Thinking of moving to us
Recently thinking of relocating to USA (provided I get H1B). Currently: 1) Located in central Europe 2) ~7 years of exp, 1.5 at Intel (European office), rest startups working as regular, senior and lead dev 3) According to numbeo.com, in order to have my current quality of living I will need ~$18k monthly after taxes in SF and $14k in Seattle Next: Is it worth moving, taking into account: 0) Is there still possible to get h1b? Do Googl, MS, Apple, etc sponsor visas as they used to a few years ago? I got an offer long long time ago as new grad, but rejected as wanted to stay closer with my family 1) My wife won't be able to work (at least for first x-years) 2) We already hit upper bound if it comes to salaries in our area - basically not possible to earn more (without investing to housing and renting to others or buying crypto or whatever) 3) No children so far, but we are going to have at least one (probably would see the world for the first time in US) 4) How much can I get provided I pass the interview (did already lot's of leetcode and been preparing for quite long)
Regarding money, SFo and seattle are most companies. Outside, cost of living is cheaper
H1b deadline was this month. Nobody will consider you until like February next year now. Try and re-join intel or similar and transfer
Yes, I know I will have to wait till next year and this is why I’m asking with big advance. I’mgping to apply later this year, now just working out possible scenarios for my future plans, thanks
There are no options at Intel to move to us (at least there weren’t while I was there). In addition TC was very poor for transfers and this is why I saw many people just left Intel and join FANG in US directly
18k monhly after taxes, that’s 216k a year after taxes, so in California you need around 350-400k. With 7 years of experience and no visa ... good luck with that. Not saying it is not possible, but unless you are well known in an open source community, it is going to be quite difficult.
I know this may be difficult, in addition my spouse won’t be able to work till we get GC (if ever). On the other side I consider to live in less biurocratic place (there is huge socialism in Europe), or alternatively come back and retire in Europe after >10-20 years. What I’m aware of is that the chance of getting visa is very low now and that quality of life will drop significantly even if I don’t spend much - I may get half of what I have now :/
Not sure what COL comparison tool you're using but if correct, why do you even want to move to the US? You could save for retirement where you are now.
I don’t know what calculator you are using but those numbers are ridiculous. With 7 years you can maybe get 180k before taxes if you go to a larger company and then some stock options (this limits you to the big 4 a bit- there are some others). Cost of living here is high but it’s mostly housing and childcare. I don’t have the same quality of life here as I did in Europe mainly because I now live in a much smaller apartment. Otherwise I do if that makes sense. To move here with the expectation to have the same life is setting yourself up for disappointment. If you want to do this- then I highly recommend getting a job at a US company in Europe and transferring. The transfer visa (L1) would allow your spouse to work. Not only is H1B a lottery (we tried 3 times, never got it) but so many companies are not even doing it anymore.
What country did you live in EU?
Austria
Easier option would be to pursue a 1 year masters and then get an opt for 3 years and try H1b lottery while working during those 3 years
No, easier option is to do L1 transfer. Maybe OP has Masters already and doesn't want to pay for it as well as not earn anything during that one year.
Already have masters, I will rather focus noe on making money/career rather than college
Why would you move to US from Europe..
TC is pathetic in Europe
Have sth interesting to do, leave comfort zone and get rid of socialism, political correctness, etc
Seems that we have very good place in Poland for SDEs. I make with spouse ~$5.5k combined monthly after tax, prices in SF are 3x higher, housing 6x higher. From the other point of view: how much you need monthly to have decent life and increasing savings - spouse, 2 childreen, single income?
$5.5k is approximately take home of around $100k gross here, depending on your tax situation, which is a good salary for non-tech people. You'll definitely need a lot more to achieve your plan of early retirement. On one salary it might work, but it will take time to get to max possible salary. Don't count on $250k+ in your first year. Also, is your wife in tech? If she is, then definitely come ASAP. If not, even if she can work, her salary might be negligible compared to yours. Wealth gap is huge in the US. I wouldn't personally look at Bay area. Too expensive. You can find areas with lower cost of living and salaries just a bit lower. Many top companies pay the same everywhere (not Amazon)
Unfortunately, she is non-tech. She works as speech therapist and she will have to make BS in US to have sth reasonable to do. $5.5k is the net amount we make in Poland, I suppose we have to make much more to survive with single income and two kids in future in US. I consider tech hubs just in case I become a victim o massive lay off or just get fired, finding another job easily is must have in my case. What other places do you suggest? What income is sufficient to have good life with 4 people on board?
Unless you find an amazing opportunity which takes away all your worries about finances don’t do it. We are thinking to go back because how expensive things are here especially if you are a single income couple and plan to have a family. Poland is better place to raise kids than US so remember that. You will end up spending a lot on day care, education etc than in Poland where you have family to support you for kids.
Just wondering how non-tech people survive there? Are there only tech guys left, escaping at linear speed from Bay ?
It is very hard for non-tech people to survive unless you have either your parents or someone support you with living arrangement or something or heavily scale down your lifestyle that might involve living in a below average (average according to Bay Area) apartment complex and very far from the main city and commuting upto 2 hours a day one way to work. Cutting down a lot on your expense of food and entertainment.
You're delusional. Your plans are not realistic, you're living on a cloud if you think you can just come to America and have the American dream, all the reasons others mention here. Not even American techies get to live that dream, very few. Count your blessings!!
Asking here proves I’m rather realistic? I don’t think about American dream, just looking for further opportunities somewhere else, US is one of the possible destinations
@Verafore: You are assuming a little. The OP is just getting started to explore the water of moving here. Let him explore and learn rather than bashing.
H1b has a quota system that gets offered every year. U have to time your interviews such that employer would file and wait for you. Better to find an Multinational and transfer