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Today I got a job offer, from a tiny startup in the US.

I would absolutely love to work with this company, and move over here. However, it's a tiny startup with no legal team. How difficult would it be for this company to sponsor my visa? How much would it cost them?

and what kind of visa would I need? (I'm a web developer), some college but no degree.

My current visa expires late November. With such a short time frame is it even possible to pursue this job?

I know that greencards are probably exhausted by now for sure. I think the h-2B visas start October. Would that be an option or would I even qualify?

I'm from Denmark.

I would really appreciate some help in this matter.

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    Note that strictly speaking, expiration of a visa has no bearing on how long you may remain in the US. What matters is the notation on your I-94 form (or the electronic record you can look up at i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94). Also, as you probably know, but your question does not make it clear, you absolutely cannot do any work for this company while you are in B-2 status. – phoog Sep 15 '16 at 19:28
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    H-1B normally requires at least a bachelor's. There are a few exceptions, see this USCIS page. – mkennedy Sep 15 '16 at 19:59
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As pointed out in the comments, you cannot work under B-2 status, and accepting an employment offer while physically present in the US will most likely violate the B-2 visa requirements, because it is a non-immigrant visa and you had to prove that you intend to return to your home country.

You cannot qualify for an H2B visa, because this is designated for jobs that are seasonal in nature (tourism, construction, etc.), and Web-development would not count as such. The only viable option is to get a H1B visa.

The startup will have to hire lawyers to file applications for the H1B visa for you while you will be back in Denmark, so they don't have to have a legal department. The cost of sponsoring the H1B includes application filing fees and attorney fees. According to http://redbus2us.com/h1b-visa-2017/, "the H1B filing fee can vary anywhere from $1,600 USD to $7,400 USD + Attorney Fee", where immigration attorney fee is usually in the range of a few thousand dollars. Note that you cannot pay any of these fees yourself.

Finally, once they pay the filing and attorney fees, your application will be entered in the infamous H1B lottery. The yearly quota for H1B visas handed out is 65,000, and, just for reference, in 2016 there were over 200,000 applications. If you don't get selected, you may re-apply the following year, but your company will have to pay all these fees again.

Quick note: you do not necessarily need to have a degree. Proving that you have enough experience that would be equivalent to obtaining a US bachelor's degree is enough. See "Can I qualify without a bachelor's degree?" at https://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/h-1b-specialty-occupation/understanding-h-1b-requirements

You mentioned Green cards. You cannot simply apply for a Green card with no history of being in the US. After 3 years of H1B status you may apply for Permanent Residency (Green card), or you need to marry an American. There are other ways, but most people don't qualify (for example, getting a Green card after being granted asylum).

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    You can accept the offer in B-2 status, but you cannot start to work without either changing status or leaving the country, getting a different visa, and re-entering. Also, depending on the country of birth, anyone can enter the green card lottery without any prior history in the US. A long shot, to be sure, but people do enter this way every year. – phoog Oct 24 '16 at 7:14
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    There's no time-in-the-US requirement to apply for a green card, the problem is that you usually can't apply by yourself and instead need a US sponsor. For family-based immigration the sponsor is family, for employment-based categories it is an employer. If you have an H-1B the employer has little incentive to sponsor you for PR until you are closer to running out of that status, hence the wait. The sponsor exceptions are the diversity lottery, an EB-1 (when you are really, really good at something) and an EB-5 (when you have a lot of money). – Dennis Oct 24 '16 at 15:59
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    @Dennis "no time-in-the-US requirement to apply for a green card": indeed, those arriving on immigrant visas may never before have set foot in the US, yet they are permanent residents from the moment the immigration officer stamps the visa. – phoog Oct 24 '16 at 16:56
  • I should have clarified, in OP's context he couldn't simply apply for a green card (which is one of the questions) outside of Denmark and without having some prior status that would allow him to do so (like getting sponsored for PR after some time under H1B), but in general there are many ways of getting a green card that don't require history of being present in the US. I forgot to mention the lottery. Thanks all for pointing out there is more to the process of obtaining a green card. – kuki331 Oct 25 '16 at 5:50

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