Need guidance to confirm genuine US consultants, cost of living, H1B

USA H1B Visa
1

Hello friend,

Hope you all are doing well.



I need your suggestion for H1B. Actually, one of US consultants ready to file H1 for me in April 2013 with following conditions and offer. So whether I should go with that offer or not?



1.      He is asking me to deposit total 8000 USD, out of which 3000 USD need to submit before 15th March 2013, remaining 5000 USD submitting between of July/Oct 2013 before joining company in USA. Whether I should deposit it or not?



2.     They have asked me to sign 2 year bond and after completing the 2 years they will return my deposited amount. Whether I should trust on them?



4.      They offer me 55000 USD. Per annam. How much possible to save in US after deducting all expenses? What is the cost of living in Pittsburgh USA? I heard it depends on area, but could you tell me (approx.)



5.      What is the tax I have to pay there?



6.      Is my wife eligible to doing job in USA? She comes with me in dependant visa.



7.    What is the possibility of hike in USA after no. of years?



8.    Most of companies in USA hire employee in a permanent bases or contract basis?



9.    Is I am eligible to move any city or place in USA for job after 2 years?



10.  I need to confirm legality of consultant means whether they are legal and trustable organization or not in USA, how can I do that?



11. Someone ask that, it’s possible to save 50% salary in USA after deducting tax and all expenses, is it? Can you please give me brieg idea about the cost of living there.



Lot’s of confusion and query arise in mind before take any immediate actions.



Your guidance really great helps me here.



Thanks.
2

  1. It is not legal to ask for money from the future employee.

  2. Its up to you wether you want to trust them or not. But again usually the employment is at will in US and bonded labour is not encouraged

  3. approx - around 30% tax if you are single - 55000 - (55000 x 30/100), this would be the total take home per annum. again your tax depends on number of different factors simmilar to what we have in india.

  4. taxes depends on a number of different factors. whether you are single, married, have kids, your investments here, etc.

  5. if she is coming with you on H4 then she can get a H4-H1 change of status done and can start working on or after october 1

  6. & 8) its a subjective question depending upon your specialized skill, job market, client’s requirements, etc.

  7. yes

  8. try to find reviews for your consultant on glassdoor and myvisajobs.com

  9. I suggest you read this article from the main blog

3

Thanks for your response.

I am married. How much tax needs to pay to married person? And somebody tell me that, it’s possible to get 80% to 90% refund of tax in USA, is that possible?

I didn’t find my consultant review anywhere. According to him, they don’t need to do any kind of marketing. But as per my knowledge, all consultants possess government proof of running business, right?

We are planning for kids in this year but consultants tell us to wait for 1 year. Due to get benefit of US citizenship. Can you please clear that?

4

You will be filing tax as married-jointly. The federal tax rate will be around 15%, social security will be 6.2%, medicare is 1.5% and PA state income tax of 1-3%. You can do rest of the math to determine your in-hand salary. Also talk to your employer about your share of monthly insurance premium. You may have to pay 50-100 bucks every month for that as you will be opting for employee+1 insurance plan.

The employer needs to have projects where they can place you. If they already have direct clients and are the preferred vendor of such clients, then they don’t need to do aggressive marketing and can place you there. However, if they are level 2 vendor, then they need to have a good marketing department in order to place you. Get a feel as to how they plan to get projects/clients for you.

Also ask them about their bench policy. As per law, they are required to pay you the salary even when you are on bench. However, lot of consulting companies don’t do that.

Lastly, if the kid is born in US, the kid will be considered as a US citizen. Some parents prefer that and delay the family planning until they reach US. However, its a personal decision.

5

There are not enough tax saving schemes in US except for 401k/IRA. You can get few exemptions as your wife will not be working and can be considered as a dependent. However, it is NOT true that 80-90% of the tax paid gets refunded.