Receiving a visa as international applicant

Hi all! I have a question concerning starting/continuing my career in the US. I have the plan to start to work in the finance area in the United States and I am now starting to search for jobs and to apply.

Now my questions are following:
- As a career starter...is it a huge disadvantage to need visa sponsorship of the company I am applying for? (As I am applying at smaller banks and larger banks it would also be interesting if there is a difference)
- If a company/bank is interested to hire me and sponsor my visa...is it 100% sure I will receive a visa or is the chance of receiving a visa still very small? I have read about a lottery of those H1B visas.

I would be happy if someone could help me and maybe also share his/her insights with me.

Thanks!

 
Best Response

1) Yes. It's much harder to get a job as an international applicant. It costs employers thousands of dollars in attorney fees and government fees to sponsor a foreign national for a work visa such as H-1B. Also, because the H-1B has been decided by lottery for the last few years, even if they invest all that time and money in you, you may not even be able to work (at least not in the US) if you aren't selected so that's an added risk.

Larger banks have more resources and plenty of experience sponsoring foreign applicants, whereas smaller banks may not have hired that many foreign applicants in the past.

2) Like I mentioned above, there has been a lottery for the H-1B visa for several years now. This is because the number of new H-1B visas is capped to a maximum per year, but there are consistently more applications than visas available. For a candidate with a US masters/PhD I think the chances were about 50-60% last year and for everyone else it was something like 30-40%.

 

Thanks kerny for your answer :) Unfortunately you gave me the answer I expected but didn't hope for. I guess that makes my plan to find work in the USA quite impossible (of course there is a chance but I am also realistic).

I just also have another question...I also read that companies can make a faster (premium) application for a visa and they will receive an answer in 15 days. But how does that work if there is a lottery?

If you have any insights into the situation in Canada as well, I would be happy to read something about the situation there too :)

Thanks already for your first response!

 

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