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.

btw for the US green card, sponsorship if I remember correctly is only applicable to immediate family ie. brothers, sisters and parents.

Haha and migrating to Australia would be the guy who got disqualified during the heats? But I'm seriously thinking about Australia...

While I like the US, there are many issues that make me pause when thinking about long term and for the family/kids. Education is bad in most cities, you need to go out to a suburb to get decent public schools or otherwise pay for private schools. Higher education is much better but it'll cost you. Healthcare is a mess. The one good thing is still the salaries which are some of the highest in the world.

Sometimes because of money, sometimes it's a better life, and some people just don't like their family.

I think there's nothing wrong with being far away from your family, they'll still be your family after all. Not sure about friends, I don't have many.