On According to a recent Gallup study, the number of Russians wishing to move to another country has tripled over the past 11 years. Most of these people (44%) are in the age group under 29 years old. Also, according to statistics, among the most desirable countries for immigration among Russians, the United States is confidently holding on.
Therefore, I decided to collect in one article data on the types of visas that are suitable for IT specialists (designers, marketers, etc.) and entrepreneurs, as well as supplement them with links to useful services for collecting information and real cases of compatriots who have already managed to pass this way.
Selecting the type of visa
For IT professionals and entrepreneurs, three types of work visas are best suited:
- H1B - a standard work visa, which is received by workers who have received an offer from an American company.
- L1 β a visa for intra-corporate transfers of employees of international companies. So employees move to the USA from the offices of an American company in other countries.
- O1 - visa for outstanding specialists in their field.
Each of these options has both its pros and cons.
H1B: employer assistance and quotas
People who do not have citizenship or a residence permit in the United States must obtain a special visa - H1B to work in this country. It is sponsored by the employer - he needs to prepare a package of documents and pay various fees.
For an employee, everything is fine here - the company pays for everything, it is very convenient. There are even specialized sites, like a resource , with which you can find companies that are most actively inviting workers on an H1B visa.
Top 20 visa sponsors as of 2019
But there is one drawback - not everyone who has received an offer from an American company will be able to immediately come to work.
H1B visas are subject to quotas that change annually. For example, the quota for the current fiscal year 2019 is only 65 visas. At the same time, 199 thousand applications for its receipt were submitted last year. There are many more applicants than visas issued, so a lottery is held among applicants. It turns out that in recent years the chance to win it is 1 out of three.
In addition, obtaining a visa and paying all fees costs the employer at least $10, in addition to paying salaries. So you have to be a very valuable asset for the company to be so stressed and still risk not seeing the employee in the country because of losing the H000B lottery.
Visa L1
Some large US companies with offices in other countries circumvent the restrictions of H1B visas with the help of L visas. There are different subtypes of such a visa - one of them is for the transfer of top managers, and the other is for the transport of talented employees (special knowledge worker) to the USA
Usually, in order to be able to move to the United States without any quotas and lotteries, an employee must work in a foreign office for at least a year.
Companies such as Google, Facebook, and Dropbox transport talent under this scheme. For example, there is a common scheme in which an employee works for some time in an office in Dublin, Ireland, and only then moves to San Francisco.
The disadvantages of this option are understandable - you need to be a valuable person in order to interest not a simple small startup, but a company with offices in different countries. Then you will have to work in one country for quite a long time, and only then move to the second (USA). For families, this can be difficult.
Visa O1
This type of visa is for people with "extraordinary abilities" in their niches. Previously, it was more used by people of creative professions and athletes, but later it was increasingly used by IT professionals and entrepreneurs.
In order to determine the degree of exclusivity and extraordinaryness of the applicant, several points were developed for which he needs to provide evidence. So, here's what you need to get an O1 visa:
- professional awards and prizes;
- membership in professional associations that accept extraordinary specialists (and not everyone who can pay a membership fee);
- victories in professional competitions;
- participation as a jury member in professional competitions (clear authority for evaluating the work of other professionals);
- mentions in the media (descriptions of projects, interviews) and own publications in specialized or scientific journals;
- a significant position in a large company;
- any additional evidence is also accepted.
It is clear that in order to obtain this visa, you really need to be a strong specialist and meet at least a few criteria from the list above. The disadvantages of a visa include the difficulty of obtaining it, the need to have an employer on whose behalf a petition will be submitted for its consideration, and the inability to then easily change jobs - you can only be employed by the company that filed the petition with the migration service.
The main plus is that it is given for 3 years, there are no quotas or other restrictions for its holders.
The real case of obtaining an O1 visa is described on Habrahabr in .
Collection of information
Once you have decided on the type of visa that suits you, you need to prepare for the move. In addition to studying articles on the Internet, there are a number of services with which you can get first-hand information of interest. Here are the two most frequently mentioned in public sources:
A consulting service that focuses on answering questions about moving specifically to the United States. Everything works simply - on the site you can access documents checked by lawyers with step-by-step descriptions of obtaining different types of visas, or order the collection of data on your questions.
The user leaves a request in which he indicates the questions of interest (from difficulties with choosing the type of visa to employment issues, doing business and domestic difficulties, such as finding housing and buying a car). Answers can be received during a video call or in text format with links to official documents, comments from relevant professionals - from visa lawyers to accountants and realtors. All such specialists are selected - the user receives recommendations from specialists with whom the service team has already worked.
Among other things, users can order a personal branding service - the project team will help to talk about professional achievements in major Russian-language and English-language media - this will be useful, for example, to apply for the O1 visa described above.
«»
Another advisory service that works on a slightly different model. This is a platform where users can find expats from different countries and even cities and consult with them.
After selecting the desired country and the method of moving (work visa, study, etc.), the system provides a list of people who moved to this place in the same way. Consultations can be paid and free - it all depends on the desires of a particular consultant. Communication takes place via chat.
In addition to consulting services founded by Russian-speaking people, there are also useful international information resources. Here are the most useful for professionals considering moving:
The service aggregates data on tech salaries offered by American companies. With this site, you can find out how much programmers are paid at large companies like Amazon, Facebook or Uber, as well as compare the salaries of engineers in different states and cities.
Also, Paysa can show the most profitable skills and technologies. It is possible to see the average salaries of graduates of different universities - a feature that is useful for those who are thinking about studying in the United States in order to build a career in the future.
Conclusion: 5 articles with real examples of professionals and entrepreneurs moving
Finally, I have selected a few articles written by people who have actually moved to the US to work there. These materials have answers to many questions about obtaining different types of visas, passing interviews, settling in a new place, and so on:
If you know some useful tools, services, articles, links to which were not included in this topic - share them in the comments, I will update the material or write a new one, more
detailed. Thank you all for your attention!
Source: www.habr.com