It's been a crappy week. The chief antagonist has been the INS. For reasons not properly unexplained, they denied me a B1 (Business Visitor) visa. They also suggested I leave the United States.

On Wednesday, I had a meeting with an immigration attorney, who couldn't believe that this had happened. He said, as I'd been previously told, that the whole point of the B1 was to be able to go to interviews for jobs. He's suggested applying for a B2 (Tourist Visa) instead. We also discussed my options beyond that, in terms of getting a work visa. Once I have a job, I can get an H1b visa, or I can start my own company, and get an E1 (Investor's) visa. I won't go into all the costs, as it's too horrible to mention, except to say that generally, employers pay for an H1b, and then nickle and dime you whilst you work for them, to get the money back.

Of course, the problem is, that in the current mini-recession, no-one wants to take someone on, with the added expense of paying for their visa, even if you eventually get the money back.

I've started looking at Canada as another possible place to work. This sounded like a good alternative, as theoretically, immigration is easier there. Today I spoke with an HR person in a Canadian IT consultancy, and her message was one of doom and gloom, akin to that of most American corporations. She made it sound like it's not that easy for Britons to just turn up and get a job and a work permit. I'm going to ring the Canadian Consulate on Monday, and get the official line on this.

I've also started looking outside Colorado, for jobs. Still, nothing biting. :-(

OK, so this was a bit of a down posting, and it's the only one I've done this week. The thing is, it's an accurate representation of my week. I've been royally shafted by Galileo laying me off before getting me my Green Card. Every employment agency I've mentioned this to, can't believe they did such a mean thing, especially, as I have so many commitments in the US.

Actually, I feel at bit better for getting this off my chest. That's odd, as for several days, I just didn't want to write my blog because I new it'd be depressing stuff. Now I've done it, I feel better for it! I promise to go back to the more light-hearted amusing stuff real soon.