>Often, the only ways to enter the US legally are to marry someone in the US or to get the sponsorship of a powerful tech company.
Actually even Tech companies can’t typically do it. Years ago, I had an offer from a FAANG company that wanted to hire me to one of their US offices. However as it turns out there is no regular “skilled worked sponsored by a company visa”. The paths are:
H-1B: lottery, happens once a year, consistently oversubscribed. So you’d have to wait at least one year, likely several L-1B: intracompany transferee. Bunch of requirements, most notably having been employed in another country by the same company for 1+ years O-1: “extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim” Some people do this, but unless you’re a Nobel prize winner it’s a gamble
They ended up parking me in Europe in a country with a more normal immigration system (which is almost any EU country) with the aim of doing L-1B later, but I ended up staying.
There’s no quick and easy path to enter the US even if you speak perfect English or even if you received an education in US universities. However, compared to many places the family path in the US is easier (e.g. moving my parents from Russia to the EU is almost impossible unless they apply for refugee status which wasn’t on the cards until very recently).
>Often, the only ways to enter the US legally are to marry someone in the US or to get the sponsorship of a powerful tech company.
Actually even Tech companies can’t typically do it. Years ago, I had an offer from a FAANG company that wanted to hire me to one of their US offices. However as it turns out there is no regular “skilled worked sponsored by a company visa”. The paths are:
H-1B: lottery, happens once a year, consistently oversubscribed. So you’d have to wait at least one year, likely several
L-1B: intracompany transferee. Bunch of requirements, most notably having been employed in another country by the same company for 1+ years
O-1: “extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim” Some people do this, but unless you’re a Nobel prize winner it’s a gamble
They ended up parking me in Europe in a country with a more normal immigration system (which is almost any EU country) with the aim of doing L-1B later, but I ended up staying.
There’s no quick and easy path to enter the US even if you speak perfect English or even if you received an education in US universities. However, compared to many places the family path in the US is easier (e.g. moving my parents from Russia to the EU is almost impossible unless they apply for refugee status which wasn’t on the cards until very recently).
Non-profit education or research focused organizations can request to be exempt from the H-1B cap. (Here is a somewhat outdated list: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/lawer.akrofi/viz/H1BProject/H1BCapExemptDashboard ) Could be an alternative to the lottery (also, a lot faster).