5 ms·

I've been thinking of moving to the Bay area for a while from the UK. Everyone I follow / engage with seems to be there so it seems like a good place to go. On

by ed209 14y ago

I've been thinking of moving to the Bay area for a while from the UK. Everyone I follow / engage with seems to be there so it seems like a good place to go. One thing I'm hearing though is that companies are not that interested in hiring H1B candidates (at least for design) - I'm surprised that the increase in take-up is due to tech companies. Any Bay area companies able to comment on this?

ropiku 14y ago
I really did not feel that. I just graduated in the UK and will move to the Bay area in fall (when H1B starts). All the companies I talked to were totally ok with H1B.
- excuse-me 14y ago
  Then they are either $BILLION mega corps with a big legal dept or they have no idea about H1B. Essentially if you aren't Intel/MSFT/IBM you don't stand a chance of getting an H1B application through
  - btbuilder 14y ago
    This is just plain wrong in my experience. Even small companies (< 15 employees) can easily get an H1B petition approved if they apply before the cap is filled and pay a lawyer ~$2k.
    - excuse-me 14y ago
      My experience was in the last dot-com bubble/boom. The caps filled as 12:01 on the day they opened by MSFT/Intel/HP etc
      - btbuilder 14y ago
        This hasn't been true since the recession. Also when the cap limit is hit a lottery system is used to select petitions. No companies have preference. In fact the rules now are that they will include any petition received within the first five business days in the lottery. The rules are a little more complex than this, but it's essentially correct. Any reasonably good lawyer knew they had to get things submitted on the first day due to cap uncertainties.
    - mcdowall 14y ago
      Does anyone have any good reference links for H1B positions or a list of companies that are open to them. I'd quite happily pay the immigration fees myself to get into the states (currently in the UK also).
      - gsa 14y ago
        The monthly whoishiring thread [1] has some jobs with H1B, although I haven't had much luck with them. Also, employers cannot make you pay the immigration fees, it's illegal. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4053076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4053076
  - mahyarm 14y ago
    The ~100 ish person startup I work at has many h1b employees. The hiring company has to be willing to spend a few thousand before hiring on immigration lawyers.
  - ropiku 14y ago
    Some of them were big companies and one was 20 employees startup. I assure you they knew exactly what H1B is and they simple engaged with an immigration lawyer (see replies).

by ed209 14y ago

ropiku 14y ago

I really did not feel that. I just graduated in the UK and will move to the Bay area in fall (when H1B starts). All the companies I talked to were totally ok with H1B.

excuse-me 14y ago
Then they are either $BILLION mega corps with a big legal dept or they have no idea about H1B. Essentially if you aren't Intel/MSFT/IBM you don't stand a chance of getting an H1B application through
- btbuilder 14y ago
  This is just plain wrong in my experience. Even small companies (< 15 employees) can easily get an H1B petition approved if they apply before the cap is filled and pay a lawyer ~$2k.
  - excuse-me 14y ago
    My experience was in the last dot-com bubble/boom. The caps filled as 12:01 on the day they opened by MSFT/Intel/HP etc
    - btbuilder 14y ago
      This hasn't been true since the recession. Also when the cap limit is hit a lottery system is used to select petitions. No companies have preference. In fact the rules now are that they will include any petition received within the first five business days in the lottery. The rules are a little more complex than this, but it's essentially correct. Any reasonably good lawyer knew they had to get things submitted on the first day due to cap uncertainties.
  - mcdowall 14y ago
    Does anyone have any good reference links for H1B positions or a list of companies that are open to them. I'd quite happily pay the immigration fees myself to get into the states (currently in the UK also).
    - gsa 14y ago
      The monthly whoishiring thread [1] has some jobs with H1B, although I haven't had much luck with them. Also, employers cannot make you pay the immigration fees, it's illegal. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4053076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4053076
- mahyarm 14y ago
  The ~100 ish person startup I work at has many h1b employees. The hiring company has to be willing to spend a few thousand before hiring on immigration lawyers.
- ropiku 14y ago
  Some of them were big companies and one was 20 employees startup. I assure you they knew exactly what H1B is and they simple engaged with an immigration lawyer (see replies).