# Visa options for recent graduate?



## Sispy (Aug 28, 2012)

Hi,

I am a German Citizen and have spend much time in the US. First I was an Au-Pair, right after Highschool. Then I studied abroad in the US for a year. Most recently I did a six month internship in the US. I just graduate from my university in Germany with a degree in International Business and Marketing.

I really want to stay in the US and have been working hard to achieve this..unfortunately not very successfull. I have applied for lots of jobs, had interviews and interest but was in the end always told that the company could not sponsor my visa because for an entry level position they can not explain towards the US immigration why they couldnt find a US citizen to do this job.

What are other options for me? Is there any way I could get a visa and potentially even work?
I have a boyfriend in the US but we are not ready to marry yet. 
I have thought about graduate school and getting my MBA but I am worried that I would be in the exact same situation once I graduate (plus its so expensive).
I am pretty flexible when it comes to what exactly I need to work in or what way to go to get a visa but I cant find options.

My recent visa expired a few days ago and I just returned to Germany. I am looking to go back to the US as soon as possible.

How can I stay in the US?

Thanks for your help!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

One option is getting hired with an international company and then potentially transfer. You can always play the Diversity Lottery if you qualify.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Your only options are work visa (sponsored by employer), student visa, marriage visa, investment visa.

If you have already investigated the work visa option and have not been successful here then you need to look at the others.

Yes, the graduate school is one route, but as you say you would still be a "rookie" in the world of work and so no guarantee of getting an employer to sponsor you.

You have only just graduated so have nothing special to offer US employers which is different to the thousands of US graduates also in the same position.

You need to build up a strong body of work both in terms of time and experiences. 

Then you will have something that US based employers can use to justify applying for a work visa for you. In addition if its a multi national company you could get a transfer.

Good luck to you


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## vronchen (Jan 26, 2012)

Sispy said:


> I have thought about graduate school and getting my MBA but I am worried that I would be in the exact same situation once I graduate (plus its so expensive).


You could look into different areas for graduate school. In some fileds you can easily get a tuition waiver and a graduate assistant job. I'm in graduate school in the US and everyone in my program gets these two things. So we don't pay tuition and we get a salary that we can easily life off. Afterwards (or during if you have completed at least 1 year) you can apply for 12 month of optical practical training (OPT), that allows you to work fulltime for every employer as long as it is related to your field of study (in science areas you can extend OPT for additional 17 month). After OPT you could apply for H1B1 visa. There is even the option to work for 180 days after OPT expired if you have applied for H1B1 and the decision is still pending.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

vronchen said:


> You could look into different areas for graduate school. In some fileds you can easily get a tuition waiver and a graduate assistant job. I'm in graduate school in the US and everyone in my program gets these two things. So we don't pay tuition and we get a salary that we can easily life off. Afterwards (or during if you have completed at least 1 year) you can apply for 12 month of optical practical training (OPT), that allows you to work fulltime for every employer as long as it is related to your field of study (in science areas you can extend OPT for additional 17 month). After OPT you could apply for H1B1 visa. There is even the option to work for 180 days after OPT expired if you have applied for H1B1 and the decision is still pending.


Would you elaborate on the type of program you are on and the tuition waiver option?

Most people think that postgraduate education in the US is expensive but your posting indicates that there are ways of reducing/eliminating the costs.

If I understand from your earlier posts you are undertaking a Phd course - maybe not relevant to someone thinking of an MBA or other Masters degree?


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## vronchen (Jan 26, 2012)

Crawford said:


> Would you elaborate on the type of program you are on and the tuition waiver option?
> 
> Most people think that postgraduate education in the US is expensive but your posting indicates that there are ways of reducing/eliminating the costs.
> 
> If I understand from your earlier posts you are undertaking a Phd course - maybe not relevant to someone thinking of an MBA or other Masters degree?


I'm in the math program. Most of my friends study something science related so I'm not sure about financial aid for MBA's. As for the master's degree, you usually don't get much financial aid for it. But you can start in a phd program and if you don't want to continue after getting the masters you can just leave.

Most programs are not very good in stating information about financial aid on they website. I found something for political science from my university (see here: Admissions and Financial Support | in Atlanta, Georgia at the Political Science Department, Emory University). You can see that it states that ALL students admitted to the phd program receive financial aid. They also list the basic scholarship (full tuition waiver, 100% health insurance, $18000 per year living stipend).

Most people think graduate school in the US is expensive. That's not true, undergraduate is expensive, graduate school can be very cheap (unless you study medicine or law).


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

Sispy said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am a German Citizen and have spend much time in the US. First I was an Au-Pair, right after Highschool. Then I studied abroad in the US for a year. Most recently I did a six month internship in the US. I just graduate from my university in Germany with a degree in International Business and Marketing.
> 
> ...


they only want highly experienced ..get 5/10 years under you belt first
new grads are churned out every day in the US


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## tara.jatt (May 15, 2012)

After few "hard to find a job after graduation" replies, i want to tell you something positive, if you work hard toward MBA and get into a good program/university, then chances are higher for getting a full time job. I did my masters here and after master got a good job. The thing is that after masters you can work on OPT for 12 months, and that's the time when employer don't have to sponsor you, so if you can show them you are worth, there is no reason they will not sponsor you. It doesn't work in industry to train employee for a year and then let him/her go because they don't want to sponsor. Get into a good school and then it will be relatively easy to find a job after completing studies.


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