FSW WORLDWIDE

[GandiBaat]

May I ask why the NAFTA visa is considered a free ticket? I understand that it makes it possible for Canadians to find work in the US, but some of my Canadian-born friends have tried this and it is not necessarily so easy. US employers need to prove why they can't hire a US citizen for the job, similar to LMIA here. After having no luck with this route a couple of my friends ended up marrying into the US instead.

My experiences (rather stories I heard because I have never worked in USA per say) are more tech oriented. For tech roles, it has never been a hurdle unlike H1B which is a lottery literally.

Remember, there are no major Global Skills Work Permit in USA and H1B is capped.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employment/visas-canadian-mexican-nafta-professional-workers.html

I do not see a Labour Condition Application with department of Labour for TN as a requirement.

Did I mention, TN can be renewed indefinitely? OR
You can change your employer and get a new TN visa by re-entering US.

 

[ivicts]

I always think of Masters in tech/core as Rod of Ages in League. Its an early(ish?) build item which helps you build more capabilities early and grow as you go. Meaning, do it early.

MBA is a situational thing. Sometimes doing it early makes a hell lot of sense: Finance comes to mind. Sometimes, its better to delay it and even do it as an exec MBA because you can get more worth out of it. Typically in strategy / general management types.

Always remember, do not build your life around immigration. Its just one rite of passage. A beaurocratic bullshit.

So plan to get (buy ) your degree (items) as per your career (build). Immigration should be your "pentakill" somewhere in the game. You need to do it once or twice because your situation demands. Also, outsource immigration to your employer. That keeps your life simpler.

I will say 1 is the most likely/easier scenario.

And now I need to stop watching replays of LoL and do some real work

"""
Always remember, do not build your life around immigration. Its just one rite of passage. A beaurocratic bullshit.
"""
Can you elaborate more on this? I thought if we don't plan, let's say for Canada express entry, after 30 years old, then it's going to be difficult to get a PR. And for the US, the H1B lottery system seems to be high-risk without any plans.

 

[Lord_Tony]

The majority seems to discourage that big loan.. Hmmm, but during your STEM OPT were you able to pay back your education investment (or loan)? How common is it for someone in tech not from China or India to not be able to stay in the US?

In my opinion the crowd in IT is for the low end ITES work called support or outsourcing, they are mostly from Asia and majority from India. It is not the case just in the USA it is same case in most western countries. The really high end IT work particularly areas like AI are mostly Anglo-Saxons, the % might the numbers could be low though.

 

[Lord_Tony]

The people praising him were low scoring CEC candidates to whom he handed out ITA's like free candy in that 75 score CEC only draw. Even high scoring CEC candidates were left out later on when IRCC completely stopped draws in September, what a gigantic blunder.

ah Gotcha I never knew this historic thingy. It seems like a blunder, I understand why when I landed all my office colleagues asked me to apply for PNPs.

 

[GandiBaat]

"""
Always remember, do not build your life around immigration. Its just one rite of passage. A beaurocratic bullshit.
"""
Can you elaborate more on this? I thought if we don't plan, let's say for Canada express entry, after 30 years old, then it's going to be difficult to get a PR. And for the US, the H1B lottery system seems to be high-risk without any plans.

It means, get the immigration done while persuing other goals. If you are laser focused on immigration, you will mess up a lot many other things. I know people who left perfectly great careers to re-boot from start or take up un-skilled jobs for immigration. My opinion is this is not necessary. Yet another group of folks live through separation from spouse for years to just hold on to their immigration dream. Build a career that takes you where you need to do. And whats the point of immigration if you are messing up your youth and your relationship and intimacy with your spouse?

Do remember, I am a bit biased because my job has been in tech domain and I come from a relatively safe developing country. There may be domains where career dead-end is the norm and immigration as a goal might make a bit more sense. Or there may be places where folks face existential threat. But I see them more as exceptions and not the rule.

 

[GandiBaat]

more than 50% of TN visas get rejected it seems, someone who gets blacklisted will never get a USA visa what I have seen.

Typically TN has 90% chance of getting approved :

Also : https://cis.org/North/Visa-Approval-Rates-Surge-FY-2021-According-State-Department

In 2021, it was 90.2% And this was combined Mexico and Canada. I bet Canada side is much easier because they demand much less paper work than Mexico.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/NIVWorkload/FY2022NIVWorkloadbyVisaCategory.pdf

2022:
V. A. R. T.
TN 33,361 4,299 37,660

Rate = 33361/37660 = 88.5%

 

[GandiBaat]

Maybe your friends were talking about the process of transitioning to a green card from a TN visa? I think that's when the PERM thing(similar to LMIA) plays a role.

Transitioning from TN to PERM is a much tricky proposition. Its doable but its not straight forward. This is because TN is not a dual intent visa.

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

It means, get the immigration done while persuing other goals. If you are laser focused on immigration, you will mess up a lot many other things. I know people who left perfectly great careers to re-boot from start or take up un-skilled jobs for immigration. My opinion is this is not necessary. Yet another group of folks live through separation from spouse for years to just hold on to their immigration dream. Build a career that takes you where you need to do. And whats the point of immigration if you are messing up your youth and your relationship and intimacy with your spouse?

Do remember, I am a bit biased because my job has been in tech domain and I come from a relatively safe developing country. There may be domains where career dead-end is the norm and immigration as a goal might make a bit more sense. Or there may be places where folks face existential threat. But I see them more as exceptions and not the rule.

I agree. There's a growing trend of lifestyle lovers who will fuck their entire lives up for immigration and do nothing meaningful in their lives. Almost all of these diploma mill graduates are a good example - no vision, no career, no motivation except for PR. That's a very bad way to plan you life.

 

[GandiBaat]

In my opinion the crowd in IT is for the low end ITES work called support or outsourcing, they are mostly from Asia and majority from India. It is not the case just in the USA it is same case in most western countries. The really high end IT work particularly areas like AI are mostly Anglo-Saxons, the % might the numbers could be low though.

Not true. I work for a FAANG company and number of Indians and Asians in general are .... pretty.... I do not know the right adjective.

Let me put it in this way: My first team in Canada was an Indian boss, 1 Peruvian, 1 Vietnamese, 2 Indians, 1 Chinese, I Hungarian, 2 Spanish and 1 Pakistani. Did I mention, ZERO Americans and ZERO Canadians?
Oh and we DID work in AI, invented a new AI model, have couple of publications to prove and 2 patents.

My current team is : Iranian boss, 4 Indians, 1 Pakistani, 1 Chinese, 1 Spanish, 2 Canadians (Out of which I am pretty sure, 1 is most likely middle eastern guy who converted to christianity at some point).
And we work on LLMs currently.

When it comes to CSE workplaces, its god-damned United freaking Colors of Benetton all over the place.

 

[seadrag0n]

I agree. There's a growing trend of lifestyle lovers who will fuck their entire lives up for immigration and do nothing meaningful in their lives. Almost all of these diploma mill graduates are a good example - no vision, no career, no motivation except for PR. That's a very bad way to plan you life.

They will suffer when they get old.

 

[imransyed]

They will suffer when they get old.

The way things are, the horrific things I see and hear about every day, especially in the international student community, the suffering has already started. It is extremely depressing to hear the stories I hear. Very difficult for me to concentrate and stay focused on my personal ambitions when I am surrounded by so many types of miseries.
But has this cooled the hype down? No, not in a meaningful manner.

Side note: I wish I had more success stories around me but majority of the success stories I know inside Canada are either from this forum or some other forum ie anecdotal. *sigh*
sorry for getting emotional

 

[wonderbly]

The way things are, the horrific things I see and hear about every day, especially in the international student community, the suffering has already started. It is extremely depressing to hear the stories I hear. Very difficult for me to concentrate and stay focused on my personal ambitions when I am surrounded by so many types of miseries.
But has this cooled the hype down? No, not in a meaningful manner.

Side note: I wish I had more success stories around me but majority of the success stories I know inside Canada are either from this forum or some other forum ie anecdotal. *sigh*
sorry for getting emotional

As long as you do things the right way and not seek shortcuts, things will eventually fall into place for you. Just keep your eye on the goal and stay on the right path.

Focus on the positive stories and don't get bogged down by miserable people who are simply getting their comeuppance. A lot of people make wrong choices that come back to bite them in the backside.

 

[someguy17]

No draw again today?
If no draw today I don't think we'll have one tomorrow either... hope is fading once again.

 

[Lord_Tony]

Typically TN has 90% chance of getting approved :

Also : https://cis.org/North/Visa-Approval-Rates-Surge-FY-2021-According-State-Department

In 2021, it was 90.2% And this was combined Mexico and Canada. I bet Canada side is much easier because they demand much less paper work than Mexico.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/NIVWorkload/FY2022NIVWorkloadbyVisaCategory.pdf

2022:
V. A. R. T.
TN 33,361 4,299 37,660

Rate = 33361/37660 = 88.5%

I agree the statistics is 90% or so of success, I should have been more specific what I mentioned earlier was hearsay from the colleagues and friends who were trying TN visa, they from GTA usually try at the Niagara borders. Those Asian folks who got repeatedly rejected said half of the applicants who attended with them succeed and other half fail. The failed ones often get blacklisted and keep failing forever so give up after 3-4 tries.
My personal experience during a business travel from Hamilton, ON to NY I was once stopped for secondary screening. The reason is I had left USA in 2008 at the peak of GCC, then I had been fired from my job with JP Morgan and was not able to find a new home. During this 2022 business visit now, I learnt I had been flagged as missing migrant possibly who became an illegal in 2008. Thankfully I carried old passports had paper i94 copies etc...But still I could see disdain in the eyes of the officer who questioned me. I waited for 3 hours. That border office is quite open and I could see many TN visa applicants, I felt 75% of approximately 30 applicants I saw that day were rejected, one officer was simply rejecting everyone who was going to him for interview, I saw 3-4 folks walk away with tears. Which is why I quoted race in one of my posts. Also weirdly some of the applicants could hardly speak English and I was wondering how did they manage CLB 6 in English, they are not Francophones either.

 

[Lord_Tony]

Not true. I work for a FAANG company and number of Indians and Asians in general are .... pretty.... I do not know the right adjective.

Let me put it in this way: My first team in Canada was an Indian boss, 1 Peruvian, 1 Vietnamese, 2 Indians, 1 Chinese, I Hungarian, 2 Spanish and 1 Pakistani. Did I mention, ZERO Americans and ZERO Canadians?
Oh and we DID work in AI, invented a new AI model, have couple of publications to prove and 2 patents.

My current team is : Iranian boss, 4 Indians, 1 Pakistani, 1 Chinese, 1 Spanish, 2 Canadians (Out of which I am pretty sure, 1 is most likely middle eastern guy who converted to christianity at some point).
And we work on LLMs currently.

When it comes to CSE workplaces, its god-damned United freaking Colors of Benetton all over the place.

Would you know if it is the same in the USA too? barring UK not in Europe either. I based my opinion on some of the articles I have read in tech journals about the AI space not being inclusive yet. I shall share some of the link or atleast PDFs when I get time.