Working in USA

yes but a very difficult way to get a visa, I only know a few people that have got here through labor certification.

Thanks for your reply. I'll check with the USA embassy in my home country.

I got my US job through checking online and ringing up prospect employers who are willing to hire you and willing to go through the whole immigration process which they paid for like my visa and immigration lawyer. Interview was through Skype and all paperworks were scanned and sent through email. The only mail I got from the employer was the original job offer letter which the embassy wants to see.

shellyfreemans' response is true but a paradox. It is difficult but possibly the only way if one is not married to a citizen or going to study. One has to get a specific job offer to get a working visa but it's one of the few grounds for being granted a visa.

Unless one is already retired, why would then let someone immigrate if they don't have a job? One can go as a tourist but cannot then just find employment. Theoretically, one could go as a tourist, make contact to potential employers, openly and honestly discuss your situation. If they would be able and willing to do all of the paper work and make you an offer, you would still then have to return to your home country and go through the whole process of getting the work visa. Staying and switching the type of visa is not possible.

American immigration will allow people with highly desired skills and outstanding academic achievements to immigrate but an unemployed person will have no virtually chance.

I was not married to a citizen or coming to study when I came.  I only know one lady that did labor certification, she worked at the same company as me.  There were a lost more hoops of fire for her to jump though then others I know that came in on E , H1B and L visas

Shellyfreeman, you are quite correct. Some work visas are more complicated to get than others. As one would expect, a limited working visa will usually be harder to get than a permanent one. But they all require lining up a job first. Expecting to get permission to immigrate to the States without a job and then finding one doesn't really happen and this is what the original question asked about.

Even foreigners who say study medicine in the States on a study visa (making them highly desirable) who finish their studies and line up a job will have to leave the country, do the paperwork and only then return. A timely and costly burden for many.

Here is a link to a site that explains the requirements for immigration and various US visas:

http://www.workpermit.com/immigration/usa

I have to clarify that the original question was not actually if one could immigrate to the States without a job but if one could get one before. The answer is obviously yes, and that it is hard not to do so, otherwise one is not likely to get a visa. But that it might be required is no indication that it is easy.