my$0.2 cents
When I saw this thread, I couldn’t wait any longer to post my side of $0.2 cents, as I believe that any comments from somebody who went through the whole process will help others to decide their right course of action.
I lived in USA for 10 years (92-2002) and educate myself there worked in various companies and paid money to process green card (mean to say: I did the whole 9 yards) and now I am in Canada doing odd jobs (actually now I have no job. I lost it few days ago.) and here what I feel about Canada and US.
1) Decide what you want to do, if you want to go back to your county of origin and you are in USA just to earn/save money, then don’t apply/waste money for any PR stuff. But if you are in H1, and have no intention like that, apply for your Canadian PR. It will save you from lots of grief in case you loose your H1 status. (I like Ray's comment about NAFTA and you, that is funny). Remember if you are out of status for over 6 months, you may not be able to get into USA for long time. (I think it is 10 years)
2) Of course everybody (professionals like us and their spouses) likes living in USA (my wife, who was on H4, had really hard time leaving California when we were coming to Canada), because of level of opportunities. But under current circumstances, you are never comfortable with H1, and now, if you loose job, I don't have to tell anybody that what would be the consequences. The rules and regulations in USA are changing and people with temporary status are finding themselves in different types unwanted troubles.
3) The biggest relief I have right now is nobody can throw me out of Canada (which was the biggest fear of mine when I was in USA). Although I have no jobs right now, my family’s health is covered (mostly). Whenever I take my son to doctor for his immunization, no charge and the quality of treatment is superb. But job wise this is not a good place at all. You can get basic jobs but if you look for more (the way we used to in USA), you may be frustrated. Canadian economy is totally driven by US economy (over 80% export), so if US economy is down ….I think you can get the picture. On the top of that it is not very open for foreign educated professional like USA. It is a great country which will cover your basic needs but if you have a big ambition for yourself, get PR here and eventually citizenship and at right moment cross the border with less painful work visa (TN) and achieve your dream.
I will conclude my comments with a very old saying, which according to me, best describe the difference between USA and Canada. The saying is “The KING is respected in his own territory, but ERUDITES are respected everywhere”. It is what USA stands for (at least when I was there that was the motto of USA), but in Canada, saying goes like The KING is respected in his own territory, so does ERUDITE”.
Thank you.
Moloy
