Elvira

Why anyone would move to the US on a crappy visa like the H1b on such a crap salary is beyond me. Throw in the fact that it is a tiny company in Oklahoma and all I can say is

Okay, if you're just going for the hell of it - to experience something completely different and then go back to good old blighty with enough stories to amuse your incredulous mates for years to come....... okay...................... maybe.

But if this is meant to be a career move...

And there's always the risk he falls in luv and gets hitched and is stuck in bleeding Oklahoma for ever and ever........

AFK_Matrix

Thanks for that info cpltony. I am actually female Elvira. I have been asking on Visualization forums and the average salary for my line of work in the US is $50,000 so I believe I am in the write ball park for the area. Oh and size doesn't count does it

Anyway I have sent a email to the company summarizing all the things that need looking at including moving costs so we shall see. With this information I can make a better decision of what to do.

Elvira

Bear in mind that you are moving to a different continent, so it has to be worth your while. You will be far from your family, so you need to budget for regular trips home.

Healthcare has been mentioned - a flucking minefield...

You are not a USC and will be at the mercy of the sponsoring company. If you fall ill, there is virtually no safety net for you. If you are terminated - which is *extremely* easy in the US (have you looked at Oklahoma employment law?), then you literally have 10 days to leave to US.

If you are entertaining any hope of making this a permanent move, you are looking at many, many years of immigration limbo. Do you have *any* idea how difficult it would be for you to gain permanent residency?

As I said, if this is just meant to be an adventure, a means of experiencing a different country, okay. But otherwise you need to look at this very, very carefully, AND make sure that you get a decent salary and benefits AND an airtight contract (which are extremely rare in the US...).

lapin_windstar

BE forum members are sooooooo negative sometimes that it's almost as if they enjoy being such wet blankets. Half of them seem to have married Americans before they moved here so often they've never moved to a different country for work anyway.

People can get fired at practically zero notice in the UK anyway. There's not much point in sitting in bleedin' Surbiton all your life because it's "safer".

If the work is interesting, the pay seems OK to you and you think it's a fun way to spend a couple of years, then why not?

Ray

Absolute nonsence

lapin_windstar

1 week notice for first two years, then a week per year - big deal. Half of IT are on dodgy self-employment deals anyway.

dbj1000

Bollocks. The salary that the OP initially gave sucks. It's not a f***ing "adventure" living hand-to-mouth in a new country.

You think I'm being a wet blanket? I came over on an H1-B in 2003, and if I hadn't gone through hell and high water to get myself a National Interest Waiver, I'd still be on an H1-B with little prospect of getting Permanent Residency before my visa ran out and I was forced to abandon everything that my family had built up over here in 6 years.

...and I came over here on an extremely good salary, sponsored by a company that really needed my expertise and really wanted to do the right thing by me and my family.

I agree that for a single person wanting an adventure it's an option, but that doesn't mean that the OP should accept a crappy salary in Oklahoma. There's a difference between "an adventure" and being paid too little for your skills by a company that has no experience of hiring a foreigner.

The OP will make up her own mind, but at least in the course of this thread she's gone from talking about a $30k salary to talking about a $50k salary, started considering Green Card plans, plans to bring up relocation packages and generally isn't setting herself up to be another H1-B victim.

cpltony

Sorry, I don't know why I went male there. My apologies.

In Oklahoma City if you live economically you can survive on $30,0000 farely easily. Visa and future prospects are yours to deal with. Until you ask about them, I won't answer

Feel free to drop a Pm or e-mail with any questions about local.....well local stuff.

scrubbedexpat099

and

I am sure you can, depends whether thats what you want.

cpltony

Well we all have to start somewhere.

Bob

lot tougher to give someone the can though, as in there has to be a valid reason....

Bob

why move across the world at a companies benefit to get the shaft though?

lapin_windstar

I didn't call it an adventure. It's all up to the individual whether it makes sense for them to move or not. Dribbling on about H1B victimhood and immediately coming over all gloom and doom is no help to anyone.