Considering Moving to the US from Canada | Hacker News Reader

Considering Moving to the US from Canada

15 pointstaesu24 comments

I recently became a Canadian citizen. (Toronto, ON) Upon visiting a friend in LA, a thought of living permanently in the states came to my mind, for two reasons, generally better pay for software engineer and better climate. My wife and I are eyeing TX and WA. I just wanted to hear HN's input on it, preferably those who has gone similar paths. For background info, my wife and I are both Canadians, both age 31, no kids. Wife is a RFP manager and I'm a senior software engineer (E-comm, serverless, distributed, typescript, php, python) both of us have 4yr Uni degree in Canada.

My questions are: 1. What states do you recommend considering the weather & tax rates. 2. How should I start? Do I start interviewing asking them for H1B right away? 3. Any employers to avoid on? 4. Any concerns/tips on moving to the states from Canada.

Thanks in advance.

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I managed engineers in Silicon Valley for many years, although I've been retired for awhile.

The problem with H1B visas (at least when I was a manager) was that there was a quota and it was about 3x oversubscribed: so most applicants won't get the visa. (There is a separate queue for people with an MS degree from a US university, but it sounds like that doesn't apply for you).

Have you considered just using a TN-1 visa to get started and then trying to switch to a H1B every year until you pass the lottery? That should make you eligible for employment right away. I think the downside to TN-1 is that it's not considered an immigrant visa, so you can't transition to permanent residency, which is why you would want to continue to transition to H1B once you've gotten employed.

(Interested in what others have to say: maybe my opinion is out-of-date. IANAL.)

Regarding states: the best salaries are in Silicon Valley, obviously, but the taxes and living expenses there are high. If I were looking for work, I'd go to Austin, Texas. The salaries aren't as high but there are still a lot of tech employers and there is no state income tax. You might also consider the Research Triangle Park area in North Carolina.

One nit: you can actually transition directly to permanent residency from TN status. The only challenge is that after you file, you can't leave the US! That's why, as you explained, generally the play is to wait to transition to an H1B before starting the process.

For the OP: entering the US with TN status is relatively trivial. FANG companies recognise this, and will interview you more or less as if you had work authorisation in the US. Totally doable also for smaller employers, and is honestly easy enough for you to do on your own if needed.

Either your employer will provide you with documents to show CBP at the border when you first enter and they'll adjudicate your application on the spot, or your employer will apply for the TN a priori which takes only a few weeks - this allows you to enter in a sort of pre-authorised way.

One note on permanent residency: there are limits for employment-based green cards on the basis of your country of birth (not your country of citizenship). This makes things difficult if you were born in India or China.

Thanks for the input. Not born i those countries!

1 - California (and a slightly lesser degree, New York) will easily have the highest salaries. But you can easily eat into that with taxes and rent (if you choose to live in "Trendy" areas of LA, SD and The Bay). Colorado, Texas and Washington are also very strong in tech, but jobs are available pretty much in any major metro. Colorado and Austin are generally considered the best balance of Income : CoL : Lifestyle : Climate. It's a power polygon, what you gain in one area you lose elsewhere; for example California has awesome income and climate, reasonable lifestyle amenities, but terrible Cost of Living. You'll need to find the place that has the best balance for you and your family.

2 - it's generally very easy to get a job with an American firm since there is lax regulation and an emphasis on bringing the best talent into the economic sphere ("braindrain"). Due to the current situation, they're more likely to want to hire you remote though. If they are wanting to bring you into the office, you have to verify that they do sponsorships from the outset (else they'll expect you to make your own visa arrangements). If they sponsor you, this is the easiest route and would require an H1b. If you believe your skills are in high demand, you're an asset in your field and have an impeccable background; you can self-sponsor (H2B) or, even more unlikely, get an extraordinary talent visa (O). There's also the TN1 visa, but I'm less informed regarding it and generally is less intended for your use case.

3 - there are literally millions of employers in the US and thousands in the sphere you're targeting. It would be impossible to give an exhaustive list. First find employers that are willing to sponsor, in your area, with a job you qualify for. Then go about crossing them off via Glassdoor.

4 - only the ones you probably know. Guns are more prevalent. You'll need to pay for your medical insurance; in your field this will probably be provided by your company at something like 30-150/mo individual or 100-400/mo family (depending on plan and generosity of your company, make sure to ask about this during your initial interviews). You'll need to get a local driver's license. You will need to have a hefty chunk of cash in the bank if you want a decent apartment, to prove fiscal responsibility (as you have no credit).

We moved to the US from Canada 20 years ago. Fortunately we found a bank that would look at our Canadian credit history and were able to buy a house. Not all credit checks were as flexible. We couldn’t get a cell phone plan for several years.

You do not know how crazy our healthcare system is. We are currently hosting a couple of exchange students, and they have asked about some healthcare need. I’ll explain to them basically what needs to happen and simultaneously realize how absurd it is while I see the confusion overcome them.

Just a caveat emptor.

The poster wants to work in the US. They'll get health insurance through their employer. Tech companies generally have very good health insurance benefits. It's a very different scenario than exchange students and not really comparable.

If you are coming from a place that covers everyone.. you may want to learn more than 'you are tech, don't worry' - Many of the tech jobs I've seen are actually 1099 contract gigs, which means you are going to be paying for your own health insurance (if you can get it) and your own taxes and stuff as well.

Also, if you lose a job that was covering your health insurance, you have some interesting situations.. 'cobra' can temporarily keep you a float, but most people can not afford it when they are between jobs.

So I'd say it's comparable and not all that different.

Plenty of places here will refuse to take care of you if you have no insurance.

Some places will do the minimum to keep you from dieing, but not help you fix health problems.

Insurance 'lapse' could bankrupt you just trying to buy meds.

If your fam already needs meds in Canada, might want to call around the pharmacies and ask how much they cost here.

Even if you get insurance from a co, it may not cover the same drugs that you get elsewhere.

>Some places will do the minimum to keep you from dieing

No, literally all places will do that. It's the law. You might have some dangerous misunderstandings about the US healthcare system.

No - literally false.

I have watched people cry and puke in pain for hours at Vanderbilt ER - more than once.

I watched people die in the waiting area in a Huntsville, AL ER.

I also picked up a girl that was in massive pain from what may have been an STD - but had no insurance in Huntsville - once they ran tests and determined what she had they told her, and then later they closed the hospital floor. completely - no one there - no would would tell her what was going on - I would not believe it if I had not gone there and seen it.

I know people that went to ER and given a quick surgery and colostomy bag because that would stop the life threatening issue - and I know others who went to same hospital, same situation and left - then went to a different hospital ER and were treated with meds for days in hospital and left fine without the colostomy bag and surgery that the other was going to do (as it would be minimum required by law for life threatening issue / it would save them money since they had no insurance)

The law does not magically make 1,000- doctors show up and take care of problems at 3am at the ER either.

I invite you to visit the ER's in our small city and take note of the dozens of people each day and night that do not get care.

You could die from a tooth infection, but they can and will send you home with a recommendation for tylenol and follow up with a primary care person - since you have no insurance.

I've seen these types of things happen to lots of people over and over again for many years.

You can sit with your belief that a law was made and so everything it awesome - but trust me these things are happening every single day.

Even if you have money to pay for testing and scans, and someone to do surgeries - it's going to be quite the endeavor to get pricing and even schedule these things (with cash) without a doctor and getting a doc without insurance is fun too.

These places use all kinds of tricks to make it really hard to get help if you don't have insurance paying for it all.

Depending on which hospital you go to and how full they are, your insurance type or non-insurance absolutely will put you in a position of being sent away or not taken care of while others are.

There are times when they have people on staff that can do some things and they may amputate rather than try to heal as well - checks off the box for life-threatening - you got care... I have a former coworker who got two leg amputations over 6 months - rather than get care that would of avoided it.

So no, I've seen very many people that do not get 'literally all places do that' - and I'm talking about American born, English speaking folks.

I don't know how things are at your local hospitals, maybe you could find some folks who have had no insurance and see the interesting navigation of health issues there.

I should add, that indeed sometimes you are not turned away at an ER - sometimes they take you in, run up some high bills - and then send you away with advice like - follow up with your primary care doc (they know you don't have one) - follow up with a dentist (they know you can't afford one) - and you get a big bill, along with no treatment, or in some cases a script for antibiotics but no fix in sight for the underlying cause of the infection.

I've seen others handed bills for a couple thousand bucks and they got zero treatment.

I myself entered an ER once and walked out with a script for pain pills and antibiotic along with a bill for over about $1,800 - and then got another bill for another $800 or so.. (they did run a urine test and let me talk to a doctor) then 60 days a later a letter stating that they know I own property at XXX address and that if they sued me $3,000 they could force the sale of my home to collect.

When I was in there, they wanted to run some sort of xray or cat scan or something - but I told the doc I could not afford it - and I asked him what he was going to do for treatment if the scan came back and said this X or that Y or whatever Z - he said the treatment he would provide would be a script for antibiotics and pain pills (for each of the issues that could of been determined with scans). - So I skipped the most expensive thing.

Let me also tell people not from here, that you need to get a goodRx card or similar - you can find these discount drug cards at various places... for years I paid retail price for drugs at the pharmacies (best to call around to price shop or find a price comparison site if you don't care about privacy) - it's amazing how much cheaper the drugs are when you have a stupid plastic card.

Something I had been paying like $120 for time and again turned out to be only $13.50 once I picked up a free plastic card at some random place and put that on file.

So even partial treatment can be expensive. It's one of the reasons 'medical bankruptcies' are the highest category for going extra broke here.

It's also one of the reasons a lot of folks here don't get preventive health care and end up in an ER in the first place.

Also a reason a lot of folks don't get care and have major issues arise from a smallish thing like a tooth cavity.

*chuckles at 'dangerous misunderstandings about Us healthcare' - then sighs and holds back a tear.

I assume the potential employer will cover it, so not a big deal. Canada's health care is not that great either. There is a saying you die waiting to see a doc.

Am Canadian. This isn't something I've ever heard and smells like FUD by people who have never been through the Canadian healthcare system.

The system has room for improvement, but is not broken in the way the IS system is.

I'm Canadian. I know someone who died because their cancer became inoperable during the 9 month wait for a scan. Might they have lived on the US system? Maybe.

Both systems have flaws. If I had to choose, I'd pick the Canadian system. But it's not a panacea.

I know serveral people of similar predicament

Thanksfully you've never been sick && live in a populated city in Toronto. Might be better in other places in Canada.

And here we are waiting for at least 100years to get a GC on a H1B.Happy you are Canadian OP. I would stay in Canada due to better quality of life and overall better government policies. However money wise you can make bank in a few years and move back.

Its very easy for Canadians to work in the US as compared to some other countries.

We live in Western WA and love it. You will find that it's not much different to Vancouver BC in climate or culture.

Cost of living may be a bit higher here, a bit lower there - but I think you will find the job market much more competitive.

Don’t sleep on Raleigh/Durham.

Also on a big tech salary you can probably afford to “snowbird.” Get a little condo in the south for the winter.

That will be my dream! A place where family and friends can visit.

Personally WA is not for me, the dreary climate would impact my mood way too much.

On the flip side I absolutely love Phoenix with its 360 days of sunshine every year. A 2% state tax rate is also very appealing.

CoL in CA and Health care will surprise you coming from Canada.

Houses are more expensive in Toronto and Vancouver than SF right now.

If OP gets a good tech job the healthcare will be annoying but easily manageable.

The pay bump alone is worth it.

Work remote in rural Southern California. You’ll be near Vegas, Palm Springs, Big Bear, and you can visit the beach cities and LA whenever you like.

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