(Not a lawyer, but US immigrant pretty familiar with E/F/H/J/L/O visas and Green card)

There are some exceptions but the procedure is usually : get a job offer from an employer that is willing to sponsor you, then talk to a lawyer... But a lawyer might be able to help you find ways to immigrate without a job offer, but that seems pretty unlikely to me.

The H-1B visa would normally be one of the 'classic' ways to be authorized to work in the US in your situation, the problem being that in recent years demand has far exceeded the available number (annual cap). For example this year 199,000 petitions were received during the first week, for only 85,000 H-1B available (including 20k for holders of advanced US degree). Therefore the USCIS now holds a lottery to determine which petitions will be reviewed first, and once 85k petitions are approved, you have to wait another year to apply...

The cost for an H-1B is nil for an H-1B as the employer has to pay for it and cannot ask you to reimburse those fees. You might have to pay in order to have dependants (wife, kids) added to your petition though.

The problem used to be to find an employer willing to sponsor you for the visa (the difficulty varies greatly depending on your industry), now the H-1B visa cap makes it more of a time issue unfortunately.

Other options you might look into depending on your how long you would like to work in the US: J-1 for an internship, E-2 for a company whose 'nationality' is the same as yours, L visas for a transfer to the same company in the US, F-1 visa for studies, and the O-1 visa which I will let you research by yourself and/or discuss with an attorney (the qualifications aren't as difficult at they may seem, trust me)

really appreciate this rough guide thanks!

Some experience here UK -> L1 -> GC -> Citizen.

It's worth considering the L-1 visa route - work in the UK office of a US-based company for 1 year and you become eligible.

One disadvantage, you are bound to the L-1 employer in the US unless you can get a H1-B, work visa or family-based visa (yes, I found myself a green card wife of nearly 10 years now).

The L-1 process was a lot of paperwork, but the sponsoring company paid. The rest we did ourselves without a lawyer. Big fan of http://www.visajourney.com - lots of folk in similar situations and howto guides.

Happy to talk more if it's helpful, either here or my username at gmail.

I followed much the same route, but I can't recommend it as a strategy for someone looking for a path to the USA, given you have to work for said employer for a year then hope they will consider sponsoring you. Unless you have hard to find skills, I don't think many employers will offer this option at interview time, given you are still not a fully known quantity until you've actually started working somewhere. Those on L1s in this industry are usually there by accidents of fate rather than a grand plan in my experience!

The H1 or entering education in the USA are probably the two main methods, but even those have gotten significantly more difficult as others have pointed out (H1 cap etc).

That’s fair. Personally I think it depends on where someone is in their career and how urgent they wish to move.

Whilst not immediate, a lot of the other visas offer a faster or more direct path to entry in the US.

If you are graduating, not necessarily sure what you want to do and you see a potential US move a few years down the road then I think the L1 route is still a very good option. In my case I had worked for a big company for a few years and applied for a new role internally, visa process was painless and I think took around 6-8 weeks total - the L is not subject to caps so once your company is willing to sponsor, things tend to move rather quickly.

I would probably talk with an immigration attorney first to understand what is even possible because sometimes, unfortunately, there are no good immigration options.