taking the time to fire off a few CVs on monster.com.

By the way, all the methods I mentioned in my first post are situations where I personally know (not "a friend of a friend of a friend...") people that have been successful. The only exception would be the Canadian method. One friend of mine is in the process of doing that, and it is goind well so far. Another one was in the middle of it when his (Canadian) employer transferred him to the US.

srdb20

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the top quality info... Im going to look into all of it!

So you may get a few PM's in the future!

Thanks for all the help!!!