One more guy who’ll block gc lines of people who deserve it
Microsoft applies for h1B as soon as you get here on l1. I transfered here 8 months ago and I got my h1B receipt this month.
Lot of my friends who moved to Amazon seattle on L1 are regretting their decision. 1. Their pay is considerably low as compared to new hires who got hired in US. 2. Can’t change companies on L1. Only option is to switch teams, and switching teams won’t increase your comp. 3. Rents/expenses are quite high, and savings would be bit less. Half of your base pay would go in rent. Another 10-20% would go in car/insurance and utilities. 4. Its hard to get h1 these days. Friends has been trying for last 3 years. Just to give you some stats. There were 200k applicants out of which around 80-90k were with masters in US. Lottery is done for 65k. So <0.3 probability of getting h1 each year. Only way to increase your comp is to switch companies. Amazon is the worst company to be on L1. All mangers know constraints of L1 and take advantage of L1 visa holders.
1. Base is same. Only signing bonus and stocks are different. 3. If he wants to stay in studio, then yes. Otherwise 2bhk would cost him around 1.5k per month including utilities. That's 18k per year. No way "half of base pay" is going in rent. Car isn't necessary. I know a lot of people living without car in Seattle. If he gets a car, he can save on rent by moving to a cheaper place. Getting a car would cost him around $200 per month on gas and insurance. 10-20% is a huge exaggeration. 4. There's nothing changed on getting h1 in last few years. So "it's hard to get h1 these days" is a myth. Your numbers are correct though. It's a bit of luck, but given he has 5 years on L1, it should be fine. He can return to India in 3 years and have 100k saved in his bank account. I'm saving approximately 45k each year and I plan to return in 3 years. My base is same as Amazon sde1 base. Overall, you can live comfortably for $2.5k per month which includes everything, even a car. That is $30k per year. If he spends $20k on miscellaneous things in an year, he will be left with $30-$50k in his account after taxes. I don't know if you are trying to scare him off or if your sources gave you wrong information, but the scenario you described so well in points isn't all true.
Signing bonus is the main portion of your salary, and more so in Amazon. All your bonus are RSUs. Sure if you are sharing apt with someone. My above comment was based on if OP is mArried. If you are living in US for 3 years I am assuming you will get a car. On average people pay around $70-80 for insurance on old car and then gas extra so $200 per month is quite average. 100k in 3 years is not a lot of amount. Salaries in India are around 30-40lacs so if he stay there he might be able to save similar amount. Again my main point is amazon is not a good place to make internal transfer. Given that there is a good possibility that he might get stuck with Amazon for 3-4 years atleast scares me.
OP is an SDE1. Highly unlikely he can get an L1 approved and Amazon likely won't even try and file one. What kind of specialized knowledge do you have that somehow wasn't good enough to get you promoted? Honestly: None. And there's a good chance USCIS will understand that. OP, get to SDE2 first and the doors will open. Also moving from your present team while still an SDE1 is just going to slow down your promo. All you should worry about as SDE1 is get to SDE2 which you should be able to do within 2yrs of joining at which point your L1 has better odds.
Getting L1 is not a problem.
Doesn't Amazon sponsor?
Only after you've been on a L1 visa for 2 years.
Well if you looking for GC, better to be a manager and come. Otherwise it's useless.