5 ms·

Was anyone actually interested to go to the UK, especially post Brexit? Here in the Bay it seems there's a constant interest from British nationals to move to

Was anyone actually interested to go to the UK, especially post Brexit? Here in the Bay it seems there's a constant interest from British nationals to move to America (judging by the volume of applications we get). But I've never heard anyone interested to do the reverse. Top destination for UK nationals in Academia was... the US [0]. [0] http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/the-global-brain-trade http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/the-global-bra...

gnad_sucks 4y ago
Speaking of which, what's the move like? Can a company sponsor a green card if they like the candidate enough? How does this work? Yes, I'm one of those people you're talking about.
- gumby 4y ago
  Yes, if you work on an H-1 your company can sponsor you for a GC. Many do.
- troebr 4y ago
  AFAIK you need a visa first, most people I know that did this (myself included) first had a visa first: H1, L1, O1, etc. Then their employer sponsored a green card. H1-B is the most common for tech workers, unfortunately due to quotas it can be pretty hard to get. Even if you get the job, your petition could be denied randomly because there were too many applications for the year.
  - gnad_sucks 4y ago
    I already have L1, but my employer won't sponsor green card. What are my options?
    - digianarchist 4y ago
      New employer using a different non-immigrant visa or EB-1.
    - troebr 4y ago
      IIRC L1 is not transferrable, so your best bet would be to try to snag an H1B at a different employer. It's much easier to do while in the US, so I'd ride out the L1 and apply for jobs between Nov and February to get in the H1B paperwork in for April 1st and hopefully get in the lottery. If it doesn't work on year, rinse and repeat. Depending on your occupation, O1 is a possibility, one of my friends switched jobs and went from L1 to O1. The alternative if you're not married is to get your GC through your marriage if you have a US partner.
- dom96 4y ago
  afaik the best approach seems to be to join a US-based company in the UK then ask them nicely to apply for a visa for you after a year. Then you're in the H1-B lottery.
ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
No. It is absolute madness to go to the UK for running a startup when the US exists. US is the greatest place for entrepreneurship and changing the world. Nothing even comes close. There is a tangible difference in the air.
- kmlx 4y ago
  > when the US exists. I don't think you realise how hard it is to move to the US for work.
  - devoutsalsa 4y ago
    It can be pain in the butt to get your wife to the USA if you marry a foreigner! Source: am American & married a foreigner.
  - giobox 4y ago
    The UK's immigration system is notoriously difficult for skilled workers to migrate under too in many, many cases so not like the UK system is setup to take advantage of this at all. Speaking as someone with experience of both UK and US immigrant work visa systems in the software industry, the US provides significantly more visa options and paths to permanent residency, especially to folks who didn't come to the country to study first. It doesn't help matters either that in most cases equivalent software roles pay better in the US too. The UK for years could often rely on EU migration (freedom of movement rules etc) to a large extent to provide for its migrant workforce needs. Brexit closed this avenue completely and the UK hasn't yet built an immigration system remotely appropriate for its needs to replace it, and efforts to do so are of course hugely politically contentious.
    - dzonga 4y ago
      i'm sure that was Brexit. now if you earn a high wage, work for a big company that has big time lawyers. you will have your skilled visa in about 2 weeks depending on the country. let's not start on the nightmare called h1b. yeah current cost of living in the uk, is kinda fucked but us isn't faring better. if you only look at raw salary number then yeah US is ahead, but once you start factoring other things - uk / us are on par.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jstx1 4y ago
I feel like to answer your question you should be looking at the people going to the UK, instead of the ones leaving. Either way London is still one of the best European cities for tech.
nvarsj 4y ago
Yes, plenty of people. In fact, 2022 was the highest recorded immigration in history [1]. The fact remains UK has one of the best university systems and best opportunities for skilled work outside of the US. Yeah the Tory gov is trying their best to destroy the country but this kind of institutional bias is hard to wreck. It's very similar to the US - which has an amazing university system that continues to prop up the economy over the long term, despite how destructive/insane the government policies are. I'd also argue that for lots of immigrants, things like the NHS and general safety net make the UK far more appealing than the US. Also if you're from a former British colony, it feels a lot more familiar - so you see large numbers of south/south east asian nationals who prefer to immigrate to the UK over the US. On top of all that, it can also be significantly harder to get a visa to live in the US. 1: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06077/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06...
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I feel like I see proportionally more South Asians in the UK than the US. In the US, I see proportionally more East and Southeast Asians. In the UK, “Asian” (in common vernacular) usually refers to descendants of India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Nepal/etc. In the US, “Asian” usually refers to descendants of Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai/Filipino/etc.
  - adamc 4y ago
    I dunno. Where my kid went to high school, "asian" usually meant people of Indian heritage. An anecdote only, but. What pops into my mind is that the US is closer to what you would call east Asia than it is to India, and, of course, Britain has particularly strong historical ties to India/Pakistan etc. So that might also be a factor.
  - nvarsj 4y ago
    Yes, got my geography wrong. I meant South/South East not East, updated my comment. Basically the former British colonies.
  - alephnerd 4y ago
rogual 4y ago
Can a British citizen just apply to a US company and they'll sort it out if you get the job? Or does the applicant have to navigate the visa process themselves? (I'm a Brit who's always had one eye on the US... becoming two eyes lately.)
- dilyevsky 4y ago
  The company typically pays the lawyer firm who do everything and guide you through the whole process. They also file most of the paperwork
- phphphphp 4y ago
  Very difficult the way you’re describing it but there is an easy-ish approach: take a UK based job with an American company (e.g: Facebook) and then after you’ve worked there for a couple of years, ask to relocate to the US. There’s a special visa for that situation (L-1) which is very attainable and provides a path to citizenship.
  - digianarchist 4y ago
    It's getting harder to get an L1-B visa. Many applications are returned with a RFE notice or outright denied.

gnad_sucks 4y ago

Speaking of which, what's the move like? Can a company sponsor a green card if they like the candidate enough? How does this work? Yes, I'm one of those people you're talking about.

gumby 4y ago
Yes, if you work on an H-1 your company can sponsor you for a GC. Many do.
troebr 4y ago
AFAIK you need a visa first, most people I know that did this (myself included) first had a visa first: H1, L1, O1, etc. Then their employer sponsored a green card. H1-B is the most common for tech workers, unfortunately due to quotas it can be pretty hard to get. Even if you get the job, your petition could be denied randomly because there were too many applications for the year.
- gnad_sucks 4y ago
  I already have L1, but my employer won't sponsor green card. What are my options?
  - digianarchist 4y ago
    New employer using a different non-immigrant visa or EB-1.
  - troebr 4y ago
    IIRC L1 is not transferrable, so your best bet would be to try to snag an H1B at a different employer. It's much easier to do while in the US, so I'd ride out the L1 and apply for jobs between Nov and February to get in the H1B paperwork in for April 1st and hopefully get in the lottery. If it doesn't work on year, rinse and repeat. Depending on your occupation, O1 is a possibility, one of my friends switched jobs and went from L1 to O1. The alternative if you're not married is to get your GC through your marriage if you have a US partner.
dom96 4y ago
afaik the best approach seems to be to join a US-based company in the UK then ask them nicely to apply for a visa for you after a year. Then you're in the H1-B lottery.

ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago

No. It is absolute madness to go to the UK for running a startup when the US exists. US is the greatest place for entrepreneurship and changing the world. Nothing even comes close. There is a tangible difference in the air.

kmlx 4y ago
> when the US exists. I don't think you realise how hard it is to move to the US for work.
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  It can be pain in the butt to get your wife to the USA if you marry a foreigner! Source: am American & married a foreigner.
- giobox 4y ago
  The UK's immigration system is notoriously difficult for skilled workers to migrate under too in many, many cases so not like the UK system is setup to take advantage of this at all. Speaking as someone with experience of both UK and US immigrant work visa systems in the software industry, the US provides significantly more visa options and paths to permanent residency, especially to folks who didn't come to the country to study first. It doesn't help matters either that in most cases equivalent software roles pay better in the US too. The UK for years could often rely on EU migration (freedom of movement rules etc) to a large extent to provide for its migrant workforce needs. Brexit closed this avenue completely and the UK hasn't yet built an immigration system remotely appropriate for its needs to replace it, and efforts to do so are of course hugely politically contentious.
  - dzonga 4y ago
    i'm sure that was Brexit. now if you earn a high wage, work for a big company that has big time lawyers. you will have your skilled visa in about 2 weeks depending on the country. let's not start on the nightmare called h1b. yeah current cost of living in the uk, is kinda fucked but us isn't faring better. if you only look at raw salary number then yeah US is ahead, but once you start factoring other things - uk / us are on par.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jstx1 4y ago

I feel like to answer your question you should be looking at the people going to the UK, instead of the ones leaving. Either way London is still one of the best European cities for tech.

nvarsj 4y ago

Yes, plenty of people. In fact, 2022 was the highest recorded immigration in history [1]. The fact remains UK has one of the best university systems and best opportunities for skilled work outside of the US. Yeah the Tory gov is trying their best to destroy the country but this kind of institutional bias is hard to wreck. It's very similar to the US - which has an amazing university system that continues to prop up the economy over the long term, despite how destructive/insane the government policies are. I'd also argue that for lots of immigrants, things like the NHS and general safety net make the UK far more appealing than the US. Also if you're from a former British colony, it feels a lot more familiar - so you see large numbers of south/south east asian nationals who prefer to immigrate to the UK over the US. On top of all that, it can also be significantly harder to get a visa to live in the US. 1: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06077/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06...

lotsofpulp 4y ago
I feel like I see proportionally more South Asians in the UK than the US. In the US, I see proportionally more East and Southeast Asians. In the UK, “Asian” (in common vernacular) usually refers to descendants of India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Nepal/etc. In the US, “Asian” usually refers to descendants of Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai/Filipino/etc.
- adamc 4y ago
  I dunno. Where my kid went to high school, "asian" usually meant people of Indian heritage. An anecdote only, but. What pops into my mind is that the US is closer to what you would call east Asia than it is to India, and, of course, Britain has particularly strong historical ties to India/Pakistan etc. So that might also be a factor.
- nvarsj 4y ago
  Yes, got my geography wrong. I meant South/South East not East, updated my comment. Basically the former British colonies.
- alephnerd 4y ago

rogual 4y ago

Can a British citizen just apply to a US company and they'll sort it out if you get the job? Or does the applicant have to navigate the visa process themselves? (I'm a Brit who's always had one eye on the US... becoming two eyes lately.)

dilyevsky 4y ago
The company typically pays the lawyer firm who do everything and guide you through the whole process. They also file most of the paperwork
phphphphp 4y ago
Very difficult the way you’re describing it but there is an easy-ish approach: take a UK based job with an American company (e.g: Facebook) and then after you’ve worked there for a couple of years, ask to relocate to the US. There’s a special visa for that situation (L-1) which is very attainable and provides a path to citizenship.
- digianarchist 4y ago
  It's getting harder to get an L1-B visa. Many applications are returned with a RFE notice or outright denied.