I've been in US for ~8 years, did both my undergrad and grad here. Never been able get an H1B. Currently on STEM OPT and have one year and 1 more lottery attempt left. I am mechanical engineer, and current employer (Tesla) will not apply for green card without getting H1B first, even though I am not from India or China. I have been depressed lately not knowing what to do after OPT runs out. There's almost no mechanial engineering work back home and salary would be around <7/100th of current TC. For people in similar situations, how do you stay motivated and what is your plan B? Does Canada have a good industry for product design or manufacturing, and is it "easy" to immigrate through Express Entry? Is O1 or EB2 etc sth I should look into (I went to Ivy Leagues for college and grad, if that helps) 2.5 yoe 120k TC
Tech Industry
5h
180
Is Israel getting bad PR the reason for banning tik tok?
Tech Industry
Yesterday
1251
PM is irrelevant role and will die in next 2-3 years.
India
Yesterday
1386
Ideal indian parents
World Conflicts
Yesterday
757
Peaceful Protest Hasn’t Worked and Has Been Met With Aggression.
Software Engineering Career
8h
1928
L4 Google -> 45 interviews, 5 offers, AMA
Your best bet is to apply for GC on another employer. You are lucky to not be from India/China so once your LC is done, you can just apply for 485 and don’t need H1. Auto companies used to hire and may still hire MEs. I have heard even Amazon hires MEs for limited roles. Finally, do you have any experimental background? If yes, try Intel in the fab area. You may not like the job but the immigration support at Intel is very good IMO. You can always come back to tech industry after a few years ...
What’s LC?
Labor certification
Did you try EB2 NIW? Talk to a lawyer to see if you have the right profile.
Yes this should be your first line of defense.
What is eb2 NIW
You mean back home you only get $8400 a year?
Back in my home as a university professor you get almost 1/3rd of that 🙂
But the cost of living is much lower back home, isn’t it?
Every case is different. Get a one hour consult with an immigration attorney and you’ll know what your options are.
Do you have a PhD? If yes, you can start EB1-A green card on your own. The bar for this is high, but another option to consider. This is what I did and got my green card without employer in the loop.
This is why body shops need to be wiped from the face of the earth. America is LOSING talent because of them by this point.
Ban WITCH
Fall in Love with a US citizen and marry her/him.
Lol, has to work the same the other way round with her right?
Yeah. That would be a good start
If your employer doesn’t file for green card, file yourself, just ask them to provide the required documentation. And for plan b, apply for express entry to canada, thats what one of my friend did who works in apple. He was on h1b extension and wasn’t sure whether he would have his gc before the h1b expires. So apply for Canada.
Assuming your last attempt is next April, try to get 2-3 job offers by mid March with start dates in mid April. Let all your employers apply for H1b on your behalf and pick the company whose application wins. I know this isn't fully ethical but hey the system isn't fair either. And it may be hard to get offers with few months left on OPT, should have ideally done it this year.
This is quite unethical, just imagine the other candidates with just one application. I had a colleague in my group with ivy league phd didn’t get his h1b picked up.
I agree but the real solution is for USCIS not to allow multiple applications on behalf of a single person. A lot of consultancy companies are misusing this and increasing their odds.
The province of Ontario in Canada has a fair bit of manufacturing. It's how I got my career started. Toronto is also a nice city but the weather ain't that great.