Banks Sponsoring International Students - 2023 SA
The 2022 version of this helped me a lot when recruiting, so now that I finished recruitment I thought it'd be a great time to update the list a little bit. I decided to group them by do they sponsor AND do they have a preference for US citizens/green card holders, for those two aspects matter more than bank specs to me. Also, please use this as a reference as a lot of banks do think about sponsorships on a case-by-case basis, and different offices (locality, FO vs MO/BO etc.) make a huge difference. I'm target and diversity for the record, so please feel free to add your experience.
Definitely sponsor (international status almost does not lower your offer rate): GS, CS, DB, Mizuho, Nomura
Sponsor (would happy to sponsor if needed, but offer rate affected): JPM*, EVR, PJT, Jefferies
Limited (usually have quotas or very biased, need to work very hard to stand out): MS, Citi (mostly NY groups), BofA, Moelis, WB, RBC
Very limited (have only seen a handful of target diversity kids): Lazard (mostly NY groups), Centerview, HL, BNPP, PWP, most Citi regional offices
Does not sponsor: Barclays, UBS, Greenhill, Guggenheim, WF, Rothchild, most EB regional offices, most MMs and Boutiques
Some of the "banks that sponsor" mentioned in the previous version but haven't been verified this year (I personally didn't recruit and my friends didn't either): CIBC, Cowen, Oppenheimer, TD Securities, Scotiabank, Rabobank, SocGen, Natixis
*JPM reopened their sponsorship in the 2023 cycle.
JPM does NOT sponsor. They are open to accepting people on OPT but they have clearly indicated that they will sponsor any visas.
Jefferies should be in the first catagory. They don’t let the requirement affect offer rate - I know atleast 10 people that have been accepted (including myself).
H1B is non-immigration sponsorship, which is different from what they stated (immigration). Hopefully that answers you question. Regarding Jefferies, I'll edit and move them to the top bucket. Thank you so much!
That MS wasn't me (there's some nutjob who MSs every sponsorship thread)- also I agree that H1B is a non-immigrant visa but nevertheless, JPM said they won't file H1B. This is what the website says:
"To be eligible for this program, you must be authorized to work in the U.S. We do not offer any type of employment-based immigration sponsorship for this program. Likewise, JPMorgan Chase & Co., will not provide any assistance or sign any documentation in support of any other form of immigration sponsorship or benefit except for the extension of optional practical training (OPT)."
They say except for OPT, which means that they consider OPT to fall under that immigration sponsorship too. Think about it man - international IB analysts only need the H1B sponsorship - why would they even mention this if it was meant for any other sponsorship.
Would move BofA to the first category - know multiple that have been sponsored through the past and current cycles.
International student here who just finished recruiting, couple things I would change
- BofA is very international friendly, would place it in 1st or 2nd category
- Barclays is iffy, during my phone screen I told him that I had STEM OPT and hence didn't require sponsorship right out of the undergrad and they seemed to take it, I moved along in the process (this was for Menlo Park, the guy I spoke to was an international student in the past as well)
- Greenhill and Rothschild 100% sponsor but not sure which category they will fall under, I got offers from both (Greenhill SF, Roths LA)
- Qatalyst and Harris Willaims straight up told me they don't sponsor and are super strict about it, didn't manage to get into the process despite 3 good chats with Q
- William Blair SF 100% sponsors as well
I know how challenging it can be recruiting as an international non diversity candidate so happy to help, just shoot me a DM. Eventually secured an offer with an EB (CVP/EVR/MOE) and am heading there. Good luck everyone!
edit: non diversity, semi target
To the mf who just ms everyone in this thread. You could sück my balls you no SA/return offer xenophobic loser