Hi,
I’m an analyst 2 at a the continental Europe office of a US IB boutique, and I’m thinking about doing a lateral move to a BB in the US. I have no working visa, so I would require sponsorship. Am I doomed?
Thanks y’all.
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I suppose it depends; as long as u have relevant experience, it is hard to say that ur doomed, but ur not in ideal circumstances either.
Network on both ends. You need to be released from your own team, but also need a team on the other side.
Then, figure out how other expats in your firm have done it, process, timeline, requirements, are you eligible, (..) - there are rules for this in most companies. Is this a secondment? An internal mobility program? Do you want to emigrate and also want a green card? Are you moving alone, are you married, should your benefits transfer/freeze/be eliminated? What about comp?
All of this is fairly complicated and requires finesse and diplomacy.
I hope you are top bucket and that your firm has a strong presence in both countries.
Otherwise, do your MBA and figure it out yourself (far more risky!).
The best way to make a move to the US would be to transfer internally on an L-1 visa.
Issue there is that you are pretty much bound to your current employer until you get a green card process off the ground, so it is limiting your optionality quite a bit.
+1 to this - L-1 visas are simple, you need 2-3 years experience at a firm before they'll do this typically, but L-1 is an easy visa and you're not in a lottery like H1B would be.
You do need to be pretty committed to the employer, so I would position yourself for a role you'd be happy in long-term
Hi, as you seem familiar with the topic, how many years of L1 visa would it take before your employer can get you a green card?
I am super interested to benefit from the L1 (currently working for a top boutique) but unsure about the probability of them letting me move to the US as I don’t see much benefits to take a EU guy in their team… (VP level)
Haven't gone through the visa process myself, just have seen two coworkers. Both of them were put towards the green card path after their first successful review in the US. Think it is entirely up to the employer to start the pathway. there is no timeframe and people usually get it since the L-1s expire in 5-7 years
I will say, it's more common at US BBs, home offices have plenty of headcount and generally can make arrangements if people want to move - boutiques can be trickier as they are smaller overall and moving/sponsoring you will be more than the rounding error it is at a BB.
I would look at NY-based positions with your current employer and network with folks on teams with openings, otherwise you'd restart the clock a lot having to move to a US BB in Europe and wait ~2 years to move. There is a lot of benefit in hiring someone very familiar with internal processes, even if you need to get up to speed on the US market
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