Hey all,

Anyone knows anything about migrating (from Malaysia) to the USA?
I know the condition is bad right now (bearish market, unemployment, pestilences, etc), but I am really considering migration as an option 5 or 10 years down the road.

There are the H1B visas, green cards, etc... Looks like there are various ways to work & live in the US (apart from entering as a student). I studied there for more than 3 years and absolutely loved the experience.

Appreciate if you could share your experience with me

i am currently doing some feasibility study on moving to Toronto

Don't wait dude. Do it now. There isn't much future in this country for "us" the non. And if you moved earlier you
will have the benefit of youth and time to integrate and forget all the crap that you have picked up here. Yes I am
moving to Australia very very soon only wish I had done it sooner. Betta later then never I guess.
Good luck. Godspeed.


cheers

Did you go through some kind of agency that makes the arrangement on your behalf?
Or did you figure the whole thing out yourself? How long was the whole process?
Hehe... sorry so many questions

"Migrating" to the US is not as simple as it sounds. The US is indeed a land of opportunity for many but they also have one of the strictest and conservative visa requirements.

H1-B is a working visa that allows skilled workers to work in the US. However, this highly competitive visa is sort after by many candidates each year (although 2009 was not filled). This visa needs to be applied by your employer, meaning you can only get this visa if you already have a job, and of course your employer is willing to file it for you.

Green card actually requires you to be staying in the US for a certain amount of time and is not the typical route one will take to work in the US.

Of course there is lottery as well, but that's a whole new story.

Migrate to US... I afraid U will kena bully by white ppl.. lol

The easiest way would be to get a close American relative to sponsor you.

Or enter as a student then look for a job there.

Or migrate to Canada/Mexico first. NAFTA agreement makes it easier for citizens of these two countries to enter US.

I'm not too sure on this one, but I believe that if you own a property in the US it's easier to get a migrant visa. Anyone able to confirm this?

EDIT:

Oh yeah, I forgot about another easy method. Marry an American!

This post has been edited by chrishung: May 21 2009, 02:31 PM

Is this pertaining to living there or working there?

Both. Needs to be direct family members I believe. The advantage of this is that you don't need a job first as required by most other methods of entry. Your family member needs to prove that they have the necessary funds (and willing) to support you in the US.

For more information visit this website http://www.uscis.gov

came together we migrate to Toronto, since 50% of people there is foreign born this is a good place for new comer. and seen like American also always threaten to move to canada when they see something no good about US

So what migration route are you taking?

I don't think so

Marry an American no longer can secure you an visa.
I saw some example before. They some more hire lawyer to settle the visa for them after they registered. But then still waiting...

try to find a job first, i uploaded resume on canada job site to test how hard it is for me to secure a job. also need research on rent, transport, food cost, tax, visa requirement.

try workopolis and monster.ca to see what job is available and payscale to see how much is the market rate, go to thestar.com to check on rent ...

workopolis is a good job site even got a boss button

the perfect scenario will be a company will hire me and help me to get work visa, them after that i can apply for PR, maybe need to get my uncle to sponsor me on that application also.

Anybody actually tried the H1-B route & tasted success?

Based on my understanding, US employers will fire H1B visa workers first.

If you are betting on H1B visa, you have to 'hope' for xxxx bubble, e.g. NASDAQ/property bubble II :-)

Since US social security is going to bankrupt in near future, in the next few years, I guess US government will turn the current US visa lottery (free) to US biz visa lottery, e.g. you have 1 million USD, you are in :-)

With this route, normally we will get an offer for an contract basic job and the pay is slightly lower than the job market.
Normally those good offer job they prefer citizen or PR.
It is apply to almost every country.

Yes, I know someone already in US with the world Largest Chip maker.

I have but I had an advantage of having a Masters from a US university so I qualify for the extra 20k visa allotment. The only way I got it done was by working first during my OPT then doing the H1-B. Getting an H1B will be hard if you've never seen your employer etc. My headhunter friend typically recommends a phone interview followed by a face to face interview (ie. you fly in at your own expense) after being prepped by the recruitment agency.

Also don't forget that the US have slightly different standards for resumes, interviews, dress code depending on industries etc. so if you've never worked in the US before it may be a culture shock.

Personally my advice is to go to Canada or Australia. If you really want to go to the US start with Canada first to familiarize yourself with the culture and then head over to the US.

It takes some time to migrate to Canada, almost 1.5 - 2 years for the process along with do you get past the points issue. There will be medical checks, and you need an invitation as well, along with the testing scheme. Its got a basis of you must get at least 70+ point to qualify, usually some people older don't reach 70 but qualify on their experience education as well. My Uncle and his family just migrated over to Canada last year. But the process took over 1.5 years. He considered himself lucky.

For the US you can go thru some agency, costs are between 10-20k USD. Depending on who does it from which state and which part of the US you want to migrate to.

Working Visa is heavily competitive, and also you need an employer. With the current situation of recession in the US, it will be damned difficult for you to get thru it and get in. Green Card is worse, with the new laws in the US, its quite hard to get one now adays unless you marry someone. But even marrying someone there are quite strict guidelines as people do that very often as well.

Sponsorship makes the process move faster, but its not exactly easy because of the CAnadians/Americans selling their status to China to marry a girl for 30k USD for 2-3 years to get a Green card or Canadian passport. They've really cracked down on that alot now.

I currently heard from friends in IT in Toronto, literally 1000s of jobs got chopped, so its quite cutthroat looking for a job for the moment.

I wish you the best of luck getting that perfect scenario.

This is 100% true, I have heard this so many times, H1B visa workers are the first to go before any US citizen has to lose their job.

i still looking into the job market, trying to see if there is opportunity available for senior unix administrator in Toronto.

as for the points since i have family in Canada if i can get prearranged employment my point will be 86. did you uncle apply for PR or citizenship?

i am more looking for work there for a while to see if it is a good place for me to stay

He went for the citizenship, he managed to get away with i think 58+. He has to stay for 3 years to get the citizenship and invest 300k RM into the economy. Close to 100k Cdn.

Try hitting up companies directly, maybe Microsoft, or ShawCable etc.