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I moved from SF to Canada. Traded a higher salary and basically 0 shot at green card for less money, a PR when I walk in and guaranteed citizenship. Most impor

I moved from SF to Canada. Traded a higher salary and basically 0 shot at green card for less money, a PR when I walk in and guaranteed citizenship. Most importantly, you cannot do anything besides your job on an H1B. No start ups, no side projects. You can't even BE in the US without a job and just bum around for a year. Every interaction with the US border folks makes me feel like a criminal. The visa fundamentally restricts the shape of your life in a way thats hard for residents to really understand. I already get paid enough to retire comfortably when I'm older and it's no fun retiring young! Retirement costs in Canada are also significantly lower if you can count on free healthcare. Not worth it. I do miss the weather though :)

lovehashbrowns 7y ago
I feel the same way, but from a different perspective since I have DACA. Fortunately I can hop around different jobs or be unemployed, but every couple of years I get to feel like a criminal, and there's the ever-pervasive paradoxical feeling of not being at home but feeling like I'm home in the US. I've been thinking about moving to Guadalajara so I can at least not worry about my immigration status but I'm super scared that I won't feel like I'm home there after being in the US my entire life, and I can't go back on that decision. I've been thinking a lot about Canada as well as Europe, because I think that'll get easier for me to acclimate to. This whole thing is just super depressing. I feel like I've worked all my life for a great career in the US and it's for nothing if I have to leave everything behind at some point.