Here’s another edition on Dear Sophie, the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at tech companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that enables people around the world to rise above boundaries and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “I would like to answers to your questions in my next column.
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Dear Sophie,
I’m a UX/UI designer in Europe and I work for a web3 company in the United States.
I would like to resign from my current position and move to the US to pursue work that allows me to have more autonomy, flexibility and the ability to take on different projects with different clients in the US
How can I do this? Thank you for your help!
—Worldly web3 Wonder
Dear worldly,
I have long wondered if web3 will make immigration obsolete. Technology scales passive work, enhancing and elevating the human experience. I don’t think immigration is going anywhere anytime soon!
Let’s dive into some of the US immigration options that will help you get the autonomy and job diversity you crave!
The work visa that allows you to work as a freelancer…
Image Credits: Joanna Buniak/Sophie Alcorn (opens in a new window)
Most nonimmigrant work visas that allow you to stay and work temporarily in the United States are tied to a specific employer who sponsors you for the visa, offers you a job, and applies for the visa on your behalf.
Unless you can get a work permit, only one main type of visa clearly allows you to freelance — in other words, work with multiple companies — and that’s the O-1 visa. With an O-1A, you will need to have a US agent acting either as your employer or representing multiple employers to sponsor you for the O-1. A colleague in your field can act as your US agent, but the petition must provide details of the relationship between you as the O-1 beneficiary and the US agent.
The O-1 does not give you complete autonomy, but it will allow you the freedom to choose different projects in your field in different organizations.