I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by BeenChilling on Friday July 28, 2023 @02:16PM (#36910965)

As a UK national and fresh CS master's graduate from a top university, what are the best ways to immigrate to the US from the UK asap?

Starting as a grad SWE at a chip company in September. Current plan is to try get hired in a big tech or HFT/Quant after 1 year, and build most desired skills to help chances of sponsorship in future.

Thank you, advice appreciated from anyone.

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Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by returningfory2 on Friday July 28, 2023 @03:02PM (#36911619)

For up to one year after you graduate you're eligible to get a one year J-1 visa to work in the US [1]. However it will be quite tricky to find another way to get work-authorized when the J-1 is over. So I don't really see this as a viable way to start living in the US long term.

Probably the fastest and simplest way is to get hired by a big tech or US-based HFT company in the UK, and transfer over on an L-1 visa after working there for over a year. In 2021 getting an international transfer to the US with a FAANG was super easy, but it may be trickier now with the layoffs and hiring freezes. Big tech is historically very good at green card sponsorship; HFTs less so in my anecdotal experience.

[1] https://www.istplus.com/internshipusa/

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Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by proberts on Friday July 28, 2023 @05:24PM (#36913562)

Good advice. The L-1 is oftentimes the best - and only - option to work in the U.S. and it's still easy for qualified applicants.

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