3 ms·

I'm very interested in this too (British - have always wanted to move to NYC). A few years back, I sent out some speculative applications to companies in NYC f

I'm very interested in this too (British - have always wanted to move to NYC). A few years back, I sent out some speculative applications to companies in NYC for senior-level roles, but didn't receive anything back outside of one company that said they couldn't sponsor a visa. Some were startups, some were larger companies, and a few agencies using the same stack as I was experienced in. The common route seems to be applying to work for a larger company that can sponsor a visa. I tried this too with some companies on the Stack Overflow jobs page, but again none of them came back to me, even when I took their take-home tests. My uninformed guess is that visas are hard to obtain, even more so nowadays, so that you'd need a mixture of luck and opportunity to get that role.

redwood 8y ago
Coming from the UK with language proficiency, I would recommend getting a job in a company that will later be able to transfer you overseas, of course they will only do so if you really impress them, and when you're first getting a job getting your foot in the door, I wouldn't even bring up that that was a long term aspiration. The reason it's tough to accept a net new applicant from abroad except with those unicorn credentials, is there's that level of risk that this net new applicant won't pan out and all of a sudden the the company has wasted a visa sponsorship on that.
- EnderMB 8y ago
  I live in a decent-sized UK city, but I think I'd struggle to find any roles where the company has. 1. Has interesting/non-soul-destroying work. 2. Has a NYC office that shares a development department 3. Has an open culture of relocating It sounds like a huge risk to move to a job you probably wouldn't choose otherwise, on the potential possibility that you might be able to move you and your family abroad. Given your company would need to match all three prerequisites above, you'd also probably have slim pickings unless you already live in a major city.
mosdl 8y ago
Just the hassle/cost of flying someone to do an on-site interview is a deterrent.
zerkten 8y ago
I'm British (Northern Irish) and I moved to the US in 2004 on an H1B visa. You are unlikely to have much success applying for roles where you may be competing with folks who may not need visas. It's a challenge for companies to even get visas and they could attempt to hire you, only to be unable to get a visa. I see two paths other than marrying an American: 1. Join an EU or UK (I guess that might matter soon) company which has a presence in the US and actually sends folks to the US. US companies with an EU presence might be another option. It really depends where you end up in a big company so you have to do your research on how you might end up being transferred. There is no point in joining a pharma company to do work in IT when bioinformatics folks are the ones who have the opportunity to transfer, unless you are prepared to make that move internally as a prerequisite. 2. Do work with a US company in some sort of subcontractor, outsourcing, or supplier relationship. This is how I made my move because I was doing development for the marketing department of a large pharma company. I developed relationships on both side of the pond and they worked out the path to bring me to the US since I had become critical to their work. This requires a lot of luck and legwork and the the arrangement on the other side won't be like an international transfer at a large company. I turned up in Philly alone with two suitcases with all the stuff I was going to bring to start a new life. Both of these approaches need more hustle now than they ever did before, but aren't impossible if you are actually motivated enough, work at your credentials (get a master's degree!) etc. If you are Northern Irish, I think you can still have a shot at the lottery (https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity-visa https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity-visa).

redwood 8y ago

Coming from the UK with language proficiency, I would recommend getting a job in a company that will later be able to transfer you overseas, of course they will only do so if you really impress them, and when you're first getting a job getting your foot in the door, I wouldn't even bring up that that was a long term aspiration. The reason it's tough to accept a net new applicant from abroad except with those unicorn credentials, is there's that level of risk that this net new applicant won't pan out and all of a sudden the the company has wasted a visa sponsorship on that.

EnderMB 8y ago
I live in a decent-sized UK city, but I think I'd struggle to find any roles where the company has. 1. Has interesting/non-soul-destroying work. 2. Has a NYC office that shares a development department 3. Has an open culture of relocating It sounds like a huge risk to move to a job you probably wouldn't choose otherwise, on the potential possibility that you might be able to move you and your family abroad. Given your company would need to match all three prerequisites above, you'd also probably have slim pickings unless you already live in a major city.

mosdl 8y ago

Just the hassle/cost of flying someone to do an on-site interview is a deterrent.

zerkten 8y ago

I'm British (Northern Irish) and I moved to the US in 2004 on an H1B visa. You are unlikely to have much success applying for roles where you may be competing with folks who may not need visas. It's a challenge for companies to even get visas and they could attempt to hire you, only to be unable to get a visa. I see two paths other than marrying an American: 1. Join an EU or UK (I guess that might matter soon) company which has a presence in the US and actually sends folks to the US. US companies with an EU presence might be another option. It really depends where you end up in a big company so you have to do your research on how you might end up being transferred. There is no point in joining a pharma company to do work in IT when bioinformatics folks are the ones who have the opportunity to transfer, unless you are prepared to make that move internally as a prerequisite. 2. Do work with a US company in some sort of subcontractor, outsourcing, or supplier relationship. This is how I made my move because I was doing development for the marketing department of a large pharma company. I developed relationships on both side of the pond and they worked out the path to bring me to the US since I had become critical to their work. This requires a lot of luck and legwork and the the arrangement on the other side won't be like an international transfer at a large company. I turned up in Philly alone with two suitcases with all the stuff I was going to bring to start a new life. Both of these approaches need more hustle now than they ever did before, but aren't impossible if you are actually motivated enough, work at your credentials (get a master's degree!) etc. If you are Northern Irish, I think you can still have a shot at the lottery (https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity-visa https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/diversity-visa).