Canadian trying to get to the US for Work

[JJAT 0]

Evening all,

I work in a field that is quite unique. I won't really know of any job openings until November, and the start dates are usually in January. So right off the bat, I would be very time pressed to get a work visa.

I have done some digging and found the TN NAFTA visa that would make it pretty easy but that's only for specific professions. Even though a profession that is very similar to mine, almost the same, is listed, my exact profession isn't. Because of that, I do not think this visa would apply.

The other option would be the H-1B. For this, the employer needs to get a Labor Condition Application (LCA), along with the I-129 form. Once That is approved, that's when I would apply for the visa and/or admission into the country. I couldn't find a timeline for this, but I did see that the employer could only file this up to 6 months prior to the proposed start date and they recommended to do it as soon as possible; as such, I assume it could take upwards to that amount of time. However, I did find that you could also submit an I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service form, with those two forms at the same time. With that, for $1,225, they would guarantee processing within 15 calendar days.

I recently was offered a position, but once it went to their legal department, they got back to them saying that they could not apply for the H-1B until April 1st, and if I were lucky to have it selected in the lottery, as usually it does go to that, I wouldn't be issued the visa until Oct 1st. As such, they had to move forward with another candidate.

Sorry for all the background info, which I think most of it people know, but my questions are:

1- Is my information correct?

1b- How does the Premium Processing Service work because I feel like this is what I would need to do??

2- Did the information their legal department came back with correct?

3- What options, if any, do I have to try and get into this field in the US?

Thank you in advance for all that took the time to read and respond!!

[canadian_wife 1,822]

First of all I think you need to stop thinking that YOU do anything. The premium processing is what the employer will do. That will give you a quicker answer, but I do not think it will give you a quicker start date if approved.

Work visas are done through the employer typically. The TN visa is a very generous visa options for Canadians and I would chase that if you can. I would see if they could alter your job description or job title to fit the TN requirements. What is the field?

Good luck

[Ash.1101 1,756]

First of all I think you need to stop thinking that YOU do anything. The premium processing is what the employer will do. That will give you a quicker answer, but I do not think it will give you a quicker start date if approved.

Work visas are done through the employer typically. The TN visa is a very generous visa options for Canadians and I would chase that if you can. I would see if they could alter your job description or job title to fit the TN requirements. What is the field?

Good luck

Agreeing with this.

It's not always super easy for someone outside the country to get work in the US. A lot of people think it's fairly simple, especially if they're from Canada or Mexico. You pretty much have to have credentials that out way the cost of even getting you here in the first place, and a lot of places are more likely to take the cheaper, easier to hire, less experienced candidate.

On the USCIS site it says that applications are accepted starting the first of april for the upcoming fiscal year. So for FY 2017, applications start to be accepted April 1st, 2016. For FY 2018, which we're going into now, they will start accepting them April 2017. Then after that, you wait your six months, which would be Oct 1st. So they would be right in what they told you about how long it would take to actually hire you and what not. https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2017-cap-season

So there would be no way you would start in January, maybe Jan 2018 if you started getting employers to apply for you in April 2017 -FOR- 2018, but not Jan 2017.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Ash.1101

[JJAT 0]

Thank you two for taking the time to respond/for the information!!

I feel so useless/hopeless that I can't do much from my end of things. I'm so close to achieving my dream job, yet so far as these companies, even though they may want to, cannot hold the position open for nearly a year

Follow up question, just so I understand this better... So if applications are received April 1 (2017 lets say now..) and assuming you get accepted/approved, the visa would be issued Oct 1 (2017 again) to be able to start in January of the following year (2018). My question is, what's the point of Premium Processing Service?? If it doesn't actually speed up the process? Is it that you simply pay $1225 to find out within 15 days if your visa will actually be granted Oct 1?

[canadian_wife 1,822]

The point of the Premium Processing, as it was explained to me, was to get an answer quicker so the employer can move forward. If an employer needs to fill a position and that person will ultimately be denied a visa, wouldn't the employer want to know sooner than later so they can take appropriate steps to fill that new vacant position?

I believe that the job can start October 2017, not sure where you got starting January 2018 from.

Good luck