We all know that H1B visa quota have already run out in May. Now I am wondering how foreigners are going to deal with visa issues even if jobs are offered from investment banks in US. I heard about O-1 visa. To be qualifed for O-1 visa, one has to be in the top of his/her respective field like arts, science and business (basically satisfying more than 3 out of 8 or 9 conditions such as publication, journal referee, prize etc.). I believe many of science PhDs, particularly postdocs, are qualified for O-1 visa. My concern is that how we can justify getting O-1 visa for investment bank jobs while claiming that we are excellent in science. Has anyone in the forum succeeded in switching from science to business with O-1 visa? I would like to hear some stories. Thanks.

I once had an offer from an IB and while their lawyers applied for my H1B the quota ran out. A lawyer I contacted privately suggested that given my background it would not be difficult for him to get an O1 visa. The lawyers from the firm working for IB claimed they were also considering O1. However human resources or whoever was responsible for decisions of this kind in the bank would not them let do it. I guess it was too non-standard so they hired the next guy on the list instead.My understanding is that even if you apply for an H1B visa you have to justify why your physics/math background is relevant for a job at an investment bank. The lawyers from the aforementioned firm wrote a letter explaining why my education was what the bank needed. They also attached a couple of general interest magazine articles or something explaining how physics and math PhD was very important for Wall St (all that was included in the application package for H1B). I believe that O1 case is not very different in this respect except that the level of education/achievement is a bit higher.

Ebal, Thanks for the quick reply. I am sorry to hear that O1 visa did not work in your case. Did it happen this year or a while ago? This year, the US visa situation is virtually impossible for foreigners who want to work in any commercial jobs. Also, I see a big problem with H1B visa since investment banks usually look for quick starters while one can start working only after October 1st with H1B visa. Given the really bad visa situation, I hope IBs and their immigration lawyers consider other options like O1 visa. When I was asked about US visa in my interviews with IBs, I mentioned O1 visa. They seem to be okay with that when I mentioned my lawyer suggested O1 visa for my case. I would very much like to hear any successful stories with O1 visa to make sure it actually works out. Thanks.

I don't mean this to be flame, but... are finance jobs in the US really so much better than elsewhere as to justify the high demand for them? Or is it really hard to get work visas in the other countries as well?The US, speaking in general and average-oriented terms, makes people go through all sorts of post-9/11 visa hurdles, only to get half as much vacation, pay insane housing/rent prices-- at least in NYC and California-- and work longer hours on average. Moving to the US for a really great particular job makes a lot of sense, because interesting work can easily outweigh all of those, but it wouldn't make sense, in my opinion, for anyone to move across the country for an average banking job. I'm really glad that a lot of talented people want to come in to this country, but I'm surprised at the fact.

QuoteOriginally posted by: almosteverywhereI don't mean this to be flame, but... are finance jobs in the US really so much better than elsewhere as to justify the high demand for them? Or is it really hard to get work visas in the other countries as well?The US, speaking in general and average-oriented terms, makes people go through all sorts of post-9/11 visa hurdles, only to get half as much vacation, pay insane housing/rent prices-- at least in NYC and California-- and work longer hours on average. Moving to the US for a really great particular job makes a lot of sense, because interesting work can easily outweigh all of those, but it wouldn't make sense, in my opinion, for anyone to move across the country for an average banking job. I'm really glad that a lot of talented people want to come in to this country, but I'm surprised at the fact.I have thought the same thing myself. Why am I here? I have worked in other countries before and really had a great time - but why am I back to struggling ?Answers: (a) US is the only place I found which really has the "remote" potential of becoming very rich. US has some 390 people among the top 500 billionaires compared to only 23 in the UK - a ratio of around 25 etc. A part of this is that the fact that it is a larger economy. (b) Now, in no European country (including UK) are people from Asians treated equally in terms of career prospects to people from Europe (assuming European firms). UK is definitely the best among all the European countries to work at, but the attitude in the US is much more fairer system with is much more closer to equal-opportunities - even if it is more of a police system. The key idea is not to take the police-system of the US personally. (c) In most companies in Europe, by default they want people who can already work in Europe - they don't take any prospective employees from outside the EU. Rarely do any European firms try to get any visa for workers (unless someone is being shifted from overseas division). In the US, a huge of firms actually seek to get a H1B or other visas for their prospective employees who are originally from places like asia and had come to the states for an education.

1e1207,this happened in the beginning of 2004, between February and April - I am not sure exactly. Luckily soon after that I found another job with relatively small HF where they were not so rigid about things. I was able to get an H1B starting in October of 2004.From my experience it is rather unlikely that a big organization like the bank I dealt with would want to try to do any non-standard things. The boss of the department who hired me didn't care what type of visa I'd get. All he wanted was that I start as soon as possible. When layers suggested O1 he told them to go for it. However the head of HR (maybe it was not HR, I don't remember anymore) wouldn't give the green light for the lawyers to apply for an O1. I even proposed to apply for it through my lawyer but HR didn't like it either (whereas guys from the fund were ok both with O1 and my own lawyer applying for it). When it became clear that HR wouldn't let me apply for an O1 and H1 would not be available until half a year later they quickly dropped me and hired someone who probably didn't have these problems.

> I don't mean this to be flame, but... are finance jobs in the US really so much better than elsewhere as to> justify the high demand for them? Or is it really hard to > get work visas in the other countries as well?If you're already in the US on a different kind of visa, possibly have various ties here, I guess you'd need very strong motivation to go elsewhere. More so if you know little about other places.I don't know if finance jobs here are so much better or not, but the demand for visas is high only because the supply is so low and getting lower. Besides finance jobs are not the only source and probably only a very small fraction of overall demand for H1Bs.

QuoteOriginally posted by: pb273even if it is more of a police system. The key idea is not to take the police-system of the US personally. what do u mean?! it's nothing like a police state, imho. there's no cameras on every street in usa, and the privacy is a big deal

QuoteOriginally posted by: jawabeanQuoteOriginally posted by: pb273even if it is more of a police system. The key idea is not to take the police-system of the US personally. what do u mean?! it's nothing like a police state, imho. there's no cameras on every street in usa, and the privacy is a big dealFor people on H1-Bs, although not quite a police state, there are some limitations to privacy that citizens do not have to deal with: They have to give notice to the government when they are moving, are restricted to one single employer and cannot have another source of labor income (no matter if you want to be a humble TA at a university). Not to mention the hurdles you have to jump when trying to get your Green Card. That's another can of worms. Still, it's worth the hassle, IMHO

QuoteOriginally posted by: 1e1207We all know that H1B visa quota have already run out in May. Now I am wondering how foreigners are going to deal with visa issues even if jobs are offered from investment banks in US. I heard about O-1 visa. To be qualifed for O-1 visa, one has to be in the top of his/her respective field like arts, science and business (basically satisfying more than 3 out of 8 or 9 conditions such as publication, journal referee, prize etc.). I believe many of science PhDs, particularly postdocs, are qualified for O-1 visa. My concern is that how we can justify getting O-1 visa for investment bank jobs while claiming that we are excellent in science. Has anyone in the forum succeeded in switching from science to business with O-1 visa? I would like to hear some stories. Thanks.The post above is two years old...I would like to ask the question again to see if anyone with a strong publication record and a PhD. in physics has been successful in applying for the o-1 visa for a quant role? Thank you kindly. Y