Finding Employment in Seattle

[aht30 0]

Hi All,

I am looking for advice on finding work in Seattle. I've recently graduated from Cambridge and I am attempting to move to Seattle to be with my fiance.

All jobs that I have applied for have been rejected on the basis that I don't have a permission to work.

Does anyone know of anyway to encourage a company to sponsor your Visa?

All the best,

Nina

[ChicagoSarah 127]

Not to be discouraging, but I think it may be difficult. My husband worked for the same engineering/robotics company for 9 years in the UK. They're a large, international company. We initially thought he could have them sponsor him on a work visa and move over here to be with me, then we'd do the marriage thing in a year or so. When the topic of sponsoring his visa came up to the company, it was clearly not going to happen. It's very expensive and time consuming for the employer to sponsor a work visa. And America has lots of educated and skilled workers in most fields, so I don't think it's always worth it to them to pay for a visa for someone else.

My suggestion would be to do the K1 fiance visa and wait the 3 months after you submit AOS to be able to work (what we did), or get married and go the CR1 route.

My husband has only been "applying" unofficially through chats with colleagues he knew or has been put in touch with in our area. Our assumption has been that if he tried to officially apply online anywhere, his application would be thrown out by the automated sorting in HR due to his inability to work. So...if you can somehow talk to a person at a company and explain that you'll be authorized to work soon (if you go the K1 or CR1 route), you may have better luck.

Good luck!!

[jmack2743 7]

Hi All,

I am looking for advice on finding work in Seattle. I've recently graduated from Cambridge and I am attempting to move to Seattle to be with my fiance.

All jobs that I have applied for have been rejected on the basis that I don't have a permission to work.

Does anyone know of anyway to encourage a company to sponsor your Visa?

All the best,

Nina

I really think that your best course of action is to apply for a K1 fiance visa or CR1 visa. Getting a company to sponser you these days is really hard unless you have skills that are hard to find here in the states. I apply for a CR1 visa for my husband so what when he got here, he will already have permission to work and SSN number. He have very good computer skill and hopefully will find a job not too long after he arrive. I live just outside of Seattle (Lacey) and I know IT positions are available.

[aht30 0]

Not to be discouraging, but I think it may be difficult. My husband worked for the same engineering/robotics company for 9 years in the UK. They're a large, international company. We initially thought he could have them sponsor him on a work visa and move over here to be with me, then we'd do the marriage thing in a year or so. When the topic of sponsoring his visa came up to the company, it was clearly not going to happen. It's very expensive and time consuming for the employer to sponsor a work visa. And America has lots of educated and skilled workers in most fields, so I don't think it's always worth it to them to pay for a visa for someone else.

My suggestion would be to do the K1 fiance visa and wait the 3 months after you submit AOS to be able to work (what we did), or get married and go the CR1 route.

My husband has only been "applying" unofficially through chats with colleagues he knew or has been put in touch with in our area. Our assumption has been that if he tried to officially apply online anywhere, his application would be thrown out by the automated sorting in HR due to his inability to work. So...if you can somehow talk to a person at a company and explain that you'll be authorized to work soon (if you go the K1 or CR1 route), you may have better luck.

Good luck!!

Hi Chicagosarah,

I have been thinking that the K1 visa might be the best option, but I am a little concerned that i wont be able to work for 3 months.

I am glad to hear this worked out for you. Just starting the process is very scary.

best,

Nina

[ChicagoSarah 127]

Hi Chicagosarah,

I have been thinking that the K1 visa might be the best option, but I am a little concerned that i wont be able to work for 3 months.

I am glad to hear this worked out for you. Just starting the process is very scary.

best,

Nina

It's a bit daunting to say the least! But once you get into it, it isn't so bad! And the VJ community is very helpful to help alleviate the stress and burden of doing it all by yourself!

The 3 months of unemployment (maybe more) is also a bit scary. We were able to make it work financially, but not knowing when my husband will be able to find a job is still a bit scary. He moved in early October and won't be able to work until probably mid/late January. It's definitely a personal decision. It was better for us to go the K1 route and plan for a few months of him not working rather than to get married and then have to be apart for 6-12 months while the CR1 processed.

If you go the K1 route, you have 6 months from when you get the visa to enter the US, so you could certainly get the visa and then spend a few months still in the UK building savings and getting AOS paperwork ready for after you get married.

Good luck on your journey! It will all work out...you guys just need to decide what works best for you!