Hi guys. If you received opportunity to work in the USA, how much minimum annual salary will you consider to accept?

Assuming the company pays for:
1) house complete with utitlity bills (electricity, water, internet, cable tv)
2) car, gas and the maintenance
3) insurance for medical and dental
4) annual travel expenses (let's assume the amount around 3 - 5k usd)

What will be the minimum annual salary you expect to live comfortably with family? For fair assessment, let's divide to two areas; the outskirt and the city. And the job level is equivalent to what a normal executive do in Malaysia (junior to middle management).

If you have experience working in the USA, care to share your insights?

what job did u get?

I assume not less than USD80k per annum if you include family.

And work place is where? New York?

Let's consider Atlanta, Georgia.

Including those benefits mentioned above?

If you are single, how much will be the minimum?

if all paid by company you just need 12K p.a salary because 1K per month for food you can eat till vomit.
biggest chunk house, bills, and insurance itself around 3K, if paid by company you no need to worry.
what kind of job offer that pay everything? what type of visa you get?

50k USD for so-so life. 100k USD would be ideal.

Understood.

Received an offer but the salary they offered isn't what I expected. It's just falls short of the state's median salary i googled. Plus with the higher taxes >20% 😬😬😬

Good news is they cover those things. If it is like what you said then considered still OK.

Manufacturing field. Visa i don't know yet.

Thanks for your input 😁👍

if you dont want, can consider share with us ? we willing take the leap

Check for (3) ... whether is it 100% or the co. is only covering 70%

Most co. that offer insurance is only covering 70%

Also there's multiple choice of insurance option, low-co, high deductible, etc.

For a single person with housing and transported provided, even with 60k you will be well off.
As a rough estimate, expect to deduct about 30%~35% from your monthly pay cheque, that would be your nett.

US looks at the total compensation package as a whole. You will need to add the benefits that you received as well to the salary they offered then only compare it with the median salary.

Understood. If like this then the package definitely sounds quite good. It's just have no idea yet regarding the daily expenses there (eg. Food, groceries, entertainment, etc.). I never went to overseas for studies or working previously.

Reg insurance, they haven't feedback the actual package yet but they mentioned it's the same package covered to all current employees. Maybe not so bad.

Tax wise is it same like malaysia where we have MTD and need to do filing after year end?

Opportunity of lifetime i guess, most likely will accept

US Tax can get very complicated. You can file it yourself or you can get someone to do it for you. You can request HR / Payroll to withhold a certain percentage of wages for taxes and then when you file your taxes, you either pay for the shortfall or get back the surplus.

Check out https://www.walmart.com/ and you will know how to budget your expenses.

One more thing, make sure you get a social security number (SSN) (equivalent to our IC here, but never ever share your SSN), not sure if your co. will help you or guide on how to do it.
But without SSN you can't file taxes, can't open bank account, can't get credit card

Wish you all the best !

Atlanta is nice place , cheap to fly everywhere else and it's a major hub too !

$50k basic

you should include income tax, major killer of one's salary esp. USA

U will get H1 visa and be careful with it coz it's provided by your employer, once you get fired, you will also lost your legal stay status and automatically gets deported with immediate effect.

Thanks bro. There's a lot I still have to learn about living in the States. Gotta get my visa approved first. 😁

Understood.

Noted with thanks for the info. I guess that's the most fitting in this case.

I disagree, in my decade plus living and working in the US, I never compare salaries plus benefits, only the raw salaries. The state median salary you're seeing is the pretax salary and you take it as it is.

When comparing cost of living, don't forget to take into account hidden costs eg. sales tax (Atlanta is 8.9% which is even higher than NYC 8.875%), insurance for drivers which depends a lot on your age, location of your car etc. and taxable benefits. You may be $30-50k worth of benefits in the form of rent, car etc, but depending on how it's calculated, these could be treated as cash and you get a tax deduction on your paycheck. Health insurance for you and the family is not negotiable, don't be caught without it.

In all honesty push for a higher salary not including the benefits. $50+ k is not worth the move

Thanks for the information. Guess mine weren't high, but weren't too low either. Will give it a try first.

The future colleagues already reached to me via email. I guess they (Americans) are quite welcoming.

I guess they (Americans) are quite welcoming

It seem like you are pretty out of touch with the current political situation in US right now, in general Americans are pretty welcoming but not the government especially under the current Trump Administration

Manufacturing field. Visa i don't know yet.

Visa 99% will be H1B, don't be too happy yet just because they offer you a job, take a look at the process of applying H1B visa (only the company is allow to apply and paid all relevant fees on your behalf)

https://www.stilt.com/blog/2018/06/h1b-visa-guide/

Your chances of getting the H1B visa is close to zero especially your field of work is not in demand (any US Citizen or LPR can do the job), why would they need to spend all the effort and money just to bring you over unless you have a very special set of skill that no US citizen have. Another negative point is that H1B is a lottery based and your chance of getting it is pretty low as well.

The company that is considering to hire you is a small shop or an big corporation ? usually small company are not well aware of how immigration works and not willing to spend a lot for an immigration lawyer to navigate the bureaucratic nonsense of dealing with Uncle SAM.

Many people dream of coming to US for work opportunity but never realize that is incredible hard considering the amount of obstacle that Uncle SAM throw at you, unless you are super smart,rich,have immediate relative petition for you or marry a US citizen, consider the door shut for many ppl.

This post has been edited by wengjoe: Feb 14 2020, 07:15 AM

if your still young, go for it.
it is and opportunity regardless if the salary is below expectations.
dont worry about food as eating in US is cheap if you home cook and know where and when to buy your stuff.

You sure engineer is USD5k? Fresh engineer with Masters Degree in Engineering is already USD6k in Los Angeles, and that was more than 10 years ago.

if you don't mind eating garbage food or fast food then is yes is cheap.

you are comparing apple and orange.

engineer in California or NYC are pay higher salary due to the relative high cost of living - rent and tax alone would probably take a huge chunk out of your salary.

in the case of OP, Atlanta, Georgia. is in the south where cost of living is relative low compare to California or NYC, 80k per year can live a pretty decent/good live style compare to say NYC.

is funny that many people in this forum often gave false or misleading information considering they themselves have not live in US before.



are you sure this job even exist ? looks more like a scam though

This post has been edited by wengjoe: Feb 14 2020, 11:09 PM

It'a an MNC company with branches all over the world. They even have one in Malaysia too. They want to boost manufacturing in USA due to high demand of the product over there, and they need people with experience to help them.

I had validated for scam potential, but so far everything checks out okay. They never requested for any 'payment' yet

When you mention manufacturing field, you need to be specific - the word manufacturing is just too vague

Offering you a job is not a problem, the problem is getting you a work visa - that's a huge problem now with the current administration.I not saying things to discourage you but the reality is that manufacturing field is a low demand job here in USA, i don't see any reason the company willing to spend huge amount of time and money just to bring you over where they can get someone here in US to do the job.

When i apply for jobs in US, many recruiter and company specifically ask "do they need to sponsor visa in the future", as long as you tick YES 99.9% your resume will go straight to the trash can no matter how good/qualified you are for the position. I'm working in the finance industry and my current in house recruiter employer just flat out told me don't waste my time if i'm not a green card holder or citizen when "that time" applying for my current position.

https://www.uscis.gov/legal-resources/buy-a...n-workers-first

you should do more reading and research, good luck.

This post has been edited by wengjoe: Feb 19 2020, 12:35 AM

Actually Malaysia in the world leader in this sector, and I think you can guess the industry already.

As of now their attorney is working on my visa.

The senior management team will head to Malaysia for a visit next month and I will meet them.

Now I just hope everything goes well.

Good luck TS! I wish you well and not often you see stories like this here .

This post has been edited by twotwopig: Feb 26 2020, 12:16 PM

Thanks a lot friend 😊

Do you have any kids that require schooling? Schooling in america can be quite expensive in the cities and depending on your future career movement (ie back to Malaysia), your kids will forever need to follow american syllabus.

since ur car and lodging and health insurance (health insurance is standard and will normally be provided by most firms in america), you just need to consider how much you need to spend per month.

Eating per meal is like 20 to 30 dollars normally, so mult up.
factor some social events like movies etc (alcohol is cheap).
misc like clothing etc
and then add up and see how much savings you have left.

No point going overseas if u r not saving much, unless it is for future promotion.

Not to sure on what your current situation is but here's my 2 sens.

1) Look up glassdoor and find your comparable position in Atlanta area. That will give u a rough idea on what "package" should be like.

2) For all the perks listed in your original post, i would attach a value of $2.5k per month (really depends on what kind of accommodation provided).

3) For the visa section, sounds like you're already working for the same company, its pretty easy to get a L1 visa and go from there (if the US embassy in KL already knows your company).

1 kid so far.. 1 year old.. Thus i think it's the best time to explore this opportunity

Tax i think about 25 - 30%, avg $1000 for food and personal expenses. Still need to pay 2 mortgage loans here. Then balance can be saved. Amount not so high but exchange rate x4 will help a lot


1) understood

2) noted. My salary after tax would be higher than that. Good to know. Thanks

3) nope. I'm just working in similar industry. Noted. I will check from there.

Thanks.

#3: Good luck then on the visa route especially if you need to take the H1B path (which is very soon now as the employers will need to file by April something for you to be in the draw/lottery for the 2021 season).

Just got back. Think cost of living seems to have shot up there, but I was in the bay area, so not sure if it's the same for other states.

Need to prepare to cook more at home and get used to single income of your wife used to work here. Nursery also pretty expensive in bay area, up to 1800 for decent full-day nurseries. Not sure about Atlanta.

Just make sure you do a proper survey. Need to check out proper neighbourhoods to make sure it's safe as well.

If single, I'd say it'll be a no brainer to go. With kids, really need to do the math unless it's a big jump from Malaysia.

good luck ts
i also wish i could work in US since i returned from there 3 years ago
just lack of one opportunity

Yeah, I think it will take quite some time. Lottery result still pending.

My working location is at outskirt area, perhaps food cost a bit lower but willing to cook myself. Not a problem anyway.

Thanks pal.. I believe u obtained the H1B as well? But not extended is it?

Thankfully I managed to get selected in the lottery. Currently the attorney is in the midst of visa application.

wow. congrats TS. Happy for you. when will you start the new job there?

Thank you. Perhaps the earliest is end of this year. Maybe it's the best considering current Covid-19 situation there.

Happy for you TS. Seems like it takes a lot of work for them to hire you (with the time lags in process). Wishing you all the best!

TS would you mind to share how did you manage to get a job in US ?

Yeah, I really appreciate their effort. Can't wait to contribute to them. Thanks man.

I used to have a stable job with very good pay. Too bad I'd been laid off due to office politics. Several months after, I got contacted by a headhunter and there it all began. I think LinkedIn played a part in this.

This post has been edited by MADReaLJL: May 2 2020, 10:59 PM

you should have some realistic expectation, i'm pretty sure your company will pause hiring any foreign employee giving the current unemployment rate in US - 30M++ people file for unemployment benefit. Pretty much everything is on a halt now.

there is only 2 working visa available for you - L1 or H1B. H1B visa has a 30% chance of getting selected as if a lottery basis and this year quota already max out just within weeks of opening and L1 visa is for internal company transfer to US company (only management role and above).

Don't expect a smooth ride to US now as the economic/employment situation is very very uncertain, good luck.

I see. Most of the headhunters contacted me via Linkedin were in Malaysia, never outside of Malaysia.

Mind to share which firm ? I will go connect with them.

He was selected iinm.

There is also a L1 visa which is applicable for inter company transfer. Say your employer has a branch in KL you will be offered a L1 visa.

"The employee that is transferred must work for the US company as a manager, executive, or person with specialized knowledge. If the employee will work as a manager or an executive, the visa is specifically called an L1A visa. If the employee will work as a person with specialized knowledge, the visa is specifically called an L1B visa."

do you think company will just send any tom dick and harry to their US site for work ? be realistic bro.

so far i only heard of handful of Malaysian holding L1 visa category - mostly Senior Management above in Tech field around California Bay Area. Other industry don't even think about it.

ermm depends on companies la .. it was quite common this L1 type visa , most of my colleaques had it , i almost got it but i left the company in between , application also quite smooth , the company uses santa fe relocation , they handle all the paper work .

but yea this was during the tech boom la in 2012-2015

high unemployment + recession very likely + Trump Administration hostile towards immigrant and foreign workers, is not going to be a smooth ride.

i would expect a bunch of RFE and denial from USCIS, plus it make no sense to have foreigner coming into US now to compete jobs which should be reserve for citizen and LPR.

Congrats TS 👍🏼

You mentioned the your industry as one where Malaysia is a major player - is this the semiconductor field ?

Headhunter is local. The parent company is MNC and in USA they JV with another local company with 100% ownership. They have 1 subsidiary in Malaysia.

So far they provided me 2 options, one is the H1B and another one is green card. Both take long time especially green card.

Thanks man. It's medical device. Malaysia is damn good in this.


To the others, thanks for providing your insights. I do understand that there're big issues right now eg. Covid-19 + possible recession + Buy American Hire American First campaign. Thus i don't put my hopes very high up as of now. The employer also already told me before providing he offer letter that I should not resign from my current job UNTIL the visa has been successfully issued.

Double post

This post has been edited by MADReaLJL: May 6 2020, 11:23 AM

Thats good fingers crossed , hope all turns out well for you

The next round of H1B is April 2021. I don't know how good/bad the green card situation is now, although you could get very lucky and Trump is voted out in November I think the company's advice to not resign is sound. Best of luck!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-act...id-19-outbreak/

there is an executive order issue by Trump halting issuing green card holder to new immigrant for 60 days and is subject for renewal, although working visa spare from now but there are rumor a second EO which is targeting working visa especially OPT and H1B and L1 visa with the exception of medical personnel is under consideration.




either the head hunter or the company is bullshiting you, there is no such thing as green card option without going through L1 or H1B for foreign worker - mind you H1B visa is a 3 year visa + another 3 year extension (if your company agree to sponsor you the green card option then is another couple years more of process and waiting), we are talking at least 8 years or more from start to finish.

the only way to get green card is either through marriage US citizen or petition from immediate family of US citizen or LPR.

So easy? Imma try my luck from Canada also lol

Congrats! All the best in your future endeavors.

Hopefully your attorneys will work fast on your case file. Big firms ie. Fragomen tend to take their own sweet time, so might be beneficial to send them a chaser once in a while.

Also back to @tishaban's advice, same here, i only resigned from my old job when my visa was approved by the embassy in KL. 1 month notice then 1 month to sort my stuff out and then hopped on the plane.

This post has been edited by miuk: May 9 2020, 02:36 PM

No harm trying man. All the best 👍

Yes, my employer mentioned it would take up until October. Then I need to serve 2 months of notice from current job + preparation. Looks like the earliest would be year end.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-act...virus-outbreak/

the new suspension just came out and will be effective as of 06/24 until 12/31, if Trump win reelection then you can say goodbye to your job. Your only hope is Biden win the election

Yes noted on this. I just hope for the best. Waiting reply from the employer.

majority of Americans (over 65%) including myself back the suspension as there is huge unemployment now in US. We don't need anymore foreigner coming to our shore until the country is back to pre covid-19 economic state

good luck and all the best

I wouldn't take anything less than 80% of what you make here in Malaysia, without currency conversion. E.g. if you make RM100k per annum here, you'd expect at least US$80k in order have a similar quality of life in the States.