Category Archives: Visa Info

Information about all types of US Visas and the best ways to obtain one

The US Visa & Immigration System Is NOT Designed For These People

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After a week hiatus I am back writing posts again and ready to help you all answer your most pressing immigration and US work visa questions.

Even during this mini break I have still been answering emails and comments trying to help people navigate the immigration system and some common themes have been coming up recently so I thought I would address them today.

The US Visa system as you know is difficult at the best of times to navigate but there are some people it certainly is almost impossible for beyond the green card lottery

The H-1B visa, E-3 visa and J-1 visa are all meant for people with university or college degrees and occasionally people who have years of corporate experience in lieu of a degree. Increasingly it is becoming more and more geared to people who have post graduate qualifications like a masters degree.

So people who have trade qualifications like a plumber or electrician, people who have skills in an area like construction, non-skilled laborers, people who work in an assistant/reception type capacity and people who are in business for themselves of moderate size are not helped at all by the US Visa system.

The EB-5 Investor Visa is designed for those who want to commence their own business in the US, however you have to prove that you are going to commit upwards of a million US dollars of your own capital as well as numerous other criteria regarding  the location and employing of local staff.

So my best advice to people and their families who fall under this criteria is to plan in advance your path for getting to the US as it may be a years long journey. It may involve getting a degree in the US via a F-1 visa or at home.

As there are only 2 ways to get US visas for the most part; Family Sponsored or Employer sponsored, you need to pass many criteria, waiting lists and quotas to even get a US visa if you do qualify. So to qualify look at the type of life you want to enjoy in the US and understand the compromises you may have to make to get there.

Good Luck!!

CJ

E3 Visa Jobs

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We have talked about the benefits of the E-3 Visa before and how you can get the visa to live and work in the US. Also in general terms we have advised on where to look for jobs in the US so you can best search for a position and employer that will sponsor your E3 visa.

Finally we have given the Top US Employers List which although is the top 200 H-1B visa sponsors last year is just as relevant for E-3 visa holders. It is just as relevant if not moreso because essentially the work benefits of the E3 visa for the employee once in the US is the same as the H1B visa but also has the added benefit of being able to be applied for all year round with a start date immediately following visa approval.

However for many the process is still so overwhelming as they are stuck all the way in Australia and wonder how in the hell they could convince somebody in the US to want to hire them compared to a local candidate.

I am sure many of you to a couple of the biggest job sites in the US like Monster.com (which I do recommend) and CareerBuilder.com (which I don’t recommend mainly for the plethora of junk jobs on there, the fact that spammers seem to like finding details on that site and sending you crap although this has got a lot better but most of all their terrible interface) and find roles and are just applying but with no response.

One of the most common things I think for the aspiring E3 visa applicant is coming to a pre-questionnaire for a position whereby they have to answer a question like “Are you authorized to work in the US” or “Can you work in the US without sponsorship” and unsure what to answer.

The truth is in my opinion that for most companies that ask that question, unless you have an internal or external referral to someone in the company, generally means they won’t consider hiring the average foreigner. This is probably for no other reason than they assume you are an H-1B applicant and they don’t want to the cost, uncertainy and delays that are part of that process.

This is unfortunate but the fact the E-3 Visa is virtually unknown by all of corporate America not to mention the Immigration community 🙂

It is OK because in a previous post we told you how to explain the E-3 Visa to a potential employer as well as in our opinion where to put this information in your resume.

So to continue my point, if you just the average person, it may be time well spent by NOT doing too many of those types of applications whereby you are having to answer that question in the negative. Your application is probably going to an immediate discard pile maybe only looked at if there are no good application in the group of people who can answer that question positively.

Apart from LinkedIn, Monster and Craigslist, my other really great suggestion in the application phase is direct applications to a company via their own website which may just be sending in your resume to a careers email (possibly with a cover letter). This may or may not be to a posted position as often positions are not advertised anywhere or just in obscure places.

Aside from the fact that this type of applying to companies who could offer you a job and sponsor your E3 Visa is frutiful in terms of responses, it also is a lot quicker that going through long questionnarie applications meaning you can apply to more places in a short space of time!

So all you have to do and you can use the job sites to help you here or industry group sites for your chosen industry to find all the companies that may exist in your niche. In today’s day in age they will have websites and then you are set. If those sites have HR contacts that is great in terms of addressing cover letters and emails.

As said in other posts, I highly recommend applying to small companies as well as they can be surprisingly open to hiring a foreigner and you can learn all you need to know here at E3visa.info and guide them through the process 🙂

The final tip which I have also stated before is get a US phone number (you can do it via Skype) and be prepared to fly here for interviews as daunting as it sounds. Of course pick your city and try and schedule as many job interviews as you can in a short space of time.

As you all are no doubt aware Travelzoo, Expedia and Webjet can be helpful to get good flight and accommodation deals.

Good Luck in your E-3 Visa quest!!

CJ