As you might have noticed, I’ve dialled down on writing about my adventures. Not sure if it’s because I’m doing less or because everything isn’t as new anymore. Either way, just a short recap of what I have been up to over the last few weeks.
Finally threw a housewarming for my new place, just realised that’s probably kind of weird to do for a temporary house haha, but I like having people over
Went to the craziest show I’ve ever seen, Ruckus and Rumpus Revival, an underground art festival, which resembled something of an underground circus with burlesque, a real-life rap battle, strippers, a woman shoving a sword down her throat, a couple stabbing themselves with needles and threw hearts or livers (some kind of organ) at the audience.
Visited my first smoke lounge, basically a crazy fancy-looking smoke shop with a huge indoor seating area and a ridiculous amount of TVs, with a person that I met last summer while working behind the bar at North Sea Jazz in the Netherlands and who happens to live and work in SF at a big tech company (we were supposed to have dinner but ended up at a smoke shop).
Been exploring the start-up and climate tech community in SF:
Joined a DutchTechSF dinner, invited by Oliver Binckhorst again, and met other Dutch entrepreneurs in the Bay Area
Work on Climate Wednesdays with Marcella
Founder community dinner at Wefunder
Holland in the Valley spring drinks
Visa update
Currently, I’m on a J1 visa (internship/traineeship visa) until the end of June. To stay I would need to get a permanent working visa such as an H1B, O1, or L1 and in the worst-case scenario, I could probably extend my J1. These are by no means easy to get and require quite a lot of planning ahead of time.
The most common visa to go for is an H1B, which is based on a lottery system where the chance of success is dependent on the number of people applying and available placements. In 2021 308,613 people applied and 131,970 spots were allocated (42.76% acceptance), whereas, in 2022 483,927 people applied, and 127,600 spots were allocated (26.37% acceptance). Find more info here.
The H1B lottery takes place once a year, for 2024 the application period falls from the 1st to the 17th of March. A company (or multiple) can enter you into the lottery for $10, which is refundable if you don’t get in. If you are selected, they can officially file a petition for your visa to work in the US for 2-3 years. Getting through the lottery doesn’t guarantee you a visa yet, there’s still a whole process after, for which the company will usually hire lawyers and have 90 days to fill in all the paperwork.
The other two options are O1 and L1, where the former requires you to be exceptional in your field and the latter is company based, sometimes referred to as a marriage with your company. To get an O1, you need proof of being an exception through academic publications, speaking at conferences or other forms of recognition. For the L1, you are fully dependent on your company in the sense that if you are fired you have 3 days to pack up your life and leave the country. The advantage of an H1B is that you are allowed to stay for 2-3 years without being tied to your company.
Since I’m considering staying, I’ve been asking around about the visas and it’s quite difficult to find companies to sponsor internationals, especially starters. Considering processes take quite a long time, it’s definitely worthwhile planning ahead when it comes to vias.