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Ask HN: It is difficult to find a company to sponsor a visa for a junior dev?

8 points by hecontreraso ↗ HN
I'm a Colombian rails developer (6 months of experience), and my biggest dream is to move to bay area and get a job as a developer. However, I'm not senior yet.

I'm planning to travel in october to have a lot of interviews, but some close friends to me have told me that the companies just serve as sponsors for really experienced developers.

I'm thinking I could work remotely in the months that the visa request is processed.

Do you think that I could have a possibility to get a job in this circunstances?

Thanks a LOT for any help

7 comments

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mayi12345
true and false.

One important factor: depends on how well you do in the interview & how much you know about what you know. I am an environmental engineer turns into healthcare startup person, I got job offers before I quitted my job (and of course they sponsored visa to work in the US). But that said you have to do a lot of additional learning to make sure you know what you are talking about.

In addition, while experience is a factor, it all depends on whether you: 1. have 10 years of experience and repeat doing what you have learned 20 times; 2. convert the 6-month experience into infinite values to the company. So make sure you show your passion and ability to perform like a learning machine :)

horofox
US H1B visa sucks, forget it. Unless you got a PhD or something better... companies aren't that willing to go through the bureaucracy and investment to hire you. Also, your wife/significant other will have no rights there, also, you are tied to the company...

I'm from Brazil. I gave up trying to go to US and then applied to a couple of companies in Europe and got the job. The visa here is good(Germany), my wife can work, public services are good and I can get permanent residence in 2 years, citizenship in 8.

I still have the dream to work in the US, but only when they deal with their poor VISA crap. After I saw how things are good for immigrants here in Europe, even if I got an offer to work there for Facebook, I wouldn't go. The US government have to get their stuff straight.

But yeah, I think you need more experience. Talk in events, have a nice github, improve your english, level up your game... and keep applying to companies!

mayi12345
I actually forgot to mention that if you have a Master's degree, the chance for you to get an H1B work visa increases from 1/3 to 1/2 (based on these past 2 years status). But keep in mind that even your company hires you, the company has to file your petition by between April 1-7, and if you are lucky to win the H1b lottery, then you can start working ONLY after October 1. The problem (that is the hard part) is: not many employers are willing to wait for 6 months for you to start working. But again, this kind of logistics can always work out if you are valuable enough for your employer.
gusmd
[...] if you have a Master's degree or higher from an US university [...]
stevewepay
Don't waste your time flying in October. Companies will be applying for H1Bs in April, and they usually run out on the 1st day. And even if you get an H1B in April, you can't start until the following October. Very few companies (probably zero) will allow you to work remotely until you get your H1B and then can start working.

Your best chance is to get into a Master's program and then apply for internships, and eventually a job that way. Then they can apply for your behalf while you are on OPT, rather than randomly while you're in Columbia.

Your other option is to get a job locally at a big Silicon Valley company, like Facebook or Google and then transfer to the US. If you are manager, then you can get your L1 visa which is really fast.

atrust
I did it the other way around. I started to work as a freelancer for quite a large company. After a while, they offered me a full-time job under the J-1 visa. During the J-1, they applied for an H1-B for me. My H1-B application failed in the first year, so they had to extend J-1 (6 months is the maximum allowed extension). They applied for another H1-B and I finally got it. My J-1 expiration time was somewhere in August, so I had to go back to my home country. I had one month and half to get an H1-B stamping and during this period I worked remotely. I got back to US in the early of October, but now with an H1-B stamping.

P.S. The reason they made me a J-1 visa initially is because it was the fastest way to get me to US.