I say we Canadians build a wall and make America pay for it.
Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
451–460 of 557 posts
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#452A few points I think are relevant: - I find leaving your country only because you didn't vote for the winner is rather cowardly, you can still do something about it, we're not quite talking systemic harassment yet... - as a friend of mine pointed out, Canada is not a consolation prize for disgruntled americans, it's a real country, with its own real people and its own real problems - having just aquired my canadian p…
This.
And somewhat ironically, if Hillary had won people would be telling those disenfranchised voters who broke for Trump to listen to the will of the people. That it was time to man/woman up. But because they lost they now feel like they lost all.
That feeling is what drove Trump voters --they have lost their way of life. The one where one didn't have to have a graduate degree to have a stable and dependable income --but these people don't have them means to "run to Canada (or Mexico)".
And Bernie warned the Hillary campaign of this but she thought she had white women in the bag as well as thinking Hispanics voting democratic would pull it out for her.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#453A few points I think are relevant: - I find leaving your country only because you didn't vote for the winner is rather cowardly, you can still do something about it, we're not quite talking systemic harassment yet... - as a friend of mine pointed out, Canada is not a consolation prize for disgruntled americans, it's a real country, with its own real people and its own real problems - having just aquired my canadian p…
> having just aquired my canadian permanent residence after years and lots of money Slightly off topic: I've been through the process as well and accept the frustrations but I didn't not think the costs were unreasonable. I only had to pay CIC application fees. How was the process harrowing for you? Not defending the frustration, just curious I guess.
Compare it to US immigration also, where I got 6 years and easily over $20,000 in employer-paid costs in, and didn't even get to the green card stage.
[EDIT] Overstated cost, ran the numbers it's $20-25K.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#454Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is it like for an American making the move? What were the best and worst parts?
First paying the heavy Dutch taxes, then having to pay US taxes because you're still a citizen.
If you actually did that, you're either making tons of money regardless or doing your taxes wrong.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#455Earlier quoted context omitted.
To give you an example - my dad had to take 2 boxes of Glivec per month to keep him alive(he was predicted to survive 3-6 months, thanks to Glivec he lived another 8 years). Glivec, last time I checked, is currently 12 thousand dollars a box in US. And sure, most health insurance in US would cover most of that. But if you have to take two $12k boxes per month, and insurer says they will cover $10k per box, you sudden…
As a fairly young US citizen I'm curious, I thought that most health care plans have an out of pocket maximum that is usually in the low to mid thousands per year. Would this situation not be one that limits the yearly cost that way?
US median individual wage is $39K/yr for males and $26.5K/yr for females [1]. That amounts to an after-total-tax (for a California resident) of $28K/yr for males and $19K/yr for females.
Average rent ranges from $500-$3600/mth though for illustrative purposes (taking into account people in expensive places share) let's use $1K/mth for our hypothetical person. [3]
That leaves you with $16K/yr (male) and $7K/yr (female) for food, transportation and incidental expenses.
Obamacare backed health plans have a maximum out-of-pocket of $7K/yr for individuals.
Yeah, I'd say the median American is pretty much SOL if they get sick even if they have insurance. And those figures don't take into account the price of the insurance itself if your employer elects not to provide it to you.
In the UK your NHS annual out-of-pocket maximum is $0.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...
[2] https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator
[3] http://mentalfloss.com/article/81296/average-cost-one-bedroo...
[4] https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/out-of-pocket-maximum-li...
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#456Earlier quoted context omitted.
> having just aquired my canadian permanent residence after years and lots of money Slightly off topic: I've been through the process as well and accept the frustrations but I didn't not think the costs were unreasonable. I only had to pay CIC application fees. How was the process harrowing for you? Not defending the frustration, just curious I guess.
Compare it to US immigration also, where I got 6 years and easily over $20,000 in employer-paid costs in, and didn't even get to the green card stage. [EDIT] Overstated cost, ran the numbers it's $20-25K.
That's ridiculous.
I moved to Germany from Canada a few years ago when I was in my mid-20s. Nothing wrong with Canada, I was just bored.
I came to Germany on a tourist visa and found a job by sending my CV to random German technology companies I found via LinkedIn.
The Blue Card (EU equivalent of a Green Card) cost all of 135 EUR and is valid for four years. The processing time for the Blue Card is around 6 weeks after application, but I think that's pretty standard for bureaucracy in any country.
Getting my Canadian Bachelor of Engineering recognized as a German equivalent degree cost 200 EUR and took 3 months.
You'll also need one biometric (passport) photo, which if you use a machine at any of the train stations will cost around 6 EUR. You can use the remaining 5 photos for things like getting a German driver's license, health card, etc.
I paid ADAC around 40 EUR to "translate" my Canadian driver's license into German, and then around 50 EUR to exchange it for a German Führerschein.
Total visa/admin cost for a comparable life in Germany: 450 EUR
Now, I have spent around 3000 EUR for language courses over the past several years, but I'm getting pretty fluent in German, so I'd consider it money well spent. If you were more self-motivated I'm sure you could study the language by just getting the textbooks and watching YouTube videos.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#457A few points I think are relevant: - I find leaving your country only because you didn't vote for the winner is rather cowardly, you can still do something about it, we're not quite talking systemic harassment yet... - as a friend of mine pointed out, Canada is not a consolation prize for disgruntled americans, it's a real country, with its own real people and its own real problems - having just aquired my canadian p…
> having just aquired my canadian permanent residence after years and lots of money Slightly off topic: I've been through the process as well and accept the frustrations but I didn't not think the costs were unreasonable. I only had to pay CIC application fees. How was the process harrowing for you? Not defending the frustration, just curious I guess.
You have a point, I think the costs probably depend on a lot of factors, and I suppose a "lot of money" is relative. I expressed some of my frustrations in this rather long comment here [0]. I went through CEC, and in order to get points I had to pass language exams in English and in French, even though I have certified Education in both languages, had to certify my degree, get background checks for a number of countries, etc. It all added up very quickly for me, but that likely varies from person to person. That said, I'm aware that I'm luckier than most.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#458Earlier quoted context omitted.
I grew up and lived most of my life in America, then emigrated to a country with universal healthcare (the UK). When I developed a life-threatening condition which my US insurance would never have covered, the National Health Service saved my life. These things don't matter until they really, really, really do. Having seen the grass on both sides of the fence, I can attest that it really can be meaningfully greener.
> "life-threatening condition which my US insurance would never have covered" I wonder how is that possible? Insurance plans these days have to cover you even if you have a pre-existing condition, even the cheapest plans cover everything after a deductible, unless I am missing something
Obamacare added three provisions in particular that affected my family. Annual and lifetime caps on coverage were banned, dropping sick policyholders was banned, and all plans were required to set maximum out-of-pocket costs.
My family has easily hit the pre-Obamacare lifetime coverage limits and fairly frequently would've hit the annual ones. Our $4k out-of-pocket cap saves us from 10-50k in coinsurance/copays depending on the year. As a result, they'd drop us in a heartbeat if they could.
Soon, it looks like they'll be able to.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#459Earlier quoted context omitted.
To give you an example - my dad had to take 2 boxes of Glivec per month to keep him alive(he was predicted to survive 3-6 months, thanks to Glivec he lived another 8 years). Glivec, last time I checked, is currently 12 thousand dollars a box in US. And sure, most health insurance in US would cover most of that. But if you have to take two $12k boxes per month, and insurer says they will cover $10k per box, you sudden…
As a fairly young US citizen I'm curious, I thought that most health care plans have an out of pocket maximum that is usually in the low to mid thousands per year. Would this situation not be one that limits the yearly cost that way?
Obamacare required all plans to have an out-of-pocket maximum. That may well go away now.
Re: Canada's immigration website crashes on election night
#460If you need to leave the U.S. consider moving to Australia. (I did) The cost of living here is high, but the salaries are very high for professionals. If you are a talented thrifty person - you can save a lot of money fast. Good surfing too. For startups. you get about ~50c back on the dollar from the gov't annually. You don't need to make a single dollar in profit to get that, it is based on the invested capital. Fe…
Hi grizzles,
as a european currently vliving in Austria I am quite interested in relcoating to Australia for the weather and the people but I'm not sure how the tech scene is over there for EE jobs like Embedded Software/Firmware Engineer.
I had a quick look on indeed but I wasn't very lucky.