Work Options In The U.S. When Student Visas Expire?

Ellen Spertus asks: "I'm a computer science professor and am unsure how to advise my students who are on student visas about how to work toward getting a H1B visa or other means of being able to work in the U.S after graduating. Any advice?" What advice do you all have for foreigners looking to work in the U.S.? What would be the best way for them to go about getting a green card, especially if any possible corporate sponsorship is in doubt?

Comments

Re:We have enough foreigners as it is

[citmanual]

As funny as I think your response is, this is sadly the actual opinion of far too many Americans. My father is a Dutch immigrant and I am currently living in the Netherlands, as a verdomme buitenlander (damn foreigner).

Americans need to realize that immigrants not only work harder than natives (have you ever met a Hispanic migrant farm worker who works less than 13 hours a day?), but contribute more to society. These people come to the US because they believe they can find something better. They are willing to work for the privelege of the American Dream (TM). Perhaps instead of berating the former engineer from Kenya, you should thank him for being willing to mop your floor, despite the fact he is better trained and more intelligent than you.

Flipside is that rampant immigration can cause problems. California is definately a case for this. Southern Texas has PO box towns where Mexicans receive their Soc Sec checks before returning south of the border. But, in general, these are rare and isolated cases.

Whatever happened to the American Dream?

[jamused]

Unless your ancestors came to the U.S. as slaves or transported criminals, they too came here with an ulterior motive, seeking a better life for themselves and their descendants. You are the beneficiary of this, and you might want to consider how it looks for you to want to deny others the opportunities that your ancestors had.

Give us your poor and huddled masses, yearning to breathe free...

Why work in the US?

[flatpack]

Let's face it, the Government in it's "heroic" efforts to keep control of the fast-changing employment situation here in the US is not making it easy for foreign people to work here - even if you get an H1B you end up stuck in the same job for your entire period and then get kicked out the country like an illegal immegrant. Hardly an inspiring direction to take your life in.

And then there's the amazing lack of humanity in the majority of America's employers. What other country in the world lets it's citizens work 90 hour weeks without a single hour of overtime? Oh yeah, that's right, the whole reason for H1Bs is to get foreigners here to do those 90 hour weeks, and they don't even have to give you the same rights as nationals (not that America provides many for them either).

America's entire policy on foreigners working there is both rascist and short-sighted. For a country built from immegrants and minimal government, recent political viewpoints seem to be tending towards a xenophobic attitude in which only America counts, and if you're not an American, you can only come here if you're willing to live like a second class citizen.

Try another country - there are IT opportunities across the world, and in most places you won't get nearly as much shit as you'll be put through by the US government.