I am currently based out of MTV on H1B for sometime. Was bachelor when came but now we are family with a kid. With the new year rethinking about what we want/expect out of our future, the visa and the path to citizenship in US seems like raising uncertainty and lot of unknowns and every time we visit this topic, we find nothing much changed on this regard. So, this year we are giving sincere thought about moving out, if possible. Some of the options we are primarily evaluating are Singapore, Australia, Zurich and points are the process/path to citizenship, tech industry, col, schools/education, relative pay to US. We have spent some good time in US and coming here was sort of unplanned but now would like to make a informed decision if we ever make it to move out and the major catalyst is the time here on visa seems indefinite. Of course, no country is perfect for everyone and may be people are ok in living with this uncertainty but want to hear from people who have moved to any of this location or another or who have come from here to help give some perspective. Any internal transferred Googlers thoughts are most welcome! TC: 300K
Apply for canada PR. How about google in london.? Zurich is competitive for google internal xfers. London is good ( closer to india assuming u r indian)
Thanks and right would prefer relocating closer to India if all else same. For Canada PR, I believe it gets void if don't move to Canada in 5 years. So, if we became sure for Canada then of course otherwise seems a lot of process for nothing. Do you see any good reasoning to apply before the mind has been made up?
Yes, apply before, reason being Canadian PR is merit based and is structured to attract younger people. So even if you are like 37 with a masters degree and such your chances will be slim. The older you get the harder it gets plus it’s getting very competitive which is pushing the cut-off higher. The processing, taking IELTS, getting documents ready and transcripts evaluated will take 3-6 months easily and another 3 months to get the PR. So you don’t really have to even start thinking about moving there till the next 1 year. You have to spend 2/5 years to retain the PR. Which means you will have 3 years to make up your mind and move.
Singapore has no path to citizenship, correct? Also, why didn't you consider London or India? Follow up: What about EB5?
As i read last time, one can apply for singapore citizenship after being 2 years on PR + some other conditions. Not sure if there is any condition which makes you say that. Dual citizenship is a NO but one can definitely get the work visa, then PR and go for citizenship. Correct me if wrong as I have just started following this. We would love to go back to India but it's sad that with all the pollution and political influence on the daily life, we don't feel like. London is something I should be exploring. Heard it's costly compare to the pay, but would look into. For EB5, that's good money we are taking about. Know it's an investment but still a big one for us.
Didn't they just increase EB5 to 1.8 mil? That's way more ex than 500k. By the time I could afford that, I would be 40
Just move to India and work from their Bangalore office. It's not that bad.
Where’s your home country?
If India Is your home country it's a great option, you can be close to family, lots of places to visit in India, only major drawback I see is more pollution when compared to MTV
True, believe me it's not we have neglected it. That's always the first option but it's sad that the pollution and politics affect the daily life so much that we prefer to stay away. Also, we are from North so staying in Bangalore would be little closer than Singapore, Australia, etc but won't make much difference.
Singapore has no path to PR and citizenship from what I have heard. You can try Canada as you get PR even without landing and pursue a side gig if you want. You get b citizenship after 3 years. SWitzerland is very selective about PR and it is very tough to get citizenship there unless you are from EU. Australia is similar to Canada in the sense you get PR immediately. Their economy is isolated though so you might want to do some research about the opportunities there.
That's lot of information. Another user also mentioned Singapore having no path. Seems like i have misread something which led me to think you can get work visa, and from there go for PR and citizenship. Will correct myself. Thanks for your comment.
Getting a visa is easy in SG but not PR esp if you are an Indian. https://www.quora.com/Is-it-easy-to-become-a-Singapore-permanent-resident
Yoe?
Australia is one of the best places to raise kids. With aus citizenship, you can get e3 visa which is super flexible.
This seems to be a generous visa for AUS citizens. Didn't know this.
What about Canada?
Ya, good option but what I explored last time there aren't many tech teams in Google in Canada offices. Also, I found some good startups but the big ones did not have great teams there. Plus the weather to some extent. But thanks I should be exploring it again considering the express entry.
I’d say the biggest advantages CANADA gives you are these: - Same time zones as US - Proximity for meetings/conferences without too much travel across the zones. - healthcare (depending on your family Heath and work insurance situation this may be good/bad) - ability to work on TN in the US, and travel the world once you are a citizen (less than 4 years after you land as an immigrant) PS: this is my opinion as a recent US—>Canada (Indian) immigrant.