[adi060711]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

My wife has been selected in the H1B lottery. Now, assuming that she gets the visa, we have a major decision to make and would appreciate suggestions from people who have faced similar situations.

I have lived in Dallas for a good 3 years. Other members have covered a lot of aspects. So, just further adding to that:

- Dallas/Plano, in fact Texas in general has extremely poor public transport. And things are spaced out, you cannot get around without a vehicle. Uber/Lyft on a daily basis will be expensive! So, in case it is just your wife who moves, she might be able to get around to work/get groceries by car pooling or asking help from friends/colleagues. This certainly isn't an option on the long run though. Now if the whole family moves, you will have to invest in a vehicle! So, do consider this expense as well.
- I wound not worry about opportunities, as there certainly will be something. Your challenge here would be work authorization. AFAIK, there is a decent enough processing delay for H4 EAD. A lot of people take up some course, which changes their visa status to F1 (student visa) and then try their luck at H1b/GC.
- Another factor to consider is the medical expenses. Even small procedures can cost a lot of money even after the insurance.

Hope this helps!

[amol4184]

Hi, I do not see you having a problem finding a job in the USA in that field.
HOWEVER, you cannot work on H4.

You need approved H4-EAD. And you can file for EAD only if your spouse has approved green card application (I-140) - meaning her employer filed her green card and it passed all the requirements.

Almost all employers will NOT file her green card within few months of landing in the USA. Especially if she is in Indian company, the employer will exhaust 5, almost 6 years of her H1B and then only apply for green card. Till then you cannot file for EAD and will remain on H4 without work, unless some law changes and allows every H4 holder to work without EAD. Typically, filing green card after 3 years is a good move so you get enough time for all processes and don't need to rush back home if I-140 doesn't come in time. Of course, filing depends on the employer.

4-5-6 years a very long time for to not do any work. If your wife is okay, she can switch after going to USA (and preferably to non-Indian company) and ask the new employer to file for green card. Once that is approved, which itself takes 6-8 months, you can file for EAD. The EAD is currently taking anything between 4-8 months.

[neil.jericho]

KL01toKA03, as someone who got through the H1B process myself, my thoughts are below.

- Your current jobs (including future growth prospects), joint CTC, assets and age of your children make this different from the usual H1B situation. Consider the financial aspect very strongly. Would it be better for you to continue to work in India and send your children abroad for their college education, once they finish their schooling here? For the kind of money that you and your wife are making, that is what a lot of people will do.
- Im surprised that you still dont have clarity on the close to final salary that your wife will likely make. It just takes a few phone calls and some friendly chatter to get this information.
- As a technical writer, you should be able to get a job in the US. I dont know what salaries you can expect to get though and it wont be immediate. You might even need to consider switching roles / industries. Over there, it isnt a big deal. That said, I wont be surprised if your wife ends up being the primary breadwinner.
- Honestly, I dont understand why you are considering option 1 and 2. Neither of them make any sense to me. If you are moving to the US, just move as a family.

A large part of applying for the H1B visa, is preparedness. This involves spending countless hours in talking to a lot of colleagues (those who have gone on H1B and returned after 6 years + those who are now in the US on their H1B), managers, HR folks etc. I get a sense that not enough spadework has been done, which may have led to your post on this forum.

In my experience in the IT industry, I have seen the wife immediately give up her job and career in India, when the husband gets the H1B visa. That is because they have researched, planned and prepared.

If you believe that being in the US is what is best for your children in the long run, then quit your job in India, sell your flat and after you get to Plano, support your family as the homemaker. Once you get there, you will get to spend priceless time with your kids while the legal formalities for your employment, get worked out (however many months / years it takes). Im pretty sure, that is what your wife would have done, if the roles were reversed.

[karthikd21]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

We earn 55 lakhs per year in India, have 2 apartments in Bangalore (one without loan, and another one which we purchased recently with a 20 year loan. EMI is approximately 1.25 lakhs per month).

I have been through your situation although we were not earning so much a few years ago. We earned around 25 Lakhs together and moving out made sense for us. I did however go on L1A and my wife was on L2 visa. This was in 2015 and we had done our research(that's what we thought!) and found that it would be easy to get an EAD for my wife since she would be on L2. During that time, H4 would not get an EAD to work. Whether it makes financial sense or not depends on your calculation. please research on the rental of house. My brother-in-law relocated recently to Plano and he could not find decent accommodations for less than 2500$ a month. This is going to be your biggest expense on a month on month basis. If you do wish to talk to him to understand the ground reality around expenses, drop me a PM and I will be happy to connect you with him

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

1. Will I be able to find a job in Technical Writing? I do not know anyone from India who is a technical writer in USA. Is it realistic to get a job in a software company while on an H-4 visa?

2. How difficult is it to find a job as a dependent of an H1B visa holder? Is there any bias against such people since there is a chance that they might lose their authorization to work if the H1B visa expires.

Going by our experience, it was not difficult to get EAD for my wife on L2, took about 3 months. However, she had major difficulty in finding a job due to the following reasons:
1. Employees prefer people holding H1B to a person holding an EAD. This is because, if the spouse gets to go back, the dependent has no option but to go back. This was with a L2 EAD. However, if it was a green card based EAD, it was easier is what we found out eventually as there is more reliability.
2. Nature of role matters a lot. She did receive more calls asking for Automation testing while she had only Manual testing experience. So, find out if there are openings for your role with specific skills.

Finally, she ended up as a teacher at a local school to earn some money during our stay after trying for an year.

good luck!

Regards,
Karthik

[RaghavEvoX]

Like many people have expressed their opinion, earning 55 Lakhs in India is considerably higher than getting a 100k in US.
If I am in your place, probably I would choose to go if we are as a family getting more than 200k.

But if you are looking beyond the financial aspect of it and thinking of standard of living and other criterions, then you should take a risk and everyone move to US as a family.
But remember, even though primary education and hospitals are affordable or almost free but you have to shell a lot for insurance, higher education, etc.
So take a conscious decision.

Regarding working with a dependent Visa, it is time taking process but not impossible.
The easiest which many people do is to enroll for a 1 year or a 2 year course and get a job after that, which makes sense if you are looking to stay for a long term.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Once you get there, you will get to spend priceless time with your kids while the legal formalities for your employment, get worked out (however many months / years it takes). Im pretty sure, that is what your wife would have done, if the roles were reversed.

Many times ego comes into play, especially when the woman is the primary breadwinner. A colleague and her husband moved to the US this way. Initially, it was all fine, but when the months turned into years and they had a kid, there was a lot of stress on the husband (both from self and society). Eventually, he found a job but she says the final months were very difficult.

[rajk15]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

My wife has been selected in the H1B lottery. Now, assuming that she gets the visa, we have a major decision to make and would appreciate suggestions from people who have faced similar situations. Here is some background on our realities:

We earn 55 lakhs per year in India, have 2 apartments in Bangalore (one without loan, and another one which we purchased recently with a 20 year loan. EMI is approximately 1.25 lakhs per month). I am a technical writer (14 years experience in Product Documentation) and my wife does web services testing (14years experience in software testing). We have two children aged 4 and 6 years.

If she goes ahead with the H1B application, she will work in Plano TX. I have been there a few times, and the climate is tolerable. If all of us go together, there will be a huge financial gamble. Currently, we do not know what she will be paid, but based on experiences of others at a similar position, her salary should be around 80-85 thousand dollars per year.

First and quite a valid point:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Have you heard of this statement? : A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

You have two birds in hand and are eyeing one in the bush. I won't say more.

But more than the old talks of stability, one has to take risks to grow. My idea would be to talk to some recruiters, the majority of them are Indians - so they might be of some help. If you do move, you'll obv not get a job the day you land so be mentally prepared to take up minimum wage jobs; another option- is to drive trucks till you find a job. If you want to jump the ladder quick still no harm in driving on weekends (have heard of lots of people doing this).

Sorry to add to your dilemma, but have the two of you talked about this to your respective parents?- Are they ready to move to the US if you are able to settle there - (I ask this since I've seen a lot of people move and then their parents aren't ready to move) unless both of you have a sibling/s who can take care of them *God forbid* in case of an emergency.
If they do agree to move when you are settled, will they have a source of income, if not you should count 6 dependents in the future not to mention the vast medical bills in the US. Since you'll be in TX, the parents could look at moving to Mexico maybe so you all can do road trips to visit them regularly.
If your parents can take care of your kids for 1-2 years I'd say, you and your wife go to the US for 1-2 years, see if things work out; if by God's grace hopefully, they do, you can look at moving your kids as well. Going from India to the US *and God forbid back to India will be stressful for the kids*.

As for your flats, give their power of attorney to your parents here so that they can complete the sales process when you are gone and you aren't in a hurry to sell (if you can continue paying the EMIs) so that you at least break even if don't earn a profit.

Not to be pessimistic, but a lot of stats and even history suggest the downfall of the US; if that's true, it might not be the best idea to move there now given the shift that is quite likely to take place in the next 1-2 decades. (

YT video link

)

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Many times ego comes into play, especially when the woman is the primary breadwinner.

Reminds me of the 1996 Kannada film "America America" where the husband, Shashank, after losing his job, was unable to come to terms with his wife working and being a breadwinner.

[the_joker]

I don't know the exact number, but you need to multiply your salary in India at least by 3 - 4 and convert to USD to get the kind of equivalent salary. For your case, 55,00,000, it converts to approx. 1,50,00,000 to 2,00,00,000 in India loosely translating to $250k in the US. If you can jointly earn $250k or more, you will have a similar lifestyle as 55 lakhs in India and you should emigrate. Else, you will find a better lifestyle in India.

However, that is your current scenario. Maybe in future, it'll be easier to find a higher paying job in the US than in India. Still $250k is a high number, and not easy to get. You should consider this before making a move.

I wouldn't do it if I were in your place. I would invest in my kids education so that they can move to any country they wish to after their 12th. As others have pointed out, your employment authorization may take months - years to get approved. What about the lost income during this period?

[wheeledwanderer]

Disclaimer: This is purely my view and I do not intend to demean or argue on others decision in the public forum. Each one has their own reasoning, this is mine.

I have been living and working in Dubai for 17 years now and in 2016 got a PR for Canada which i did not utilize citing many reasons a few of them jotted below.

1. My personal belief is "If one is doing well in his current profession (irrespective of location), continue doing it, unless there is something FIRM and BETTER is available" Again each has to do his due diligence before taking it up whatever challenges lay ahead of him/her.

2. Starting afresh at the age of 40+ is not an easy task especially knowing that one might not find a job in his domain and may have to work in supermarket, pizza store etc. to make ends meet (in western country, they consider this normal)

3. I would like to retire back in India because cost of living is cheaper, all kind of domestic help is available (available but very expensive in the western world, approx. USD 40/- per hour for a plumber), medical care is easily accessible and many more.

4.As a parent, i will not decide what is a better prospect for my children. They have to decide what they want to do and I can guide them if they want me to. If they want to settle abroad, I can create a platform for study (savings, bank loan guarantor etc.) but it is their war which they need to fight, just like how I did.

5. Culture: This is something which we need to put up with. One of my friend said that his daughter bought her boyfriend home at age 14 and they spend hours in the house. One need to ask, as an Asian family man, is this something which we can live with? This apart from easy access to narcotic substances in the western world.

6. Distance to homeland: How does the family connection/responsibilities hold up? Distance for travel from USA/Canada was 20+ hours from Vancouver to BLR. My friend lost his mother and could not come to finish her last rites and see her for the last time. He had not been in India for 7 years prior to that due to financial and family commitments.

7. Retirement: In Canada retirement age is 65 and one needs to work and pay taxes until this age to get benefit of Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and OAS (old age security)

8. Final nail in the coffin was "Its better to live in my country as a FIRST grade citizen in my country than as a THIRD grade citizen in another country"

9. Making an asset takes years of hard work, selling it to start afresh is something which i would not do personally.

[TechSavvy]

As a student currently studying here, spending dollars hurts if you’re not making it and amounts can pile up really quick. I wouldn’t recommend a family of four to shift unless you have a minimum income of $200k p.a. Rent's going to cost 2k. Car, medical - 3k (medical and SSN tax is way more I guess), food - 2.5k plus tuition for kids - 2k - that’s a month. 10k a month just for basics. Also, Texas isn’t a city you’d wanna live in even though state tax is 0%. I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. Also, don’t uproot a stable life in India because even if you might “make it” in US, you’re going to take 5-10 years to get comfortable and it’s going to be a real struggle and not everyone can do it, nor should they.

Godspeed!

[Ottomatic]

I think you should stay back. By the time your kids grow up till 12th Grade, i.e a Decade from today, India will be totally different, obviously in a positive and progressive manner.

I was a Canadian PR holder from 2010 to 2015. Mid and old age life is much better here. My Father is 75 and mother 72. Seeing the way they live here. Almost everyday I thank heavens and feel happy about my decision of not immigrating to Canada. My Kid is also doing very well. He is 12.

This is just a view and views and opinions do differ person to person

[narmad]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

What are my biggest fears:

1. Will I be able to find a job in Technical Writing? I do not know anyone from India who is a technical writer in USA. Is it realistic to get a job in a software company while on an H-4 visa?

2. How difficult is it to find a job as a dependent of an H1B visa holder? Is there any bias against such people since there is a chance that they might lose their authorization to work if the H1B visa expires.

3. Is it possible to extend the H1B visa indefinitely (providing the current policies do not change)? It does not make much sense for me to leave a stable and well-paying job and come back without a job after a few months.

1.> You cannot work on an H4 visa unless the Sponsor [ Spouse ] has an EAD.
Legally it is not possible to work just with an H4.


2.> Again, to repeat
You cannot work on an H4 visa unless the Sponsor [ Spouse ] has an EAD.
Legally it is not possible to work just with an EAD.

3.> You cannot stay continuously on H1B for more than 6 years.
Usually you get a 3 year Visa and then you file for extension.
Unless you are in a strong organization, Extensions are a hassle.

80-85K in Plano Tx is not a good amount, if you are staying with kids.
You should calculate the savings first before you take the decision.

Unless, you think you will have better quality of life in USA as compared to what you have here and easy access to higher education for kids.
Public schooling is no bad in a 8+ school district, so education costs are negligible.

I personally would go if I have faith in my organization to process my GC
and there would be enough work to continue till you get the GC.
Waiting times are in Decades unless you are going at a Manager equivalent position .

[AutoConsultant]

Hi all, I am also in kind of a similar conundrum. Hoping to get some advice!

My wife is going to get her H1B stamped in a couple of months, she works in a major IT firm and will already be onboarded on a US project before traveling. I am a Management Consultant at a relatively tech-focused big firm. I wish to travel along with her and am looking at 2 options : Get an L1 visa through my firm OR apply for H4 and later on apply for EAD (also checking an option to work remotely from US on indian salary till I get my EAD).

We are currently earning a combined of ~55 lacs pre-tax and assuming my wife will earn $100-110k in Plano, TX. If I get my L1 around the time she has to travel then it makes sense (however locations might be different for both so will have to manage that as well) but if I travel on H4 then I am not sure how many months i'll have to wait to get my EAD. Also, we do not plan to settle there - we want to return back in a couple of years after getting the US experience on our CVs (more imp for my wife).

I am really confused by the visa complications and thinking if it is even worth all the hassle? We do not have any major liabilities and lead a pretty comfortable lifestyle here. However the foreign experience would be a huge boost for my wife's career. Help!

[Kruz Nhux]

Out of curiosity, what is the appeal for schooling in US over India? There are loads of options here. Don't mean to offend anyone but can someone enlighten me.