Need Advise: H1B, move to Canada or Stay?

Original Post

Hello friends, I need some serious advise from you guys. I have been in USA for almost a decade now, and just started my second year of H1B. Came here when i was 18, took loads of immature decisions before graduating in 2015, raking up loans around 50K for college and accommodations during that phase. Have paid almost all of it now as i have been working as a Performance Test Engineer for past 3 and half years. (have credit cards loans which i don't worry about). My wife is working on her OPT with a very low pay in a reputed Company which ends mid July next year. We decided not to go for her H1B as we wanted to stay together and she could get her GC via me. Now all of a sudden situation has changed drastically. My desi consultancy was supposed to apply for my GC this January, but out of nowhere my contract ended at my client where i have been working for past 3 and half years. Now the consultancy for sure won't apply for GC until i get a new client which might take months. We have around 40k$ in savings after paying off all my loans now. Now the dilemma, we are currently in, is either wait for jobs here and wait for GC application which has no guarantee if it is going to applied in time, or look to apply for Canadian PR. I am thinking about applying for Canadian PR as a backup plan. My wife has already worked for almost 2.5 years in a position paying very less and one that is very much below her skill set. If i decide to stay here in US, she will be unemployed at least for 1.5 years or so. I don't wan't to affect her self esteem and confidence more than i already have. Please advise guys what you think would be a right move to make? I am in quite a huge dilemma here.

chabahil_nepali

Nov 27, 2018 10:43 AM · 17,774 views

12 Replies

maxpayne Nov 27, 2018 11:33 AM

Id start the marketing here, prep for Ielts during the downtime and apply Canada PR. Also talk to other companies, and switch to one that can apply GC. For now your main expense will be the H1b maintenance tax (assuming company will maintain it).

chabahil_nepali Nov 27, 2018 12:31 PM

Thanks a ton @maxpayne and @ithahariko bros.

I am thinking along the same line too. Have been applying for jobs extensively the past week now as my contract ends end of this month. Some recruiters have contacted me, but this being  holiday months, placements will be kind of slow as per my understanding. Hope things will pickup after December. Meanwhile as my wife has Masters degree, i will have her start preparing for IELTS as CRS score calculator predicts her score will be much higher than mine.

As for my payroll, i will get two more "Real" payrolls as i am working till end of November (i get my pay 15th of each month), and the company also owes me 1 more month of pay, meaning i have pay coming from client itself till January payroll. I am pretty hopeful that i will get a job by January as i am pretty confident on skills i have gained.

My current employer has been pretty good to me apart from being very difficult to communicate to. I never have had issues with payments/H1B application/RFE reply etc. They had some internal HR issues so they couldn't apply GC this year. Only reason i am adamant in changing employer is the current H1B transfer horror stories i have been hearing. If you guys know any reliable consulting firms that will do GC and help me market myself please do let me know (@DM me). Appreciate your help guys.

Sahara Koirala Nov 27, 2018 12:50 PM

hi chabahil, 

if u been working as a performance tester for couple of years via consultancy and now if u got new position as senior performance test engineer  via same consultancy, how much u should be demanding per hour, lets say he was working 25/hr as a tester now as a senior performance engineer the company not willing to pay more than 28/hr.a very close friend of mine is in this situation working under h1. u can message me in fb if u dnt fine easy publicly declare here tks. n wish u luck  Last edited: 27-Nov-18 01:00 PM

AJ Joshi Nov 27, 2018 1:02 PM

They r lying . Just want to keep u for 1 more year .

chabahil_nepali Nov 27, 2018 2:39 PM

@Aj Joshi bro:

Yeah they might be lying but so far they have been real good to me and i was working in a stable client project for more than 3 years now. If you know any other good consultancies that might be willing to do H1B sponsor as well as file GC please let me know.

maxpayne Nov 27, 2018 3:04 PM

Sahara 28 an hour comes to around 56k a year, that is not even a starter salary on most QA jobs, unless its manual testing.

AJ Joshi Nov 27, 2018 4:16 PM

45 bhaye consultancy le 25 percent lincha. 32 ta minimum hunuparne ho

mancini Nov 27, 2018 5:45 PM

What is the hurry to file in january? Get a job and then ask them to file GC.

chabahil_nepali Nov 27, 2018 9:41 PM

@sahara: they are ripping off your friend imo. I started at 33$/hr which increased to 37$/hr after 6 months. After 1 year, i was making 50$+/hr. The compensation you mentioned, even a manual tester should be getting more than that.

chabahil_nepali Nov 27, 2018 10:24 PM

@Hem Narayan Bro: Maile mero situation j cha ani maile jati kamairachu tehi kura nai share gareko ho bro. Maile thantera k pauchu ra. Mero savings ko kura garda 15000$ bihe gariyo, 50$k debt bhanda alik bhadi nai thyo bro aru tesma 10-20$k bhannum na. Ani ali ali karcha garda kasari 40k bhanda badi save hunu bro. Tesmathi 1st year mero 32-36 matra thyo, also 2017 ma kaam ko project issues le garda i had to work 3 days a week only for couple of months. Ani rent, car, cc bill,utilities food sab garera kaha bachnu keto. (i believe i am not somehow you can save a lot of money). 

Ani bro full time ma bhanda dherai paisa contract ma huncha, kehi benefits hudaina tara. Mero client le prime vendor lae 98$/hr pay garcha tesma maile 50$/hr pauchu. Aba thats the reality bro maybe i got lucky with high pay. And about going to Canada, i am looking for stability rather than money man, life ma paisa matra sabai kura hudaina jasto lagcha. Afno afno bichar ho bro.

Have DM'ed you consultancy name.

Biruwa Nov 28, 2018 7:16 PM

Canada has very tough job market. Software and testing won't get skill based PR. Best is try in US. if not return to Nepal and see the offshoring market.

chabahil_nepali Nov 28, 2018 10:07 PM

@Biruwa bro: Thanks for the input. Canada surely has a tougher job market but market for IT is growing each year.

But don't know where you got that software developers and testers can't get PR. You are most likely talking about Provincial Nomination program offered by provinces which depends on job NOC. You don't have to have PNP certification to get PR though. You can directly apply through 
Federal Skilled Worker Program.

As long as your occupation is in the list of NOCs, you are eligible to apply for Canadian PR through the Express Entry system. The NOC for quality engineers and software developers is NOC 2011. Here is the detail if you need it:
http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imd...

All you need to be have is 67 points in Federal Skilled Worker score and then have around at least 445 CRS score. This CRS boundary keeps on changing, higher score the better. It is lot more easier for one with Masters degree as you get higher points for it. So to summarize:

1)Check FSW points if it is 67 you qualify for express entry
2)Check CRS score, and if you believe you will have CRS points around 445 after adding the IELTS test you can proceed
3)Prepare for IELTS and give the test, in parallel send your foreign degree for evaluation to WES
4)If your score is enough, you should get Invitation to Apply within 1-1.5 years.

*Note: My friend got his PR after 10 months of applying and got a Fulltime job as a Manual QA within 3 months. (not bad yeh).

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