Congratulations! You have chosen to pursue an U.S. education and have been awarded an F-1 or J-1 student visa. For sure, your time in the U.S. will be one of the most extraordinary experiences of your life. However, don’t celebrate too much just yet. We all know that there are at least two sides to every story: the “fairy tale” and the “real-life drama”. For Example, the “real story” is that there were 236,000 H-1B Visa Applications for the Fiscal Year 2016 visa lottery. The cap of 65,000 Regular H-1B Visas and 20,000 US Master Degree H-1B Visa Cap were both reached by April 7, 2016 (just 5 days after the USCIS began excepting H-1B applications for the next fiscal year). Meaning that over 150K+ people were unable to obtain the necessary work authorization to remain in the U.S. for work after graduation.
While it is clear that though many hope, dream, and aspire to secure H-1b employment opportunities and remain in the U.S. post- graduation, the reality is that most international students will find themselves with few options to change from F-1/J-1 status to the Specialty Worker visa category after graduation. International students have only 60 days to either enroll in another college or university for graduate studies or to begin an approved OPT experience. Besides the aforementioned, most international students have few other viable options to remain in the U.S. once their academic and training experiences have concluded. Sadly, even after obtaining a post-graduate degree, most international students find that they are still stuck on the same ol’ “OPT to H-1b or bust” merry-go-round they were on when they had finished their undergraduate education.
How can USAVCS help international students increase their options to legally remain in the U.S. after graduation?
Through our Migration Mentorship and Career Planning Program, we work collaboratively with clients to develop customized career planning solutions for business and investor visa opportunities.
Our Mentors stand at the crossroads of business consultancy and U.S. immigration law and are at the ready to foreign students develop customized career development and business solutions for specialty worker, business, and investor visa applications.
Our Mentors help prepare international students for post-graduation professional and business opportunities by:
- Helping set career goals and helping international students to take the necessary steps to realize them;
- Developing strategic thinking capabilities;
- Connecting with and contacting other mentors, resources, and important people in the student’s field of interest;
- Using personal and professional contacts to help our clients identify and network with industry professionals, find internships, and locate possible employment, business, and investment visa opportunities; and
- Developing job seeking and interviewing skills and resources.
Why Work With a Mentor?
Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have a powerful positive effect on young people in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Ultimately, mentoring connects young people to personal growth and development, social, and economic opportunities. By working with our mentors, parents can be certain that, in addition to achieving their academic goals, their children will be working in advance of graduation with a trusted and capable advisor to simultaneously invest in the kinds of future-focused activities necessary to position themselves to take advantage of the kinds of relevant employment and/or investment visa opportunities that are available to only the most well prepared international students post-graduation.
Support & Reassurance
Parents can be assured that their child is working in advance of graduation with a highly qualified professional who cares about their child’s future post-graduation visa options, and that they are not alone in dealing with the challenges of trying to secure viable visa options to begin their career in the U.S. after their studies and subsequent OPT training are complete.
Our Mentors have valuable business and life experience that can help clients save time, money, and aggravation in the “long run” because the focus is on early and long-term engagement to help identify and target activities that cumulatively align clients with their long-term intentions. Thereby, improving the client’s chances of achieving his/her desired post-graduation goals.
Mentorship is Priceless
Our Mentors encourage clients to constantly consider their long-term goals and try new and different strategies and think more creatively about career, business, and investment opportunities. Our Mentors hold clients accountable for the accomplishing short-term goals and activities, thereby helping clients line up the dominos to create intended long-term results.
Our Process
To build a strong foundation for success, we start with a complete case assessment to identify goals and most suitable option(s), followed by a formal agreement outlining the roles and expectations of both Mentor and client participant, including details such as: when the pair will meet; how frequently and for how long; terms; and the goals of the engagement.
While the duration and frequency of mentoring meetings varies, most mentoring partners meet or talk either once per week or twice per month. The format and content of these conversations may vary, but typically consist of brainstorming sessions to develop SMART goals (Specific -simple, sensible, significant; Measurable -meaningful, motivating; Achievable -agreed, attainable; Relevant -reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based; Time bound -time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive), solve problems, updates and follow-ups on current projects, or more focused discussion of professional development or business investment visa opportunity-related topics. Each session ends with actionable steps to achieve goals and intentions.
Our Programs
Employment
The Employment program is designed to help clients identify and develop strategies to obtain curricular practical training (CPT) and optional practical training (OPT) and H-1B in advance of graduation. Includes assistance in developing personal branding.
Minimum 12 months
For more information on our Employment Migration Mentorship and Career Planning Service, contact one of our USAVCS Immigration Consultants to schedule a consultation.
Non-profit
The Non-profit program is design to assist clients interested in humanitarian services to find cap exempt employment opportunities and/or establish and develop non-profit organizations that may be used to qualify for Cap Exempt H-1B visa opportunities post-graduation.
Minimum 24 months
For more information on our Non-profit Migration Mentorship and Career Planning Service, contact one of our USAVCS Immigration Consultants to schedule a consultation.
Small Business
The Small Business program is design to help enterprising foreign students identify and develop small business opportunities capable of qualifying for curricular practical training (CPT), optional practical training (OPT), E-2, L-1, O-1, NIW, and/or other relevant post-graduation business-based visa opportunities.
Minimum 24 months
For more information, contact one of our USAVCS Immigration Consultants to schedule a consultation.
