ExpertDabbler

–edited at 6:08 PM, 20-Jun-2008 for consistency–

Lot of folks I know are overjoyed when they get the all too sacred L1 visa stamping in their passports. But there are finer prints which are consistently overlooked in their focus to reach the dream land. I thought let me dish out a few truths.

Lets say you, aka PK aka Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy, are going to US on L1. Let’s also assume you are being offered a compensation of USD 75000 PA for a job in Sunnyvale, CA. Kuppuswamy has two kids and one wife (fortunately) who go along with him.

From whatever I have gathered, the key things which is going to make or break your stay in US are as follows:

- Which state you get to stay – this has a tax implication
- Can your wife work on L2 – challenge when there are two kids to manage.

Trust me, getting $75000USD in a place like bay area is barely okay. Not the same 75000×40 = Rs.30 lakh INR equivalent.

You will contribute rather generously to the California state exchequer (30% tax – app. $22500 USD per year ). Your two bedroom apartment rent will cost a neat 1500 USD per month.($18000 USD per year). Your monthly expenses, no matter how stingy you are, will cost you $1000USD. Add EMIs for car which is a necessity and this could again push you back by $300USD per month, not to mention gas which goes for around $4+ USD nowadays. Add the cost of bringing up children and you are left with a potential savings of $15000 USD per year. In other words you will have a slightly better lifestyle than going out with your MADE IN US thiruvodu in Sunnyvale station every morning. But only slightly. And all you would manage is the rough equivalent to a savings of Rs 6,00,000 in India per year.

There are other costs involved for which you cannot calculate the cost in dollar terms – You have to really bend your back to the manager, no matter how stupid he is, who helped you get L1.You have to be content with talking to your near and dear ones in India over phone. Unlike India, you cannot shift your employer in the next six months, or even in the next six years unless he shows mercy on you and decides to sponsor for green card. Oh yeah, be prepared to do onsite coordinator job which means folks coming to office in India at 10.30AM IST will call your mobile and will write a lengthy mail keeping everyone in CC if you do not pick up.

My 2 cents is that you can save quite a portion of that Rs.6 lakhs per annum amount by staying put in India, without the intangible costs involved.

Of course there are some rewards like being able to see new places, new culture, a relative stress free day to day life. L1 can still work if you are offered a job in some other state where the cost of living is low. It should work fine if you are single. It can work wonders for your bank balance if your spouse can find a job in L2. This is not a post to discourage someone from going to work in USA. But know what you are getting into.

PS: My dear Bay area readers, please correct me if there are any sol kutram or porul kutram

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Corporate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.