Alternatives to the H-1B visa

I've been given a potential job offer from an established company in Brooklyn as a front-end developer. The problem is, I'm South African (living here) and I'm self-taught with a certificate (note, not a bachelor's degree) in Internet Development.

My skills are adequate for the job and I've already contributed to some of their open-source projects. They expressed interest in hiring me, and I am eager to accept the offer. The problem is obtaining an H-1B - I can't, and even if I could it would only be granted in October 2015 at the earliest if I read correctly.

This leads me to my question, are there any alternative ways to begin work at this company? Would getting a temporary visitor's visa and working as an independent contractor be a viable alternative?

If the said company has a branch in SA, they can sponsor a L1 visa. Alternatively, ask your prospective employer if you can work from SA and file a Form-W-8BEN. I understand the latter is what a lot of freelancers on sites such as odesk do.

BTW, you should move this question to a different stack on SE. It is not related to startups.

Disclaimer: This is not a substitute for legal or professional advice.

Take a look at J-1 visa. Your company can say that they are bringing you to the US for a paid internship. The problem with that though is that it's a pretty short term - up to 18 months last time I checked.