Unfortunately I didn’t get picked in H1B lottery this year. However, I applied for Canada PR and it got approved. I will be moving to Canada next month. I would appreciate if someone in the same boat could share feedback on my situation. Family Size: 2, Spouse recently moved to US with me. I have offer in hand to work for x company. - 100k CAD - Vancouver. My options are: 1. Move to Canada, Buy Home (~800k, 20% Down Payment, Get Loan) Come back on L1 or H1 after one Year, rent the Canada house. Pay ~35% tax in US and since I have a home in Canada, I would have to pay taxes in Canada too but I can claim the US tax credit and pay the difference. (Probably, 5%) - Total taxes paid ~40%. 2. Move to Canada, Rent Home (Pay 2200k per month) for year. Move back on L1 or H1 and buy home in US (keep the hanging visa sword on head). I will still owe taxes t Canada ( probably ). Home Country (India) is not option for me for my personal reasons. Please advise! Thanks Edit: Thanks for all your thoughtful comments.
You have Canadian PR, even then why staying in Canada not an option? Why do you wanna move back to US ?
But the expenses of living in the valley dampen those earnings.
Would you consider staying in Canada long term if you like it there ? Could be better and more secure in the long term if you don’t want to be hanging by the thread of a visa. Compare Canadian edu system to the US one if you plan to have kids in the future.
That’s the only reason, I am thinking of doing long term investment. I could pay off loan while working in US. Might be hard while renting second home in US.
You would only pay tax in Canada on the rental income, not your total income, after you move back to the US. Google "NR6".
Thanks, I will check.
Stay in Canada for 2 years to meet the residency requirements for Canadian PR. Then stay an additional year to become eligible for citizenship. Then come back to the US.
Agree with this. Get Canadian passport and then come back.
Here is the plan, since I need to complete 1 year to qualify for L1, I will spend one year in Canada. Move back to US in 2019 (Oct probab). In order to complete another remaining year, I could spend few weekends + some December vacation period in Canada in remaining 4 years. Since two years doesn’t need to be continuous. That will qualify me for extension.
Work life balance is way much better in Canada compared to Bay area..so don't count everything in terms of money...
WLB in fang is pretty great except Amzn plus you get all the perks. You may be thinking of early and mid stage startups which have much worse WLB
I'd suggest you stay in CA past the PR timeline to be eligible for citizenship, if that's an option for you -- you wouldn't have to worry about the bullshit going on with the US immigration system. Coming back on L1 seems reasonable but the cost involved (based on your post), although seeming like a deal breaker, could be offset by your higher earning potential in the US if you come back Btw: How hard was it to get PR? I'm in the same boat and I've been considering the CA PR option for a while now. FWIW I'm an Engineer w. BS in CS
Thanks for the reply. PR is straight forward process. Canada government website has all detailed instructions( documentation is awesome ). If you are below 30 and score well in ielts ( above 7 or 7.5 ) then you are almost guaranteed.
I Agree with above statements. You are planning way too much ahead without any guarantees of an L1 visa. PR gives you certainty.
Probability of ( L1 ) + Probability of Getting (H1- 4th try) + Probability of ( TN | CA Citizen ) - at least I have to try all those options.
With Canadian citizenship, you can also work in US on TN visa
That shouldn’t end up like H4 EAD.
Yeah it's like h4ead in that TN spouse can't work, exept that if your spouse also qualifies for a TN then they can also get one without any quota. I don't see TN going away. Trump can't just eliminate it by executive order since it's created by an act of Congress. Even if he withdraws from NAFTA that alone doesn't eliminate the TN, Congress would also have to repeal it.
Never buy home for just 1 year stay. Rent over there.