I'm a mid-late 20's male working at an architecture office in Korea, and have been contemplating for a while, planning for the near future. I'm pretty much bound to work in Korea for the next 2.5 years due to military obligations (working at a private firm somehow makes up for my military service), but definitely hoping to relocate back to the US after I've done my duties.
I hold a B.Arch and a Master's degree in Urban Design from US schools in New England, and will apply to firms that sponsor H1B Visa applications by the end of my service. But the problem is that the application starts in April 1st (and I would need to apply on this date because they tend to close down the process in the first two weeks due to the excessive number of applications they receive), and the Visa is actually issued in October 1st, which means the firm that hires me will need to wait 6+months to actually see me working at their office.
From what I know of the industry employment trends, I can only assume that the chances of me getting an architecture job in the US is damn slim. Currently I'm thinking of going back to school again for the OPT which would cost me a lot of money, or apply for a faculty position that starts in January. Another possible option would be to move to a Korean firm that has a US branch and transfer... Are there people who actually had to go through a similar process? I would appreciate if you share your experience or thoughts.
Unless the firm here sponsoring you actually knows you, or likes your portfolio so much, that they can apply for you and wait till october, the only other way is to get the OPT. If you did your masters here in the US, did you go back right after it was done? I wonder if you can work on OPT now after coming back from Korea.
We already have way too many architects with strong qualifications in the USA already, and the US government reached its 2014 H1B application limit (50,000) within a couple of weeks of opening it for the year. You can only qualify for H1B status if an employer has met the legal requirements for hiring locally and has been unable to fill the position with a qualified resident applicant. Even then, there are usually more than an order of magnitude more applications than H1B visas available in any year. There's been a bunch of fraud in the system lately too, and there is a big crackdown on the H1B process coming. So your odds of getting in on an H1B are extremely low.
So, what I'm saying is: planning your future around it would be like planning your career around winning the lottery.
Ouch...how about getting a job at a Korean (or any other Asian) branch of an international office, and transferring to one of its US offices? Maybe the firm would be a bit more tolerant of the 6 months' wait since I'll be working for them anyways in the meantime?
If an employer likes you, they will do whatever is possible to make you stay. I have rarely seen H1 visas for architects being rejected, we are very few and far between, when it comes to the ocean of engineers.
Feb 26, 14 1:10 am ·
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H1B VISA issues
Hello,
I'm a mid-late 20's male working at an architecture office in Korea, and have been contemplating for a while, planning for the near future. I'm pretty much bound to work in Korea for the next 2.5 years due to military obligations (working at a private firm somehow makes up for my military service), but definitely hoping to relocate back to the US after I've done my duties.
I hold a B.Arch and a Master's degree in Urban Design from US schools in New England, and will apply to firms that sponsor H1B Visa applications by the end of my service. But the problem is that the application starts in April 1st (and I would need to apply on this date because they tend to close down the process in the first two weeks due to the excessive number of applications they receive), and the Visa is actually issued in October 1st, which means the firm that hires me will need to wait 6+months to actually see me working at their office.
From what I know of the industry employment trends, I can only assume that the chances of me getting an architecture job in the US is damn slim. Currently I'm thinking of going back to school again for the OPT which would cost me a lot of money, or apply for a faculty position that starts in January. Another possible option would be to move to a Korean firm that has a US branch and transfer... Are there people who actually had to go through a similar process? I would appreciate if you share your experience or thoughts.
Unless the firm here sponsoring you actually knows you, or likes your portfolio so much, that they can apply for you and wait till october, the only other way is to get the OPT. If you did your masters here in the US, did you go back right after it was done? I wonder if you can work on OPT now after coming back from Korea.
We already have way too many architects with strong qualifications in the USA already, and the US government reached its 2014 H1B application limit (50,000) within a couple of weeks of opening it for the year. You can only qualify for H1B status if an employer has met the legal requirements for hiring locally and has been unable to fill the position with a qualified resident applicant. Even then, there are usually more than an order of magnitude more applications than H1B visas available in any year. There's been a bunch of fraud in the system lately too, and there is a big crackdown on the H1B process coming. So your odds of getting in on an H1B are extremely low.
So, what I'm saying is: planning your future around it would be like planning your career around winning the lottery.
Ouch...how about getting a job at a Korean (or any other Asian) branch of an international office, and transferring to one of its US offices? Maybe the firm would be a bit more tolerant of the 6 months' wait since I'll be working for them anyways in the meantime?
Sadly, no OPT option btw unless I earn another degree in the states.
If an employer likes you, they will do whatever is possible to make you stay. I have rarely seen H1 visas for architects being rejected, we are very few and far between, when it comes to the ocean of engineers.
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