Preparing MBA application, for an US business school, is definitely excruciating, but what is all this for ? What about your chances of working in the US after you get the degree? What are the things that you should consider? I asked the question myself before going there (or not; i am yet to make a decision)and these are my honest findings. Hope, it helps anyone who wants to know about stuff.
US Work VISAs — what top international MBA students should know:
Get as much information as possible and make decision after knowing the risks in your own personal way. Risks are not necessarily bad(stress alert!).
So at the time of coming to college, you will have an F1 VISA. It is very easy and schools will help you as the US schools have nearly 30% (median) international applicant. So they deal with these stuffs all the time. You need to be enrolled into a graduate/ post graduate program and have to have a course load. This VISA allows you to intern for free (There is a nine-month waiting period since the time you start school to start interning) or for money (you are limited to earn money under F1 visa only for twelve months so if you graduate and still want to do an internship, you have to balance it out from the twelve month. Be mindful of that!). After you finish school, your F1 visa expires. You are only allowed to stay in the country for 30 days else you have to show proof that you have a full-time employment offer from a corporation. So, if you went to school in US and you do not have any intention of working there, you must vacate after 30 days. Deportation for you. So, it is not like two years and your life is set. Two years will go by really quickly and at the end you have your life to plan out. So, plan and ask people who has been in situations where you will be in after MBA way ahead.
Now, what if you do not have a job offer after you finished your school and need to buy some time to get that dream job of yours?
· Provision EAD (Employment Authorization Document) — You are still under F1 and they provide you this photo id card, so you do not get deported from the border every now and then when you travel across border may be for interview and other stuff. To get the EAD, most common strategy is CPT (curricular practical training — this is free unpaid internship — you may ask your friend from b school who is starting a company to do you a favor to get the document and drift around for some time.)
This also called OPT (optional practical training)- that is your 12 more months after graduation! — It is a bridge under which you apply the lottery process- H1-B or other types! — You may laugh, and this is crazy; you will never think of these.
So, from the F1 Visa- you have to save the no of twelve work months after graduation if you fail to secure employment to buy you some time. Also, you are not allowed to leave country if you are under EAD — there are grey area though, and I do not want to get into trouble — those immigration officers— anyway, they have bigger fish to fry.
So, once you start working in the US, you are pretty much under the mercy of the process! Hope this does make sense what I am saying. I am in no means promoting illegal staying and stuff like that.
Now H1-B — The process is designed to frustrate and deport you to your home country, and make way for American citizen.
So, your employer will apply for H1-B in April and you will be notified in October whether you have won the lottery. Your school will end in May and if you accept the full time offer from the internship, your employer will start the proceedings! So, if you do not get the H1-B that year, you can apply the same in the following year and your EAD (under F1) is your one-year extension — — you got two chances but it is a lottery!
Numbers: 236,000 petitions competing for 65,000 slots (regular)+ 20,000slots (masters, doctors, lawyers — you are trying to get one of these. It is totally random lottery, and THIS IS CRAZY. Your spouse can’t work under this visa and this can be life changing for many. Once you win the lottery you have it for three years and you can renew after three years!Still no green card!!!!)
I do not want to get into the politics of this, but in 2004 there were close to 200,000 slots under H1-B but now it’s 85,000. You get the point. The immigrants have over stayed their welcome- i guess — quite disrespectful as US is country of immigrants!
Worst case-
If you no longer an F1 visa student, you can not apply for H1-B. You need to have a job offer from an US firm to apply for H1-B. So you have to come back to home country.
Best shot chances –
· Convert the internship into job offers and give yourself two chances for H1-B.
· Try to get into job in traditional MBA industries : banking and consulting ( example- one of the alumni from NYU tried for H1-B and did not get into twice and she had an offer from Barclays : The Barclays guys helped her out and said no problem — we will put you into our London office for one year and route you in the New York office through L1 Visa- again, not every employer will do things like these. But big firms tend to move people around and they have that kind of resources to do so; it is becoming the culture)
· More established firms in Tech, such as Amazon, Google, Facebook etc. — if you are a top talent, they will try to keep you. Massive MBA recruits will help you to figure out this VISA mess and they do one way or the other!
· Please do lots of cold calling. Even mail and linkedin will help. Ask your network. It is lot of leg work and difficult unless you are superstar and not competing with the others. If that is so, why are you doing an MBA?
· There are other VISAs, which may work to your advantages. Ensure that you are all flushed out with your options. Talk to lots of people.
· Ask your school and career coach for help. They are invested in you. You are invested in them. You guys should figure out a path. Market yourself pretty heavily from the start.
It is not all over even if you did not find a job and came back to your home country. You will have your network and a life changing experience with so much learnings under you.
· In your home country, get into the firms, which have offices in US and pitch the firms to transfer you to US under L1 Visa-under this VISA your spouse can get a L2 card and can get a work permit. This is better than H1-B visa.
Final Thoughts –
It is very hard to move to another country with no income source, taking so much risk — calculated risk. With your experience itself, you have so much in you that you can bring to the table. You are already flexible, adaptable in any cultural setting and way out of your comfort zone — Firms like these. You will learn lots of stuff for sure and why should not you take the ‘risk’ if you believe in yourself. Well, you are not going to die in hunger for sure in the worst case scenario. You will be better than your peers with your value add. One guy told me that MBA is an insurance for your career and if you are not taking that risk, there is no sense in buying that premium. Is not, it all about that ? Well, for challenging times — it will always be!
Alternate Way : Marry an American citizen; get that green card and save yourself all the above trouble. (Do at your own risk, though!)
Thanks for reading!
P.s. Written in hurry and pretty much a conversational draft. Grammar and concision experts — spare me, if you may!
