# Relocating to the US



## AndrewR1979 (Jun 29, 2010)

Hello all

Following a trip last year to Chicago my wife and I have been looking into relocating to the US, Chicago specifically. I have done loads of research on this and it would seem relocating will be much more difficult than we expected.

Neither of the companies we work for have offices in the US so an inter-company transfer isn't an option.

So that leaves us with two options:

1. Diversity Waiver Lottery - my wife is from Northern Ireland

This is a long shot but something we will probably do just in case. I beleive I can also apply for this because my wife is from Northern Ireland and it includes spouses. Not 100% sure on that though so if someone could confirm that would be great.

2. Apply for an Immigration Employment Based Visa

I beleive the only option available to us here is to apply for the HB-2 / EB-2 visa which covers employment of professionals with a degree, professional qualification and 10 years work experience. To do this we can find an employer who is willing to sponsor us through this process or alternatively apply ourselves but would need an National Interest Waiver if we don't have an offer of employment or labour requirement certificate.

I have a couple of questions regarding this which I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. How easy is it to get a National Interest Waiver? From the research I have done these are very difficult to come by and are usually reserved for experts in their field (scientists, sportsment, business executives etc). I don't think my wife and I would fall within this category.

2. I have looked at job listings in Chicago and there are jobs that my wife and I are qualified to do. She is a management accountant and I work in international tax (both have degress, over 10 years work experience and have professional qualifications / chartered). The big accountancy firms in Chicago are all advertising for international tax experts and given my knowledge of UK, India and Singapore tax as well as the broader aspects of international tax I feel I would actually be ideally suited for these jobs. However in practice how likely is it for an employer to sponsor someone through an employment based immigration visa? Does anyone have any practical experience of this? Is it worth using one of the many 100's of agencies on the internet to assist in this process or is it best to contact employers directly?

Last query I pormise! Are there any other options available to us to relocate to the US which I haven't considered?

Apologies for all the questions and lengthy post. If anyone has any advice or help they could office I would be extremely grateful.

Kind regards

Andrew


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Hi and welcome to the forum. It sounds as if you have your options pretty well in hand. The good news is that, if your wife wins the diversity lottery, she gets to bring you with her.

On #1, you're pretty much right. The National Interest Waiver really does take being The Expert in your respective field.

On #2, the foreign tax experience might be of interest to an international accounting firm or some other such company. Consider that sponsoring a foreign candidate costs the employer in both money and effort terms. It's far easier to just hire someone locally - even if their credentials aren't quite as good as the foreign candidate. That said, if you can show some "uniqueness" to your credentials and experience, you could have a reasonable chance (especially with a large international firm that has some experience with bringing in foreign staff).

I would warn you off the Internet agencies, especially any you pay yourself. For executive level jobs, the practice is for the employer to pay the recruiter. If you can get yourself listed with one or more of the big international recruitment firms, that certainly wouldn't hurt your case a bit - and it shouldn't cost you in any event.

You may want to consider making regular visits to the Chicago area - primarily for familiarizing yourself with the area and as part of a vacation. If you can honestly say that you're going to be in Chicago every now and then, you may be able to shake loose an interview or at least a chat with a recruiter and/or a potential employer.
Cheers,
Bev


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## AndrewR1979 (Jun 29, 2010)

Bev

Thanks for the additional information.

Good news re the diversity lottery. I think applications for this are currently closed but once they reopen we will get that submitted as soon as possible.

I kind of figured as much re the National Interest Waiver and unfortunately I don't think we could argue that we are experts in our field.

I think I will apply directly to the large international accountancy firms who are advertising for international tax staff. Hopefully the international tax knowledge I have will be of interest to them and they should have some experience in sponsoring employee related immigration visas.

Thank you for the warning regarding internet agencies who charge for visa applications. I was fairly skeptical about them.

I have contacted a few recruitment agencies in the Chicago area (Michael Page / Robert Half) and I am waiting on them getting back to me. Not sure if they would be willing to assist with a job search for me as they may not think that an employer will take me on if they need to sponsor me for a visa. They may think it isn't worth their time and effort but will wait and see what responses I get.

Do you know of any international recruitment firms in the Chicago area other than the ones I mentioned above. I tried a google search and also looked at the CaeerBuilder website but didn't come up with that many and there must be more than the ones I have found to date.

We are planning on travelling to Chicago later this year and are fairly flexible in terms of timing so I will mention that when I contact any potential employer.

Thanks for your help.

Kind regards

Andrew


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

AndrewR1979 said:


> I beleive I can also apply for this because my wife is from Northern Ireland and it includes spouses. Not 100% sure on that though so if someone could confirm that would be great.


Yes -- both your wife and you can apply on this basis.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The kind of international recruiting firms I'm referring to are things like Korn, Ferry and Heidrick and Struggles. It used to be (I've been out of the market for quite some time now) that they pretty much had to find you, they didn't take CVs except for specific positions. But that could have all changed by now. Michael Page and Robert Half should be able to give you some indication whether your background is likely to interest someone in Chicago, though.
Cheers,
Bev


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