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Comment by raitom | Hacker News Reader

Exactly! I'm french and it will be the second time this year that I apply for an H1B. Without Tata and Infosys I'd have it for a while now.

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Not sure if this is well known, but here's what you can do if you are not Indian or Chinese. Yes Mr. or Ms. French, you too.

-Do a MS in CS or some STEM field from an accredited school.

-Get a job with an employer willing to start green card process immediately (many will be willing since it means no uncertainity of H1b lottery)

-Before your 3 yr OPT expires, you'll get your EAD (after doing PERM and I-140 on premium).

-Saves your employer a lot of headache and $$$. You get ahead of the rat race

EAD means no need to file for H1b. You are out of the rat race meant to keep Indians and Chinese out of USA.

I dont know what non Indian / non Chinese are complaining about.

H1b issue, the way it is projected in the American MSM, is purely to trash Indians and blame Indians for all the problems USA has. There are thousands of people getting EADs the way I have mentioned, but its all kosher for people who want to point fingers at Indians.

> Get a job with an employer willing to start green card process immediately (many will be willing since it means no uncertainity of H1b lottery)

Good luck finding such an employer when you're fresh out of school.

Also, a greencard takes ages to process.

A greencard takes ages to process only for Indians and Mainland Chinese. Not for other countries.

At least 1 year, which is ages for an employer.

I'm from France and currently in the greencard process, I can tell you that it's the same for us.

> EAD means no need to file for H1b. You are out of the rat race meant to keep Indians and Chinese out of USA.

This is wrong. The EAD is just the Employment Authorization Document. It just says you're allowed to work and you SHOULD have it before the OPT.

aah, my bad. I meant the EAD you get after your I-140 is apprived in the GC process.

Ofcourse you need EAD to work on OPT, but thats only for the duration of your OPT

Sure, it works if you're still in school. What if you already graduated?

I got an MS from a top engineering school from France last June. I already did 2 internships (with a J-1 Intern) and lived in San Diego during ~2 years in total. I have my friends, my gf, my life there.

I'm not enough "exceptional" to get an O-1 or a green card though EB-1.

My employer don't want to sponsor me for an EB-2 now because I'll have to stay out of the USA for an undetermined duration (years).

I'm working as a contractor right now in Canada, waiting 90 days outside of the USA to get another J-1 Intern and my employer is also filling another H1B this year. I don't know what I'll do in 1 year if I don't get an H1B this year.

See, it's not that easy.

Good luck! Try to sign up for the diversity greencard also, it's 2% chance but it's free so nothing to lose :)

I myself failed the H1-B twice :( had to leave the US earlier this year.

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