# Melbourne or Seattle



## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

Hi guys!

Few days ago, a big company is Seattle showed interest in me and they wanna have an interview for some opportunity .... it seems good, ut my concern is the US economy and the lifestyle compared to what we have in Melbourne....

Any one with experience with the US? how's life there? is it expensive? how's rent for accommodation and so? 

I really appreciate your responses 

All the best,


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## lifeisgood (Mar 30, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> Hi guys!
> 
> Few days ago, a big company is Seattle showed interest in me and they wanna have an interview for some opportunity .... it seems good, ut my concern is the US economy and the lifestyle compared to what we have in Melbourne....
> 
> ...


Seattle is a pretty expensive place and so is Melbourne..
What is your occupation? 
are you going to USA on H1B visa? If yes then that's one huge disadvantage you will have to take into consideration..


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

lifeisgood said:


> Seattle is a pretty expensive place and so is Melbourne..
> What is your occupation?
> are you going to USA on H1B visa? If yes then that's one huge disadvantage you will have to take into consideration..


Hi!

I do agree that Melbourne is expensive 

I'm a software developer... They will cover the immigration expenses.. Also, I was told that after 6 months of full-time employment, I'm eligible for PR sponsorship ... I really don't know exactly what's the visa name?

Why H1B is bad? At the moment I have an Australian PR....

What salary range u think might be good for me?

Thanx in advance and all the best,


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## MaddyOZ (Aug 16, 2011)

mmq83 said:


> Hi!
> 
> I do agree that Melbourne is expensive
> 
> ...


Before that chk the unemployment rate in US. OZ job market is comparatively better than US.

Now OZ dollar s more than US as well. Two weeks there is a fluctuation because of euro zone debt crisis, but salary wise OZ has upper hand is what I feel.

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

MaddyOZ said:


> Before that chk the unemployment rate in US. OZ job market is comparatively better than US.
> 
> Now OZ dollar s more than US as well. Two weeks there is a fluctuation because of euro zone debt crisis, but salary wise OZ has upper hand is what I feel.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum



I totally agree. The US economy is in a very bad shape.A friend of mine in the US told me so...


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## Kurai (Oct 1, 2011)

In terms of lifestyle, I recommend reading Australia vs. America: The Little Differences - Australia - Goodbye New Jersey. Hello World! - WorldNomads Adventures

This is written by a woman who moved from the states to Australia. Hope this helps!


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

Kurai said:


> In terms of lifestyle, I recommend reading Australia vs. America: The Little Differences - Australia - Goodbye New Jersey. Hello World! - WorldNomads Adventures
> 
> This is written by a woman who moved from the states to Australia. Hope this helps!


 Not one mention of a cherry ripe! How could she? Doesn't she know the joys of a cherry ripe?? 
Well that's it, I don't care where she's from - she aint representin' me!


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

*RE:*

What makes me confused that the company that approached me is a super one, but in IT you can never count on that since it's a stressful industry, also I almost spent a year in Australia towards my citizenship, while in the US I have to get hired for six months on a full-time basis to get my American PR, one final thing: I'm accustomed to Mel and I like it 

I guss this explains it all, Any thoughts?


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## lifeisgood (Mar 30, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> What makes me confused that the company that approached me is a super one, but in IT you can never count on that since it's a stressful industry, also I almost spent a year in Australia towards my citizenship, while in the US I have to get hired for six months on a full-time basis to get my American PR, one final thing: I'm accustomed to Mel and I like it
> 
> I guss this explains it all, Any thoughts?


I hope you know the number of years you gotta wait before getting an American PR..
Its atleast 10-12 years...


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

lifeisgood said:


> I hope you know the number of years you gotta wait before getting an American PR..
> Its atleast 10-12 years...


 I thought it's 6 months if are employer sponsored


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## oz_sg10 (Aug 31, 2010)

hmm Seattle.. sounds like Microsoft..lol - if yes go for it mate - its worth it



mmq83 said:


> What makes me confused that the company that approached me is a super one, but in IT you can never count on that since it's a stressful industry, also I almost spent a year in Australia towards my citizenship, while in the US I have to get hired for six months on a full-time basis to get my American PR, one final thing: I'm accustomed to Mel and I like it
> 
> I guss this explains it all, Any thoughts?


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

oz_sg10 said:


> hmm Seattle.. sounds like Microsoft..lol - if yes go for it mate - its worth it



it's a Microsoft-like company, what bother's me that I need citizenship due to the background/country I come from


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## smartypants (Sep 22, 2011)

If a well-established company (I can only guess Amazon ) is offering you a job with an application for PR in 6 months, I would go for it.

Seattle is a nice place to live in, the only downside being that it rains all the time. I've heard you get used to it. If you like rainy cold weather, there's nothing else that's negative about Seattle. Things are cheap, houses are very affordable, schools are good, no crime - in general, life is very good. 

Note that citizenship in the US comes after 5 years on a green card. And it takes many years (about 6-7) to get a GC. An H-1B is like a 457 and will let you work in the US until your GC app is approved. If you're coming on an H-1B work visa, you'll be fine, no worries.


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

smartypants said:


> If a well-established company (I can only guess Amazon ) is offering you a job with an application for PR in 6 months, I would go for it.
> 
> Seattle is a nice place to live in, the only downside being that it rains all the time. I've heard you get used to it. If you like rainy cold weather, there's nothing else that's negative about Seattle. Things are cheap, houses are very affordable, schools are good, no crime - in general, life is very good.
> 
> Note that citizenship in the US comes after 5 years on a green card. And it takes many years (about 6-7) to get a GC. An H-1B is like a 457 and will let you work in the US until your GC app is approved. If you're coming on an H-1B work visa, you'll be fine, no worries.


So to get citizenship I have to wait for 5 yrs +6 yrs = 11 yrs, right?


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## lifeisgood (Mar 30, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> So to get citizenship I have to wait for 5 yrs +6 yrs = 11 yrs, right?


Well, it might well be more than that..


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

*Their response*

Hi Guys!

This is their response to my question on the Visa they gonna provide....

They sponsor H-1B and then after 6month of full-time employment, I'm eligible for permanent residency Sponsorship.

I have some of my seniors who went to the US circa 1999, 2000 and have green card, was processing much faster then?

If it's gonna take ages, I have no interest 

All the best,


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## mandhani (Jun 17, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> Hi Guys!
> 
> This is their response to my question on the Visa they gonna provide....
> 
> ...


I would say before 2007 getting GC is was way easy as you can get labor substituted and get GC in 2-3 years..In 1999/2000 it was way much easier but now it is really long wait if you are in EB3.

EB2 is far much better in relative terms but absolutely EB2 takes 4-5 years to get GC.People who applied in 2002/2003 are still waiting in EB3 and movement is not happening for quite sometime..


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

mandhani said:


> I would say before 2007 getting GC is was way easy as you can get labor substituted and get GC in 2-3 years..In 1999/2000 it was way much easier but now it is really long wait if you are in EB3.
> 
> EB2 is far much better in relative terms but absolutely EB2 takes 4-5 years to get GC.People who applied in 2002/2003 are still waiting in EB3 and movement is not happening for quite sometime..



So I better decline since I already have an Australian PR


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> So I better decline since I already have an Australian PR


 BTW, I heard that the US is about to expedite the processing time for Visas especially for IT workers since it's in dire need for them, have guys ever heard of this?

All the best


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## mandhani (Jun 17, 2010)

mmq83 said:


> BTW, I heard that the US is about to expedite the processing time for Visas especially for IT workers since it's in dire need for them, have guys ever heard of this?
> 
> All the best


 This is news to me as I am here in US for last 2.5 years and working in IT for last 11 years and loads of people working in IT are not going back to India for vacation because getting your visa stamped from US consulate is quite difficult.You can say that I am also one of them but I have to leave as and when I get my 175 approved to validate my PR and decide based upon the my visa status for US.


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

*Start of counting*



mandhani said:


> This is news to me as I am here in US for last 2.5 years and working in IT for last 11 years and loads of people working in IT are not going back to India for vacation because getting your visa stamped from US consulate is quite difficult.You can say that I am also one of them but I have to leave as and when I get my 175 approved to validate my PR and decide based upon the my visa status for US.


Here's another question and sorry for making this thread a really long one 

Let's say I've H1B visa and after three years I was granted GC, does that mean that after 2 years of being granted the GC I get citizenship? as in 3yr + 2yr = 5yrs, after getting GC the counting of the 5yrs starts?

All the best guys and thanx for the help in advance


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## arni_venky (Oct 15, 2011)

If you are seriously interested in US and want to reduce the wait time for PR(GC)/citizenship and also want to make a safe move. I would recommend you to stay in Auz and get citizenship first. Once you have australian citizenship, you can work in US ina different visa category (dont remember the visa name) and it has more privileges than H1b. Means GC for Eb2 is current for australian citizen (approx 6 months) and spouse can also work with this visa (h1b doesnt allow spouse to work), no restriction on visa count like H1b. Many advantages are there.


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## smartypants (Sep 22, 2011)

You need to be on a GC for 5 years and pass the physical presence test (translates to being in the US for the majority of time over those 5 years) to be eligible to apply for citizenship. So yes, the 5 year clock is after you get your GC. 

That said, why are you so hing up on citizenship? A GC gives one most of the privileges of citizenship. Only things missing are being unable to vote, go for jury duty, get US passport with visa-free travel to many more countries than allowed on an Indian pasport.

Excuse errors - sent from my mobile phone


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## smartypants (Sep 22, 2011)

arni_venky said:


> If you are seriously interested in US and want to reduce the wait time for PR(GC)/citizenship and also want to make a safe move. I would recommend you to stay in Auz and get citizenship first. Once you have australian citizenship, you can work in US ina different visa category (dont remember the visa name) and it has more privileges than H1b. Means GC for Eb2 is current for australian citizen (approx 6 months) and spouse can also work with this visa (h1b doesnt allow spouse to work), no restriction on visa count like H1b. Many advantages are there.


The thing to note is that this visa (E3 I think it's called) has no path to PR or citizenship. Read up on it before going for this option.


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## DiamondColors007 (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanx guys. So the count start from GC.

Without whining and the drama, I come from an occupied territory and there's issues related to my original citizenship, that's why another passport is a high priority...

Thanx again


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