tht

Sure there are “body shops” that use them, but I have seen plenty of H1b’s earning very significant comp.

I think that what would better describe the former and not make light of real slavery would be “Indentured servitude” basically what you are trying to say is a subset of H1b’s willingly take jobs that may pay more for a non visa holder in the hope/in exchange for a Green Card down the line.

Steerpike

Not only did I come over on an H1 (is that same as H1B?) and start on what I thought was a great salary, I got a 32% raise after 1 year, a 13% raise after 2 years, and a 12% raise after 3 years, at which point, I got my green card. So there's no way they took advantage of the fact I was unable to leave. I think they sensibly recognized I was of value to them and I would eventually be free, so better not piss me off! I ended up staying with that company for a total of about 8 years, so they got payback. I did work my ass off for them, though.

S Folinsky

This article appeared in today’s Los Angeles Times. Although addressed to the dilemma of University graduate students, it provides useful information n

mikefrom

If you are talking about LA, California and not the state of Louisiana then you will struggle on that salary, and will be living closer to pay check to pay check threshold, sorry to say.

You also need to take into account Fed and CA State taxes, social security deductions, medicare, etc, and then you will arrive at your monthly disposable income.

And unless you opt to have tax withholdings taken from your bi monthly paycheck, you will have to pay it at the end of the tax year, that is always painful, especially if you have not planned for it, I have seen this happen to people so many times, make sure HR go over withholdings with you.

Likely you might not qualify for a credit card, due to lack of US credit history, will have to get a secured credit card, will require a deposit.

And for the phone, I recommend mint mobile, prepay for a year at $15 each a month for a 4gb plan. Buy a plan, then use your referral code for your partner, but make sure mint has coverage for your zip code.

In my experience, companies inviting people to move over always low ball them and take advantage unless it is a rare specialist skill like a rocket engineer or hiring at google, etc, use glassdoor.com to get a truthful indicator of the competitive salary range, and use it to negotiate, this is not a one way street, you have power too.

When I moved here, I made it part of my employment contract that they need to pay for my flight and related moving fees back if they fired me plus other stipulations, I eventually got a green card via my employer.

It is important you understand that CA is an at-will employment state and what it means for you.

Steerpike

Most of what you say is good advice, but I don't really understand this comment. By law, if you don't fill out appropriate paperwork (W-4), then the maximum withholding applies, which means you will typicaly over-withhold. It used to be a legal requirement for an employee to fill out a W-4, but even if that has changed, it's still customary for them to require you to do so.

mikefrom

What I meant was if you set the withhold and end up paying minimal tax on your paycheck, come tax time, you might end up owning money. My first time, I had no idea what the withholding limit meant, coming from the UK we have a pay as you earn scheme.

I did not know that the W-4 is no longer mandatory and in its absence, the max withholding applies, that is good, everywhere I have worked, I still have to complete it.

Pulaski

Unless you (potentially fraudulently) misstate your personal circumstances, you will have most if not all of your federal tax liability deducted involuntarily.

Steerpike

I will say, the W-4 is quite 'vague'. All it really accounts for is 'dependents', and they don't make it clear how each dependent translates to an actual withholding amount, Then there's a 'catchall' box where you can say 'withhold this exact amount'. I bougth a property very early in my career so had a massive mortgage, so I initially filled in something like 14 dependents, and then entered a specific amount I wanted withheld. At the time, my employer said this was OK to do. At other times, I just told them 'forget the W-4, please just withhold 'x' per month' and they agreed. But the bottom line is, as you suggest, MORE tax is typically withheld than necessary unless you take positive steps to change that, so I'm totally surprised to hear someone was blindsided about being under-withheld.

The latest version of the form is here - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf .

Pulaski

Agreed, I struggled for several years to get my tax withheld down to something approximating my actual tax liability at the year end.

durham_lad

These days we pay zero tax after foreign tax credits (we live in England) and the HR department who manage my US pension told me to send in a W4 with "Exempt due to Double Taxation Agreement" written across it so for the last couple of years I've had no withholdings on those pension payments.

MrGlasgow

I live in Los Angeles near culver city as well. LA is a fantastic place to explore/experience IF money is not an issue. OR saving is NOT essential- i.e. short-term stay.
Please do not even think about using public transport in LA. It is not good. You need a car, but be prepared for the bad traffic on the 405 freeway unless you live near your work.

$90K for two folks might work but you will not save anything. So I would say $150K would be a comfortable number.