Emigrating to work in California
Discussion
I did it 10 years ago and it is not an easy move to make. The most important thing to have is a visa. There are two ways of getting one, intercompany transfer and having lots of money (around $100K if I recall). From the way you phrased the OP I would guess you don't have this in place.
Oh, and if you have a caution from the UK police they are now being treated as convictions for visas and green cards.
Oh, and if you have a caution from the UK police they are now being treated as convictions for visas and green cards.
No idea what salaries are like now as i was out there 15 years ago, however it is very difficult to get a visa. You will either need to find a UK or US business to sponsor your application. There is no way you can just rock up and apply for a job. Americans lothe outsiders coming in to take their jobs and have very strict laws protecting their domestic workforce.
I moved here (FL) in 2001 - what's been stated above is pretty much the story - though there are other visa options in addition to those stated.
You could research E1 and E2 Treaty Trader and Investment Trader and O1 (if you are really, really top of your game career-wise).
The easiest way in is via marriage to a USC - the toughest is employment based visa (L1-A/B and H1-B - forget H2-B - seasonal) leading to LPR status via EB1,2 or 3 preference.
I have been the beneficiary of an L1-A, and H1-B and an E1. I've also sponsored L1-B and H1-B petitions for UK originated employees. To receive an informed view, you'd have to supply a lot more information regarding your circumstances, skill set, business connections and liquidity (in the case of investment visas). But, as already advised by others, based on what you've shared here, not much chance, I'm afraid.
You could research E1 and E2 Treaty Trader and Investment Trader and O1 (if you are really, really top of your game career-wise).
The easiest way in is via marriage to a USC - the toughest is employment based visa (L1-A/B and H1-B - forget H2-B - seasonal) leading to LPR status via EB1,2 or 3 preference.
I have been the beneficiary of an L1-A, and H1-B and an E1. I've also sponsored L1-B and H1-B petitions for UK originated employees. To receive an informed view, you'd have to supply a lot more information regarding your circumstances, skill set, business connections and liquidity (in the case of investment visas). But, as already advised by others, based on what you've shared here, not much chance, I'm afraid.
John145 said:
expectations for quality of life, what salary is required to be comfortable etc.
I'm degree educated with years of specialised engineering experience.
Depends what you call quality of life. Morning run, nice weather, on the beach type stuff or finding out about new things, culture, arts, historyI'm degree educated with years of specialised engineering experience.
I got to a point with the Bay Area that it bored me senseless, it was too BusinessVille and so quiet on the weekends I ended up in LA instead, left my hotel room booked in Sunnyvale and headed out to Hollywood and Glendale for something interesting to happen and booked a cheap place to stop over.
There's no history. An Intel Museum does not compare with the Natural History Museum. There's no pubs - the best places I've been drinking were dive bars
When my company offered it to me I wanted 3 figures to relocate and a salary IRO $75k with comms, because you a) cant buy a car for ages b) will start off living in leased apartments or hotels and c) need to spend a lot of money getting things going
They said it'd probably take around 6-9 months to get the Visa worked out and the cost was around €12k. What put me off it in the end was 1) I got homesick and 2) I was tied to this company. There was no reason that other companies in the area would take me on when they have availability of so many other citizens that wouldnt give them the hassle of a visa transfer/permit problems and wanting to go home every month to visit family
You mentions colleges have done the move?? surely they would know about salaries ect.
I've considered it as I work for one of the largest US engineering consultants. LA life in expensive, home rentals are sky high and buying would be out of the question. When I really considered it I was looking to live about an hour or so inland from the coast to have a better quality of life. We have an office in san fran, somewhere like Oakdale.
I've heard traffic around LA is shocking pretty much all of the time
I've considered it as I work for one of the largest US engineering consultants. LA life in expensive, home rentals are sky high and buying would be out of the question. When I really considered it I was looking to live about an hour or so inland from the coast to have a better quality of life. We have an office in san fran, somewhere like Oakdale.
I've heard traffic around LA is shocking pretty much all of the time
andy-xr said:
There's no pubs - the best places I've been drinking were dive bars
dive bars are great. far better than anywhere else you can drink, especially in LA.andy-xr said:
I was tied to this company. There was no reason that other companies in the area would take me on when they have availability of so many other citizens that wouldnt give them the hassle of a visa transfer/permit problems
can you please expand on this? there's a role going with my current company in the US which i would take just to get me over there. however its not in a state i want to live in and thought having the visa would open more opportunities elsewhere. it's LA/SoCal or nothing for me.shirt said:
can you please expand on this? there's a role going with my current company in the US which i would take just to get me over there. however its not in a state i want to live in and thought having the visa would open more opportunities elsewhere. it's LA/SoCal or nothing for me.
Your working visa is tied to your company as is your green card application. If you move jobs until you receive your green card your new company must sponsor you. Not always a show-stopper, but makes applying harder as the new company has to REALLY want to hire you to go through that effort.John145 said:
I'm confident in the VISA process as many colleagues have done the move so really wanting to know more about living in California, expectations for quality of life, what salary is required to be comfortable etc.
I'm degree educated with years of specialised engineering experience.
I like your positive and optimistic attitude, but no employment based visa a is a shoo-in, particularly if it's not an intra-company transfer. A degree and experience help, but are only two components of a quite complex matrix of requirements.I'm degree educated with years of specialised engineering experience.
I assume you are aware that H1-B is a 'capped' visa in the majority of cases and limited to 65,000 pa. For the past 6 years H1-B has been over-subscribed by a ratio of 3-1, so your sponsors application then becomes a lottery.
I think you may discover that obtaining an H1-B in the current climate isn't the breeze you think it is right now - Do you have a petitioning company lined-up or are you speculating at this point? Ignore all of this if you are exploring L1, of course.
I have been beneficiary and sponsor of both and from an employers perspective, H1-B is becoming ever more difficult to justify both in terms of cost and to DoE, INS and USCIS - the paperwork alone is a massive burden.
As a footnote, I work in CA a lot and could not live there on less than $150k pa. I wish you luck in your endeavors.
boxst said:
Your working visa is tied to your company as is your green card application. If you move jobs until you receive your green card your new company must sponsor you. Not always a show-stopper, but makes applying harder as the new company has to REALLY want to hire you to go through that effort.
As stated L1-A/B (Intra-company transfer) visas tie the beneficiary to the sponsor for the duration of the visa. If the two part company (for any reason) the visa becomes void. Transferring from and L1 sponsoring company to a new organization is (intentionally) complicated and burdensome. The visa is not transferrable, so a new petition is required (for H1-B, most usually). New H1-B visas are allocated in April with a start date of October each year and are capped at 65k visas each year, in all but the most specialized and weird of professions. Additionally, your new sponsor has a veritable mountain of paperwork and filing expenditure to get through - just to make the application. At some stage (usually after they've hired you) they have to demonstrate to DoL that a local hire was neither practical or feasible - and that involves advertising and interviewing candidates for your job - and then proving that no candidates were suitable for the role. Meanwhile, you have to have a bachelors degree or equivalent and relevant expertise in the role you are moving to. See where this is going? In answer to the other question regarding permanent residence (green card) - this is highly dependent on two things - the visa you are using as the vehicle and the intent and compliance of the sponsor (the beneficiary - you - is merely a passenger in this process).
With an L1-A and a helpful petitioner the process can be initiated immediately and can take as little as 10-12 months soup to nuts. An H1-B with an EB3 preference could take 5 years - and a lot of piss-balling around for the petitioner. Intra-company transfers are the easiest way for an employment derived PR petition - but - you need the co-operation of the sponsoring company. This can be a problem for the very reason we're having this discussion. With a green card, you can bail (after the sponsor has done all of the expensive leg-work to make this happen) - so some are reluctant, understandably.
Negotiating a guarantee of a PR petition as part of the employment package is a strategy to consider - but be prepared to answer, "Why do you need that - are you going to jump-ship at the first opportunity?". Similarly, contractually agreeing to reimburse the petitioner for all of the PR petition expense (typically around $15k) should you leave within X years of successful petition, might be another way around this.
Whenever feasible - always opt for L1 (and ideally L1-A), which give the most flexibility of all employment based visas.
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