I am thinking of my futur in term of building wealth, so I give more importance for wealth to WLB for now (once I get a decent amount of NW) then I will find balance. Maybe (I am preparing for the interview) I can get a job at meta London (remote role form France). I know that the tc in uk is less that the us, and refreshes are 10% less for UK. I am planning to work for a year or 2 for UK office and the move to the US with L visa. Fin my research, I know they only the base will be adjusted, so the increasing of the TC will be only on base and 100% refreshes instead of 90%. But, I am thinking that promotion maybe can be easy (more offices, projects, teams in us than in uk) compared to Uk (I know that it really depends, work hard, chances, …) but the only part I have control is working hard, I can’t do anything about chance. The seconde point, is being in a place (HQ) maybe can help a bit. I will be in L visa and then try to get a green card and then switch to another company to have more TC. I would like to know your opinions, experiences, how much time to get the green card, promotions to be in HQ, … maybe I am wrong and naive. I have never worked in big tech so it’s why I need your help 😊 Tc: 36k after taxes, 37 yo, ML PhD + 6 yoe
A very unpopular answer but for someone only keen on Making money UAE is also a option. Amazon is hiring there. Visa etc wont be a problem plus you will have to leave eventually so you will always be in that frame of mind where you will just save and get rich to FIRE. But ofcourse if you are OK with UAE. There are No taxes to be paid and there is more money there than most TC bumps. I dont want to be in UAE but saying out an option. I am happy with average TC in India. I know US is great but the GC anxiety is too much for me to handle.
They are not hiring for tech roles (I am ML research scientist) and tc in UAE are less than US.
They are. They reached out to me for Applied Scientist role 2 months back . For UAE/Jordan. You have to consider taxes when talking TC.
What tc they are offering in UAE for applied scientist?
Nope! One of my friend got an E5 remote role from France and the TC France is 99% of UK tc, and UK has more taxes than France
Are they based in a relatively HCOL like Paris?
You need to consider what happens to wealth you will build in the USA? Do you plan to stay there permanently?
I will invest only on stocks-ETF no real estate. But if i like the life in the us then change your strategy
Yes, you are correct in your strategy in broad terms. It is the way to get to a US salary eventually. You’d be even better off if you get a US offer with a visa directly from Europe, because you wouldn’t have the 2 years in US on a smaller salary than your peers. But it is hard to get that. Promotions at Meta are influenced 80% by whether your manager and skip manager like you and are impressed by you. Other factors make the other 20%, including your effort, your project opportunities, HQ, your command of English, your agreeableness, right time, etc. After 1 year with Meta UK you will be eligible to change teams and once you find a US based team that wants you, they will start the visa process. That will take a few months. Green card for countries with no backlog (such as European countries, but google yours) can be 1-2 years since you arrive in the US.
Thanks for your advice and informations. Yes it is better if I can get a job directly from US but what are the chance to get tu visa?
What are the factors to get the visa? Is it a lottery or depending on application?
I don’t know how to check for country backlog. I found this website and my country is not listed https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/green-card-waiting-time-by-country or is there any official link to check per country
You’d be on eb1 - general: no wait
Cool 👍
I am western European too and i work in usa. Similar background. It is cool for a few years to build a war chest, but after 10 years here it gets old fast. I am trying to rearrange my life to live 6 months here and 6 months in Europe (per year). That said, If i were you, i would do it but move back to Europe before you are required to pay taxes to usa permanently or an exit tax, especially if you return to a country without cap gains (Switzerland, Belgium, etc...) This means giving up your green card. you should have 2-10 million by that time. That said, you can easily clear 100k-200k in Europe too.
You mean at Meta? Or Salesforce too? I don’t think that clearing 100-200k i Europe is that common?
I cleared 150k in Europe More than 10 years ago. I was not alone. Was a multinational, but not meta and not Salesforce.
Google the trimodal nature of software engineering salaries
Current TC, yoe?
Updated