2025 SA - Visa Sponsorship - US Investment Banking
I'm starting this discussion based on jackd2’s post for 2024 SA - Visa Sponsorship - United States. I wanted to create a thread where people who need visa sponsorship can share information on 2025 SA recruiting.
In this post, I am adding a list of companies that I know are willing or unwilling to take in international students for 2025 summer analyst position based on the thread for 2024 SA discussions and my personal knowledge. This is based on my present knowledge, if you feel I am wrong about a certain company, please comment and mention so. Likewise, there are a lot of companies that I am unsure of regarding visa sponsorship policies - discussing whether they sponsor or not in the comments would definitely help. Please keep updating this thread and make it as informative as possible for everyone's benefit!
Bulge Brackets:
Sponsor:
- GS
- BofA
- UBS
- DB
- MS - technically sponsors but they are extremely stingy about it. You pretty much need to be diversity/ top candidate/have strong personal connection to stand a chance.
- Citi - sponsorship varies across offices. Not all offices sponsor. The offices that do sponsor are also quite stingy and often only sponsor diversity candidates.
Unsure:
Sponsor:
- EVR
- LAZ
- MOE
- PJT
- Greenhill
- CVP - sponsorship varies across offices. Certain offices sponsor case by case and you will be held to a higher standard if you need sponsorship.
Don't Sponsor:
- FT Partners
- Qatalyst
- Guggenheim
- PWP
Middle Market and Other Banks:
Sponsor:
- JEF
- Rothschild
- HL - sponsorship policies vary across offices and groups. HL RX sponsors but other groups do not.
- Wiliam Blair
- RBC - sponsorship also depends on office and group
- Mizuho
- Nomura
- TD Cowen
- Baird
- Oppenheimer
- Raine
- LionTree
- AGC Partners
- Ducera
- Raymond James - generally does not sponsor but if they really like you and if you have someone pulling for you, you might have a shot
Don't Sponsor:
- BNP Paribas, HSBC, Stifel, WF, BMO
Unsure:
- Lincoln International, Macquarie, Piper Sandler
Bump - love to see these posts
afaik blair, mizuho, nomura are pretty sponsorship friendly
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Wait really? I thought they usually do? Did you hear this from Nomura?
MS west coast offices sponsored last cycle. Also Qatalyst sponsored but don’t know if the guy was a dual citizen.
Q does not sponsor unfortunately. No exceptions.
I am glad that my original post was helpful and happy to see you continuing on it to help more people out!
Thank you for setting up an example for us!
Thanks!
Bump
Adding my experience from the WC:
Laz LA also sponsors. Caveat is diversity heavy tho.
Hello, I heard from mentors that NY and Chi offices also sponsor a lot across different banks—is this correct?
Also, do banks prefer interntionals from a target in their local area? I’m currently going to a target in Chicago, and was wondering if Chicago offices have more preferrence, or do they just not care?
Thank you!!
IMHO you should apply to any office/group as long as they don't straight up say in application that they do not sponsor (guggenheim, ft partners). Recruiting is so competitive that there is basically no loss in going through the process if it's unclear. I have intl friends who got offers at places that you say do not sponsor (pwp, jpm)
Updated accordingly, thanks for your input
Which CVP offices sponsor?
I know SF does
AFAIK Gugg does not - was looking to lateral and had friends asked HR directly.
It is pretty much necessary for international kids to extensively network so their resume doesn't get automatically filtered out. JPM automatically rejects all internationals.
They sponsor laterals for sure.
Not sure for entry levels. I would say that it depends on who is pulling for you.
JPM takes both TN visa and OPT. Anything else is auto reject
Had a networking call with a Guggenheim analyst last year and it was made very clear they do not sponsor for entry level
In that case, should Canadian who hasn't applied J1 and TN answer like this?
1. Are you authorized to legally work in US? Yes (becuz you could technically apply for TN)
2. Do you require sponsorship now? No
3. Do you require sponsorship in the future? No
Also while we're at it, for MF, not sure about KKR/Apollo/TPG, but Blackstone definitely sponsors, although very few (1-2 for SA 24)
KKR sponsors
Is this valid? I don't personally know any international that got accepted by KKR. Do you?
Just book a flight to Mexico and then cross the border my man, Democrats will give you sanctuary status henceforth your work authorization.
Spoke with HR from Gugg - don’t sponsor
networked with pwp, they dont sponsor
Any idea if Macquarie sponsors at any level?
H1B salary data shows that their groups in NYC sponsored Analysts and Associates last year
I noticed that too, wasn’t sure if those were transfers from Australia.
got sd with Macquarie last year. they said they would sponsored. did not actually get an offer.
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as of when? which offices/divisions?
.
Bump
Does MUFG sponsor?
No they don’t.
BMO does not sponsor.
Worth noting that some firms view TN differently than H1B (ie TN is acceptable since the employee can get it yourself at the border vs. H1B being more costly/complicated).
Can confirm that JPM will sponsor TN. Auto reject for anyone in need of H1B or J-1 for internship. Also caveat that TN is only available for FT so not sure how applicable it is for people looking for 2025 SA
Any data points on which firms sponsor green card and at what level? H1B odds, even with 3 years OPT, are not great.
Have spoken with folks on the TD side of things, they aren’t currently sponsoring interns or FT hires (seems to only be transfers from the TO office)
can confirm - applied to sa24 and got dinged like thte next morning
Have a friend that works at TD and there's a loop hole. A lot of Chinese internationals will tick "don't need sponsorship" in their online application to get their resume through instead of auto rejected. Once they get the super day or offer, then actually needing sponsorship won't be a dealbreaker. Highly recommend this to get an edge.
Is this for SA or full time?
As an international who had to go through this BS a couple years ago and somehow made it -- cheers to you guys for fighting the good fight, keep your head up.
Someone above commented that you should just apply to any office / group. That's not the point -- it's about focusing your time and energy to the places that will actually take you. I've had several friends who literally received an offer only to be rescinded for being international.
Gather good intel, apply wherever you have even the slightest chance, and network heavily with the places that are known to be friendly towards internationals.
Hey I am just wondering in this case - should Canadian who hasn't applied J1 and TN answer like this?
1. Are you authorized to legally work in US? Yes (becuz you could technically apply for TN)
2. Do you require sponsorship now? No
3. Do you require sponsorship in the future? No
have to say yes to both 2 and 3, otherwise you risk going through the entire interview process just to have your offer pulled at the very last minute
TN does not work anymore. Only the firms that already sponsor h1b are willing to risk TN as a last ditch effort.
Hey do you have an answer to this? Did you do this and have good results?
Learned in SA24 cycle, Lincoln International does not sponsor and Baird sponsors
Are you sure that Baird sponsors? Don't think they've ever sponsored historically
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Ya, interviewed w a non-chicago office and they told me they sponsor.
bump
Does anyone have more info on what banks sponsor Canadians
It's 2023 lmao, and the TN is now way less accessible as compared with other international folks who have 3 year STEM OPT by going to school in the States so virtually no banks would favour Canadians unless you also happen to go to school in the US and have the OPT.
As a Canadian who went to US undergrad,TN is only being used as a back up just in case I do not get my H-1B in the lottery.
TN is only accessible for FT. No banks make the distinction at SA level.
^ it seems like these days banks would hire chinese / indian intl's w/ stem opt rather than canadians without opt
Oppenheimer sponsors.
Doesn’t sponsor anymore.
Barclays selectively sponsors and JPM also sponsors.
Source: me + my best friends
Does JPM sponsor for SA or just FT?
.
How selective is Barclays?
Does JPM only sponsor people with STEM OPT or regular OPT is fine too?
Leerink sponsored for sa24 and before.
Adding from my experience, Jefferies no longer sponsors and LionTree is case-by-case.
Is this fr? Jefferies used to be one of the most sponsorship friendly banks
I can only speak from my experience with the New York office but spoke to a senior associate during the last SA24 recruitment cycle and it was the first-time Jefferies was not sponsoring.
Just checked a few 2024 handshake posts from Jefferies. It seems like they still sponsor. They’ve historically been among the most friendly towards international. Most people don’t understand how visa related stuff work so I’d be cautious about getting such advice during networking calls. Just my two cents.
So who/when would you recommend asking re sponsorship eligibility? Recruiting for lateral positions post lay-off (searching for 4ish months) and things have been quite slow.
In my experience, the more senior they are less they know about this stuff.
Adding from experience, this is false.
So is LionTree no longer sponsoring? I'm Canadian
bump! Thanks for the post
since when did Barclays selective sponsor? Thought they were a hard no for undergrads and only sponsor MBAs
HR told me they straight up don't sponsor during 2024 SA recruiting
Anyone know the process for Canadians? If you apply via TN, do you still put Economist? 2023+ update would be helpful
curious too
Delete
bump
Yes, you would likely be an economist. The lawyers will basically re-structure the job description in the application package to make it more focused on the “economist” job overview from USCIS
I've personally have gotten H1B transfer sponsorship at Stifel and TN through JEF
Very interested to hear more about the Stifel thing. So they don't sponsor for IB analyst but sponsor for transfers?
Fix JPM - they sponsor Stem - OPT and then H1B upon full time for their US IBD Summer Analyst / FT Analyst programs.
Obviously the only caveat is the Stem OPT but if you are international without Stem OPT and have only one shot at a 14% H1B lottery then good luck.
So does that mean it's an auto reject for people without STEM OPT?
Ardea also sponsors
I don’t think so?
They did for 2024 SA. Did they change?
they do, i just spoke with them recently
Does CIBC still sponsor?
I don’t think so
I don’t think so
Where did u hear abt this? I think they've always sponsored...
Barclays sponsored H1B for NYC IB in the past cycle
Did you start on OPT or directly on H1B?
Lincoln International - No Sponsor, Stout - No Sponsor, Ardea - No Sponsor, MS - Case by case, Broadhaven - Sponsor, Citi - Sponsor, but NYC higher standard/diversity only, Piper - No Sponsor
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Mind sharing more insights on Broadhaven? I'm very interested in their practice
any idea if they sponsor TN for canadians?
Edited
They did for 2023, did they change their policy?
Any insight into whether BBs/EBs take on SAs with a J-1 Visa (i.e. from an English-speaking country outside the US)?
Also curious about the same question for KKR/Apollo/Carlyle/TPG etc?
Have seen kids from Canadian unis on J1s at different Lazard and Evercore offices.
LAZ, EVR, MOE, & BX are Canadian-friendly.
Does UBS sponsor?
If they really want you sure, but its case by case.
Yes, but for diversity + target mostly.
bump
bump
bump
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Thanks - immensely helpful and might just have saved me an enormous amount of time.
bump
Bain Capital HR says they can't sponsor.
Can confirm this is true
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Do you know if for all majors? On one of their job listings, it was stated that, yes, they sponsor, but only for STEM-eligible majors.
Deleted
is Barclays sponsoring
Depends on what you apply - IB no
Markets is sponsoring; IB isn't.
Does Campbell Lutyens sponsor?
Can anyone verify if BNP Paribas doesn't sponsor? I've seen multiple reports.
they do for FT
Is JPMC sponsoring this year? heard a few international student got superdays
They are 100% sponsoring
Depends
Their ibd app literally says will not sponsor and must be attending a US school
I signed with them. They definitely DO give superdays & offers -- in my batch, all the international kids who superday'ed got offers. You need to have STEM OPT though.
God damnit.... These firms really need to do away with this
Can't handle competition from a few maple syrup farmers?
Greenhill and HL rx do not sponsor (at least when I graduated in 2021, maybe things have changed)
Things changed
Can confirm GHL sponsors
lincoln does not sponsor sa
Does anyone know Campbell Lutyens New Yorks sponsor?
Does cibc (nyc office) sponsor h1b or TN?
Think they’ve stopped
Think they’ve stopped
It seems that CVP, Guggenheim, Lincoln international do not sponsor during the last recruiting cycle.
CVP does
BNP sponsored a couple of FT laterals last year.
I will enroll at Columbia MBA this fall and be on a J1 visa. Assuming banks sponsor internationals, is there a different treatment for internationals on an F1 vs J1 visa? Also, if I am doing well, are the sponsors willing to offer a return position for 18 months of work? The J1 Visa only allows me to work for another 18 months post-graduation, after which I have to return to my home country.
Why not an F1? The J1 has an 2 hear home country requirement at some point. Can’t imagine it’ll be easy recruiting with that
I have a scholarship from the government that requires me to go on J1 Visa
There are quite a few middle market banks like Marathon Capital however you need to be exceptionally talented to be sponsored by these middle market banks.
Bump. Brother where were you 6 years ago?
It seems like RBC only sponsors FT (I saw 1 sponsorship on myvisajobs) but says they don't sponsor for Internship on my handshake. Also saw one sponsorship from TD Securities but they say they only accept OPT for internship. Also interesting to hear more insights for HL sponsorship status
If you notice a few people who got sponsored on MyVisaJobs from firms that generally don’t sponsor, it probably means they sponsor H1B transfers for laterals.
Got it! Do you have any info on RBC's sponsorship status this cycle?
im an intl f-1 student intern there and i didnt have a problem at rbc ib.
For which office? Cuz on my handshake they said they need US work authorization for 2025 SA at NY(don't accept OPT or sponsor
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