I am trying to find a recruitment agency that can assist me in
obtaining a work visa in the United States. Ideally the same agency
will be able to supply me with a visa and a job opportunity in the
Information Technology sector.

I am a New Zealand citizen with a university degree and several years
IT experience.

Please remember that I am only interested in agencies that deal in
Information Technology, and that my main concern is obtaining a
suitable working visa.

badger_nz-ga -

You asked about a recruitment agency to assist you in obtaining a work
visa and a job opportunity in the Information Technology sector in the
United States. I know of just such a full-services agency, who for
qualified individuals can make such a placement.

Robert Half International ( http://www.rhii.com/ ), through their
Specialized Staffing Division (
http://www.rhii.com/divisions/index.html ) RHI Consulting (
http://www.rhic.com/ ), provide full-services for information
technology professionals.

They have offices in ( http://www.rhii.net/ ) North America, Europe,
Australia and New Zealand (
http://www.roberthalf.co.nz/Site/showpage.jsp?p=RHDIV&s=RHF_NZL )

Their New Zealand office (
http://www.roberthalf.co.nz/Site/showpage.jsp?p=OFFI&s=RHF_NZL&u=CA ):

 Robert Half Finance & Banking
 Level 35, 48 Shortland Street
 Auckland
 T: +64 9 915 6700
 F: +64 9 915 6701
 Email: rhalfauc@roberthalf.co.nz

Good Luck to you!

Regards, walts-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by badger_nz-ga on 17 Jun 2002 01:10 PDT

I emailed the Robert Half International to confirm the answer below. 
Unfortunately, I was told that they do not provide visas and they 
advised me to contact US Immigration directly. I emailed my enquiry to
their New Zealnd office. Any comment?  

---

Clarification of Answer by walts-ga on 17 Jun 2002 05:56 PDT

badger_nz-ga - 
 
Your original question began "I am trying to find a recruitment agency
that can assist me in obtaining a work visa in the United States." My
answer began by including "I know of just such a full-services agency,
who for qualified individuals can make such a placement."
 
I apologize in that my answer did not include what are the steps
necessary to be considered a "qualified individual" when dealing with
a full-service recruitment agency.
 
While your original question did not ask what those steps were, they
are as follows.
 
Briefly put, you have to be "processed" in their system, with a
potential placement pending. At that point, and based on their
knowledge of the various steps necessary, they will "...assist (you)
in (not only) obtaining a work visa in the United States," but will
assist you with all the steps necessary to ensure the success of the
placement they are providing you.
 
"Processing" usually includes: 
 - An initial contact, I prefer a phone call (that's why I included
their New Zealand office phone number)
 - Unless they have an urgent placement pending, they will usually ask
to see your resume first, before sking for an interview. And,
depending on the specific placement (perhaps an IT Tech Writer) they
may also ask for a more formal Curriculum Vitae.
 - Once your resume is received and reviewed, you will be asked in for
a first round of interviews. This could include several different
interviews and certain written tests.
 - Once those initial steps are completed, and when they have a
suitable placement pending, you will be asked to speak with their
agent who is handling that account. This could include a phone
conversation and a meeting in person.
 - Now, depending on the process agreed to by their client (your
potential future employer), there will be a "client meeting." This
could include actually meeting with the individual(s) for whom you
would be working, or meeting with someone who is representing them
locally.
 - Finally, having been offered a position as a result of this
process, part of the steps for which a recruitment agency can "earn
their fee," is to assist you in the timely completion of all necessary
documentation.
 
If you are not "processed and in their system," asking them "...(if)
they...provide (a) visas," regardless of whether you do that in
person, by a letter or phone call, or by email, will usually elicit
the response your email to them obtained.
 
One last thought - why would any potential US employer go through this
process? Sometimes they are looking for employees from a specific
geographic region, and sometimes their need for employees with certain
specific qualifications just cannot be filled locally.
 
Again, good luck to you. 
 
Regards, walts-ga 

I emailed Robert Half International to confirm the answer .
Unfortunately, I was told that they do not provide visas and they
advised me to contact US Immigration directly. I'm afraid that
walts-ga's answer was incorrect.
Body of email from Robert Half International:
James

Sorry unfortunately we are unable to help you with this.  If you wish to
work in the US you will need to contact US Immigration directly and apply
through them.  Our New Zealand office can play no part in this at all I'm
afraid.

Good luck

Kind regards

Michelle Blake
Robert Half International

I emailed the Robert Half International to confirm the answer below.
Unfortunately, I was told that they do not provide visas and they
advised me to contact US Immigration directly. I'm afraid that
walts-ga's answer was incorrect.

Hello badger_nz,

There are a number of online resources available for persons in your
situation. Tipically, an H1-B visa is the one that would fit your
profile and needs, according to the question posted.
Here are some of the places I found, they include either agencies that
assist in obtaining an US based IT related job and a visa, and
websites that list those particular agencies:

The H-1b Visa page offers Job placement services in the U.S. for
qualified I.T. professionals and you can submit your resume for free.
Check them out at http://www.h-1bvisa.com/aboutus.html

KBS Consultants is a company based in India, and "a leading job search
and employment agency on the web. Jobs and career options open in
USA...We offer jobs and employment opportunities and recruit
professionasl and engineers. Computer, software, telecom, ebedded,
erp, DBAs, System engineers."
They offer their services for free for candidates or job applicants.
http://www.jobsearchworld.com/sap.html

h1bsponsors.com "is an interactive website that links h-1b job seekers
and
employers...We recruit candidates for our subscribers (Employers)
world wide...Our subscribers are willing to sponsor h-1b visa for
qualified candidates from any part of the world."
You can post your IT resume on their IT Job Seekers section for free.
http://h1bsponsors.com

Yankee Software is a company that welcomes h1-B applicants and "will
provide sponsorhip when necessary." They specialize in e-business
solutions, infrastructure, security issues and more IT related fields.
They have their contact information so you can go ahead and send them
your resume.
http://www.yankeesoft.com/careers.html

There are a number of informational sources available if you join a
Yahoo group related to H1B visa issues. The H1_Visa_Info group for
example, "...discusses the latest trends, hot skill sets, market
situation and related matters to H1B visa holders and interested
candidates."
http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=h1b+visa&submit=Search

Also, there is a website that targets the United States' foreign IT
professionals market and is called Y-Axis. They have "...over 1000
consulting firms and 2000 international placement agencies..." as
members, looking for IT professional expertise.
http://www.y-axis.com/aboutus/

Another company, Bridgemount Solutions, claims to have extensive
experience presenting foreign IT professionals to clients in North
America. Click on the "home" link at the left for a complete
explanation of their services.
http://www.bridgemount.com/ 

You can get more informed about the life as a h1b visa holder in the
United States in H1 Base:
http://www.h1base.com/
Keywords used:

h1b visa jobs
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=Fx2WjB&q=h1b+visa+jobs

Hope this helps,

Jmmjumarti-ga

The site http://www.visaspecialist.com/ prrovides you with a free test
to see if they can help you get a visa.  This at least could be a
first step to getting into the country to find a job, or for applying
for jobs on the numerous jobs sites in the US.

Badger_nz:

I've just been through the U.S. work permit wringer myself while
trying to obtain a working visa for a friend. Make no mistake: it is a
long and arduous process, and certainly not for the faint of heart.
The U.S. immigration service - the INS - is infamously inefficient.
(The INS made headlines a few months ago when a Florida flight school
received student visas for Mohammed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi, two of
the hijackers who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center.) And
the INS guards its work permits zealously. U.S. employers who wish to
have you, a foreign citizen, on their payroll will end up spending
thousands of dollars for the priviledge. If a company's going to spend
big bucks on you, they have to really, really want you. But it sounds
like you may have in-demand skills, which certainly ups your
desirability.

Walt-ga's suggestion of consulting a recruiting agency seemed like a
good one to me, and I didn't understand why you rejected his answer.
Then I read your responses again, and it occurred to me that perhaps
you don't understand how the employment visa process works in this
country.

First of all, no one but the INS can grant you a work visa. If you
rang the recruiting agency and asked them if they could get you a
visa, then of course they would have said no. On top of that, unless
you are a super-duper high achiever (Nobel prize winner, highly
repected professor, etc.) you can't petition the U.S. government
directly for an employment visa. A company that wants to hire you must
petition on your behalf.

Here's the way the employment visa works: potential workers are broken
down into preference categories. From what you've written, it sounds
like you'd be employment preference three (catchy, huh?). You can
confirm that here:

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa;employ-based.html

Preference three means that if a U.S. company wants to hire you, they
have to file a petition for an "alien worker" (that's you!). Here's
what the petition looks like:

http://www.ins.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/i-140.pdf

Assuming that you're eligible to work in the U.S. (certain crimes,
diseases, and afflictions disqualify you, see
http://travel.state.gov/visa;ineligible.html for more information) AND
that your visa petition is approved AND that there are visas available
in your category, there's a reasonable chance that you may,
eventually, be granted permission to work in the U.S.

I hope this doesn't sound too discouraging. Tens of thousands of
people are granted permission to work in the the U.S. every year, and
you could certainly be one of the lucky ones. But judging by your
original question, and your response to Walt_ga's answer, your
expectations for obtaining a U.S. work permit were a little
unrealistic.

I wish you the best of luck!