The basics on moving to Los Angeles

Designator

Ok so basically last year I was made redundant not once but twice, once on my birthday and the second time the day before christmas eve.... Ive basically taken this as a sign that I should get the **** out of this country as I cant even bring myself to go for another job here again anyway after such dissapointment.
I have a degree in transport management and technology and have a desire all my life to live in Los Angeles, and being that Im still out of work I figure what better time to go. So can anyone give me the basic information and insight on what is required to move to the US , green card, how much money do you need to go, are jobs easy to come by? , sorting out accomodation and jobs before leaving, etc... If anyone has experience in this or any useful information please let me know, and also I dont mind getting a job thats not necessarily to do with my degree, in fact id rather try something new

MagicMarker

Unless you are a US citizen or win the green card lottery, then you haven't much of a hope of living in LA for longer than a 90 day holiday.

Designator

Why is that? Is this just Los Angeles or whats the story ?

athtrasna

OP Canada or Australia are more open but you've just missed the Canadian Visa window by a few weeks. Moving to America is next to impossible so it's best not to fixate on there and look beyond to places you can actually move to. FWIW I agree with the previous poster re LA..horrible place.

Mars Bar

A friend of mine has just moved to Santa Monica after a year waiting for a visa to be granted to her. It took a lot of work and I think she might have been sponsored by a company over there.

ProudDUB

If you really are serious about moving to the US, your best bet is to find a job with a company that has a US presence. You work for them here for a couple of years and then you put in for a transfer over to the US office. The company handle all of the visa paperwork. You can't do it yourself.

iusedtoknow

This comes up every few weeks on boards and the harsh reality is....either work hard, or stop dreaming. There is no way to self sponsor yourself into the country. Below are the ways you can get into the country

1. Marry an american (still takes up to year to process all the paperwork)
2. Be REALLY good at what you do, and know that no american can do it as well. Apply for a job, and they will need to apply for a h1b visa (paying the $10k as well). The h1b is gone for this year, but maybe next year you have a 1/3 chance of getting it
3. work for an american company that has an Irish presence. Plough away for a year or so and hope a job comes up that you can do - they will apply for the l1 on your behalf and pay the $10k
4. Win the green card lottery. 200 people a year from ireland(+/-) get it.
5. Be willing to invest $500K in an american company.

LA is a fine place to live when you have loads of cash and patience to deal with awful traffic. It is also miserable and soul destroying place if you have neither of the above attributes.

Better to focus your energies on Australia/NZ and Canada where there is at least a hope of getting in...

circular flexing

athtrasna wrote: »

OP Canada or Australia are more open but you've just missed the Canadian Visa window by a few weeks.

Actually the Canadian working holiday visa program is still open

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/index.asp?country=ie&cat=wh

gmogames

iusedtoknow wrote: »

This comes up every few weeks on boards and the harsh reality is....either work hard, or stop dreaming. There is no way to self sponsor yourself into the country. Below are the ways you can get into the country

1. Marry an american (still takes up to year to process all the paperwork)
2. Be REALLY good at what you do, and know that no american can do it as well. Apply for a job, and they will need to apply for a h1b visa (paying the $10k as well). The h1b is gone for this year, but maybe next year you have a 1/3 chance of getting it
3. work for an american company that has an Irish presence. Plough away for a year or so and hope a job comes up that you can do - they will apply for the l1 on your behalf and pay the $10k
4. Win the green card lottery. 200 people a year from ireland(+/-) get it.
5. Be willing to invest $500K in an american company.

LA is a fine place to live when you have loads of cash and patience to deal with awful traffic. It is also miserable and soul destroying place if you have neither of the above attributes.

Better to focus your energies on Australia/NZ and Canada where there is at least a hope of getting in...

Complementing this, I can share how I was able to move into the US.

I found an IT company that sponsored me through a J1 Internship Visa. It allowed me to stay in the country for 18 months.
The first year they applied for my H1B visa, but I did not get selected in the lottery. My visa expired in March, so they transferred me to their Irish branch while applying again for the H1B visa, which I just got the good news that this time it has been selected in the lottery.

That will allow me to move back there in October.

But if you are interested in moving right away, you can either find a company that will sponsor a J1 visa (which is simple to get) or pay it yourself through several of companies that does the J1 Work and Travel (just google j1 work and travel).

Cheers

JONJO THE MISER

You dont need 500k to invest to get into the states.
You can get a E2 visa by buying or setting up a business for as little as 50k, you will then get leave to remain for 5 years which can be extended indefinitely as long as you still have the business.

silja

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

You dont need 500k to invest to get into the states.
You can get a E2 visa by buying or setting up a business for as little as 50k, you will then get leave to remain for 5 years which can be extended indefinitely as long as you still have the business.

While this is technically possible, it is difficult to get a Investors visa with less than 500'000; one of the issues being that you need to employ a certain number of Americans to get the visa, and doing that on $50'000 (in many places the salary of a single person) will be hard. Yes, your business plan WILL be scrutinised.

JONJO THE MISER

silja wrote: »

While this is technically possible, it is difficult to get a Investors visa with less than 500'000; one of the issues being that you need to employ a certain number of Americans to get the visa, and doing that on $50'000 (in many places the salary of a single person) will be hard. Yes, your business plan WILL be scrutinised.

Yeah your right your business plan will be scrutinised hard but with the E2 there is no min number of employees that you must hire and the vast majority of people who get the E2 invest a lot less than 500k.
Im interested in this because i hope to apply for one in the next 2-3 years to start my own hostel there.

iusedtoknow

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Yeah your right your business plan will be scrutinised hard but with the E2 there is no min number of employees that you must hire and the vast majority of people who get the E2 invest a lot less than 500k.
Im interested in this because i hope to apply for one in the next 2-3 years to start my own hostel there.

I think the issue is that it can't be "marginal" in scope and needs to turn a substantial profit within 5 years.

When you think about how much wages/taxes/etc aside from your own rent etc cost, 50K is not enough to last 6 months in high cost of living areas - probably not even enough to get a substantial business off the ground

Funny fact, the co-founder of instagram nearly didn't get his e2 visa as it wasn't a secure enough business model.

JONJO THE MISER

iusedtoknow wrote: »

I think the issue is that it can't be "marginal" in scope and needs to turn a substantial profit within 5 years.

When you think about how much wages/taxes/etc aside from your own rent etc cost, 50K is not enough to last 6 months in high cost of living areas - probably not even enough to get a substantial business off the ground

Funny fact, the co-founder of instagram nearly didn't get his e2 visa as it wasn't a secure enough business model.

Yeah it cant be marginal but can at the start off stage, 1 or 2 people employed and your fine.
It all depends on the business you want to start, can start some for very little.
I would be able to start my own for $150k all in, i would have very little costs after that.

colman1212

Can become an Australian Citizen in about 5 years and then you are entitled to a E3 visa to the united states which is pretty easy to get if you can find a job over there. Its an agreement Oz has with the US that bush brought in a few years ago apparently. I'm get my citizenship here next year and thats my plan, Oz is an awesome place for a few years too