Move to US... advice
 

Wondering if a move to US is a good idea or if I should be patient...

I moved on a work permit, hoping to get PR after a year. I'd get about 430 on the CRS with one year Canadian work experience. getting a bit tired of waiting for CEC...on a decent salary, but forget about buying a house in BC and so goes the hopes of settling in a neighbourhood while the kids are young. Employer would sponsor for work visa to US... and salary would go up by 60% minimum.

We waited this long... should I be patient for a bit longer and get the PR done before moving to US... because if I am not mistaken, that would be calling it quits for Canada - won't get anyone to sponsor for Canadian work permit again.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

You are mistaken, you can get another work permit in the future, and/or reapply for PR again.

Plus if you don’t intend to stay in Canada long enough to get citizenship, then it’s pointless waiting for PR anyway as you don’t keep that status indefinitely. If you’re sure your future lies in the US, then I wouldn’t bother waiting for PR personally.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

P.S. no chance of PR at 430 points anyway, so you’d need to look at BC PNP if you did want to get PR (or find another way to get your points up).

HTH.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Thanks. I meant practically it's very difficult to get an employer to sponsor.

If I stick around to get PR, I could possibly try a few different things to improve my income... still life in lower mainland is questionable. but we like Canada a lot hence hesitant to leave the process half way through. US is unknown quantity... surely we'd have better income and affordability, weather, but some of the cultural differences although neighbours... not sure until we live there. now... if we have to stick around to get the citizenship... that's a long way away! do you mean, we can't try out US after getting PR... and return if we decide it's not for us? I thought it will only increase the time for citizenship?

Re: Move to US... advice
 

:-( ohhh....
For Canadian experience class, it's been high 300s and low 400s before they stopped it. I could get another 50 points from a work offer letter (I am in permanent employment) but don't know if they will approve this because of my work permit type is reciprocal category

Re: Move to US... advice
 

How long must I stay in Canada to keep my permanent resident status? (cic.gc.ca)
This says, you have to have lived in Canada 2 out of the last 5 years to retain PR. wouldn't this help for us to try out US for a year or two without causing any harm to long term prospect in Canada. Thanks!

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Ah, I see.

It has, but last draw was 557 and with draws resuming as normal now, I'd expect it to stay higher for some time as so many people have been sitting in the pool waiting. When will you qualify for CEC?

Yep, absolutely, once you've got PR (which will take around a year from when you submit) then you can move and keep it for a couple of years. It just depends on if you're prepared to wait really, it could be a couple of years before you get PR and can move.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Yeah you're right! the round on July 6th doesn't specifically say CEC. so i am kind of waiting to see how long it will take for the cut off scores to drop to my levels. this + the 1 year or so to process PR, it seems like a long wait for me...

How do you check this? I have more than 1 year of Canadian work experience now. assumed i would qualify?

Re: Move to US... advice
 

If you have a year of more full-time (and it's skilled work), then yes, you would qualify now. I'd assumed from your posts that you were waiting for that year.

Are you already in the pool? That could bring the time down to much less, you never know, the points may drop and you may get an invite soon. :fingerscrossed:

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Unless your employer is going to sponsor a green card (permanent residence in the US), not just a "work visa", then you certainly run the risk of burning your bridges if you would have to reapply for a new visa to go back to Canada if your job in the US ends.

Also a 60% raise might not be all it seems if it requires a move to a high cost area - as depending on where you live in Canada, you might for example find that a 60% increase would be inadequate to fund living in San Franciso.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Cheers. From the advice I got so far... did i get this right?
1. I should get in the pool and get canadian PR
2. ask employer to sponsor a move to US site. I understand this to be H1B... followed by employer sponsored green card?
3. if after 2 years, if we realize US is not working, then move back to Canada. this wont cause any hassle to employer as I have a valid PR? and carry on path to citizenship.

for the US part, if green card is going to be tied to employer, that worries me a little. i am happy with employer, but long term... want to be flexible. like how I can switch after canada PR. I assume US citizenship is a lengthy process compared to Canada. all in all, if I take the US offer, am i stuck with the employer for long term?

p.s. from Surrey, BC to San Francisco i dont think is a right comparison. i am yet to do this research, but I feel like we could move to a nice suburb in New jersey, and do more with the extra salary.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

I hope it's not an H-1B unless your employer is in education/ research as regular H-1Bs are rationed and only available during a short window in the spring each year, and if you were lucky to "win" one in the lottery next year you wouldn't be able to start work before October 1, 2023. Generally an employer would usually seek to move an employee into the US using an L-1A or L-1B visa. That visa type also has advantages for a trailing spouse over an H-1B visa - a spouse on a trailing H-4 visa cannot work.
I think your perception of the green card is somewhat inside out. Your visa ties you to your employer, and another employer would have to apply for another visa to hire you away, whereas a green card is tied to the immigrant, i.e. to you. The reason why some employers baulk at sponsoring a green card is the risk of losing the employee ..... which is why they stipulate a contractual tie period during which the employee would have to replay the cost of the green card application if they left the company, but it can't be a ridiculous or open-ended period, it's not likely to be more than a couple of years, AND what often happens is that if you find another job the new employer will pay off the green card application cost anyway.

You can apply for US citizenship 90 days before the fifth anniversary of you getting PR/ a green card. The process takes about a year ish.
New Jesery is probably cheaper that San Francisco, but still among the most expensive places to live in the US. :nod: I wouldn't consider moving to NJ unless I was paid at least $200k. Assuming that your life is OK-ish, but you're far from rich - so the UK equivalent of a semi in the burbs, two cars, and 2.3 kids, I would consider $200k to be the bare minimum to move to NJ, or anywhere that is commutable into NYC,

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Thank you very much for the pointers! Employer will hire the a law firm and figure out the best options, but it helps me a lot to know the differences and get to that place where i am not tied to anything earliest possible (including paying off fee for green card). Perhaps a different suburb then... employer has offices in seattle, austin...philadelphia - i dont need to go in, but would be good to be close by to visit once in a while.

Is it possible to sketch out a rough timeline from applying for an L-1B to eventually getting green card and being independent (except for the tie with fees)?

Re: Move to US... advice
 

America isnt really all that much like Canada socially. What are you looking for in the move? I wont pretend it hasn't been a culture shock moving from Canada to the US south, many things are quite jarring, even after 4 years, So, be sure you know why it is you are moving and what you hope to gain. Now, that could just be Ontario vs S.C. and maybe somewhere more northern/liberal/secular would be a better fit for me. But it would be hard to give up the lack of winter here, although much as I dont really miss 4 months of real winter, 5 or 6 months of 90+F and humidity is also hard to adjust to. The money is better here in the US, with low taxes in SC, but heath care costs (expected) and level of service (not at all expected given how expensive it is) are terrible, and most of the public spending on infrastructure or social safety nets is absent, there is clearly a lot of grinding poverty to be seen in some areas. Guns and God everywhere are also hard to adjust to, much more prevalent than in Ontario anyway.
Financial reality check; While I get paid more in the US than I ever did in Canada, a large chunk of that goes to health care. My monthly copay for my family health and dental is close to $700, every month, and my employer is considered to have "generous" benefits. On top of that I also budget to cover $6k (US) every year out of my own pocket before my benefits start to pick up 100% of the bill, but again, thats only 100% of the bits they agree to cover, and there always things not covered by the plan, so be careful looking at the pay hike for moving to the US. Certainly being able to buy property thats not close to Vancouver could make a big financial difference, depending where you are looking.

All said, I am very glad I have my Canadian citizenship as a back up option for when the shit really hits the fan here. 5 years ago I would have said talk of civil war in the US was crazy talk, but now I'm not so sure. Its very obviously not a happy stable society.

Re: Move to US... advice
 

Iaink has some really good points on the downside of US life.

Personally, if I didn't have family and personal ties here (I was born here/grew up here), and I was presented with a 60% pay rise, lower taxes, better home affordability, i'd try it out for a year or two. Canada is really going downhill in terms of affordability. My generation will never afford to own homes without significant help from family, or severely sacrificing to save for the large $250,000+ down payment required for a decent home.

Agree with oompa on the PR thing. It may be worth it, it may not be, depending on your personal circumstances. You may not even qualify as it is.

I'd take the option that allows me to put away the most for retirement and get out of the rat race.