Moving to the US, a few questions...

deusexlumina

deusexlumina

deusexlumina

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I'm really fed up at my current employer and have always dreamed of working in the US, so figure now may be the time to make it happen. I have a couple of contacts over there who may be able to help (although nothing is certain), and had a few questions that I wondered whether you fine chaps could help with.

In my current role I'm performing work under contract with a company I'd consider moving to. Is it a massive faux pas to email them asking about work *while* I'm still completing work for them? I don't want to offend anyone, but realistically this is my best way in.

I have a house, and I'd probably need to sell it. Ill try renting but this comes with a host of issues such as whether my mortgage provider will allow it etc. How long should I plan to get everything together to make a move such as this? I'm currently thinking about 6 months, is this too optimistic?

Any other advice from those who have done something similar?

Thanks a lot for any help. Happy to elaborate on the situation further if needed.
 
Look into H1b and L1b visas these are your most likely routes in unless you have a close American relative or partner.

You would need the company to sponsor you. Have you been there more than a year and do you have a specialist skill or knowledge. If you do look at their open positions in the USA and ask HR about a move
 
I fancy boys said:
In my current role I'm performing work under contract with a company I'd consider moving to. Is it a massive faux pas to email them asking about work *while* I'm still completing work for them? I don't want to offend anyone, but realistically this is my best way in.
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Are you talking about a client of your employer? Or are you a contractor for a company that has a US office?

If the latter then might be an idea to become permanent staff and then make the move - AFAIK this is much easier to do as an existing employee of a company needing to move to the US office.

If the former then that could definitely be a bit of a no no, in fact in many cases you might well have some non-compete clauses in your contract expressly forbidding it and could potentially face legal action if you tried it - regardless of whether such legal action is successful just the threat of it could be enough to cause a job offer to be dropped very quickly. Even assuming your current company was OK with it you'll be in the position of pretty much anyone else wanting to get to the US via the skilled immigration route, aside from perhaps having some contacts who might want to hire you you're going to be faced with the cap on H1B visas, some annual rush to apply for them etc.. can be done but a bit of a faff.
 
Echo above @dowie 's comments about non-compete clauses, I got caught out by one of those a few years ago, can be a massive pain in the ass.

I actually have an open invitation to emigrate to California via an L-1 visa (intra-company transfer) there are some basic issues around it, but the company essentially wants me to go - so they're willing to square all the circles and fund the move if I decide to go.

I'd say - you'd need to try and engineer the situation in your favour, I know a lot of people who've emigrated to LA (within the same company) on L-1 visas and it's been quick and easy for all of them (even one from Turkey)

At the end of the day - only you can read the situation, if you really want to - might be worth asking up front and seeing if they have an appetite to do it, because if they do - it might be easier than you think, however if not - or if you're prevented, it might be quite difficult and if you really want to go - you might need to find another way, or change your situation entirely.
 
Thanks a lot for the comments all.

I should have been clearer that it's a client of my employer that I'm currently performing work for. I'm in research/academia, and as far as I'm aware we do not have any non-compete clauses but I'll look into it.

One of the contacts has said that if I ever wanted a job there to let him know and he'll get hold of me if he finds something. My opinion at the moment is to restart this conversation and start getting a CV up-to-date etc.

My fear is that as soon as I get the wheels turning, there's no going back. If i start asking these questions and it becomes clear to my current colleagues that I'll be leaving, it may be damaging for the future if it turns out I have to stick around for a few more years.
 
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