Moving to NY from London (New York, York: brokers, transfer, movies)

[LianeD]

Hi all

I am 21 and looking to live and work in New York for 2 years or so. No plans to permanently emigrate at the moment, just want to live and work in this great city for a while.
I don't have a degree, but have been working in finance for 3 years. I am work in Trade Support for a large Stockbrokers in London.
I have an aunt living in New York who is an American Citezen, but understand she cannot sponser me.
Any help on 1) the type of visa I need and 2) how to find companies willing to sponsor people like myself to work there would be very much appreciated. There is so much information on the internet it gets confusing as to which is correct!
Many thanks
Liane Fahy

[confusedinternational]

im also in the same position, im looking to work in NY after graduation in an MA program here but I dont know what the procedure is to get a green card. i know you have to work for two years straight and apply for the OPT program but i dont know the difference between getting sponsored by a company and getting a permanent green card though...??

[moxiecat]

Sorry to disappoint and inform you that it will be extremely difficult to find a sponsor in the U.S. without the proper work permit/visa beforehand (before stepping foot in the U.S.) To work for a financial co. here, you will also have the additional hurdle in that you have no university degree and financial co.,s won't consider sponsorship in any way at all without that minimum of a B.A. plus the proper visa.

Companies only sponsor you if have all that done in the correct sequence. You don't just show up in the U.S. and ask a company to do that for you. it just doesn't work that way at all. Green cards allow you to work and reside here permanently and legally without being tied to a sponsoring company but that doesn't happen until you have reached the 5 year point (3 year work visa plus additional 2 years). And these days a company will hardly go to bat for you to get a green card unless you have some kind of exceptional skill and they feel you will stay with them beyond the 5 year mark. (BTW your aunt cannot sponsor you as family - she is not considered an immediate family member.)

Your best bet might be to have your current company transfer you to NY but other than that, things are highly stacked against you. Or, you can try getting a proper student visa, take classes, and try to find a company while you're a student but if you ask any other international student who's way ahead of you in the process, they will tell you how difficult it is.

[mead]

Yes the best thing is to work for a company that transfers employees to the USA. Usually most companies want you working there for a couple of years before they will allow you to make a transfer. Most large multi-national corporations are accustomed to shipping employees all over the globe.

Short of that working in the USA, legally, is going to be very difficult.

Your aunt can not sponsor you, however she could sponsor your parent (her sibling) for permanent resident status, who could then become a naturalized US citizen, and sponsor you for permanent resident status. However doing that is going to take well over a decade to get accomplished.

[nyoka]

Given that the Visa system is a lottery and there is an expense involved, no company is going to sponsor a foreigner who doesn't have a degree when they have plenty of local kids with their bachelors clamoring for a job. Your best bet is to go to uni, do well, get a job with a major US bank in London and transfer after a couple of years.

[yosser]

I came to the States in 1994 as a physician on a J-1 visa. It took me 14 yrs to get my green card. It ain't easy and make sure you do your detective work.

[cricketjunkie]

I agree with all of the comments here- The basic here is a degree and they are millions of University grads out there looking for work.

I am a british nurse and midwife, came here in 1999- got green card through a company sponsorship.
i had over 5 years experince in my field ( midwifery)
You need an exceptional skill. USA is very difficult to get into and NYC is not like what you see in the movies and SATC- its very hard, fast paced, friends are hard to come by
Think long and hard....

[Chava61]

It is very hard to get a work permit/visa to come to the USA just like it is very hard to obtain a work permit/visa to move to any EU country.

[NYCAnalyst]

Ok I work in finance and I can tell you that no company will sponsor you for a visa, because there are many 23-year old Americans out of university that are willing to do trade support and don't need a sponsor...

If you become a trader and start bringing in a good amount of revenue, then yes, many finance companies would be willing to sponsor you.