A lot of prospective immigrants play the game of the H1B visa lottery to get the most popular and controversial work visa for their chance to work in the world’s largest economy. They don’t realize what they are signing up for.
Following tips may help you get the H1B visa without getting scammed and it may help avoid unnecessary troubles related to the US immigration process.
Let the H1B sponsor come to you:
You may search the H1B sponsor database and look for employers who desperately need employees and are willing to sponsor you the H1B visa. Make sure to avoid consultants and employers that are asking for money to do this for you.
You should not be paying a single penny in this entire process. It is illegal for employees to pay for an H1B visa.
Multinational Companies:
Find a multinational company in your home country or any nation other than the United States, work hard and make good connections with the US client.
In most cases, US clients may allow you to come on a B1 visa for a few meetings and knowledge-sharing sessions. If they like you and your work, they may go an extra length to have you on board to work with them closely. This is the safest and slowest way to get H1B, but it’s a fully paid ride. Even your first flight tickets and first-month rent may be paid for if you choose to have patience and come to the United States this way. This is the least stressful way to come and stay on an H1B visa.
Better consultancies:
The technology consultant market is filled with rubbish and fraud companies. But there are some well-known boutique consultancies that are legit and can sponsor an H1B visa for you. They make the money by placing you at a client location and not by you directly. So, it’s in their best interest to get you here and make your work for their clients. Benefits may not be good but at least you will be here. It is very difficult to find such consultant companies and you should check the political environment before going this route.
Work for nonprofit or universities:
You can avoid the H1B lottery this way.
You may probably not make as much money as your friends who are working for a corporate body. Please note that you cannot jump from this type of H1B visa to cap-subject H1B. In that case, you may have to go through the H1B visa lottery. Working for non-profit and educational institutions is a more stable and less competitive way to get an H1B visa. You will need good networking and professional connections to get this going.
Come on an L1 visa:
Most H1B visa employees don’t change jobs anyway. They choose to work for one employer for a long time in order to start the green card application process by the employer. L1 visa could prove to be the best option for such people. You can seek a green card through employment in a similar way as H1B. The only downside is that you can not change employers. The upside is that your spouse can work from day one. This is another better way to get a fully paid ride to come and work in the United States with some limitations.
It is vital for you to understand that they don’t want all of you here. They just want 85000 of you every year. Also, they want you to just stay for 6 years, pay the taxes and leave without looking for any benefits. A new batch of hopefuls is always ready to replace you and it helps in reducing the cost of service and product. So, the odds are already against you even before you start working on an H1B visa. On top of that, you have to play a random lottery to get this opportunity.
A lot of folks go to extra lengths to be in the lottery, to come to the United States without doing much research, only to fa.
Conclusion:
Please don’t sweat too much to get the H1B visa. A lot of people have good experiences but there are more people who are sharing really bad experiences. If you don’t want to leave your life and future to luck and lotteries, it’s better to play it safe and steady.
