What type of visa you get shouldn’t affect your salary. Big advantage of O1 over H1B is that you can apply outside the yearly H1B lottery schedule. Pre pandemic

What type of visa you get shouldn’t affect your salary. Big advantage of O1 over H1B is that you can apply outside the yearly H1B lottery schedule. Pre pandemic the lottery was about a 1 in 4 chance to get a place. Qualifying for an O1 can be difficult though. Whichever initial visa route you take make sure your employer starts your green card application as soon as they can. SF doesn’t feel like a big city in the way NY or London does (LA is the major city in California.) There is substantially less cultural life here. If you work in Silicon Valley (best jobs are there) you’ll be working in an office park 30-50 miles from downtown SF. The hardest thing I’ve found is the 8 hour time zone difference makes staying in touch with friends and family harder. Can’t just call someone in the evening. Even if you live and work in SF you’ll probably want to get a car so you can easily get out and see California. There is outstandingly beautiful nature around here.