Hi, I'm L4 in Amazon, and I kind of have an EAD in US (new I-94 with L2S), so I don't really need Amazon's help with visas or whatnot. The question I have is how to start a conversation with my manager about moving to US? I don't want to change teams, to be honest, but if it's the only way, then I'm ready for this. My plan is to just move to a comfortable cheap place in US, live and work there, maybe from home, maybe by going to the closest Amazon office building. So, what do I say to my manager about it? How do I start this conversation?
I'd say find a new team in the US and have an informal offer ready. Then, schedule a manager 1:1 and tell him you'd like to move to US but still want to stay in the same team. Use the offer you have in hand as leverage and tell them you love the team, but a different team "reached out" and they can relocate you to US no problem. Throw in some story about reasons for moving (I told I want to be closer to my SO) and be prepared to watch your manager and skip stress the f*ck out for the next couple of days as they don't want to lose you. A day after speaking to my manager I was invited to meeting with skip and was proposed an offer to stay for a bit longer, but to pay for my relo in 2022. The following is what I've done last year (L5, in Europe tho) and I'm also HV3 so YMMV. I'm moving back to Germany in May whilst staying in the same team :)