Hi Friends,
Need some opinion on my situation.
I am on H1b with PD of Nov 2016. My employer who is a Canadian is moving all the IT jobs to Canada, they have given me a option to Intra company transfer to Canada with bit reduces salary than USA. I also got a new job in USA and they are willing to transfer my H1b.
As all these delay in getting GC and more stringent condition for H1b, should i move to Canada and get PR later or should continue in USA.
Please let me know your thoughts on this
This is a very subjective question and you are only going to get people’s opinions (subjective) than an objective answer. People’s experiences, thought process and agenda affects the answer to such a question.
That being said, these are some of the pros and cons that I think come into play when making this decision of moving to Canada as a PR rather than staying in the US on H-1B. It goes without saying that you will do/have done enough research to take a calculated risk and the final call is yours.
Pros:
Number 1 is
stability. You don’t have to worry about leaving the country the same week you lose your job, as you have to if you’re in the US, in most cases.
Your
spouse can work without restriction assuming he/she also has a PR. This doubles your incomes as well as helps the spouse’s career development rather than being on the “housewife/househusband visa”.
You can become an
entrepreneur as there are no restrictions, like there are in the US on H-1B (you can only work for your sponsoring employer). After years of experience you have enough knowledge experience and ideas to do so with only the piece of paper preventing you from pursuing those goals.
You can
travel freely. On a US visa there is always a small risk of getting turned back at the PoE due to a number of different reasons. Deportation may result in a decade of barring entry into the US. Therefore less pressure when traveling overseas.
Social benefits/safety. Free healthcare/school fund, affordable college, retirement benefits, safe schools, sensible gun laws.
“Canadians are
nicer”. Now this is more heresay rather than observation and should be taken with a grain of salt. I have not met any foul-mouthed or offensive people in all my time neither in US nor in Canada. But I’m sure there are exceptions in both places that should be steered clear of.
Cons:
Canada is much more
expensive than US. Vancouver is probably more expensive for housing than SF. Toronto is comparable as well. GTA may be slightly less expensive but can still dent your wallet. Canada has lots of natural resources but they export it and import finished goods at a higher price therefore most things are expensive in Canada compared to US. Especially the things you love to buy most: clothes and other household items! Even if you convert everything to USD you will realize some things are still more expensive.
Car Insurance can be a killer; Expect to pay close to $200 per month, compared to around $50–60 per month in US (depending on driving history of course).
Higher taxes. If you cried foul in the US after your tax returns in the US wait till you file taxes in Canada. The higher you earn the more you pay. Rich people pay as much as 40% taxes. So the net income is going to be less than what you probably make in the US (esp in tech industry). Of course healthcare is mostly free and education is affordable but if you’re moving from US to Canada you will note the difference.
Salaries are way lower. The average Canadian in the tech industry makes less (in pure $ number) than in US. US salaries esp in bay area are ridiculously expensive (in fairness, so is cost of living). But in Canada, say in Toronto, you will find a wildly varying salary spectrum, sometimes for the same type of job, that on average is less than in US. After currency conversion it’s even lesser. This salary reduction is of course offset by the savings in Healthcare and education, although that is highly dependent on how less you are making and varies from workplace to workplace and job to job.
Weather. For some people this is a dealbreaker and when anyone says “Canada” they imagine a frozen arctic with people’s tongues stuck to the lightpole forever and everyone skiing to work. This may be true in winter but summers are hotter as well. Though in fairness summers are shorter and winters are longer in Canada. If you are used to living near the Caribbean and/or Bay area you will feel it even more. However, remember than Detroit gets almost the same weather as Toronto does, and sometimes it’s worse to the south of great lakes than to the north.
Hopefully this knowledge will help you in your decision-making process.