F-1 to Skilled VIsa?

Question

Hi, I'm on my F-1 status here, not official college but attending workshop @ NYFA. I'm skilled as well, I've been working in the company for almoust 3 yeas. I have found a company in NYC that said after I arrive will arrange and see the possibilities for having job. How can I obtain skilled visa if I have F-1 status and am in NYC and having a job waiting for me?!

Answer 1

Skilled employment, covered under the H1b visa classification is defined as work requiring a university degree or its equivalent in training and experience. so, it's the job itself that drives the classification, not the employee. You might have a university degree, but if you're selling ice cream cones from a truck, that wouldn't be petitionable under the H1b category. In actuality, there are various types of employment visas, not just H1bs. However, you aren't likely to complete everything required while attending a workshop. The paperwork will take a lot longer than that for the reasons outlined by Yak Rider for H1bs or anything else. If you fall out of status, you won't be able to change to some other status while in the US. So, by all means talk to your company, just don't expect that you'll be able to stay on your F. If it does work out, you'll still end up going home and applying for a new visa, maybe a year from now.

Answer 2

First, the USCIS defines "skilled," not the applicant.  You need a college degree in a discipline directly related to the job for which you are being considered.  Additionally, the H1B quota for 2009 has been filled.  No new visa applications under H1B will be considered until April 1, 2009 and this is for the year 2010.

In the United States it's the responsibility of the employer to obtain the proper work visa for the potential employee.  There's nothing for the applicant to do but wait.  It's a long, complicated, and costly process.  Certification is required from the US Department of Labor that no American is qualified or available to take the job before it can even be offered to a foreign person.

When you got your F1 did you not promise to leave the United States when your class was over?

Answer 3

Student visas cannot be transferred to any kind of work visa or immigration.  All students, as a condition of receiving a student visa, are required to return home.

Companies must apply for work permits. Individuals cannot.  The company in NY that says "after you arrive"  they will "see the possibilities for having a job" is giving you the brush-off.  There is no job, and they cannot and/or will not get you a visa.  You need a crash course in "employer-ese" -- the language of the polite "get lost -- nothing for you" no employer wants to say outright.

Go home.  You have no alternative.  And that is what you agreed to do when you got your student visa!