Sharing My experience leaving US after 6 years on H1B and moving to Canada (Chinese, EB2, PD was so

[human1234]

Sharing My experience leaving US after 6 years on H1B and moving to Canada (Chinese, EB2, PD was so close)

Hi friends,

With all the recent H1B news, I wanted to share my personal story. I'm a Chinese citizen who lived in the US for 8 years and was on H1B for 6 years. I worked as a senior MLE at a FAANG company in the Bay Area. A couple of months ago, I quit my job and moved to Canada (got my Canadian PR through EE a year ago).

This was honestly the hardest decision of my life. My job was actually good and paying a lot, and my EB2 priority date was less than a year away, so realistically 1-3 years wait to get the green card. All my friends and family thought I was crazy quitting such a good job and walking away from the green card when I was so close.

But I was completely burned out and my health was suffering. I desperately wanted to pursue something beyond software engineering, however, my situation (H1B + EB2 through PERM, non-NIW) meant I couldn't change jobs or switch roles without risking my green card process.

Yes, the green card has many benefits, but I realized I mainly wanted it because I'd already invested so many years of suffering into it. Plus everyone kept telling me how valuable it was. I realized those years were just sunk cost. I asked myself: what do I actually want if I get the green card? The answer was, my Canadian PR already gives me what I actually needed.

Yes, US tech salaries are much higher than Canada. This was especially hard for me since I didn't grow up wealthy, and walking away from that income felt insane. But I reframed my decision that I'm spending money to buy time to pursue my passion while I'm still young. The lucky thing is I am single with no family obligations, and I didn't buy a house so I don't have a mortgage.

Three months after moving to Toronto, my quality of life has significantly improved! I didn't realize how much stress I was carrying on H1B until it was gone. For a decade, I suppressed everything: family, health, hobby, creativity, etc. just to prioritize career and immigration. Now my health is improving and I'm rediscovering who I actually am. I can travel freely and finally go back to China to visit my family after 7 years (my undergrad in China is on the US list, so returning to China on H1B means risking administrative processing that could last months). I felt sad about those years, but I'm also now genuinely happy and grateful.

I know not everyone has the Canadian PR option. But for those who do have it and are debating, I wanted to share my experience and decision making process. Besides, there's still the option to return back to the US on TN visa once you get the citizenship, and I feel TN is much better than H1B.

The non-ROW H1B journey is really brutal. I started the green card process at the same time as a European coworker. He got his years ago while I was still waiting. That's just the reality we can't change. But we don't have to limit ourselves to just the H1B path. There are other ways to build a good life.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/h1b/s/eAYDwm07AR

[human1234]

 

@kevinUsa

[akkum_bakkum]

38 minutes ago, human1234 said:

 

@kevinUsa

Story lo rankuntene he will connect

[american_desi]

4 hours ago, human1234 said:

Sharing My experience leaving US after 6 years on H1B and moving to Canada (Chinese, EB2, PD was so close)

Hi friends,

With all the recent H1B news, I wanted to share my personal story. I'm a Chinese citizen who lived in the US for 8 years and was on H1B for 6 years. I worked as a senior MLE at a FAANG company in the Bay Area. A couple of months ago, I quit my job and moved to Canada (got my Canadian PR through EE a year ago).

This was honestly the hardest decision of my life. My job was actually good and paying a lot, and my EB2 priority date was less than a year away, so realistically 1-3 years wait to get the green card. All my friends and family thought I was crazy quitting such a good job and walking away from the green card when I was so close.

But I was completely burned out and my health was suffering. I desperately wanted to pursue something beyond software engineering, however, my situation (H1B + EB2 through PERM, non-NIW) meant I couldn't change jobs or switch roles without risking my green card process.

Yes, the green card has many benefits, but I realized I mainly wanted it because I'd already invested so many years of suffering into it. Plus everyone kept telling me how valuable it was. I realized those years were just sunk cost. I asked myself: what do I actually want if I get the green card? The answer was, my Canadian PR already gives me what I actually needed.

Yes, US tech salaries are much higher than Canada. This was especially hard for me since I didn't grow up wealthy, and walking away from that income felt insane. But I reframed my decision that I'm spending money to buy time to pursue my passion while I'm still young. The lucky thing is I am single with no family obligations, and I didn't buy a house so I don't have a mortgage.

Three months after moving to Toronto, my quality of life has significantly improved! I didn't realize how much stress I was carrying on H1B until it was gone. For a decade, I suppressed everything: family, health, hobby, creativity, etc. just to prioritize career and immigration. Now my health is improving and I'm rediscovering who I actually am. I can travel freely and finally go back to China to visit my family after 7 years (my undergrad in China is on the US list, so returning to China on H1B means risking administrative processing that could last months). I felt sad about those years, but I'm also now genuinely happy and grateful.

I know not everyone has the Canadian PR option. But for those who do have it and are debating, I wanted to share my experience and decision making process. Besides, there's still the option to return back to the US on TN visa once you get the citizenship, and I feel TN is much better than H1B.

The non-ROW H1B journey is really brutal. I started the green card process at the same time as a European coworker. He got his years ago while I was still waiting. That's just the reality we can't change. But we don't have to limit ourselves to just the H1B path. There are other ways to build a good life.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/h1b/s/eAYDwm07AR

The taxes and cost of living in Canadian cities are too bad.