Ways for a computer scientist with BS degree to immigrate to the USA

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Get a job with a multinational plus L-1B, plus I-140 plus I-485 / IV

 

10 years

 

U.S. needs too many nurses, U.S. education system cannot provide enough nurses, foreign nurses will not be satisfied with cap exempt H1-B, so EB-3 will be under historic pressure.

Agreed.  I can tell you the medical system I work in, we have 500 foreign nurses in the pipeline.  We have an entire govt affairs dept working Senators and DC extremely hard to try and make some kind of exceptions for nurses and medical professionals.  We are under extreme pressure on being so short staffed in all aspects in the medical field.  Either immigration is going to have to make the process faster for these position or Americans are going to need to start caring about their health and the latter will take too long.  Also, this is just our medical system, this problem is nationwide.

[appleblossom 2,428]

Don’t look at a masters for only shortening your visa processing time - it may also be the way to get an employer be prepared to sponsor you. 
 

I wouldn’t have been sponsored by my company without a masters. When a company can hire an American quickly, easily and cheaply, why would they spent lots of money and go through the time and hassle to hire you? You need to do whatever you can to make yourself stand out and make it worth their while to sponsor you. 
 

To be brutally honest, with just a bachelors degree and a few years experience it may not happen, look at it as a long term plan and a masters plus specialist experience might make that plan more viable. 
 

Good luck to you. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by appleblossom

[Mike E 11,739]

I know L-1Bs in software with only bachelor degrees.

 

I agree, absent an L1 visa, a U.S. masters degree is the next best route.

 

But I think going straight for H1-B or EB without an L1 first is an inferior plan.

[M+K IL 102]

14 hours ago, Mike E said:

I know L-1Bs in software with only bachelor degrees.

 

I agree, absent an L1 visa, a U.S. masters degree is the next best route.

 

But I think going straight for H1-B or EB without an L1 first is an inferior plan.

Agreed. Even with double-dipping from a US masters or higher, who knows what's the chance of securing H-1B during the post-graduation OPT window (36 months for STEM, so you get three tries). Once you're on L-1 you can just renew indefinitely while trying for H-1B -- and also, if you can juggle it, there are online masters programs (the one from Georgia Tech seems highly recommended, and I hear the one from UC Boulder is quite good for those with non-traditional backgrounds) -- so you can even do that concurrently with working under L-1 and then improve your chance of getting H-1B once you graduate.

(I've heard of people who actually pulled off the masters while working -- caution: they have no life on weekends).

[NicoGermany 0]

On 8/21/2023 at 6:17 AM, Mike E said:

a U.S. masters degree is the next best route.

Do you mean going to the U.S. right after my bachelor's to do my master's there? So that I'm in the US with a student visa.

 

 

 

Just to be more specific, if I understand this correctly - here are my thoughts as I understand it so far:
To qualify for the EB-2 sub-category "Advanced Degree", one needs to have EITHER a higher degree (Master's, PhD, etc.) OR a Bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years of progressive post-bachelor's work experience in the respective field, for instance, Software Engineer after a Computer Science Bachelor's degree.
Because the 5 years of work experience is equivalent to a higher degree(Master's).

 

For the other EB-2 sub-category Exceptional Ability then the 10 years of full-time work experience applies?

 

If this is correct, where is the advantage of the Master's degree in relation to the visa (except for the career prospects)?

 

How does the recognition of the degree work, can one assume that an accredited Bachelor of Science from a university is always considered as US equivalent? Related to the visa.

[appleblossom 2,428]

4 hours ago, NicoGermany said:

Do you mean going to the U.S. right after my bachelor's to do my master's there? So that I'm in the US with a student visa.

 

 

 

Just to be more specific, if I understand this correctly - here are my thoughts as I understand it so far:
To qualify for the EB-2 sub-category "Advanced Degree", one needs to have EITHER a higher degree (Master's, PhD, etc.) OR a Bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years of progressive post-bachelor's work experience in the respective field, for instance, Software Engineer after a Computer Science Bachelor's degree.
Because the 5 years of work experience is equivalent to a higher degree(Master's).

 

For the other EB-2 sub-category Exceptional Ability then the 10 years of full-time work experience applies?

 

If this is correct, where is the advantage of the Master's degree in relation to the visa (except for the career prospects)?

 

How does the recognition of the degree work, can one assume that an accredited Bachelor of Science from a university is always considered as US equivalent? Related to the visa.

As I said above, the main advantage isn’t visa related but is that you’ll be more likely to find a sponsoring employer if you have a masters. 

 

My degree is from the UK, my masters from Norway. Both were accepted as US equivalents. 

[NicoGermany 0]

7 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

As I said above, the main advantage isn’t visa related but is that you’ll be more likely to find a sponsoring employer if you have a masters. 

 

My degree is from the UK, my masters from Norway. Both were accepted as US equivalents. 

Were you hired directly by a US company or were you transferred from a UK office to the US as an example?

And would you say that the content of the master's degree matters at all, because most masters in computer science that I have seen so far also have many introductory classes for instance, Big Data, AI, etc.
I also looked specifically at how others feel about the Master's in computer science and most also say that they can take away some relevant knowledge from 2-3 classes.

[appleblossom 2,428]

29 minutes ago, NicoGermany said:

Were you hired directly by a US company or were you transferred from a UK office to the US as an example?

And would you say that the content of the master's degree matters at all, because most masters in computer science that I have seen so far also have many introductory classes for instance, Big Data, AI, etc.
I also looked specifically at how others feel about the Master's in computer science and most also say that they can take away some relevant knowledge from 2-3 classes.

Directly from the US. Mine is an MBA with a specialism in my career area, the approaches from headhunters from the US certainly increased once I had it.
 

Everybody will have a bachelors degree so by having a masters it might just give you the edge over USC’s that don’t need sponsorship and can start immediately. 
 

IMO, no employer is going to sponsor you after only 3 years of post-grad work experience, you need to look at it as a longer term plan. So maybe have a few years off study, get your career started and then look at doing a masters (you could do it alongside working - I did) later on if you don’t have any luck finding a role in the US. 
 

Good luck. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by appleblossom

[NicoGermany 0]

33 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

Everybody will have a bachelors degree so by having a masters it might just give you the edge over USC’s that don’t need sponsorship and can start immediately. 

So you have an advantage over US citizens in this respect as a European?

 

 

34 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

Directly from the US. Mine is an MBA with a specialism in my career area, the approaches from headhunters from the US certainly increased once I had it.

How important is the content of studies and the prestige of the college? Or is it primarily about having a master's degree in the end?

 

 

37 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

the approaches from headhunters from the US

How did headhunters from US reach out to you? LinkedIn, etc.?

[appleblossom 2,428]

I don't know if you have an advantage over a USC, you are still going to cost them a lot more (lawyer fees for my employer to apply for visas and green card for my family were $20k+) and they'll have to wait longer for you to be able to start the job. So I'd say even with a masters it's an uphill struggle, unless you have specialist skills to go along with it. But it certainly would help and make you stand out if other applicants don't have a masters.

 

I'm afraid I don't know about the prestige of the college. I had no desire to move to the US so didn't do my MBA for that, I did it to progress my career as I'd reached a ceiling and couldn't go any higher without one. I just did the MBA that worked for me and didn't think about how it would be considered in the US job market.

 

And yes, LinkedIn, but note that I do also have two decades of fairly specialist experience to go along with the MBA. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by appleblossom

[NicoGermany 0]

 

12 hours ago, appleblossom said:

I don't know if you have an advantage over a USC, you are still going to cost them a lot more (lawyer fees for my employer to apply for visas and green card for my family were $20k+) and they'll have to wait longer for you to be able to start the job. So I'd say even with a masters it's an uphill struggle, unless you have specialist skills to go along with it. But it certainly would help and make you stand out if other applicants don't have a masters.

 

I'm afraid I don't know about the prestige of the college. I had no desire to move to the US so didn't do my MBA for that, I did it to progress my career as I'd reached a ceiling and couldn't go any higher without one. I just did the MBA that worked for me and didn't think about how it would be considered in the US job market.

 

And yes, LinkedIn, but note that I do also have two decades of fairly specialist experience to go along with the MBA. 

Thank you. All your messages have opened my eyes. Even if degree doesn't matter that much in computer science or software engineering compared to other professions. But I have done a lot of research in the meantime, and I definitely see what you're getting at: You have a greater advantage over other applicants with the same work experience, but most lack it in academics, so in this case, I would probably be favored as having higher academic credentials. As you said, "Consider it a long-term plan" - and that hits the nail on the head.

So thank you! It was actually a life lesson for me.

[appleblossom 2,428]

3 hours ago, NicoGermany said:

 

Thank you. All your messages have opened my eyes. Even if degree doesn't matter that much in computer science or software engineering compared to other professions. But I have done a lot of research in the meantime, and I definitely see what you're getting at: You have a greater advantage over other applicants with the same work experience, but most lack it in academics, so in this case, I would probably be favored as having higher academic credentials. As you said, "Consider it a long-term plan" - and that hits the nail on the head.

So thank you! It was actually a life lesson for me.

 

If you're still unsure about the masters, I'd recommend you start working asap and just see what happens - you can apply for jobs in the US, tailor your LinkedIn profile for the US job market and tap up any connections there. You could also see if you can find a company to work for that might transfer you to the US in the future.

 

Then if in a few years nothing has happened, you can look at doing the masters if needed.

 

Best of luck to you, hope you make it over. 

[Mike E 11,739]

On 8/21/2023 at 6:39 AM, theprogrammerguy said:

That's VERY pessimistic. 10 years? Come on. The new fiscal year is about to hit, and it's definitely going to bring good news - if not CURRENT, at least close to it

Yeah, that did not happen.

 

The nursing shortage will not end:

 

* EB-3 will be overwhelmed by nurses

 

* EB-2 will get pressure from EB-3 to EB-2 upgraders. Tech and some nurses with masters degrees

 

* EB-1 will get pressure from EB-2 to EB-1 upgraders.

 

* more people subject to country limits for EB will find  love with RoW folks, and change their country of charge-ability, thus putting pressure on RoW.

 

10 years is realistic.

[NicoGermany 0]

One thing that just came to mind:
I have founded a company in Germany with someone else. It is apparent that it should develop well economically in the next few years.

Would it be possible as a German to open a branch company in the US and then transfer there with a L-1A or maybe O-1 visa?
Would it also be possible to apply for EB-1C green card?

And just assuming, which I hope won't be the case, that the company would go bankrupt and I would have an EB-1C visa, could I then start working in another company as a normal employee without any problems?

[appleblossom 2,428]

24 minutes ago, NicoGermany said:

One thing that just came to mind:
I have founded a company in Germany with someone else. It is apparent that it should develop well economically in the next few years.

Would it be possible as a German to open a branch company in the US and then transfer there with a L-1A or maybe O-1 visa?
Would it also be possible to apply for EB-1C green card?

And just assuming, which I hope won't be the case, that the company would go bankrupt and I would have an EB-1C visa, could I then start working in another company as a normal employee without any problems?

 

Yes, as long as the company was keeping going in Germany and you met the criteria for the L visa then that would be a good option, it's perfectly feasible to transfer yourself as an executive to open the US branch. Others will know more about it but I think you have to have premises and staff, so it would depend on how big the company was. Once you have an immigrant visa (which the EB1C gives you) then you'd be a 'green card' holder so able to do whatever you like.