[ckorhonen]

Some experience here UK -> L1 -> GC -> Citizen.

It's worth considering the L-1 visa route - work in the UK office of a US-based company for 1 year and you become eligible.

One disadvantage, you are bound to the L-1 employer in the US unless you can get a H1-B, work visa or family-based visa (yes, I found myself a green card wife of nearly 10 years now).

The L-1 process was a lot of paperwork, but the sponsoring company paid. The rest we did ourselves without a lawyer. Big fan of http://www.visajourney.com - lots of folk in similar situations and howto guides.

Happy to talk more if it's helpful, either here or my username at gmail.

[giobox]

I followed much the same route, but I can't recommend it as a strategy for someone looking for a path to the USA, given you have to work for said employer for a year then hope they will consider sponsoring you. Unless you have hard to find skills, I don't think many employers will offer this option at interview time, given you are still not a fully known quantity until you've actually started working somewhere. Those on L1s in this industry are usually there by accidents of fate rather than a grand plan in my experience!

The H1 or entering education in the USA are probably the two main methods, but even those have gotten significantly more difficult as others have pointed out (H1 cap etc).

[ckorhonen]

That’s fair. Personally I think it depends on where someone is in their career and how urgent they wish to move.

Whilst not immediate, a lot of the other visas offer a faster or more direct path to entry in the US.

If you are graduating, not necessarily sure what you want to do and you see a potential US move a few years down the road then I think the L1 route is still a very good option. In my case I had worked for a big company for a few years and applied for a new role internally, visa process was painless and I think took around 6-8 weeks total - the L is not subject to caps so once your company is willing to sponsor, things tend to move rather quickly.