Amazon is willing to sponsor me for permanent residence here in the US. It's something I'd like to do to give me confidence to do things like buy a house, add more to my 401(k) knowing I'll be able to take advantage of the tax treatment later on, move in with my girlfriend etc. Having to leave the country immediately if laid off ads risk to these things which I'd rather take off the table. I've been told by HR and that five years ago the common interpretation of E-3 visa rules was that "dual intent" was not possible, and that by applying for PR I would be providing evidence of violating the terms of the visa (intent to leave at the end of my visa). However, modern interpretation by lawyers and HR is that the E-3 visa bill was rushed through Congress and they didn't say you couldn't (but didn't say you could, either, as they did for H-1B). And as far as intent goes, having intent to leave when your visa becomes invalid is enough and doesn't preclude you from seeking another more permanent lawful way to stay for longer. Some friends at Microsoft were recently successful in this process and some other friends at Amazon are midway through the process now. Do you think it risky to attempt or would you just go for it? (I'm going to ask the lawyers this, but thought I would get your own thoughts and see if there are any other things I should know/ask about.)
Why would you want to become American when you could live in the best cities in the world in Australia anyway?
That's right. Happy to be affected by FATCA while I'm here, but who wants that albatross around their neck permanently? Also, by obtaining citizenship, you sign up to worldwide citizenship-based taxation by the US wherever you live later. If I went back to Australia as an American, the US would tax me in retirement because it doesn't recognize Australia's tax concession on its retirement ("superannuation") accounts.
Be careful with the exit tax after 8 years also
It is slightly dangerous to do green card on E-3. The trick is to get the green card approval before your E-3 needs to be renewed. This is kind of cutting it tight in terms of timeline and impossible if you are born in china or India.
Thankfully I was born in Australia. It would really suck to wait offer as decade like my Indian co-workers. Thanks for the tip. I heard somewhere that once you apply for a green card you can stay until the outcome is known? Maybe that's just H-1B. Another question I'll also ask the lawyers. Might be less risky to first transfer to an H-1B.
Microsoft did my e3 to green card without issue 7 years ago - don't think it changed. Let lawyers handle it, they would have done this thousands of times
Oh absolutely. I'm definitely going to defer to them instead of some USCIS agent on the phone or other people here. Just trying to get a good idea of what questions I might want to ask. Cheers.
Tech Industry
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1425
Metamate- cringe max posts by this wannabe influencer
Tech Industry
Yesterday
6249
BREAKING: Internal sources confirm another round of layoffs just hit emails at Tesla. For real.
Ask Blinders
18h
819
Why no one cares about the lives lost in Gaza, Israel and busy in their own lives?
Software Engineering Career
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Why does leetcode get so much hate?
World Conflicts
3h
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Screw it. Don't care anymore. Let Israel take it. One state solution.
Thanks.