Staying in the USA - do I need work visa to apply?

I am staying in the USA with six month visitor Visa and want to find a job here in Indiana. Do I need to have a work permit first? Will a potential employer help with this? I have 22 years experience in accounting.

Are you stupid or what?You can not work on tourist visa,you need H1B.Do you even have ss #?You won't get work permit nor ss # with your visa and I doubt any employer will help you as US is dealing with high unemployement rate at this moment and there is plenty of people looking for work.Forget it.

Yes you do need it. And not while being in the US of A. So your best chance is to talk up prospective employers to engage you and also for you to make sure they are ready to shell out some $5K (+/-) to process your proper visa application (lawyers cost much). Been there, done that.Oh, and while they process all that and pay, you have to be back in PL, for sure. Good luck!

grubas is right. It is really stupid to look for a job on visitor visa. You can only work illegally (because you will not get ssn on tourist visa), but is it worth it? If you really want to work outside Poland just go to UK or other EU country and work legally. Have you ever thought what would happen if you would have any accident or just need to see a doctor? As an illegal immigrant you won't have medical insurance and you will need to pay out of pocket! You can also have problems with visiting US in future. It's really not worth risking nowadays when $ is so weak.

you are wrong about being in Poland while waiting for H1B. I just got it while being in US. If you applied before your current visa expired you can stay here.

Jesus grubas take a chill pill!

I am just alergic to stupid questions and if this is not a stupid question then I don't know what is.

Ok maybe the question was not exact. I do not wish my fiance' to have to support me while we are trying to get k1 visa. I have lived in Canada and worked there so I would like to as well here. I am in the lottery but of course do not know outcome of such until May possibly.

Isn't it the case that if you work illegally, you can be jailed, deported and banned from every entering the US, never mind ever being offered any sort of visa in future?

We have a new bunch of Polish girls working in some of the high end restaurants here in my area again this summer.
I love their accents as it makes them twice as attractive.
They know how to work it to their advantage, and it is not uncommon for them to walk out of work from serving food with $200 to $300 USD in tips for an eight-hour shift.

There is a real opportunity for Polish girls between 18 and 26 that can speak some English to make some serious money in the summer here.
Tourist season is only for June, July and August in Michigan so these girls work their tails off and go back to Poland to enjoy their efforts.

Good for them!

I agree
Those Polish girls make more in one night working here in America as PolAm pays them for a week in Krakow for doing the same job.

They stand out from the American waitresses as they have their hair and make up done much different which makes them very attractive.
And with their cute accent it drives the husbands, boyfriends and single guys crazy fantasizing.

@johnny reb
Waitresses JR are very well paid in Krakow. 25 zl an hour plus tips on average. Tips are a good place like ours average 200 to 300 per shift. These people are making more in the summer than many mid level corporate managers. Leggs never has a problem finding good Polish workers for the summer and they make great money up there. Will be back in August just for that drive.

Ziggy had to close his Polish Kitchen because he couldn't find enough workers.
I haven't been up there lately to see if he is back open or not.
I was talking about more of the high end restaurant's like Stafford's.


What, Zloty or USD ?
I was talking $200 to $300 USD per shift.


That is one of the most beautiful drives in the United States.

Because American workers, just like most West Europeans are lazy bastards.
Only the East Europeans truly understand hard work.
Even the Asians and Africans are lazy by comparison.

That's because Americans work smart, not hard.

Exactly.


Work like dumb horses.

@johnny reb
200 to 300 zl per shift in tips in Krakow is extremely good money. In the summer a good server at a higher end place can easily earn 15 to 20K.

I understand that however my point was of how much they can make in the U.S.A. in comparison.
Getting a six month work VISA seems most profitable for them.


That was my point.
They can make in one hour here in the USA what they could make in an entire shift in Poland.
That is extremely good money

My bartenders on every fri and Sat night would make over 1k a night and I paid them $2.50 an hr,they would only get that shift if they worked Sunday.Monday and Tuesday shifts,when they only made 150 a night on 2.50PH wages.I am talking about almost 20 years back now when the bar scene was booming in the USA,now its mostly in the big cities cuz of smoking,DWI laws and most can pick up girls from internet.

@johnny reb
You would be correct if not for the details. Many import workers are being charged for their flights, housing, meals, and "placement" and that comes directly out of their pay. Many times those "costs" are inflated. Not saying all places do this, but many do.

I agree, some do so best to talk with other girls that have done it and know the ropes to steer clear of the opportunists.

Flight $700
Housing $500 month x 3 months = $1500
Meals - $600 month x 3 months = $1800
Placement ?
Total $4000

One month income @ $1000 a week = $4000 to cover expenses for the whole summer
That leaves two months of fruit at $8000 to take back to Poland.
Come on PolAm, you can't begin to compare apples to oranges.

Does the US do that? Weird... Camp America (specific program name that became a generic term) used to be popular with some students. They'd go to the US for the summer working in places like amusement parks or children's camps and have a few weeks free at the end to sightsee.

I don't see many posters for those programs around anymore...

A number of years ago I knew a Polish student who was a waitress in a country club for the summer in a program like that and they were so happy they told her she didn't "have to" go vack and volunteered to arrange a longer term visa. They got very chilly when she thanked them but told them she didn't want to live long term in the US (her first priority was finishing her studies back home).

Yes,A friend I know gets Au Pairs from Europe,mostly French,irish and brits for there kids and if they have international driving permit they pay 100$ a week more.Usually they can get visa for a year.

@johnny reb
There are "brokers" who charge upward of 2K for a "placement" and paid in advance. Still a good opportunity if you get up to NM area, but not all areas are the same. Friend of mine has a place similar to leggs but in Wisconsin and his imports dont make near that much. However, he charges less for housing and meals. Some places also do the minimum waitstaff wage too, so if they dont get the great tips, they arent getting much. USD is losing ground in Poland btw, down about 8% over the last two months.

In my opinion the things change since then. In Poland you can earn much better money now.
Moreover, in countries like Switzerland or Holland you will get the same money and do not need to go that far. The flight or train ticket cost only 50$ both ways.

Even can go back every weekend.

No, you don't. all you need to do is to paint your face, pretend to be some other Mexican or whatnot expect for a Europen and you go to Mexico and then head the north from there, you are bound to get to the US much faster, cheaper, and without some dudes bothering you on checkpoints asking for passports, money, and purpose of your visit.

The upscaler you can stay as long as you want and work as well or not. As long as you remember to claim to be not Eupean, once they catch on you will be deported before you can say, Hail Mary!

Blackface camouflage is considered a serious offence against political correctness not only in the US but also GB. Stop giving such lousy advice, it is very infantile.

Our prominent poster Poloniusz said in another thread:
It means you were paid in cash and never declared any of it as income to the tax authorities.

Of course I wasn`t paid in cash but with checks which I still keep as a nice souvenir. I also keep official documents like earning summaries etc. Ha!!!

Another prominent poster johhny said:
You said you worked for cash and sent it all back to Poland

So you already know that I didn`t work for cash. Neither did I send anything home. I saved the money in the Polish Slavic bank in Greenpoint, NY I still keep the documents from the bank. Ha!!!

And then our darling poster johhny suggested :then you could provide your social security number for us

hahaha this is classified information which you can`t see. Why don`t you provide us your name, phone number and address??? :):):)

So, nothing you suggested is true : the dog didn`t eat it, I didn`t lose it, I can find it, it wasn`t lost in the fire when my house burned down... etc etc. I still have this little card here on the desk after I opened my file binder. named US. HA!!!

More a serious offence against decency, good taste and respect for other people.


Cheques? That must have been a few decades ago!

Cash is King. If multi-millionaires can pay accountants top work out tax avoiding loopholes in the law to save them money that they don't actually personally need, there's nothing wrong with a worker on a modest income trousering cash to save them money that they do need.

Quiz time!

What other "official documents"? :)