Originally Posted by: Dr_simonI think your biggest obstacle is not the US Job market but the INS.

Amen.... I don't really understand it all. The UK has it's doors wide open, and all sorts of people from all sorts of places end up in all kinds of jobs here. Meanwhile, I'm very well qualified and can easily support myself, yet the US is borderline impossible. Frustrating, particularly as the whole sponsorship thing is drawn out and expensive. At the moment, the US IT agents seem to be down on importing skills - I got some abusive mails back yesterday from my enquiries. There are loads of jobs available, so the economic downturn and outsourcing stuff can't be too bad yet. Consultancy rates in the US work out about the same as here, and there are more jobs in Irvine CA than there are in London advertised at the moment.

So many rules and regs... I'm wondering if it might be a better idea to go back for a long holiday again, and then just 'forget' to fly home.

On the subject of pay - I'm working in London now as well, for more or less double what I'd get in the rest of the UK, but then everything in London costs more than the rest of the UK, and it's roughly twice as expensive to live in the UK as it is the US.... Everything seems to cost the same in pounds here as it would in dollars there, so with the exchange rate as it is, I could earn half what I do here and live comfortably in the US.

Any philanthropists on the site who want to sponsor my coming over out of the goodness of their hearts? Go on, you know you want to.... :D