It's a points based system, which is punitive of age and education.
30 years is the cut off for the 'easy', one year, restricted 'working holiday' visa that you may have been thinking of.
For regular immigration, you'll need a working visa, which requires your hiring company to handle the paperwork.
Likewise, if you're trying to immigrate without an already found job, with no college degree, the OP will find the point system probably weighing heavily against him.
One of the most flexible countries at the moment is Spain. The weather is great, the food is great, and it's a fun country.
Pretty much the same than Canada but still way less restricting than USA.
>One of the most flexible countries at the moment is Spain. The weather is great, the food is great, and it's a fun country.
Spain has still a pretty significant unemployment rate, also (this may vary depending of the region and where are you originally from) some people are not very polite with some immigrant even if they are Spaniard-decendent (anecdotical experience from some friends living over there)
There's two types: one gives you 1 year residency (can be extended, of course) - application is decided within 10 days.
Another gives you 2 years, decision in 20 days.
Entry requirements are low. It's worth checking out.
In 10 days, you could be in Spain. There are many decent tech companies hiring as well.
I have also had various family members overstay visas for very long periods of time and they weren't dirt poor. On the other hand, this kind of hiding in plain sight is hell when kids turn 18 and can't attend a university. That's the most sad part of the existence and a big reason for support of the DREAM act.
I know a large number of people in the tech industry with questionable immigration status.
Please, don't get offended. I'm not a heavy user here and I don't have permission to downvote posts.
https://www.google.com/search?q=deportation&espv=2&biw=1600&...
I think the purpose of all this discussion was whether OP should come to the States and work under the radar, and the general consensus is that being here illegally strongly caps your upside, and has a pretty uncertain downside.
PS - My friend's now the chief engineer of a successful business in London... I always thought it was such a shame for a guy who worked his way from being an orphan on a farm in Kenya to live 90% of the American Dream, only to be kicked out of the country after putting in his all at Stanford and at a few startups.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/07/experien...
You may improve your life temporarily but it will all come crashing down one day when the immigration authorities catch up to you. You will be deported and banned from re-entering the US. There are many developed countries where someone with your skills can obtain a temporary work visa easily. You can live and work freely and legally, get on your feet financially and maybe attend university there to help you get into the US legally in the future.
Maybe it will help if you tell us where your citizenship is and we can help you with suggestions of other developed countries that will allow you to come for a 1-2 year temporary work visa.