[Sharur]

First of all thanks for the quick replies.

Originally Posted by -Blue Moon-

From experience (I'm British born, half american and spent half my life over in Texas) I think that working in the US might be harder than you think. Firstly you more than likely need a sponsor (to sponsor your green card) and they would either have to be an American family member, an American Company (who can prove that you have skills that aren't readily available to them on the American market) or a multi-national company who are willing to sponsor you and send you out as an expatriate or second you to the states.

Unfortunately I don't have any family in the US, actually I barely have family here in Belgium (they all seem to die of cancer ). I don't have skills that aren't available on the US market, I'm the most average IT'er you'll ever know, and I'm also just looking for an average IT job, nothing spectacular. So that means finding a multi-national to send me out as an expatriate would be pretty hard. I read that there's some sort of lottery (could've been a figure of speach that getting a green card is as hard as winning the lottery though) to get a green card if you have none of the above options?

Originally Posted by -Blue Moon-

There are other ways as well, but they're more 'naughty'... you can marry an American girl and then you need to prove that you're ion love which is very invasive but can easily be faked if you know what they'll ask for (photos/love-letters-etc) - I know many people who have got to the US this way --- or you can go a more official route. Go to your local US embassy (likely in Antwerp?) and ask them about the process of emigration. There may be potential for you to get an extended stay visa, to get a student visa, a travel visa - etc... - but at least it could get you out there.

How long do these marriages have to last? Is there any chance that they'll retract your green card (or don't renew it if it's needed) after you seperated? Or do you need to stay married till you find somebody else to marry? What if that girl changes her mind or wants to get married herself? Do they send you back then?
The problem with getting an extended stay visa is a that you move all your stuff there and if you can't get anything to prolong your visa you'll be deported back right, would they do that if you already found a job?

I just realise at this point I'm bombarding you with questions here, just so you know, there's no rush in answering them or anything. It's not like I'm going anywhere, yet.

Originally Posted by -Blue Moon-

Then there's the topic of money... I'd imagine you need enough to cover rent for a few months (in case it takes a while to get a job), you'd need to figure out where you wanna be (I'd suggest silicon valley, since that's where most of the blue chip firms on the west coast are these days) and find out how expensive it is to rent/buy/live/etc... (more importantly check online to see that they have vacancies).

My personal advice would be either make friends with an american girl and do an 'arranged greencard marriage' if your religious/moral views will allow you. Failing that talk to the biggest computing firms around and see if any of them have opportunities to work abroad or if they are willing to sponsor you (maybe even to do a masters while working in their LA office or something?)

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Tietäjä

India? Warm, nice toilets, language. The English (if you're looking for somewhere where it's spoken as an official language) tends to limit you a lot. What comes to US, you might do good checking out the major transnational corporate websites for job applications. Apply for a job that seems nice, and if you get recruited the company will most likely handle the necessities of getting you a work permit/green card or such. Obviously, it's "possible", and a lot of people do it.

I think I'd be terribly uneducated in India and the ways of living there don't really seem all that good to me.

It's not really important to have an awesome carreer in silicon valley or anything, I'd much rather work as the local IT guy in some multinational taking care of the computers/servers/network. I guess that'd be hard to get as a foreigner?
I'm guessing getting a girl to agree to an arranged greencard marriage would usually need money to persuade her aswell? I don't see anybody just marrying some guy just to help him quite honestly.

Originally Posted by Tietäjä

How about Wales? :F

I don't like sheep and I can't even pronounce their towns

Originally Posted by milo

Apart from high end employment (snr positions) ive never seen the attraction of working in the us, afaik the holiday entitlement isn't the same let alone employee rights. TBH i'd try moving to another part of the country first; if that doesn't work i'd personally opt for somewhere in the EU the ease of travel and open employement markets easily offset the language requirement - besides most professional businesses speak english, wasn't there a report a few years ago of german board meetings being conducted in english!?

Well it's not the jobs that attract me in the US, but obviously it is the most important condition that needs to be met to be able to live there. I just really hate the weather and dislike the general attitude of the people here in Belgium, ofcourse I don't know if the people in the US are any better. But I don't think I'd be able to move to a country with the same type of weather or colder and like it there :/
Am I being silly to base such a decision on the type of weather my destination should have like I'm planning a holiday? :P