Advantages of green card

[robocop104]

thats a very vague question, the answer to which is "it depends". let me start by saying that this shd probably be a thread of its own. but since you have asked, i would like to point out that its the same thing as whether you want to live in india or the US?

but as to your question. i have some questions. maybe someone can answer more specifically if there are more factors involved here.
1. do you plan to come back to the US?
2. any urgent need to go to india?
3. do you plan to go back after getting citizenship?

 

[howdy_howdy]

tufan:

You brought up an interesting question to this forum. It involves more of
hpothesis than just providing a straightforward answer.

Let me ask you this: What was the intent of the person who obtained GC in the first place? Did he/she apply & got GC just for the thrill of it? This Q coupled with the Q's from robocop104 needs to be considered.

howdy_howdy
//

 

[query11]

wrong u can leave america for more than a year without breaking your continuosresidency(required for citizenship)...the only reason i am telling u guys is i wished i knew tht before....
secondi know tons and tons of ppl working in india with gc....bangalore baybey !
it happens only in india

You also qualify for CD bank deposits in some banks, get lower mortgage rates, can have a baby outside the US (and still get LPR for the baby) and get admission in some universities which have restrictions on number of non locals they can admit.
Many small benefits but biggest ones are peace of mind, employment without restriction and path to citizenship. Diasadvantages are 1) You cannot leave the US for more than 6 months or accept employment in your home country and 2) Sponsoring wife takes about 6 years

 

[query11]

i would go back to india but i would file for n470...hahaha you can file n470 work for a american company in india and come back after 2 years and still apply for citizenship,,.... ...important thing u need to be hired here in america...just go to a company like xxx,tell them u have training in sap and u want a job,they will hire u and send u to bangalore... take the hire form and apply for n470....trust me i know a lot of ppl who have done this...
in re-entry permit you cannot apply for citizenship till it is 4yrs+1 day after you come back or in ur case looks like u got gc from wife 2yrs+1day...

To everyone in the forum:

If you had a choice to file for citizenship in 3 years or go back to India with REP, after being on GC for 2 years, which one would you choose?

thanks in advance.

 

[gameraja]

Job Job Job bottom line

Very good question but at the end of the day it is u need a Job to stay in US.All you Businees people don't need to jump on me.
If you don't have a Job or can't find a Job ur best carrer plan starts and ends in India.(Banagalore to be specific)
I got my Green card about a 2 months ago, and it definetly has got me strange sense of Peace of Mind , but I started to make a list of the things I could now do and did not come up with anything extraordinary.Looking at replies in this Forum so far I am still right.
It is a very strange feeling , u have freedom but not really.(If you are having a good job (not being exploited) and are doing fine it provides zero benifits)

Hypothetically let us say u have 100K in savings and u get laid off , and start eating into ur savings. Options
1. Take what is left and go to India and settle.(Option only for Indians because life is great (democracy) in India. Carrers are great too , but for traffic and day to day drudgerry it is fantastic.)

2. Burn your savings and take any Job to support ur family.(Good choice the American way)

3. If you have a very very smart Idea, start your own business and get some funding.

4. Keep looking for a Job (which pays good) burn all your savings and eventually return to India.

I have listed the above options based on little survey I did at the work place.

Surprisingly (not so surprisingly - depends on your thought process) option 1 was Indians only option. Chinese and Philpines(only other nationalties in my Survey) did not want to return.

Gameraja

 

[hipka]

isnt it that u cant leave US for more than one year! - that u need a REP - less than one year is ok isnt it

What I meant is you cannot leave for more than 6 months without breaking residency.

 

[tufan]

thats a very vague question, the answer to which is "it depends". let me start by saying that this shd probably be a thread of its own. but since you have asked, i would like to point out that its the same thing as whether you want to live in india or the US?

but as to your question. i have some questions. maybe someone can answer more specifically if there are more factors involved here.
1. do you plan to come back to the US?
NO
2. any urgent need to go to india?
NOT REALLY
3. do you plan to go back after getting citizenship?

YES

Please read above.
Guys, i enjoyed reading your responses. I used to be very active on this forum until i got my GC. I have read gameraja's reply as well and find that very interesting. I did my undergrad in usa, then after being on h-1B for 8 years i finally got the GC thinking i'll go back some day and i'll use the REP. now the time has past and i have spent 2 years on GC. Now i get tempted to buy a home as i feel i need space for kids. But my heart does not want to go for it as i fear that i might not go back ever. (However, there are people i have seen who would sell the house and take citizenship and go). I wonder if there kids at the age of 8 are able to settle down?

For sure what i have decided, i'll go back if not in a year, for sure in 4 years after getting the citizenship. But this dilema bogs me everyday and i am sick and tired of it. But at the same time i feel until i get my citizenship, i should utilize the money and take good money as things are expensive also in Delhi, if you want to have a lifestyle. Things have changed quite a bit in delhi now. I have not been to banglore and i am not in IT. But what bothers me is that i'll have to live 4 more years to get the citizenship and that too hand to mouth. I just don't feel like throwing away 15 years of hard work, because Greencard is useless if you ever can't make it in india and want to come back. Two years are nothing to start from scratch and try to settle down. Therefore, i don't know if i should go for citizenship or try to leave after 1 year with REP? i am all confused right as i am in pressure that my friends are living in good homes and i am not giving the same lifestyle when i could to my family as i am not able to decide? (Let's see where my journey ends).

 

[hipka]

i would go back to india but i would file for n470...hahaha you can file n470 work for a american company in india and come back after 2 years and still apply for citizenship,,.... ...important thing u need to be hired here in america...just go to a company like xxx,tell them u have training in sap and u want a job,they will hire u and send u to bangalore... take the hire form and apply for n470....trust me i know a lot of ppl who have done this...
in re-entry permit you cannot apply for citizenship till it is 4yrs+1 day after you come back or in ur case looks like u got gc from wife 2yrs+1day...

n470 options was always there, but is it realistic? You will probably need to take a big pay cut to accept the job in India. Why would an American company send you to India with a large pay when they can hire a local for 1/3rd the pay??

 

[robocop104]

tufan - from what you tell me all i can say is that, every persons reply is going to be different based on their bank balance and how they feel about the US culture. i personally think that the US culture might be different from india but it is a culture worth living and fighting for. the values are different, the morals are different, but its still about being good.

as far as children go, if you feel they shd be brought up a certain way, then its a personal decision on your part and not much anybody can say. its your children. but as a child who was moved around a lot by my parents i can say that, i hated my parents that they moved me about so much, but really on retrospect, they did all the things that they thought were best for me. in fact moving around made me completely independent after having to leave behind everybody i knew a couple times. i got fresh starts and my better habits accumulated while i got rid of my bad ones due to all the fresh starts at new schools. i used to be hated by my teachers when i was a kid, but at the end i was every teachers pet. so it all depends. in sum total, whether you take your kids to india now or 3 years later, they will still hate you in the short term, but in the long term they will come to see that you tried your best for them. thats all you can hope for.

as far as the financial part of it, its a decision that you will need to make with your financial couselor and planner. if you see yourself having trouble here but not in india, goto india. if its the other way around, stay here. if in between and not sure, then i suggest, get citizenship. since its gives you options of coming back and changing your decision at a later date. but keep one thing in mind, by saying that you will wait until citizenship, you might be holding yourself hostage. that can only lead to resentment. try to avoid that. on a more idealistic note, go whereever makes you happy. life is only so long. maybe all you need is to move to a different city in the US.

gameraja - i think i have come to the exact same conclusions are you have. but one thing to note here is that people who had job security and havent changed much during this GC process probably gain the least. but those who have had trouble with their companies and bosses, this can bring a lot of calm for the nerves. so i guess people in the better scenarios seem less affected but those on the other end of the spectrum seem to gain more. now, they are on par with the others in terms of security. the reason i say this is that previously i was in a team where i didnt like my boss and i was checking priority dates every day. but then i moved team and i like my work now. so i hadnt checked my INS status in a long time. it does make a difference in these circumstances. Also, people who have a smaller bank balance can now work multiple jobs etc. removing some such restrictions can probably help those who need it, but not seem like much to the rest of us. so every person is really different and we can only take this list and see how it applies to each of us.

 

[tufan]

Hey Robocop, well said. You know Robocop is a favorite movie of mine. I must have seen it zillion times. I totallay agree with you and that's what's happeing to me, i am making myself a hostage. I am doing something that i shouldn't do to myself. I have always wanted to go back since i came, but one thing let on to another, and i got stuck in the loop. After undrgrad on F-1 Visa, thought of working and make use of my degree, file h-1, got married, applied for green card and didn't want to quit even in rough times just to get green card and keep the option of going back when i got stuck for 4 years after 9/11. But now i feel green card is nothing if you ever want to come back in 2 years, and it's better to get citizenship as you can travel easily and maybe if you have to come to usa to settle your kids in future you'll get medicare, social security, which i guess you probably won't get living in india on green card. Keeping in mind i have worked in the country for 15 years.
But the dilema is if i don't go back, because i am afraid of being happy.

BUt i guess the time has come for me to decide, becuase i just can't live like this everyday. I really love this country and it has given me a lot. I just don't want hard work go in vain. Therefore, it's just tough to as one would never know until you go and see it for yourself how life is day to day in India. I came when i was 17 and now it has been 15 years. Sometimes i feel we go on vacation and we see the fun part. also sometimes i fear that what if i won't be able to manage in less? There's more pressure from family and how you live, lack of privacy. Not sure if it would be easy to blend in. Ofcourse if we want everything in one go when we have to remember that, "Rome was not built in one day." I kind of look at that way, what i had when i came here. I really didn't know what i wanted to do when i came so if i go back, mabye i got a go with same approach.
So... not sure where i am getting with this conversation, sometimes i feel to be hack with it and maybe there will be a mircale and i'll get what i want. Everything feels gigantic, like getting rid of your belongings, cars, furntiure, clothing etc!!!! (not that it is impossible, but it's just feels like big task to start all over again).

But in the end all it matters, is that what you said, life is short and one should do what's best for yourself.

thank you my friend. i am sure the conversation will go on. Also, leaving this city won't help as i have move 7 times in past 5 years. Lived both in east/west coast. now finally i am settled and therefore i am stuck with the wild decision. All my friends are getting citizenship and people who came 5 years back, and i feel i should have it too. (It's like a twister you get stuck into it and there's no way to come out, because one wants best of both the worlds).

 

[query11]

let me tell u a nice story ...i am really happy for this cousin of mine and hope i get such an oppurtunity.unfortunately i cannot name the company.

my cousin used to make 110k here in the u.s...roughly 50,00,000(you know what i am talking about).he has around 5 yrs experience and a masters.How much was he saving in this 110k(sonne00000)...well,this is despite him being single.
Then he took a trip to india last year(jan/05) met this nice hr who offered him a job in bangalore(though he has to be here in u.s once in 2 months,depends on stage of project) as a project manager.
pay 30,00,000/yr(along with accomodation and all travel expenses.)
how much has he saved ,i was just talking to him last week on the phone....he says starting from last jan till date i,e may(his bank account which was almost 10000$ after paying of his credit cards and car loans when he moved to india[btw i bought his car for xxk ]) his networth is around 20,00,000 today....he said the only thing he spent on was clothes/tax{he also happened to marry this chartered accountant who has helped him be a wiser man with some nice investments and tax fraud ,just messing}.......he is like nigga you wanna party company pays for it,you wanna go for a vacation company pays for it...
he was wise enough to convince his dad for a car though...
and then most important of all...its india man,its bangalore.....
o i forgot to mention another thing he was like you got a lady to come and cook/a lady to come and clean/laundry/a guy to drive your car.....
while i was talking to him on the phone putting away the dishes in the dishwasher

n470 options was always there, but is it realistic? You will probably need to take a big pay cut to accept the job in India. Why would an American company send you to India with a large pay when they can hire a local for 1/3rd the pay??

 

[query11]

also hipka talking of being realistic ,if u go through the threads in citizenship forum i would say 4-5% of all applicants have had n470...and they have had 100% success with citizenship.
thts why ii was talking about n470,so it helps someone...if i knew about 470 like last year i would have been in india by know...my sole reason here is u know...once i get mine u r gonna see me in bangalore too...

 

[query11]

face consequences?...are you threatening me... ....

You are such a SENBHMT? How about you come up clean else face consequences.

 

[query11]

i am too busy with work dude..i am on go live...i aint got much spare time this weekend.

wtf is a SENBHMT ?

You are such a SENBHMT? How about you come up clean else face consequences.