How did you get your Visa for USA?

[tygwyn]

Hi Guys

I was just wondering if some of you wouldnt mind sharing a bit of information with me please?

I emigrated from the UK to Australia just over 12 months ago - had we not have come here then we would possibly have looked at moving to America at some stage. I have however heard that it is a lot more difficult to obtain an American Visa than it is to obtain an Australian one? Have you found this to be the case?

We got our Aussie Visa through employer sponsorship - is there a similar system in America or is it completely different?

Just interested

Take care all

Rach xxxx

[kelbel]

Hi Rach,

I'm over here for six months with my employer in the UK. They have offices all over the world, so it was sort of done as a temporary transfer. The visa I have is an L1, which lasts for up to 3 years (you can apply for 5 or 7 years also). The process of getting it was mainly done by the US office, and I just had to fill out docs and appear at the US Embassy (a very long process ), so I'm afraid I'm probably not the most helpful person to reply to you. Do you work for a company that you could get a transfer with? Might be worth checking that out if you do.

Australia sounds pretty cool to me. It's somewhere I have always wanted to go!

Take care,
Kelbel xxx

[hanniepops]

Hi rach

You can get employer sponsorship to move to the USA it is just a much longer and tedious process than other countries. You can get a HB1 visa that lasts for 3 years, you just need to find a company that is willing to hire you and sponsor you first. There are only so many HB1 visas that are granted each year so there is no guarantee of one. I would recommend you checking out the USCIS website they have alot of useful information about types of visas, what they are for, costs and forms involved.

Hope this helps

Hannah

[synthia]

I think it is considerably more difficult to get company sponsorship in the US, partly because there are so few alternate ways to get into the country. A lot of immigration in Australia is through a point system. If you have a certain number of points earned by having desirable characteristics, such as being young, speaking English, a university degree, relatives in Australis, then you can immigrate without having to have a job in advance. The US doesn't have any such option.