Any thoughts on moving to Canada ? I seriously am sick of the pressure of this work visa and having to maintain the status as we work here. I need some stability. The only reason why I decided to pursue a career in States because I was sick of the work culture back home, but here its a different struggle. Would love to learn both positive and negative opinions on this! Any like minded people ? #workvisa #h1b
I came here to make money. I will stay as long as I can print money and reach FI and then move back home. So I don’t worry about the visa status. I am already few million Net Worth. So don’t worry about visa status anymore. Moreover the stress is bad for your health and salaries back in India are pretty good at good tech companies.
Just remember there are around 500k-1million people in same boat. I mean GC line. Ur not the only one. So just chill
That’s one of the worst mistakes to make - to assume everything is fine because others are in it too.
I feel you OP . It seems like modern day slavery. More than that I am sick of people of visa treated differently (to put is nice tone) in many non fang companies.
Please don’t compare a profession that allows you to make 500K TC to slavery.
I said modern day slavery. Make life hell for people who are trying to be citizens of USA in legal way. You won't know how that feels if you had to take hard family decisions due to h1b restrictions. Cannot pursue your heart due to h1b restrictions The reason OP feels this way is because it is almost a permanent bottleneck that can go for multiple decades. Forget about discrimination on job....throttling GC by country is also a form of discrimination...hope that get removed someday.
I applied for Canada PR and got it last year. Landed in Toronto, got stuck with the US work visa due to H1b entry ban and COVID lockdowns and stayed in Toronto ever since. Now working remotely. Still planning to return to US for myself to keep my job, but my family doesn’t want to move again so soon. For career growth I think Bay and Seattle are definitely better, but the uncertainty on immigration status is a huge mental burden. To me it was making me feel more anxious about obstacles in my work because I was very afraid of losing my job and subsequently forced to move my whole family back. After coming to Canada I am less anxious about it because in the worst case I need to go find another job, which surely pays less but at least my family won’t get disrupted. But I still haven’t figured out how the tech career would be like in Toronto. Clearly there are firms hiring across GTA, but I want to stay in my current job so didn’t dig deep. As for lifestyle Toronto feels very much like Boston with more South and East Asian presence. If I had saved enough to pay off a house I would probably give up my endeavor and settle down here, but I still need lots of more money for that. Whatever your choice you can apply for PR, come visit here and give it a try. If you find a good job in Canada you will at least have a great plan B.
that was very helpful, thanks. What about the I-140 status ? Does it stay active or gets revoked the day we move to another country ?
if I want to come back to US after getting Canadian citizenship, what is the wait time for Canadian citizens for green card in US?
As long as you are stable in your current job and making good money, I can’t see a reason for stress due to visa. Take control of situation in your hand by working on your skills so you won’t loose job. Thinking everytime about negatives is not going to improve your life. Try to be grateful for things you have or work on things under your control. Many people on visas only, who are skillful making millions and leading the best life.
This obviously is a very personal decision and the facts are out there. There isn't a right or wrong decision. It's a known fact that Canadian salaries don't match the US but I'm guessing you're already aware of that and are okay with it. If so, you need to just make the decision of moving yourself. There are a million h1b employees in the US and each have their own reason for staying here and not shifting to Canada or other countries. There are many who have moved and are perfectly happy. So at the end of the day, you just need to analyze the facts and make a decision that YOU are comfortable with. Don't try getting people's opinions in this regard
What is so difficult in staying on 140? You can extend H1 forever. Stamping is a problem only if something is seriously screwed. Uncertainty is there but it isn’t that bad to move to Canada. Genuinely curious.
Do you know how much planning is required to get h1b stamped. Even if you plan do you know how many people got stuck outside for no apparent reason during trump era . If you get blocked outside country do you how it feels to have house and all other investment in USA and now you are at mercy of the system to get back your fucking life back. Do you know if this all happens during covid were things are so uncertain you might have to make choice to not see your loved once one last time . Remember many companies do not have Faang like flexibilities. Many of my friends from china and India have discussed about mental health issues due to lack of such flexibility. And I am OK with h1b rules , it says temporary visa. But 140 is path to NOT be temporary and that path seems to be almost permanently BLOCKED to always keep you temporary if you are for specific country of origin. If your life rolls smooth like butter ...sure just keep extending h1b and have status of ALIEN even if you spend half of your life in USA.
FYI, it literally happened to my wife and 3 year old daughter. But, I won’t blame that on anyone else other than us. We knew the risks and flew. I was able to come back, they were stuck for 8 months because of covid. Amd covid is once in a century kind of thing. No one knew this kind of thing ever before with respect to consulates being closed without a certain date in sight. Even with that people have ways to get back. US literally accepted family separation as a medical reason and provided expedited appointments and people came back. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. How many people you know got their visa rejected? I know a few and all of theirs are pretty similar. Shady consultants have companies, multiple employer layers…etc. How many people I know who got stamping without any issues in last 12 years? Probably 30-40 people and each one did it atleast 5 times. No single issue. So - I don’t see that as an issue. Also I know very few who were stuck for a long time because of various complicated situations and their friends took care of other things to clear everything here in US like selling houses, cars etc. Again - it’s not easy but it’s not the end of the world. Odds are very good to keep extending your H1 forever and be here. I will take those odds.
For those asking if Canadian citizenship would help in US GC, let me tell you this. If that was the case the entire telegu population would have had passports from some unheard african countries and would have gotten their GC through that country. The only reason they can’t do that is because US GC is tied to place of birth and not citizenship, so impossible to find a loophole.
One of my friend who is now a canadian citizen and desperate to come for US for the work. The main reason to move is salary and weather. As per him, if you are skillful & are in tech there is no better country other than US. Long story short, canada is not good as it is portrayed specifically for tech people. Cost of living is high, bad weather, high taxes and half of salary compare to the US :)
The only problem in Canada is half salary lol
Nope. Get stocks and offer from faang here in USA. After 1 year go to canada. U retain those stocks. Base is gonna reduce but u get PR and canada GC that huge plus
Lol as if 4 years are never gonna end 🤣