7 ms·

I'm in the same boat. 17 years here. Masters plus 15 years of experience. Getting paid >$500k per year yet I'm dependent on my employer to stay here legally. I'

I'm in the same boat. 17 years here. Masters plus 15 years of experience. Getting paid >$500k per year yet I'm dependent on my employer to stay here legally. I'm still a temporary worker. I cannot take a sabbatical or take up side gigs (consultant). If Canada weren't so cold, I'd already be there.

TremendousJudge 7y ago
Well, it's less cold with every passing year
Robin_Message 7y ago
If you're getting paid >$500k, would it be possible to do a bit of Mr Money Mustache and then get some kind of high net worth visa. At >$500k a year, that can't take more than a few years. And you'll be retired too.
- option 7y ago
  not if you have to live in Bay Area and rise a kid or two here
  - driverdan 7y ago
    Of course you can. That's around $25,000 a month in income after taxes. $5000 in rent, $1000 for food, $1000 for utilities and public transit costs, $2000 for misc expenses. That leaves $19,000 a month!
    - warp_factor 7y ago
      I'm pretty sure that the person you reply to had a crazy lifestyle inflation and is now unable to live "simply" again with less than 20k$ a month. This is everything that MMM warns about.
      - gcbw2 7y ago
        Bay area have a problem trust-fund-baby mr mustache smug comments will never grasp: living around people who love crazy lifestyle inflation. If people living around you keep paying more and more for expensive lifestyle, eventually you will be paying 5mil for a 2bd house in a so-so neighborhood. Because everyone already paid 7mil for the houses with 3bd.
        warp_factor 7y ago
        Sure, you will pay 5-6k$ in rent (let's even say 8k$). But since you are making 25k$ a month after tax instead of 10k$, you are still coming ahead. Unless if you also need to buy a Tesla Model S like your cool neighbors.
      - purplezooey 7y ago
        yeah I'm tired of that guy. Stirring peanut butter with a drill is for the birds.
      - throwaway082729 7y ago
        No, I don't have that lifestyle. Except for house everything is paid off. Live relatively frugally except for eating out a few times a month (no expensive restaurants $12/person max)
    - TomMckenny 7y ago
      Not saying that 500k isn't more than adequate but $5000 is only a one bedroom now.
      - sb52191 7y ago
        That is patently untrue. I live in Silicon Valley, a few miles from one of the big tech giants. I live in a 4 bedroom house (with three roommates) and our collective rent is $4200 a month. Rent is expensive, but $5,000 for a one bedroom is absolutely not the norm.
        matchagaucho 7y ago
        Possibly rent controlled. The Landlord could get $7K + month.
        gardnerbickford 7y ago
        OP was talking SF, not the wider SV. That is a good rent though. That's 2009 SF prices. We were paying $4100 for four bedroom apartment back in 2009. That same apartment is going for double that now. SF totally jumped the shark.
        sb52191 7y ago
        I still disagree. 30 seconds on padmapper shows 3 houses north of South San Francisco (maybe this also doesn't count as SF but I think it should still fall in that category) https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/san-francisco-ca/4+beds/price-3300,4900?box=-122.69652,37.62397,-122.3041,37.81733 https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/san-francisco-ca/4+beds...
        fredophile 7y ago
        I just took a look at Park Merced to see what apartments and townhomes are going for there right now. You can get 3 bedroom homes there for under $5000 a month. Is it a trendy neighbourhood? No, but it does meet the criteria of being in SF. I'm sure you could find similar deals in other non-trendy areas like the Outer Sunset if you take the time to look.
    - wtvanhest 7y ago
      You forgot to add 3k-10k a month in child care. 3k for day care, 10k if you need a nanny at 60 hours because you and your wife work crazy hours.
      - pfranz 7y ago
        I get that SF is expensive, but 10K/mo is $120k/yr. At 60 hrs/wk that's, what, $33/hr for a nanny? That seems on the high end even for SF and if your needs are that high you should be looking into an au pair. I admittedly have never lived in SF with kids, but this seems like a series of choices and likely some exaggerations. If one of you is making >$500k and both of you chose to work, have kids, and you don't have the option to shift morning/evening so nanny/daycare is only 40 hours these are all choices. Even at the rate you quoted it doesn't seem unreasonable to be able to stash away significant amounts of money. The problems are very similar, but the solutions are a lot more enviable than most of the US.
        wtvanhest 7y ago
        10k a month is the extreme end for a nanny and would be 65+ hours a week for 2 kids, taking em places etc. (Dont forget anything over 45 hours is time and a half. Plus 10% payroll tax plus other expenses) 4k a month is probably average for an over the table nanny at 45 hours a week with 1 kid. Au pair is an inexperienced person which is fine, but not for the type of nanny work someone may need if they are working a lot of hours. I believe you should be able to save serious money at 500k if you dont over extend yourself on a large apartment, but things add up very quickly so I can see how it might not be much left over with 2 kids.
    - rasz 7y ago
      you forgot $15000 worth of candles per month https://twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472 https://twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472
  - everdev 7y ago
    Even in the Bay Area with a large family $500k/year is more than enough to live very comfortably. Maybe not a billionaire lifestyle, but certainly well above average. $200k/year is middle class in the most expensive areas.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  I can afford to get a high net worth visa but it's not guaranteed and rejection rate continues to go up for that visa.
extra__tofu 7y ago
Also, good luck getting that compensation in Canada...
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  I know. Right now, I'm weighing freedom against money.
vsskanth 7y ago
Yes, there are many people like you (highly qualified, but can't get a green card due to nationality). I think people realize the situation and are making decisions accordingly. Those in tech fortunate enough to have made enough money simply get an internal transfer to EU, CA or back to India. Others just try to save for as long as possible until they get ejected.
alkibiades 7y ago
no offense but it’s hard for people to feel bad for someone making more than half a million
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  Try fractured relationship with spouse because they cannot work, uncertainty about long-term investment since I can be asked to leave the country any moment if my employer fires me, unable to take up the jobs I want, trepidation about not being allowed back in if I leave the country, not being able to travel to see sick parents if visa is currently being processed with no insight into ETA.
  - magduf 7y ago
    It sounds like you have enough money to go back to your home country (where your parents are) and retire very, very comfortably. This isn't something many people are going to feel bad for you for. Also, there are other places to work, even if they don't pay as much as the Bay Area (but they also cost less to live in). Canada is pretty immigrant-friendly. If you don't like the weather, that sounds like some pretty petty complaining; you enjoy a lifestyle and income that most of the people on the planet would envy.
asdfman123 7y ago
Have you ever tried living in a cold climate, though? I'm from Houston, and I thought I'd hate living through the winter in Washington State but actually I was totally fine with it.
- coughupalung 7y ago
  Where in Washington? I grew up in Vancouver and live in Toronto. Compared to Vancouver, winters in Toronto are horrible. For 4-5 months per year it's too cold to be outside for anything more than a few minutes. Aside from the west coast, the rest of the country is as bad or worse. It sucks and I want to either move back to BC or leave the country. Why waste 1/3 of your life trapped inside?
  - switchbak 7y ago
    To be fair, living in Toronto is it's own form of punishment :) Compared to (most of) the rest of the country, Toronto has pretty moderate winters though (if a bit of wet cold off the Great Lakes). 4-5 months in Toronto being horrible though? I've lived in Vancouver a bunch, and the late fall/winter there can be a dreary mess (though I still like it). You are right though, that much of Canada has absolutely brutal weather. I grew up in one of those places. It's help set my barometer for what really bad weather looks like. Keep in mind there's much of the States that is way colder in winter!
  - asdfman123 7y ago
    Central Washington, right in the middle of Iras. I realize there are places in Canada that are much colder than that, though.
- rconti 7y ago
  Are you in Eastern Washington or Western? When I think "Canada" and "cold" I sure as hell don't think "Vancouver".
raincom 7y ago
You can get a green card under EB-5, since you have saved enough.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  High rejection rate with $500k of hard-earned money locked in. Not gonna happen.
  - raincom 7y ago
    $500k eb-5 is through regional centers. You can do $1M without regional centers.
ptero 7y ago
If you make over $500k a year, consider shrinking your expenses and living as if you were making $250k/year for a few years to gain financial independence. Raising family is expensive, but your family may be supportive of living on a reduced budget for a few years if it means removing your shackles. My 2c.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  Have saved up enough that if I had my GC, I can retire today outside California and I'm less than 40. I've to keep working in order for me to stay here legally. It's not a money problem. In fact, if I had my GC, I'd only work part-time and help out poor children in my spare time.
peripitea 7y ago
Are you saying you are a consultant? I took a sabbatical while on H-1B.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  I'm not. I cannot be without a job at any given point.
pkaye 7y ago
Not sure which country you are from but I know some who came from India on a H1B around 2000 and they long since got a green card and citizenship. Maybe the wait time started increasing around that time?
pesfandiar 7y ago
Try Vancouver. You'll probably earn about a third of that though.
- chaostheory 7y ago
  Have developer salaries risen in Canada? Thought you'd be lucky to earn 20%, but probably earn only 15% of that
  - pesfandiar 7y ago
    There has been upward pressure on the comps by American tech companies setting up shop in Vancouver. That said, OP's salary is probably in top 10% in the Bay Area, so I just made a rough mapping based on that.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  Wife will not move to a colder place. Already considers NorCal cold during winter.
legohead 7y ago
Have to call BS or willful ignorance on this. If you're making that much money there are multiple ways to stay in the country.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  Please educate me on this. What ways do I have other than investing $500k here in a business and pray that I still get the visa when the rejection rate is >30%?
  - legohead 7y ago
    Seek out an immigration lawyer. Although legal, most of the ways are considered shady, so I don't want to go into details on here. But I am part of a certain foreign community and know it has been done.
tssva 7y ago
Master's degree and making over 500k a year, so I'm going to assume you are an intelligent person and were able to understand the terms of the H1-B visa program and the limits regarding green cards 17 years ago when you intially applied for a visa. The conditions may have their downsides but they are the ones you agreed to and in exchange for agreeing to them you were provided access to opportunities that would not have been available to you in your home country. It sounds to me like now that you have reaped the benefits you want to stop paying the price you agreed to in exchange for those benefits.
- throwaway082729 7y ago
  So I shouldn't complain? You vote for a senator and that person does not do what they promised to do and acts against your interests. Would you not raise your voice against them even in private about the situation? I'm still going about my job but just raising awareness here.

TremendousJudge 7y ago

Well, it's less cold with every passing year

Robin_Message 7y ago

If you're getting paid >$500k, would it be possible to do a bit of Mr Money Mustache and then get some kind of high net worth visa. At >$500k a year, that can't take more than a few years. And you'll be retired too.

option 7y ago
not if you have to live in Bay Area and rise a kid or two here
- driverdan 7y ago
  Of course you can. That's around $25,000 a month in income after taxes. $5000 in rent, $1000 for food, $1000 for utilities and public transit costs, $2000 for misc expenses. That leaves $19,000 a month!
  - warp_factor 7y ago
    I'm pretty sure that the person you reply to had a crazy lifestyle inflation and is now unable to live "simply" again with less than 20k$ a month. This is everything that MMM warns about.
    - gcbw2 7y ago
      Bay area have a problem trust-fund-baby mr mustache smug comments will never grasp: living around people who love crazy lifestyle inflation. If people living around you keep paying more and more for expensive lifestyle, eventually you will be paying 5mil for a 2bd house in a so-so neighborhood. Because everyone already paid 7mil for the houses with 3bd.
      - warp_factor 7y ago
        Sure, you will pay 5-6k$ in rent (let's even say 8k$). But since you are making 25k$ a month after tax instead of 10k$, you are still coming ahead. Unless if you also need to buy a Tesla Model S like your cool neighbors.
    - purplezooey 7y ago
      yeah I'm tired of that guy. Stirring peanut butter with a drill is for the birds.
    - throwaway082729 7y ago
      No, I don't have that lifestyle. Except for house everything is paid off. Live relatively frugally except for eating out a few times a month (no expensive restaurants $12/person max)
  - TomMckenny 7y ago
    Not saying that 500k isn't more than adequate but $5000 is only a one bedroom now.
    - sb52191 7y ago
      That is patently untrue. I live in Silicon Valley, a few miles from one of the big tech giants. I live in a 4 bedroom house (with three roommates) and our collective rent is $4200 a month. Rent is expensive, but $5,000 for a one bedroom is absolutely not the norm.
      - matchagaucho 7y ago
        Possibly rent controlled. The Landlord could get $7K + month.
      - gardnerbickford 7y ago
        OP was talking SF, not the wider SV. That is a good rent though. That's 2009 SF prices. We were paying $4100 for four bedroom apartment back in 2009. That same apartment is going for double that now. SF totally jumped the shark.
        sb52191 7y ago
        I still disagree. 30 seconds on padmapper shows 3 houses north of South San Francisco (maybe this also doesn't count as SF but I think it should still fall in that category) https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/san-francisco-ca/4+beds/price-3300,4900?box=-122.69652,37.62397,-122.3041,37.81733 https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/san-francisco-ca/4+beds...
        fredophile 7y ago
        I just took a look at Park Merced to see what apartments and townhomes are going for there right now. You can get 3 bedroom homes there for under $5000 a month. Is it a trendy neighbourhood? No, but it does meet the criteria of being in SF. I'm sure you could find similar deals in other non-trendy areas like the Outer Sunset if you take the time to look.
  - wtvanhest 7y ago
    You forgot to add 3k-10k a month in child care. 3k for day care, 10k if you need a nanny at 60 hours because you and your wife work crazy hours.
    - pfranz 7y ago
      I get that SF is expensive, but 10K/mo is $120k/yr. At 60 hrs/wk that's, what, $33/hr for a nanny? That seems on the high end even for SF and if your needs are that high you should be looking into an au pair. I admittedly have never lived in SF with kids, but this seems like a series of choices and likely some exaggerations. If one of you is making >$500k and both of you chose to work, have kids, and you don't have the option to shift morning/evening so nanny/daycare is only 40 hours these are all choices. Even at the rate you quoted it doesn't seem unreasonable to be able to stash away significant amounts of money. The problems are very similar, but the solutions are a lot more enviable than most of the US.
      - wtvanhest 7y ago
        10k a month is the extreme end for a nanny and would be 65+ hours a week for 2 kids, taking em places etc. (Dont forget anything over 45 hours is time and a half. Plus 10% payroll tax plus other expenses) 4k a month is probably average for an over the table nanny at 45 hours a week with 1 kid. Au pair is an inexperienced person which is fine, but not for the type of nanny work someone may need if they are working a lot of hours. I believe you should be able to save serious money at 500k if you dont over extend yourself on a large apartment, but things add up very quickly so I can see how it might not be much left over with 2 kids.
  - rasz 7y ago
    you forgot $15000 worth of candles per month https://twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472 https://twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472
- everdev 7y ago
  Even in the Bay Area with a large family $500k/year is more than enough to live very comfortably. Maybe not a billionaire lifestyle, but certainly well above average. $200k/year is middle class in the most expensive areas.
throwaway082729 7y ago
I can afford to get a high net worth visa but it's not guaranteed and rejection rate continues to go up for that visa.

extra__tofu 7y ago

Also, good luck getting that compensation in Canada...

throwaway082729 7y ago
I know. Right now, I'm weighing freedom against money.

vsskanth 7y ago

Yes, there are many people like you (highly qualified, but can't get a green card due to nationality). I think people realize the situation and are making decisions accordingly. Those in tech fortunate enough to have made enough money simply get an internal transfer to EU, CA or back to India. Others just try to save for as long as possible until they get ejected.

alkibiades 7y ago

no offense but it’s hard for people to feel bad for someone making more than half a million

throwaway082729 7y ago
Try fractured relationship with spouse because they cannot work, uncertainty about long-term investment since I can be asked to leave the country any moment if my employer fires me, unable to take up the jobs I want, trepidation about not being allowed back in if I leave the country, not being able to travel to see sick parents if visa is currently being processed with no insight into ETA.
- magduf 7y ago
  It sounds like you have enough money to go back to your home country (where your parents are) and retire very, very comfortably. This isn't something many people are going to feel bad for you for. Also, there are other places to work, even if they don't pay as much as the Bay Area (but they also cost less to live in). Canada is pretty immigrant-friendly. If you don't like the weather, that sounds like some pretty petty complaining; you enjoy a lifestyle and income that most of the people on the planet would envy.

asdfman123 7y ago

Have you ever tried living in a cold climate, though? I'm from Houston, and I thought I'd hate living through the winter in Washington State but actually I was totally fine with it.

coughupalung 7y ago
Where in Washington? I grew up in Vancouver and live in Toronto. Compared to Vancouver, winters in Toronto are horrible. For 4-5 months per year it's too cold to be outside for anything more than a few minutes. Aside from the west coast, the rest of the country is as bad or worse. It sucks and I want to either move back to BC or leave the country. Why waste 1/3 of your life trapped inside?
- switchbak 7y ago
  To be fair, living in Toronto is it's own form of punishment :) Compared to (most of) the rest of the country, Toronto has pretty moderate winters though (if a bit of wet cold off the Great Lakes). 4-5 months in Toronto being horrible though? I've lived in Vancouver a bunch, and the late fall/winter there can be a dreary mess (though I still like it). You are right though, that much of Canada has absolutely brutal weather. I grew up in one of those places. It's help set my barometer for what really bad weather looks like. Keep in mind there's much of the States that is way colder in winter!
- asdfman123 7y ago
  Central Washington, right in the middle of Iras. I realize there are places in Canada that are much colder than that, though.
rconti 7y ago
Are you in Eastern Washington or Western? When I think "Canada" and "cold" I sure as hell don't think "Vancouver".

raincom 7y ago

You can get a green card under EB-5, since you have saved enough.

throwaway082729 7y ago
High rejection rate with $500k of hard-earned money locked in. Not gonna happen.
- raincom 7y ago
  $500k eb-5 is through regional centers. You can do $1M without regional centers.

ptero 7y ago

If you make over $500k a year, consider shrinking your expenses and living as if you were making $250k/year for a few years to gain financial independence. Raising family is expensive, but your family may be supportive of living on a reduced budget for a few years if it means removing your shackles. My 2c.

throwaway082729 7y ago
Have saved up enough that if I had my GC, I can retire today outside California and I'm less than 40. I've to keep working in order for me to stay here legally. It's not a money problem. In fact, if I had my GC, I'd only work part-time and help out poor children in my spare time.

peripitea 7y ago

Are you saying you are a consultant? I took a sabbatical while on H-1B.

throwaway082729 7y ago
I'm not. I cannot be without a job at any given point.

pkaye 7y ago

Not sure which country you are from but I know some who came from India on a H1B around 2000 and they long since got a green card and citizenship. Maybe the wait time started increasing around that time?

pesfandiar 7y ago

Try Vancouver. You'll probably earn about a third of that though.

chaostheory 7y ago
Have developer salaries risen in Canada? Thought you'd be lucky to earn 20%, but probably earn only 15% of that
- pesfandiar 7y ago
  There has been upward pressure on the comps by American tech companies setting up shop in Vancouver. That said, OP's salary is probably in top 10% in the Bay Area, so I just made a rough mapping based on that.
throwaway082729 7y ago
Wife will not move to a colder place. Already considers NorCal cold during winter.

legohead 7y ago

Have to call BS or willful ignorance on this. If you're making that much money there are multiple ways to stay in the country.

throwaway082729 7y ago
Please educate me on this. What ways do I have other than investing $500k here in a business and pray that I still get the visa when the rejection rate is >30%?
- legohead 7y ago
  Seek out an immigration lawyer. Although legal, most of the ways are considered shady, so I don't want to go into details on here. But I am part of a certain foreign community and know it has been done.

tssva 7y ago

Master's degree and making over 500k a year, so I'm going to assume you are an intelligent person and were able to understand the terms of the H1-B visa program and the limits regarding green cards 17 years ago when you intially applied for a visa. The conditions may have their downsides but they are the ones you agreed to and in exchange for agreeing to them you were provided access to opportunities that would not have been available to you in your home country. It sounds to me like now that you have reaped the benefits you want to stop paying the price you agreed to in exchange for those benefits.

throwaway082729 7y ago
So I shouldn't complain? You vote for a senator and that person does not do what they promised to do and acts against your interests. Would you not raise your voice against them even in private about the situation? I'm still going about my job but just raising awareness here.