[NhanH]

For the last step, if what you truly want is just coming to the US, please don't do it for your own sanity. Waiting 1-2 years working outside the US and then come to the US on H1B/L1 is something potentially quite stressful (not to mention the follow up is anything but pleasant).

Of course, if you just want to work for a big 4 co. anywhere on the world, then it's different.

[ThePawnBreak]

I have several friends who are doing the Microsoft Vancouver -> Seattle visa dance, and they're ok with it. I also have a friend who got a green card while working at Microsoft.

I think you don't realise how much better the US is for a software engineer than any other country in the world.

[NhanH]

Actually I do, I left the US just a couple of months ago after living there for 6 years. And my advice is the same: know your odds, play your lottery, but don't bet/delay your life on that.

[employee123]

why is waiting 1-2 years outside the US unpleasant? kindly explain more.

[NhanH]

Not specifically the part of ONLY waiting 1-2 years outside the US, but the whole thing. I'm just highlighting that doing H1B, trying to get GC, then citizenship alone is a pretty bad process already, adding 1-2 years on top of that is more of a straw the broke the camel's back. Not to mention that there is no certainty the company can actually bring you over to the US after that 1-2 years period, they certainly WILL try, but the immigration situation in the US currently just seems to be more and more hostile every year.

Realistically, getting H1B should pretty much be discounted from your current plan (the odd is somewhere around 30%), so it leaves you with an L1 visa. That would leave you even more locked to your employer than H1B would.

To make it short, if I've already got an H1B, and currently in the US, I'd stay while nagging the employer to make sure my EB process is going. In your situation (which I am right now), I'd try to get to the US through either O1 or the startup visa parole, assuming the latter comes to fruition.

And just to make sure we're clear, for me working for a big 4 corp is something nice (I don't think I'd hate myself for doing it), but absolutely not my current goal.

[employee123]

Thanks for sharing, you've really opened my eyes to a lot of things. Looking up O1, it says extraordinary ability in sciences or art. What exactly qualifies as an extraordinary ability. I'm a pretty decent programmer and the ease with which I get jobs at European startups pretty much validates that. But am not sure if it qualifies for an O1. Can you give a few examples?

[NhanH]

I do not have personal experience with O1 visa, so I'd suggest finding a lawyer or put up another AskHN for it. I'm sure several HN users have went through O1 process before.

That said, I can tell you what I know, but takes it with a lot of salt.

You don't need to be anywhere near Nobel winner level to get an O1 -- which is the impression one might get from reading on USCIS description of O1. However, you still need to be demonstrably good. Since the agency is unable to judge whether anyone of a profession is an expert or not - this is not a slight on them, it's just impossible for an outsider to judge competency of any practioner of any profession - they mostly defer to other external validation you've already got in your field: professional award, news about you or your work by mainstream newspaper (even non-US one, I think news in your own country counts), patents, your alma mater, other well known experts in your field etc. Basically it might be a bit of a popularity contest. To make it concrete, I know an acquaintance who got O1: went through MIT, has a couple of patents, working at a good company, couple of highschool awards, had some articles on him when he was a teenager. I don't know exactly the extent of who was writing recommendations and such for him.

I've also seen a HN user who said they was executive of a startup that exited at reasonable high returns, yet unable to secure O1 visa (some other HN users in that same thread indicates it might be a lawyer issue, I don't know).

Finally, can you make a couple of million bucks? That might be the easiest way to get to the US ...

Also as someone else have said in another thread, if you got an offer from the big company, they'd glad to relocate you to another country where they have an office. Everything I said just applied to the US and I think any other country would be much easier.