Alberta Welcomes H-1B Visa Holders and Their Families

[ezee]

Is it easy to find IT jobs in Alberta? What kind of salary can you expect compared to say a metropolitan area in US (LA, NY city, Boston etc.)?

[sands_14]

This may jeopardize yr GC process,be careful.

[viper673]

What does sending an application for immigration to another country have to do with US GC application? Why would it jeopardize the GC application?

I understand that applying for a GC means you want to stay in this country, but what if your application got denied? Are you telling me you have to risk your future and family's future waiting to know if you'll be approved or denied and sit and do nothing?

[Chiwere]

Don't see any Software related occupation on the regional occupation list, except managerial:-
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaces...bouplist.shtml

That makes the recruitment process for H1 folks in software programming/development a little more time consuming.

[Dhundhun]

Originally Posted by Chiwere

Don't see any Software related occupation on the regional occupation list, except managerial:-
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaces...bouplist.shtml

That makes the recruitment process for H1 folks in software programming/development a little more time consuming.

That's true. Despite a lot hue and cry about opportunities for H-1B in Alberta, there is practically no opportunity of Software Professionals. You may have better opportunity in provinces Onrario, British Columbia and Quebec.

But then only Alberta offers quick permanent residence to H1B holders.

Sometimes I feel "Alberta inviting H-1B" is not worth discussing in this forum.

[hasil]

Originally Posted by sriramkalyan

Alberta PNP is fast track process to Canada PR ..Every Province has this.

Generally PNP is done through Employer sponsorship. But since US has been mistreating HIGH SKILLED H1Bs , Alberta taking advantage of that.

I think categorizing H1B as highly skilled is a BIG misconception. I know people in my team who have more then 10+ years of experience still says that they are above average. And i know the other set of people with MS degree and fake experience consider them as Highly skilled. Most of the H1 B are utilized on software and countries like us have more English speaking graduates then any other country. Also the dollar-rupee conversion is another motivation for IT services company in India. I think 80% of our companies run on services offered to US\Europe clients and 20% is actually doing research. No offense whatsoever.

[leoindiano]

Sorry Dude,

Dont vent your anguish on masters students/EB2 when the thread is about Alberta/Canada !!!

[gapala]

Originally Posted by Dhundhun

That's true. Despite a lot hue and cry about opportunities for H-1B in Alberta, there is practically no opportunity of Software Professionals. You may have better opportunity in provinces Onrario, British Columbia and Quebec.

But then only Alberta offers quick permanent residence to H1B holders.

Sometimes I feel "Alberta inviting H-1B" is not worth discussing in this forum.

There are not many folks out there who are into IT in Alberta that is why there are few Tech jobs. They know clearly that if enough IT skills are made available and Tech folks move there, companies from US will follow. Cost of operations are way too less there compared to a US suburb. Beyond that current beaurocracy and political climate also would help new companies as well.

In the long run this move by Alberta will help them attract the technology companies where most of them fed up with US Immigration system delays. This will peak their economic and social growth.
Just my thoughts.

[gc4me]

Dude, what you will do in Alberta till your "They know clearly that if enough IT skills are made available and Tech folks move there, companies from US will follow". Life is not that essay.
Check the Alberta weather, only igloos live there. And in the job openings no wonder only for carpenters and plumbers! Due to extreme weather you need to cover every holes of your home and so you need carpenters & you need plumbers to jam clear your water pipes! Pew!

I don't understand why an IT profession even consider going to Alberta over going back to his/her country. Radiculas!

Originally Posted by gapala

There are not many folks out there who are into IT in Alberta that is why there are few Tech jobs. They know clearly that if enough IT skills are made available and Tech folks move there, companies from US will follow. Cost of operations are way too less there compared to a US suburb. Beyond that current beaurocracy and political climate also would help new companies as well.

In the long run this move by Alberta will help them attract the technology companies where most of them fed up with US Immigration system delays. This will peak their economic and social growth.
Just my thoughts.

[nixone]

I am interested on this opportunity, but I have a question for you guys. I was trying to fill out the one-page form for more information and there is a question that asks for the job title the visa was granted for and the visa type. I know my job title and the visa type, but I do not have any document that says my job title. For example, I have my 1-94 that says my visa type (H1-B), but there is no document that says my job title.

Any idea of document(s) that I can show them if they need to verify my job title?

[ksurjan]

Are we so desperate that we are ready to go anywhere? Alberta in the middle of nowhere? Seems like people will conside any option other than their homeland. How about Sri Lanka, Bosnia, Nepal etc. Could someone please post thier immigration policies.

[ajay]

As gc4me said it is true that there is no point in trying somewhere that gives you nothing. It is better to go back to our great country India and work there instead. Please note that it is not to offend anybody who is trying to get there but it is a honest opinion from my side.

[conchshell]

I applied for a Canadian GC couple of years back. I must say that the process was smooth and I got my Canadian GC in 14 months. I talked to lots of my friends who are in Canada, and even visited Canada for two months. I worked from my company's local office in Toronto. Searched for jobs, and met lots of local folks. In general, Canada is a nice country, very similar to US, with a majority of people thinking that they are kinder,nicer, immigrant friendlier than their US counterparts.

However, I decided to stay in US and pursue my US GC. Primary reason is that for last 10 years I have always worked in Software Development jobs, in engineering organizations, but all the jobs that I could find there were in IT area. If you are in research and development, and that's what you want to do, Canada may not be a good place for you. Specially Alberta is a home of all oil drilling companies, and there is no software development. All you will find is IT and support jobs.

Alberta, is bitter cold during winter's. Finding an apartment/home to live initially is a problem. People claim that you can get a job, the day you land in Alberta, but you will have to cope with a long wait to get an accommodation. Its kind of same type of unexpected economic boom that most of us witnessed in Bangalore.

Interestingly, I met several South Asian folks, working as taxi drivers, grocery store clerks, majority of them claiming to be a PHD, and regretting their decision to come to Canada. But its difficult to find out the what the Truth is.

Most of Canadians asked me how I am treated in US after 9/11. After I told them that I am treated well, they were kinda disappointed with my response. When in Canada, you just can't missed discussions on US-Canada relationship on the Canadian TV, which no one talks about here on the "South side of the border" in USA

So Canada is a nice, interesting country. They have their own problems just like any other nation, and their own benefits like any other nation.

[nixone]

To make a long story short, I know where Alberta is and what it has to offer. You also do not have to live in Alberta forever. After two years, I am free to move anywhere in Canada.

Canada was always my 1st choice of the country to live and raise my kids and it is still the #1. Even though I have spent about 10 years of my life in the US (Student + H1B), I do not have a desire to live in this country and especially raise my kids here. I still have more than 5 years left on my H1-B and my company has already started my GC process (job ad). The US GC is my backup plan like Canada and Australia are for many of you. The bottomline is, if I can get a Canadian PR or Alberta PR, I will leave the US in a heartbeat.

Please help me with my question about what official documents to show to prove my job title other than the job offer letter. Thanks.

[sriramkalyan]

Check out the Canadian Job site :

www.workopolis.com ..

I see couple of IT jobs in Calgary ...