Should we relocate to US?

[dannykool]

I think TN visa expert is right in some way that the reward is worth it but it depends on your goals. If you want to start a company on a temporary work permit, can't do it. Buy a place, you can but if you lose the job you are out of the country. I think it depends on whether you can take the stress of being temporary (and you might be ok with that) and your goals at a point in time.

As for what TNvisa expert said about it all working out well if the company wants you etc., i would not agree. Getting a work permit and permanent residence are two different animals. It is a very strange and peculiar process in the US and I have not seen this kind of a process in many other countries.

The short term goals are very good in the US and one can really focus on those and you have very good rewards on a work permit while working.

But no unemployment benefits if one loses the job + no refunds on Social Security or Medicare. Not sure but I think Social SEcurity taxes should be transferable to the Canadian fund. But not Medicare as Reba said. Not for 10 years.

[dannykool]

[quote="TNVisaExpert"]Yes, it starts off as a temporary move under the TN, but once you move down here 'so many opportunities open up'.

SUCH AS ?
As jeffrey0070 mentioned, your company likes you so much they hire you on a more permanent visa and then you get your green card.

NOT THAT EASY
. Most find the rewards of living and working in the U.S. worth it.DEPENDS

[dannykool]

[quote="TNVisaExpert"]Yes, it starts off as a temporary move under the TN, but once you move down here 'so many opportunities open up'.

SUCH AS ?
As jeffrey0070 mentioned, your company likes you so much they hire you on a more permanent visa and then you get your green card.

NOT THAT EASY
. Most find the rewards of living and working in the U.S. worth it.DEPENDS

[dannykool]

[quote="TNVisaExpert"]Yes, it starts off as a temporary move under the TN, but once you move down here 'so many opportunities open up'.

SUCH AS ?
As jeffrey0070 mentioned, your company likes you so much they hire you on a more permanent visa and then you get your green card.

NOT THAT EASY
. Most find the rewards of living and working in the U.S. worth it.DEPENDS

[Steven]

A lot of Canadians especially from Ontario or Québec look to Florida, and I'm here to tell you that Florida at the moment is probably the worst place to move to in the US.

The reason why is because property prices have fallen sharply, which sounds great, but the assessments still reflect higher values. And property taxes are the main tax revenue in Florida.

I know people right now who have had the value of their homes fall as much as 30%, and for the first time ever the assessed value is more than the actual real value, and they're paying huge taxes. One of my friends reckons his house is worth around $320,000 or a bit more at the moment, and the assessed value is $420,000, so he's paying around $10,000 in property tax - and if you were there on a temporary permit you wouldn't be able to claim the homestead exemption so the property tax would be even higher!

Other States don't depend as much for tax revenue from property taxes, so Florida is probably the worst in that regard.

[Reba]

My Aunt in Florida also had her property and business insurance go up exponentially after several years of fierce hurricanes. She lives on a small plot of land with a single-wide trailer on it and runs a landscaping biz. With the increase in her property taxes plus the increase in her insurance, she's having a really tough time to make ends meet.

[Marisa]

We moved to the US back in 1994 because I could not find a job in Winnipeg after 4 yrs. of university and a bachelor degree (nursing). U.S. hospitals were crying for nurses. I applied and got the job. The hospital sponsored me. At the border I received a TN visa. My husband and daughter were given TD visas.
The day we arrived we went to get social security cards. The back of their cards stated that they were not allowed to work. Mine, of course, did not.
Within a week we started the process of applying for a Green Card. It cost several hundred dollars for each one of us (fingerprints, criminal background checks, medical exams, etc. etc.) Nine months later we all received green cards.

We renewed the expired cards late last year (around $250 each, plus $70 each for fingerprints).

[Steven]

I didn't think you could apply for permanent residency from a TN-1. Did you get an H-1 inbetween? I assume your employer sponsored you for permanent residency. It depends how in demand your skills are, I have a relative who got permanent residency because he was knowledgeable about foreign HR laws, and as we was reponsible for firing foreign employees he had to know that. They couldn't find anyone in the US who could do that job so that was how he was able to get permanent residency so quickly. But it was a total nightmare, some of the things he had to come up with for the Labor Dept. certification, I doubt most employers would have gone to those lengths.

Yeah, Reba, when I lived in Florida, Hurricane Andrew hit. My property insurance went from $40 to $400. Allstate cancelled my insurance and I had to use the Florida Joint Underwriting Association, which was set up by the State.