Path to citizenship as someone transitioning from the tech industry to freelancing

[bttls 0]

Hello.

There are a few things on my mind with regards to US immigration and attaining citizenship.
I think it'll be helpful to structure this according to where I am now and what I'm hoping to achieve or where I'd like to be.

So I'll start with the latter.

I'd like to be a freelance artist legally in the US. I'm also open to working for a company, but freelancing is my preference.

Where I am now is somewhat far from that, but hopefully not impossibly far.

I'm about to finish my degree in Computer Science. My F-1 visa expires in December, so I'm thinking of applying for full-time jobs in the same field to be sponsored by a company mostly for the purposes of remaining in the US. I'm doing a software engineering internship that'll I'll be done with in a week, and have determined that it's something that I can do to pay the bills and help myself become more developed in some ways as a person. But I must be honest with myself and realize that it is not, by any means, something I'm passionate about and I foresee that being the case for as long as I remain in the industry. I can deal with it if I must, but it's kind of draining and would rather just get started on what matters more to me.

I'm 100% about following my passions, and sometimes that requires sacrifice. I may have to sacrifice a path to citizenship if it means that I want to work 100% on my art, OR I may have to forego the next couple of years of dedicating myself fully to art to earn money for grad school (in art, of course) or to move to a new city, or something. The point being that there are different ways to be congruent with my values and actions. But what I prefer is to be an artist while still being on the path to becoming a US citizen.

So, then: how can I, being a soon-to-be CS graduate, with a good chance of remaining the software development field, still push towards citizenship? Is there any chance of that happening if I quit my job as a programmer and work as some kind of artist for either myself or a company?

Also, is there a visa out there that will enable me to work in any other field? My impression with a company-sponsored H1-B is that I'd only be able to work in the programming field, and it may be better for me to work at a museum, or as an art teacher of some kind. But who knows if that can be done legally.

Sorry if this seems all over the place -- I suppose this is the beginning of asking myself these questions. Quite a bit to read/learn.

[Darnell 8,478]

why not seek the next step, instead, and obtain OPT status?

[Boiler 43,434]

Generally speaking for H1b assuming you are lucky in the lottery than your job has to match your qualification.

You would want to get an agreement from any future employer that they would sponsor you for a Green Card.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Why not apply to go to art school now (or for after you graduate)? There's plenty of good art schools in the USA and you could restart with a new undergraduate degree.

Otherwise, if you want to go down the working route with your current area of expertise, talk to potential employers about their stance on GC sponsorship when and if they offer you a job. There's some information online: http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-through-job/green-card-through-job-offer

I have a bunch of friends in tech who work for companies doing such sponsorship (basically, think of the big tech giants in the valley) and are able to freely talk about these matters with their employers. I think it's actually seen as another perk these days, since tech bods here in the Bay are so competitively fought over. Personally, I'd hate the idea of being stuck with a company for the purposes of securing my status here (because it takes years) - it'd feel like they own me - but, horses for courses. You may not be highly fought over as only a graduate, however.

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, before you actually graduate, check in with yer DSO at yer uni, seek a company and get hired doing stuff for your OPT period.

[bttls 0]

Why not apply to go to art school now (or for after you graduate)? There's plenty of good art schools in the USA and you could restart with a new undergraduate degree.

Otherwise, if you want to go down the working route with your current area of expertise, talk to potential employers about their stance on GC sponsorship when and if they offer you a job. There's some information online: http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-through-job/green-card-through-job-offer

I have a bunch of friends in tech who work for companies doing such sponsorship (basically, think of the big tech giants in the valley) and are able to freely talk about these matters with their employers. I think it's actually seen as another perk these days, since tech bods here in the Bay are so competitively fought over. Personally, I'd hate the idea of being stuck with a company for the purposes of securing my status here (because it takes years) - it'd feel like they own me - but, horses for courses. You may not be highly fought over as only a graduate, however.

Thank you. Could you explain what you mean with the line I bolded?

[KierenHby 897]

Meaning, unlike recent grads, those with more experience have a higher probability of being sought by employers.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Thank you. Could you explain what you mean with the line I bolded?

That graduates are not as highly regarded as, say, someone with work experience.