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Ask HN: Ways to relocate to the US for a software engineer?

4 points by olzhasar ↗ HN
I am a back-end engineer from a developing country. I’ve been working on the US projects remotely for the past 3 years. I’m currently at a point where I cannot bear the huge time zone difference anymore, so I’m desperately looking for ways to relocate.

I’ve recently interviewed with 2 FAANG companies and received a positive feedback. But my applications were frozen at both companies due to inability to secure a working visa for me.

I constantly apply to endless amount of LinkenIn jobs, but the conversation process ends on the visa stage every time.

I wonder if there are some smart ways to relocate to the US I’m not aware of. Maybe someone has a success story. Any advice is appreciated

7 comments

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jleyank
If the US company has a Canadian subsidiary, can you get into Canada to work? Same time zones and you would have time to figure out how to get into the US or remain in Canada if that's preferable. While there's a points-based system, I think Canada is more amenable to immigration that the US.
badpun
Similarly, some people hook up onto the UK branch of multinational corps, and then get transfered into US via the L1 visa. Works best for Indians and Pakistanis, as emigration to UK for them is fairly straightforward I believe.
PikoBeam
We got the H-1B visa, the L-1 visa, and the O-1 visa. You gotta do your research, handle some paperwork, and be ready to jump through some hoops.
pranit10
H1-B is a lottery and most companies won't sponsor you when there is uncertainty. O-1 is for individuals with extraordinary ability so probably not ideal for most people. L1 is probably the best option OP can look at. Also there is no paperwork to handle. First you need a job offer and then the company sponsors the visa for you.
limitedmage
If you will be continuing to work remotely and your main concern are time zones, have you considered moving to Latin America? A few countries now have pretty good digital nomad visas; Mexico City is a good option for this.

If you’re set on the US, work for a company that has a subsidiary abroad (Ireland, Canada, India, etc) for a year and then they can get you a US L-1 transfer visa. That way you get past the H-1B lottery. But you will still need continued visa sponsorship until they process a Green Card for you, which can take a decade or more, if they sponsor it at all.