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H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

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Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#311

Post by ssivark »

_iofi wrote: post #169

I just moved out of US and in process of moving to Canada. Just for background: Worked in leadership roles for startups and Fortune 15 companies, sold a company, advise/invest in bunch of startups. My life's goal is contribute to curing/diagnosing terminal disease using technology. Everything I did in the past 14 years has been towards meeting that goal. I figured, I would need knowledge, network, and financial stabi…

> My life's goal is contribute to curing/diagnosing Cancer using technology. Everything I did in the past 14 years has been towards meeting that goal. I figured, I would need knowledge, network, and financial stability [...]

As someone who's fresh into the technology industry after grad school, it would be great to get your perspective regarding planning and executing on a long-term vision in such a manner. I'm sure a lot of other people would too. Replying here since I couldn't find any contact details on your HN profile--in case you would like questions to initiate thought on the topic, I'd love to participate in a conversation. Looking forward to hearing from you either ways!

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#312

Post by Scoundreller »

lhorie wrote: post #307
Scoundreller wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a few hundred dollars Ya, I'm not buying this. Maybe 12 students sharing a 4/5 bedroom house that is a mid-distance walk from bus transit that requires you to transfer to a another bus/subway to get you where you're going. If you're a software dev and properly value your time, this type of housing is a no-go.

Sure, you can always pay more once you are out of school and can afford something nicer. I used to share a 3 bed apt with two guys near union station, paid $400. Then moved to bachelor at christie, paid $750. Eventually got a detached in a nice neighbourhood w/ a 2k/mo mortgage. Housing was affordable every step of the way. The point is that it's feasible for a 3rd world person to save up, move to Toronto, and still…

3 bed apt near Union Station for $1200/month? Maybe 10+ years ago.

Even over the past 2 years, rent prices have increased aggressively.

Nowadays, you're lucky to spend just north of $2000/month for a 2 bedroom.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#313

Post by arcticbull »

calvinbhai wrote: post #290

I'm in my 30's, spent > 1/3rd of my life in the US. Got a Masters degree before Obama was elected. Slogged enough, made enough personal sacrifices to achieve what I have. An employer who hired me based on a promise of EB greencard. Employer screwed me at last moment by giving a lame excuse as to why the GC process stalled. In the mean time, had saved up enough to put 20% down on a 500K+ home in N.E. US. Had almost pa…

I'm in a similar spot, late 20s, spent the better part of a decade in the US. I'm back for a couple more years on a TN but recently I went from wanting a green card to wanting to go back home to Canada. The plan right now, subject to change, is to do one more tour of duty here, save up, network, invest, then pack it on up and start a company when I get back. In the process of buying property in Canada.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#314

Post by MAGZine »

bitL wrote: post #103
MAGZine wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

your salary numbers seem a little off, and, at least in sf rent numbers are not the same. compare new 1bdrm apts between sf and yvr and you'll see. amazon/microsoft just regularly employs people in YVR, not just for L1 purposes. they've been causing salaries (and rents) to rise. anyhow, you're discounting a lot of things about Vancouver because you make a little more and the weather is a little sunnier.

I spent some time in Vancouver, I can compare. And people are extremely upset about rent hike, not sure why would anyone want to go there at the moment to be honest. The same happening in Toronto and Montreal AFAIK.

i also spent some time in vancouver. amazon has pulled up salaries across the area since expanding there a couple years ago.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#315

Post by arcticbull »

jpatokal wrote: post #269
arcticbull wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s just investment income afaik. Pretty sure this is okay so long as you’re not day trading.

The real problem here is that you can't stake your and your family's future on being "pretty sure" that a random immigration bureaucrat will see it that way, so the only sane thing to do is avoid anything with even slight risk. (Or move to Canada.)

Well, I'm pretty sure, but an immigration attorney will be confident :)

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#316

Post by sizzle »

_iofi wrote: post #169

I just moved out of US and in process of moving to Canada. Just for background: Worked in leadership roles for startups and Fortune 15 companies, sold a company, advise/invest in bunch of startups. My life's goal is contribute to curing/diagnosing terminal disease using technology. Everything I did in the past 14 years has been towards meeting that goal. I figured, I would need knowledge, network, and financial stabi…

Just wanted to thank you for pursuing such a noble cause. We need more people like you putting their time, energy, resources, and brains towards solving real hard problems in society, such as access to affordable (mental) healthcare, affordable housing, climate change, and ethical ML/AI systems.

Keep up the good fight friend, you'll be an asset to any country lucky enough to call you their citizen.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#317

Post by 3pt14159 »

martin_iden wrote: post #289
3pt14159 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Martin you can rent a room in Toronto for $850 with a single housemate. It's no where near that in the valley. What other major costs are there? Healthcare is covered. Dental is <$1k / year. Vision is <$1k / year. Food is way cheaper than SF. Less on accountant fees, less on legal fees, less on anything I can think of, really.

Are we comparing apples to apples? You can also find a room on peninsula for 1200-1500 with one housemate. A 2 bedroom apartment in Toronto in a neighborhood similar to where I live here in SV is going to be 2800/3000 CAD, I am paying 3K USD now. Car insurance $70 per month for 2 cars here, I used to pay $380 per month in Canada. My PGE bill is $50-70, in Toronto hydro/gas are going to be at least twice that. My brot…

Dude I just got into a new place at Dovercourt and Dundas. I'm on the second floor of desirable house paying $850 CAD ($650 USD).

Yes you can spend $3k CAD on a shiny new two-bedroom midrise condo if you want to, but that's the exception. Most people live in places that cost between $600 to $1200 per person. Max $2k ($1.5k USD) if you live alone.

Nobody I know is paying $400 in heating. That's northern Ontario electric baseboard heating rates. My total electricity bill for all of 2016 was $400.

Beer is not $10. It is $7. Entrees are $14 ($11 USD), not $30.

You're missing my point. I was making $200k+ at 27 in 2012. You can make money here. It's not SV high, true, but it is high enough. There are other things that matter than raw salary.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#319

Post by _iofi »

ssivark wrote: post #311
_iofi wrote: post #169

I just moved out of US and in process of moving to Canada. Just for background: Worked in leadership roles for startups and Fortune 15 companies, sold a company, advise/invest in bunch of startups. My life's goal is contribute to curing/diagnosing terminal disease using technology. Everything I did in the past 14 years has been towards meeting that goal. I figured, I would need knowledge, network, and financial stabi…

> My life's goal is contribute to curing/diagnosing Cancer using technology. Everything I did in the past 14 years has been towards meeting that goal. I figured, I would need knowledge, network, and financial stability [...] As someone who's fresh into the technology industry after grad school, it would be great to get your perspective regarding planning and executing on a long-term vision in such a manner. I'm sure…

My approach is usually as follows:

1. Identify a real person in whose position I would want to be 10 years from now.

2. Figure out the path from that person to my current situation. Usually this involves figuring out filling missing gaps along multiple dimensions: e.g. knowledge, connections, financial situation.

3. Create 5 year and 2 year checkpoints/goals on each of the dimensions.

4. Break 2 year plan into monthly goals.

5. Execute, learn, critically analyze every quarter. Brutally prioritize.

6. If there is a learning which requires major change in plan, start again from step 1.

I think the most important part was step 1. Rest is execution. It is also important to align your goal with something that you are passionate about. You would need passion to drive you towards your goal.

I put some of the thoughts on company building at [redacted] during sleepless nights with our baby. I will put more thoughts, especially around immigration sometime next year.

Re: H-1B: As immigration furor roils Silicon Valley, Canada smooths way for techies

#320

Post by madmax108 »

One of my friends recently got his Permanent Residency from Canada for a job he has just gotten there.

What is the difference between a PR and citizenship? Is there any difference in what the country owes the individual or vice versa in either?

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