Bob

Deductables are how much you have to pay before insurance pays out. Co-pays are how much you have to pay each time you visit a doctor or the hospital. HMO means you have to see in-network doctors and are generally limited on who you can see, and you need a referral to see a specialist. PPO doesn't generally have that limit.

You say 3D, what kind of 3D? Have a look at www.payscale.com and see what figures you get. The average salary thing is fairly skewed. The same level of experience gets you about $30-50K more in say California but you'll probably be worse off on cost of living. Texas would get you about $10K more than in MA for a better cost of living. MA tends to pay under the odds of the national average etc.

britchicknyc

Have a look around at the rent. As long as the health insurance is reasonable, I think you can live on 40K. It def. is low for someone on an H1B though. Good luck.

AFK_Matrix

Thanks for that Payscale link and the information bob. According to Payscale the average salary is $39,000 and my $40,000 puts me into the medium catagory of earners. So with the extra 10% I think i could get into the high end quite easily (this is around the $48,000+ range)

Gonna get some more info from the company regarding things like car insurance etc as well.

Thanks again guys you really have helped.

lapin_windstar

Good luck!

Rete

Wouldn't worry about car insurance; make sure you get health insurance

AFK_Matrix

Well had a good chat with the company and cleared a few things up. The income is obviously gross and they are going to work out roughly what I will get as a Net income. They are going to send me the details of the Health Plan they have so I can have a good read etc. And I have emailed there Attorney to see about the Green Card Issue.

dbj1000

So they're offering $30,000 GROSS? So you'd take home about $20,000 net? It just gets worse!

And it's not their lawyer (note: he's THEIR lawyer) who will decide on you getting a Green Card - your company would have to agree to sponsor you for one, and on what they're going to pay you they'd have to pay the fees too (they add up to $$$ pretty quick). Plus, you need it in writing that they'll sponsor you. You sound like you'll be EB3 category for a Green Card application, so even if they start the process the day you arrive, it could be 3-5 years (or more!) before your priority date is current and you can actually get Permanent Residency. On an H1-B, if they don't sponsor you right away you could find yourself having to go home after 6 years without anything to show for it, and no Green Card. And on the crappy salary they're offering, you'd have no savings either.

Oh, and for the record, you'd have to pay me at least 300% of my UK salary to make me move to f***ing Oklahoma. Whenever I'm feeling really bad about living in Texas, I just remind myself that I could be in Oklahoma!

dbj1000

For the record, in case I haven't been clear enough:

The salary, location and company sound like crap, and personally I would never consider emigrating to the uncertainty of a dreadful H1B visa for a package anything like you're describing.

If you can find one company to sponsor you, you can find another. Find one in a non-redneck, rural, cow-tipping, bible-bashing, pickup-driving, Huckabee-voting state. Find one that will pay above the poverty line, without "10% commission" that you'll never see. Find one where they know what the f**k they're doing with immigration and sponsoring an H1-B. Find one where they'll make sponsoring your Green Card part of your package....

Find another sponsor. That's my advice.

AFK_Matrix

Well i will be on $40,000 and its 10% of each project I do and that will be in the contract. According to people who actually work in my field they say that around $50,000 is around about the average. They have said once they know what is involved with the green card process (hence me asking the lawyer) then we will discuss it.

I know not many think much of Oklahoma but it does mean I am in the US and thus can look elsewhere in the US for other opportunities as I will get more interest if I am in country etc

And as for finding another sponsor I have contacted hundreds of companies and these are the only ones offering me a job and to go to the hassle of getting a Visa. Trust me I have just been to the US for 3 months to find a job, sent countless emails and phoned up countless companies and got nada.

I have not given up on other companies and am looking at Canada but unless I get a firm offer etc then this is my only hope to date.

scrubbedexpat099

Huckerby Colbert 2008!

The Dream Ticket.

Bob

Still not a large take home pay, but it might not be so bad if they pay 100% medical insurance and you get a fat wedge of cash for the move over....don't forget you'll have no credit history, so getting things like utilities and mobile phones hooked up will be a hassle, you'll probably have to pay a deposit ranging from none refundable to refundable from $50-1500 a utility. You'll probably want them to pay for a rental car for a month till you can find your own, which will also be a hassle and expensive without a credit history, and for them to put you up in a hotel for a month till you can find your own gaff to rent etc...

No point moving across the world if it'll make you broke in the process.

dbj1000

Exactly! Once the excitement of the move is over, and you're through the honeymoon period (ooh look at that monster pickup truck!) you'll be in a country with as many problems and disadvantages as the UK (more, depending on your location and viewpoint). The US is a country like any other. No point being a stranger in a strange land and broke too!

dbj1000

I'd consider Colbert Huckerby... I prefer to have the joker as Vice President!

scrubbedexpat099

I has been discussed, Huckerby would not go for it.

cpltony

$30,000 will get you the basics.
A nice apartment at $500 a month, electric at about $50 a month average, basic cable/phone/internet for about $100 a month, gas heating I'm unsure of.
Car payment of $200-300 a month. Insurance at about $100 a month depending on your age etc.

If you get the moving bonus and other incentives....I think you can live out here on that fairly easily. Just don't be splashing out too much.

I live in NW Oklahoma City so any help I can be just let me know.