Landing a US Tech Job from Abroad: Raj's International Job Search

The Dream From Bangalore (2023)

Raj Mehta was a capable software engineer in Bangalore, working at an Indian SaaS company. He had five years of experience, strong fundamentals, and a growing reputation in the Indian tech community. His salary was 30 lakhs rupees per year—approximately $35,000 USD.

He was good. But he was frustrated.

"In India, there's a ceiling," he explains. "Even senior engineers with ten years of experience might make $70K. The compensation gap between India and the US was enormous. I wasn't dreaming about being rich. I was dreaming about financial security that was possible in the US but not in India."

Raj had heard the stories. Other engineers from his school had moved to the US, gotten H1B visas, and doubled or tripled their salaries. But the path seemed impossible from Bangalore. Most US companies said "we don't sponsor visas for entry-level" or "we only hire from US candidates."

But Raj also noticed something: some companies were changing.

In 2023, the venture-backed startup world was increasingly hiring remote. Companies like Figma, Gusto, and Zapier had distributed teams across multiple countries. They weren't US-only. And some of them were open to sponsoring work visas.

Raj made a decision: he'd target remote-first companies that explicitly supported visa sponsorship.

The Foundation: Portfolio & Credibility (6 Months Before Applying)

Raj knew his Indian engineering credentials wouldn't carry weight in Silicon Valley interviews. A five-year background at an Indian SaaS company was real experience, but US recruiters wouldn't know how to evaluate it.

So he spent six months building American-facing credibility:

GitHub Portfolio (2 months) He took the internal tools he'd built at his current company—things he could ethically open-source or recreate—and released them on GitHub. He built:

• A React dashboard library with 50+ components (published to npm)
• An analytics SDK for JavaScript applications
• Documentation and examples for each

He wasn't trying to be clever. He was trying to show exactly how he worked: methodical, well-documented, tested.

Open Source Contributions (3 months) He contributed to three popular open-source projects:

• 12 pull requests to a data visualization library
• 8 PRs to a popular testing framework
• 4 PRs to documentation improvements

Each PR was thoughtful. He'd identify a genuine problem, propose a solution, listen to feedback, and revise. This was visible proof that he could work in a collaborative codebase and take feedback.

Technical Writing (1 month) He wrote five technical articles on Medium about challenges he'd solved:

• "Building Type-Safe APIs with TypeScript"
• "Optimizing React Performance in High-Traffic Applications"
• "Database Connection Pooling in Node.js: A Deep Dive"

Each article showed depth of knowledge and clear communication. Medium would give him visibility with US engineers who read on his feed.

LinkedIn Profile Optimization He rewrote his LinkedIn profile in English (previously it had been partly in Hindi). He:

• Rewrote his headline from "Senior Software Engineer" to "Full-Stack Engineer | React, Node, TypeScript | Open Source Contributor | Currently in Bangalore"
• Added links to his GitHub and portfolio
• Rewrote his summary to be about the types of problems he solved, not just the company name
• Added keywords like "API design," "system design," "scalability"

By month six, Raj had:

• 800+ GitHub followers
• 200+ followers on Medium
• A portfolio that showed depth, not just breadth
• A LinkedIn profile that US recruiters could actually evaluate

The Job Search Strategy (Month 7)

Raj created a very specific filter for companies:

1. Explicitly remote-friendly (stated in company website or job descriptions)
2. Actively sponsoring visas (mentioned H1B or work visa sponsorship)
3. Series B to Series D (stable, better resources for visa sponsorship than series A; more hiring momentum than mature companies)
4. Tech stack match: React, Node.js, TypeScript (he wanted to go deep, not learn new stacks during interviews)
5. Mission alignment: Companies solving real problems, not just chasing hype

He found approximately 40 companies that matched all five criteria.

But here was his key insight: don't apply blind to the job board. Instead:

1. Research the company's engineering team on LinkedIn
2. Find someone in the current team in a similar role (another engineer)
3. Reach out with a personalized message: "Hi [Engineer], I'm an engineer in Bangalore looking to transition to a US role. I've been following [Company]'s work on [specific product]. I'd love to grab a brief call to understand what it's like to be an engineer there and whether you'd recommend applying."

He wasn't asking for a job. He was asking for information. But many engineers responded because they remembered what it was like to be a non-US engineer navigating this process.

In five weeks, he had:

• 24 informational calls with engineers at target companies
• 8 referrals to recruiting teams
• 5 direct invitations to apply for open roles

This was far more efficient than applying to 100 jobs on blind.

The Technical Interviews: Timezone Edition (Month 8)

By October 2023, Raj had three concurrent interview processes going with companies he'd been referred to.

But there was a problem: time zones.

Bangalore is 12.5 hours ahead of US Pacific Time. A 9 a.m. PT meeting is 9:30 p.m. Bangalore time. A 6 p.m. PT meeting is 6:30 a.m. the next day in India.

Company A (Series B MarTech): Interviews scheduled for 8 p.m. PT = 8:30 a.m. next day Bangalore. Doable but early.

Company B (Series C DevTools): Interviews scheduled for 10 a.m. PT = 10:30 p.m. Bangalore. He was wiped out by the end.

Company C (Series C Fintech): Offered both: early morning PT (afternoon Bangalore) or late evening PT (early morning). He chose their early morning option.

Raj learned to manage the timezone challenge:

1. Schedule around your strength. He chose Company C because they'd been flexible. He picked afternoon Bangalore time, which meant he was sharp and had had coffee.

2. Prepare the technical environment. He tested his internet connection extensively. He got a backup mobile hotspot. Flaky internet could have tanked interviews.

3. Be transparent about async work. Some companies offered take-home coding challenges (which he could do on his own time). He accepted those enthusiastically.

4. Communicate clearly about the timezone constraint. He told interviewers: "I'm in Bangalore, so I'm a bit jet-lagged for this time, but I'm focused. Let me know if you want me to clarify anything."

Interviewers actually appreciated the honesty.

The Technical Interview Content

The technical interviews themselves followed a pattern:

Round 1 (Phone Screen - 45 minutes)

• System design question or coding problem
• Behavioral questions about his background
• Questions about why he wanted to move to the US

For system design, he drew diagrams on an online whiteboard. For coding, he live-coded in HackerRank or CoderPad.

He was honest about his India background: "I've worked on a high-throughput system processing 10M+ events per day. The challenges are similar everywhere—latency, consistency, cost optimization."

Round 2 & 3 (Technical + Architecture) These went deeper. He was asked to design systems at scale, discuss trade-offs, and engage in real engineering conversations.

His depth of experience meant he could discuss things like database optimization, cache invalidation strategies, and API design decisions. The fact that these came from an Indian SaaS company didn't matter. Good engineering is good engineering.

Round 4 (Culture/Hiring Manager) The hiring managers asked: "Are you really going to move? Or is this just an exploration?" This was their real concern.

Raj was clear: "Yes. I've been saving to relocate. I have a visa immigration consultant on retainer. I'm serious."

One hiring manager asked, "Aren't you worried you won't fit in? Culture fit is important." Raj said, "I've worked with remote teams, traveled to the US before, and studied engineering with people from everywhere. Different is interesting, not risky."

The Offer & Negotiation (Month 9)

By November 2023, Raj had two offers:

Offer A (Series B MarTech):

• Title: Senior Software Engineer
• Salary: $125,000
• Bonus: 10%
• Equity: 0.08%
• H1B sponsorship: Yes, starting immediately
• Relocation: $10,000 package

Offer B (Series C Fintech):

• Title: Senior Engineer
• Salary: $105,000
• Bonus: 15%
• Equity: 0.12%
• H1B sponsorship: Yes, but they'd start the process in month 3 (initially remote from India)
• Relocation: $25,000 package

On salary alone, Offer A was better. But Offer B's relocation and equity terms were more favorable. Raj had to think beyond just salary.

He asked three key questions:

1. When can I be in the US on a work visa? Offer A: immediately (sponsoring H1B in new fiscal year, Oct 2024). Offer B: Month 3 (sponsoring H1B in Oct 2024, visa approved by Dec 2024).

2. What about visa uncertainty? Both companies had done this before. Both explained the H1B lottery system frankly (it's not guaranteed, though they'd sponsor). Both had backup plans (transfer to different visa categories if H1B denied).

3. What's the long-term growth? Offer A showed a path to staff engineer at $150K+. Offer B showed a path to management, which didn't interest him.

He called back Offer A company and counter-offered: $130,000 (split the difference, leaning on their higher salary), $15,000 relocation, and the same H1B timeline.

They came back at $128,000 and $12,000 relocation.

He accepted.

The Visa Journey (Month 10 Onward)

H1B sponsorship is complex. Raj and his employer worked through this timeline:

November 2023 (Month of offer):

• Attorney is hired to start visa sponsorship process
• Company prepares Labor Condition Application (LCA)

December 2023 - January 2024:

• LCA approved by Department of Labor
• I-129 petition prepared and submitted to USCIS

February 2024:

• While petition is processing, Raj is hired as a "remote contractor" (technically allowed while visa petition is pending, though he's not yet authorized to work for a US company)
• He starts work virtually from Bangalore
• Company confirms he'll be sponsored for H1B lottery

May 2024:

• H1B lottery results announced
• Raj's company wins the lottery draw (both Offer A and B had high win rates, as Series B-C companies usually win)

June 2024:

• H1B visa is officially approved
• Raj applies for an H1B visa appointment at US embassy in Delhi

July 2024:

• Visa approved (he's been background checked, medically cleared, and deemed admissible)
• He books a flight to San Francisco

August 2024:

• Raj lands in the US on his H1B visa
• Company helps him find an apartment (they have relocation agents for this)
• First day at the office

The Cultural Transition

Raj's first month in the US was surreal. He went from a 30-lakh rupee salary in Bangalore to a $128K salary in San Francisco. On paper, it was a huge increase. But San Francisco rent consumed a bigger percentage of his paycheck than Bangalore rent had.

"I remember the grocery store shock," he laughs. "Same foods I bought in India for 100 rupees cost $6-8. I had to reset my mental model of money."

The office culture was different too. Back in India, the hierarchy was steeper. Here, engineers talked directly to the CEO. Meeting conversations were more egalitarian.

"I was expecting Americans to be individualistic and transactional," he reflects. "But my team felt genuinely invested in my transition. They helped me find apartments, invited me to weekend hangouts, introduced me to their friends."

Work was also different. The codebase was more complex (more engineers, more history). The testing standards were higher. The product moved faster.

But fundamentally, he realized: "Good engineering is the same everywhere. The problems are the same. The solutions are the same. The context is different, but not the core."

Year One Review (August 2026)

It's been one year since Raj landed in the US. His situation:

Compensation:

• Base salary: $128,000
• Bonus (paid): $15,000
• Equity vested (first year): ~$8,000
• Total year one comp: ~$151,000

This is 4.3x his Bangalore salary.

Career progression:

• He was promoted to Senior Engineer within eight months
• He's mentoring two junior engineers
• He's considering whether to grow toward staff engineer or manager track

Visa status:

• H1B visa valid for three years
• Company has already indicated they'll extend for another three years when needed
• He's eligible to apply for green card in 2026

The real metric: His Bangalore-based parents can now afford to retire early because he's sending money home. His Bangalore friends are asking for advice on how to replicate his path.

Lessons for International Job Seekers

For others trying to transition from outside the US to US tech companies, Raj's framework:

1. Build credible US-facing portfolio. GitHub, open source, technical writing, and LinkedIn optimization matter more than your company name. Prove your skills in a language US engineers understand.

2. Target companies that explicitly sponsor visas. Don't apply to companies and hope they'll figure it out. Apply to companies where visa sponsorship is already in their recruiting machinery.

3. Use network to get referrals, not just job board apps. A warm intro from an engineer at the company dramatically increases both your callback rate and your understanding of the role.

4. Be transparent about the visa and relocation timeline. Don't hide the visa requirement. Address it directly: "Yes, I will need visa sponsorship. Here's why I'm serious." Employers respect clarity.

5. Negotiate the relocation benefit hard. San Francisco, New York, Seattle—relocation costs are real. When choosing between two offers, relocation package can matter as much as salary.

6. The H1B lottery is real. Companies have no guarantee of winning the H1B lottery. Make sure you understand the backup plan. Is the company prepared to transition you to L1, O1, or other visa categories if H1B is denied?

7. Arrive early for cultural adjustment. Raj gave himself a week between offer acceptance and visa interview prep. This mental space mattered.

Where He Is Now

Raj is now a stable, satisfied engineer at a growing fintech startup. He's built friendships outside of work. He's learned to navigate American culture. He's sending money home to help his family.

But his most unexpected gain? Options.

"In India, I had one path: stay at the company, wait for promotions, eventually cap out at $70-80K," he reflects. "Now I have options. I could move to another company. I could negotiate harder. I could go to a startup or a big tech company. I could negotiate remote work. The US job market has so much more fluidity."

He's planning to apply for a green card in 2026, which will further open doors.

"The visa path was stressful," he admits. "There were moments of uncertainty, long periods of paperwork, and the lottery itself was a gamble. But it was worth it. Not because of the money, though that helped. But because of the optionality and the signal it sends—that I'm a real engineer, not just someone working in a company I couldn't have accessed before."

He's become a mentor to others from India trying to make the same transition. He tells them the same thing his peers told him: "It's possible. It's hard. It's worth it."