The key is to have skills that cannot be found in the population at large. My company will sponsor… but not for someone with only a BA/BS. Much too hard to prove that we made an aggressive and good faith effort to hire someone qualified when we’re talking about a 22 year old with no employment record!
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And yet, it is not as impossible as the commentariat here claims. I know of a few of my older son’s friends that got H1Bs after graduating with BS.
As I already said, it is much easier after grad school.
Older sons friends that got H1Bs after a BS in the last three years?
Yes. Chinese citizens.
In what field? IB?
Computer Science.
This student is asking about IB. It’s possible your three CS examples had unique skills that could not be filled by domestic applicants, and the company could prove they looked and found no one.
Frankly, I can’t see that happening in IB.
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If the ultimate goal is working IB in the US, it is probably easier to get an entry level position at an oversea branch of an international IB. If you do well in college, have language skills and cultural background, it might be an in. You would have the pay and benefits of a local employee, but if you do well, there could be subsequent opportunities to transfer.
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Of course, I am not going to give opinions in areas that are unknown to me, but the big companies usually know how to game the system and probably wouldn’t have problems hiring him. If they decide to.
One way I can see it happening is after an internship, claiming that unique knowledge and/or capabilities.
Highly unlikely for an entry level analyst in IB. The skills that are required are not that unique and highly qualified applicants far exceed the number of positions.
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You don’t understand current immigration laws and restrictions and quotas if you think a big company is going to take a risk on a 22 year old kid. Game the system for a PhD with a record of publication who qualifies for an O1 visa? Sure. Or find out how Melania Trump qualified for one. But for a generic BS in Finance who wants to work at a bank???
That’s not how our immigration system works…
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I can’t say that I know much of the current immigration system, but what are YOUR qualifications to comment it?
After all, I passed through it, coming to the US with an H1B visa. Admittedly, many years ago.
I work in corporate recruiting for a global company and manage the case files (the actual legal work is done by our immigration lawyers with some cases referred to outside counsel- the top immigration firm in the US) for folks we’d like to hire but who don’t have the legal right to work in the US. Sometimes it’s our own employees who are overseas and need a transfer. Sometimes it’s professionals we are recruiting. Sometimes it’s the spouse of someone we’d like to hire in the US if the individual makes it clear that without the spouse’s visa they won’t accept the transfer.
Over the last 30 years it’s gotten harder, not easier (that’s how long I’ve been in recruiting). Things can shift on a dime. Someone may be relying on last year’s process. When the government shut down (twice during the last administration) cases got backed up for 6 months- things that seemed like a slam dunk during the Obama presidency became “no way no how” under Trump. After 9/11 cases that were already in process got put on hold just because the individual had a middle name which made them suspect. Covid has thrown a monkey wrench into the entire system because there are parts of the immigration infrastructure where offices are still running at 1/10th the manpower. I am not smart enough to predict the future, but can only describe the past- things change quickly and usually not for the better if you are a foreign national who wants to work legally in the US.
Those are my qualifications. You?
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Thanks. I think this is an excellent post that will help the OP a lot.
One pathway to a green card that hasn’t been mentioned yet is marriage to a US citizen. The interview process is no joke (though the Gerard Depardieu movie “Green Card” is hilarious). Assuming you can prove the marriage is genuine, it has to last at least 5 years to keep you on the path to applying for citizenship.
I also want to echo what’s been said about the process for getting a student visa. My son did interviews for various kinds of non-immigrant visas (tourists, students) a few years ago, and foreign service officers are quite adept at figuring out who is lying about their intentions of settling in the US. And they will be quite intrusive about finances–requesting bank statements, pay stubs, etc. They may check social media too.
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