I am asking on behalf of a friend that would like to work in NYC (he's British), who needs a visa. He graduated this year (only bachelors) and wants to work in NYC (finance). Any advice? Any info? Any resources? He is a great buddy of mine, and he's taken good care of me in the past, so I'm just trying to repay the favor.
The best single piece of advice I can think of is to hire an immigration lawyer. They are expensive but worth it if you need documents processed in a reasonable amount of time. There are so many aspects to getting a work visa, for example a green card, that a professional is really best equipped to handle it. For example, the location where you file the visa application is incredibly important. In some processing centers it will be 6 months before anyone even looks at your application.
The only way he can work is if he gets an appropriate visa that will allow him to work in the States. Coming to the US on holiday and looking for work will not do it. There are several types of visas available for workers. The H-1B is a more 'permanant' temporary visa. For shorter term employment the J visa or exchange visitor may be appropriate for a new graduate as the fields are limited but the visas a bit easier to obtain. There is also a Q visa program for workers but the fields are limited with that programme as well. H-2 Visas are for temporary or seasonal workers, primarily agricultural workers and probably not the preferred option for a new university graduates. If he is employed and can be transferred to a post in the States he can enter with an L visa to work for the same company at the US branch. O visas are available for scientists, musicians, and athletes. Unless you are an Einstein, Bono or on Man U then this generally won't apply. P visas are also available for athletes and musicians. Q is for cultural exchanges in which the traveller presents some cultural program about his country. Great for the countries no one ever heard of, but for the UK it is a long shot. (Thanks to my girlfriend who is with the US Department of State in a foreign country that I am not allowed to name for the visa information.) The proper people to ask are the visa section at the US Consulate that serves your home. Some countries have more than one and applying at one not serving your home address is not helpful. Good luck, remember that you are welcome to come to the States on holiday without a visa and we would be delighted to have you.
The Greencard lottery is always a possibility. Another possibility would be to get a student visa, work on his Masters degree at some school in NY, and try to make some connections in the industry. Or he could try to find a nice American girl
Not open to UK citizens born in the UK, only to UK citizens born in one of the qualifying countries. If he wants to work in finance in NYC, I'd either go the full-time MBA in the US route (expensive though it is) or get a job in London at one of the big US houses like JP or Goldie, and start building up the internal connections. If he can't get into a bank directly, go for accounting or a postgraduate qualification in economics. And he should be reading this page http://news.efinancialcareers.com/GRADUATE religiously. Angela
