Hello!

I am here because I wonder if some of you may know how hard/easy it is for a company to get a work visa for someone from West Europe. Note that I am asking from the company point of view not the person who is hired by said company.

Long story short, I am an audio guy and I got contacted with a "job offer" from a big US company and they asked me if I wanted a job at their place but they didn't notice that I am from Europe before doing so (they checked my demos + I won a contest where they won stuff too a few months ago). It's not HR that contacted me but a member of the audio team.

I wonder if it's a deal breaker or if this is no big deal or anything between this. I am kinda stressed out about it and I am waiting for more answers from them so I am trying to see what I could do to improve my chances or if there is anything I can do to make the proccess easier for them, since I really want the job.

I told them that I would be happy to move and I have no problems with english.

I know companies don't usually do this, but they seemed really interested since they went out of their way to contact me and they were offering a full time position.

Thanks!

It depends on the company.

Sponsoring a visa requires extra work, not just to get the visa but also for tracking and reporting to the government.

Some companies don't mind the additional paperwork. Other companies won't bother because of the extra paperwork.

Thank you for your answer!

How much more work are we talking about here? Is it like a file to fill up or way more than that.

I obviously don't have any problem with the law in my country or anything shady.

How much more work are we talking about here? Is it like a file to fill up or way more than that.

It's much more than that. But if a company is interested in hiring you, it's for them to worry about. They may well also need information from you. You can just wait and see if they want to move forward or not.

Short answer: It is hard, and not entirely under the control of the hiring company. There are *no* H1-B visas available for FY2016 (there were 233,000 visa applications filled out by employers for 65,000 spots (plus an extra 20k for those with Master's degrees or more), and they were assigned by lottery in April).

Do you need to work directly with them in the US? I've been involved with several projects over the years where we ended up contracting parts of a project out to individuals over seas because it proved easier than jumping through the hoops of getting work permits and having them 'in-house'.

Good luck.

Yes I do, at least from their point of view. They are looking for a full time in house guy.

Anyways it looks like it won't happen sadly, the audio guy who contacted me seemed really up for it but his bosses and legal departement don't seem to want it. I am waiting for a last answer but I don't have much hope.