H1B life vs. Moving to Canada - Experience sharing

[justinline]

For many of you its a choice to make. But, for me my company not ready to raise PERM/GC and only choice I have is to move to Canada. I am really scared about job opportunities (I just need job even if my current project gets over) other than that I guess I will like Canada very much. Any suggestions for me ?

Just dont expect US salaries, you would be fine. Unless you move with a job or find very few of the companies I hear like to keep parity between US and Canadian employees if they operate in both the countries.

In my experience IT sector is safest of all to make move to Canada, you will find something sooner or later. If you have no job, take whatever first offer you get and work from there. Do not try to negotiate too hard first offer you get.

 

[canprofus]

Updates in my situation:
I have to move to Canada by mid 2022 in order to keep the PR. We came close to making a decision when recently because of processing delays, my wife's EAD got delayed and there was a real prospect of job-loss or at least interruption for some months. My wife's employer agreed to allow her to work from Canada and so we started making plans to move. Then miraculously our I-485 based EAD came through. While this gives us some stability here, that also means one less reason to move to Canada.
We were lucky enough to get to file I-485 in the Oct 2020 rush. However, GC still seems like a long way away. It seems there will be tremendous number of GC's available for Indians in the next fiscal year also, but I feel like we will still miss that bus since our priority date is 2014.
Prospects in Canada don't looks so well. Salaries are really low and exchange rates make it worse (even if I use cost of living comparison as exchange rate). The only thing Canada has in its favor is the stability and certainty that PR and eventual Citizenship offers. Everything else is just not comparable.

It's going to be a tough decision, one we will have to live with the rest of our lives given that Canadian PR will not be coming back if we let go this time.

if you have right skill set, salaries are no longer low in Canada. I very frequently see job listings that specifically mention salaries to attract talent. I often see CAD 115-130k being offered just for 4+ years of experienced people in Java/Full stack with cloud. Devops with cloud, and big data engineering are other hot skills that pay really well. also, lot of US tech employers have presence in Canada and they pay well. Still savings will be lower compared to US due to high real estate costs in GTA, but Canadian salaries are no longer 'really' low. there is high competition for jobs, but it should not be very difficult to crack interviews for people who worked in US.

I am not sure how closely you are following conversion rates.. Canadian dollar has strengthened a lot and right now difference is only 20%.

Similar to 21Goose, we are also amazed by the way Canadian government takes care of its citizens and PRs.. you have to live here to feel it. places like DMVs, government offices etc are extremely efficient compared to similar institutions in US.

 

[Manojgdv]

More or less similar thoughts for me.. most points are applicable to me. Not that much of 4 as we are not great a making friends any ways. I have only two more years left to keep the PR alive.

Regarding you salary and job search experience, just to understand what you say.. for instance, if you were making $100k in US, were they offering 75k CAD as salary?

How's your experience after moving to Canada. I am also in same boat with only 2 yrs left on my PR, so still in debating mode to leave US or continue here on H1B-My GC process isn't started as well

 

[harirajmohan]

How's your experience after moving to Canada. I am also in same boat with only 2 yrs left on my PR, so still in debating mode to leave US or continue here on H1B-My GC process isn't started as well

if your gc is not even started then why there is any hesitation.
if you have hesitation on job change then move to border city job in US and start moving to Canada and commute.

Try to tell whats your hesitation rather than asking broader question like "having dilemma" for which no one can answer as its your personal decision.

No country is same like other country. Comparing two countries is useless.

 

[Manojgdv]

Ok, To be clear my company just started my GC process and it might take close to 2yrs for I140 approval. I am right now in the west coast of US and Vancouver would be the nearest Canadian city for me whereas I got nominated for PR through Ontario PNP program.

Daily commute might not be possible in my case with border restrictions currently and also I am left with close to 2.3 yrs left only on my PR out of 5 years.

So thinking of several factors like

1)Climate
2)Jobs-I started searching online from 2-3 months but nothing worked out
3) Would we be able to manage with one salary. I mean a family of 4

These are all the things rotating in my mind.

 

[starlordavuthu]

Ok, To be clear my company just started my GC process and it might take close to 2yrs for I140 approval. I am right now in the west coast of US and Vancouver would be the nearest Canadian city for me whereas I got nominated for PR through Ontario PNP program.

Daily commute might not be possible in my case with border restrictions currently and also I am left with close to 2.3 yrs left only on my PR out of 5 years.

So thinking of several factors like

1)Climate
2)Jobs-I started searching online from 2-3 months but nothing worked out
3) Would we be able to manage with one salary. I mean a family of 4

These are all the things rotating in my mind.

COL in Ontario would be very similar West Coast cities, you definitely need a good paying job to move and you obviously be paying more taxes but you get some of it back in benefits. A 2nd job in the family helps with more savings but you can lead relatively good life on a single salary. Climate is going to be huge change but one will get used it rather quickly unless you really hate snow and cold weather.

 

[Samoinp]

Ok, To be clear my company just started my GC process and it might take close to 2yrs for I140 approval. I am right now in the west coast of US and Vancouver would be the nearest Canadian city for me whereas I got nominated for PR through Ontario PNP program.

Daily commute might not be possible in my case with border restrictions currently and also I am left with close to 2.3 yrs left only on my PR out of 5 years.

So thinking of several factors like

1)Climate
2)Jobs-I started searching online from 2-3 months but nothing worked out
3) Would we be able to manage with one salary. I mean a family of 4

These are all the things rotating in my mind.

IMO, its a no brainer even with all your perceived cons and worst case outcomes in Canada. If you had to use PNP to get a PR, you most likely will not get another PR in future (not to mention an earlier unused PR isn't going to help your future PR applications).

If priority date is 2020+ or even 2018+, nothing to think about for Indian nationals.

 

[harirajmohan]

Ok, To be clear my company just started my GC process and it might take close to 2yrs for I140 approval. I am right now in the west coast of US and Vancouver would be the nearest Canadian city for me whereas I got nominated for PR through Ontario PNP program.

Daily commute might not be possible in my case with border restrictions currently and also I am left with close to 2.3 yrs left only on my PR out of 5 years.

So thinking of several factors like

1)Climate
2)Jobs-I started searching online from 2-3 months but nothing worked out
3) Would we be able to manage with one salary. I mean a family of 4

These are all the things rotating in my mind.

YOu are PR, You can move anywhere in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-card/understand-pr-status.html

Not sure what you were doing for the last 3 years. At least you should have asked this question 3 years ago.
How close are you for 2 years. How many months left?

Seems that you dont have time to even switch job to US border city. So you will have to decide to leave PR or not.

No one knows how much you would earn hence no one can tell if it would be enough for 4. There are lot of people with single income of course.

 

[Manojgdv]

YOu are PR, You can move anywhere in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-card/understand-pr-status.html

Not sure what you were doing for the last 3 years. At least you should have asked this question 3 years ago.
How close are you for 2 years. How many months left?

Seems that you dont have time to even switch job to US border city. So you will have to decide to leave PR or not.

No one knows how much you would earn hence no one can tell if it would be enough for 4. There are lot of people with single income of course.

I have my PR card validity till Dec 2023,so is that my PR validity or does it count from the day I did my soft landing?

 

[harirajmohan]

I have my PR card validity till Dec 2023,so is that my PR validity or does it count from the day I did my soft landing?

Its not about PR card validity. Your status starts from PR landing.
2 years out of last 5 years(since your landing date).
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=727&top=10

 

[lampbreaker]

I have my PR card validity till Dec 2023,so is that my PR validity or does it count from the day I did my soft landing?

You have to make the move within 3 years after landing in order to meet the 2 years out of 5 requirement.

As a PR, your spouse is free to work anywhere. Whereas, in the US your spouse cannot work without authorization. If you and your spouse are born in India and your priority date will be 2021 (or even 2018+ like someone pointed), hopes of getting GC are really really low. So don't waste the Canada PR.

 

[VcanS]

You have to make the move within 3 years after landing in order to meet the 2 years out of 5 requirement.

As a PR, your spouse is free to work anywhere. Whereas, in the US your spouse cannot work without authorization. If you and your spouse are born in India and your priority date will be 2021 (or even 2018+ like someone pointed), hopes of getting GC are really really low. So don't waste the Canada PR.

well said and so true. With 2021 priority date, it is a no brainer.

Even people with priority date after mid 2014 are at big risk now despite filing i485 and there is a good chance that they probably may never see GC for next 5 years or more. EB3 category has been hammered with excessive downgrades and USCIS has huge inventory of 288k after third quarter and majority of them likely to be in EB3. Both USCIS and DOS keep saying that the category has unprecedented demand from applicants, and with USCIS expected to process only 180k this year leaving large pool of applicants for next year quota even with big upcoming spillover any movement after this is going to be quite limited. EB2 is still stuck at 2011, so not even iota of scope in that category anyways.

EAD for primary applicant is as restrictive as H1 because people need to move within same job classification and there is not much benefit holding on to it. People with good skill set are able to change job anyways with H1.

 

[novascotia27]

Ok, To be clear my company just started my GC process and it might take close to 2yrs for I140 approval. I am right now in the west coast of US and Vancouver would be the nearest Canadian city for me whereas I got nominated for PR through Ontario PNP program.

Daily commute might not be possible in my case with border restrictions currently and also I am left with close to 2.3 yrs left only on my PR out of 5 years.

So thinking of several factors like

1)Climate
2)Jobs-I started searching online from 2-3 months but nothing worked out
3) Would we be able to manage with one salary. I mean a family of 4

These are all the things rotating in my mind.

Don’t come to Canada. Just wait your GC in the US. Salaries in Canada are very low compared to US, climate is horrible, and Canadian work culture is very different than the US, for the bad.

and I speak from experience.. trust me!

 

[funloving]

You have to make the move within 3 years after landing in order to meet the 2 years out of 5 requirement.

As a PR, your spouse is free to work anywhere. Whereas, in the US your spouse cannot work without authorization. If you and your spouse are born in India and your priority date will be 2021 (or even 2018+ like someone pointed), hopes of getting GC are really really low. So don't waste the Canada PR.

This is wrong information. You can move anytime before 5 years. You will never lose PR status until its adjudicated via immigration office/officer. You can come in just few days before your 5th year anniversary.

 

[funloving]

Don’t come to Canada. Just wait your GC in the US. Salaries in Canada are very low compared to US, climate is horrible, and Canadian work culture is very different than the US, for the bad.

and I speak from experience.. trust me!

He/She is ABSOLUTELY Correct!!!!