A Brit’s US Visa Journey: Part 2 (with tips!)
My experience applying for H1B, a H1B visa transfer, and my top tips for other visa applicants.
After my OPT came through, I spent 2 months applying for jobs. OPT is tricky because the job must relate to your field of study in college. It limits your options. For example, a computer science grad couldn’t take a job as an estate agent.
Finally, I got lucky. I interviewed with a small company who saw potential in me and were willing to take a chance. I figure hiring applicants on OPT is easier because there’s no new paperwork required from the employer.
I worked a wonderful year with them, then they proposed taking the next step and sponsoring my H1B visa. It really helped that they’d been through this process before, so they knew what to expect.
Applying for an H1B Visa
An H1B visa is a type of work visa for international workers in specialty occupations. Getting an H1B Visa works on a lottery system. You either get selected, or you don’t. There is more nuance and categories within that, but that’s basically the deal.
H1B visas are allotted once a year, so if you don’t get one, you have to wait until the following year to resubmit. The problem with that is most applicants who need an H1B visa can’t afford to wait until the next year without employment. And I can’t think of many jobs that will ‘hold your spot’ for a year.
Unlike an F-1 visa or OPT, the H1B can only be submitted on your behalf by your employer and an immigration attorney. The immigration attorneys I’ve worked with are my HEROES. They have been so helpful, informative, and patient. It’s a much better process to work with an expert than trying to Google all the things you don’t know.
I was lucky enough to be selected in the lottery, and successfully obtained my H1B visa. As I was in the US when the visa was approved, I had to plan to return to my home country to get the new visa stamped in my UK passport.
Yup, that means back to the US Embassy in London I went. This time, the shiny new one in Nine Elms. This process was more or less identical to the first time I had visited. I handed in the necessary documents and my passport, and was informed it would take 10–14 days for my passport to be returned.
Switching employers via H1B visa transfer
I was so thrilled to have my H1B visa in hand and a steady job, knowing that my visa woes were over for at least 3 more years. It gave me the freedom to enjoy my life in NYC.
Then, COVID came along.
As it did for many, the pandemic stole away the things I loved about my job. All the travel, the brainstorming meetings, and the fun pitches to clients stopped. After a few months, one coworker left, and then another. I could see it was time to move on.
I wasn’t hopeful. It was a miracle that I had found one company willing to sponsor my visa, let alone find a second one. This time around though, one thing was on my side — I didn’t need to gamble in the lottery again. It was a transfer, not a new visa.
Even so, many companies are unwilling to go through the hassle of hiring people who need H1B visa sponsorship, regardless of whether it’s a transfer or not. It’s still a lengthy process, has no guarantees, and costs about $5,000 a pop (if they get expedited processing).
Some companies, in exchange for giving you that elusive H1B sponsorship, may require you to sign a contract committing to work for them for a 2 or 3 year term. I am grateful that my company did not make me sign a contract like this, so I was free to pursue other opportunities.
I started applying. I experienced the same difficulties I had 2.5 years prior. Even with years of work experience now under my belt, I felt like I was begging for a chance to be considered in spite of my visa status.
When I did get rejected, I never knew if it was because I wasn’t a good candidate or because they didn’t want to bother with the visa transfer. It was hard to get a sense of how I was doing in the job market.
While rejection knocked my confidence in interviews, I kept reminding myself that I was a hard worker and a good candidate. After several months, I got lucky again. I found a company who wanted to hire me and were to go through the transfer.
With an H1B transfer, you can start work for the new company as soon as USCIS confirms receipt of the visa transfer application. Be warned though, this process has its downsides. If you leave your current job and start work at the new company, but then you find out your H1B visa transfer has been denied, you will be sans visa and sans job. In this case, you’d have to leave the US after the grace period.
My top tips for F-1, OPT, and H1B visa applicants
No matter which way you spin it, the visa application process is stressful.
I acknowledge it was easier for me than for many others out there. I’m well aware of the privilege I have holding a British passport, as well as the support and resources I had to help me along the way.
Even though it’s hard, it can be done. You CAN fulfill your goal of living and working in the US.
These are some general tips that I think would have helped me when I was 18 and just starting on this journey.
- Keep a well-organized paper trail, and digitally scan everything— Every visa application, form of ID, confirmation email, tax document, proof of address, and any correspondence with USCIS.
- Make a doc with all the dates you entered and exited the US — You’ll be surprised how often you need to supply these dates in applications.
- Be mindful of your online presence — Anything may be under scrutiny when you apply for a visa, social media at the top of the list.
- Be firm in the times when you don’t want to discuss your visa–The process is stressful, so if you don’t want to talk about it with family, friends, or whoever, just say you’d rather not.
- Be prepared for a lot of unsolicited advice–People will be surprised by the limits of your different visas, and try to tell you what you should do instead. Work on having patience in those moments.
- For F-1: Make multiple photocopies of each of your I-20 documents — There are a lot of them, so mark the year clearly and keep copies as you’ll need to submit these quite a few times.
- For OPT: Market the fact that you can start work right away to your advantage — It’s much easier to discuss that eventual H1B sponsorship once you have done a year of great work for a company.
- For H1B: Make use of free online resources about H1B sponsoring companies. — I never did but should have, as there are great resources to help you find companies open to H1B applicants.
Fellow visa-recipients, comment the top tips that helped you along the way!
