Specifically asking for Indian folks who came to US, worked for a while and went back (due to VISA issues or otherwise). How has been your experience back in the homeland in terms of money and life?
I left california went back to India after staying in US for 11 years and stayed for 6 months, did nothing. If you have some money, say 50k rupees a month. Life is easy. You need to get used to seeing a lot of people and bad infrastructure. That shock will go away in a couple weeks. If you have money you can do the same stuff you do in US. You can travel to thailand if you want good beaches.
In those 6 months, I received Canadian PR. Now I am in Vancouver. I think Vancouver is a better place to be than Santa Clara( i was there). But I think so cal is still the best place on the planet. I lived in orange county and would go back to so cal if i ever recieve a green card.
Thanks for sharing your experience! A couple of questions:
1. What was the reason for leaving US? I'm guessing you must be on EB1/EB2 track to the Green Card?
2. How was the process like for the Canadian PR? Had you already secured a job in Canada before leaving US and then applied for the PR from India (Express-entry program)?
1. I had the urge and wanted to experience how life in India would be. I applied for Canadian PR as a back up. Also, i have i-140 so i can go back to US.
2. I am in canada just to try it out and see how it goes. I did not have a job but got a job immediately. For process go online. If you are a software engineer you will get a job.
I don't endlessly do pro and cons. I just try things out.
“For all of the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn't conspire against you, but it doesn't go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. "Someday" is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it's important to you and you want to do it "eventually," just do it and correct course along the way.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek
The question is about career. Sorry, no experience there as I actively said no to recruiters in India as the main motivation to go to India was to not work for someone else.
Was looking at the same Canadian PR process; if you get invited to apply, do you have to get a job immediately? Or can you apply for the PR without a job offer?
After about 1.5 years of working in the US, I moved back to India for a year and made some mobile apps at home and also travelled south east asia. It was obvious that H1B was a waste of my time.
Then moved to the Netherlands and worked freelance and some regular jobs there for 5 years to get EU permanent residency.
Now moving to Spain and working as a remote freelancer in Barcelona for iOS/Android apps.
Had a friend who went back recently. Life outside work is good. Closer to family, all daily chores are taken care of by maids and servants. But w.r.t work, you don't get enough number of quality people. They still need hand holding or "push". Most people are smart but do not know how to deliver end to end.
I think it really takes truck-loads of courage in going back, taking that massive salary-cut. But if one's a family-oriented person, then it makes sense.
In those 6 months, I received Canadian PR. Now I am in Vancouver. I think Vancouver is a better place to be than Santa Clara( i was there). But I think so cal is still the best place on the planet. I lived in orange county and would go back to so cal if i ever recieve a green card.