Moving countries for a studio job? Experiences and stories pls!

drysider

Hi all! My specialty is currently hand painted character art. I've been playing a ton of League recently and managed to stumble over to the job board on Riot's website. My eyes got very big and dreamy.


I was born in, and live in, Australia. We have very few studios here and those that have managed to survive are based mostly around mobile games, which is cool and all but I have very vague plans to possibly move to America in the future for an awesome studio job.



Since the idea just popped up in my head again, I was wondering if anybody would be able to share their experiences in moving overseas to net that job they were after, and the process they had to take to be allowed to work and live there. I've never left Australia so my knowledge of stuff like legalities, working visas, how I would even get set up in the US and survive is veryyyyy slim.

thomasp

you'd have to secure a job offer from your potential employer first and foremost. qualification for a visa is a big question that depends on your skills and education and is best discussed with the company directly. it's a whole process in which the government has the final word and does not work out for everyone.

jobs advertised worldwide often do come with a package that contains visa handling, moving and travel expenses and help in setting up (a hotel for the inital stay till you have found a place to live, help in opening a bank account without credit history, etc). they also usually tie you to the company for a set amount of time or else you'd have to reimburse them for the whole package.

since all of this is pretty expensive and requires some expertise and resources its usually only done by bigger studios. sometimes smaller places or those with less international experience do this kind of thing too - then things can get pretty wild for you. beware.


worth noting: it's also usually only done for people with considerable experience or unusual skills.