What to do... what to do...
Monday, January 22, 2007
Now where do I start...
Hoen and I are seriously considering moving to another country. The factors are:
1) Our Status -- Green card is still 2 or 3 years away (that's a stretch)
2) My (non)working status -- with an H4 Visa, it's not legal for me to work here in the US without sponsorship and they don't usually come in my chosen field which is Project Management, Accounts Management, etc. I have only been applying fully this month and I am not going to give up but the fact still remains, it will be very hard for me to find a job.
3) We want to start a family already and we don't want to do that without buying a house yet. And although buying a house with one income is doable, it's so much better if the both of us have work. They call this demographic DINK- Double Income No Kids. We want to belong to this category already.
4) Now that the wedding is over, I am so itching to work already. I want something full time.
5) Hoen's company has had rumors of lay-offs again. Employees are being rated and even though Hoen doesn't get laid off, can we stand feeling insecure and unstable for 2 - 3 more years?? Is it worth losing sleep over or do we do something about our situation in the most proactive fashion rather than just wait for things to happen?
The solutions:
1) I get a job
2) The November elections will result to a speedy resolution to pending visa applications
3) We move to another country where although our visa situation might be the same as here, at least both of us will be working. We will be DINKs in another country.
Our limitations / impedements:
1) If we move states or companies, we would have to go back to square one with our labor certification. The labor certification states that "...we have looked all over Nebraska for someone local to fill this position but we haven't so we chose to hire Joen Moreno from the Philippines da da da."
2) Considering moving to another country means back to square one with EVERYTHING as well.
3) We are limiting our choices to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Canada is first on our list because I have uber relatives there and it is the nearest.
What we are doing about it:
1) We just attended a Homebuyers Seminar last Saturday.
2) We are researching about our chances of going to Canada.
3) I am continuously looking for work.
4) We are praying.
5) We are definitely going to Canada to visit my relatives on the first week of July to get our passports stamped.
Right now, we are giving ourselves the first quarter to see if First Data will indeed push through with the lay-off and how we would feel after that. I stressed to Hoen that even though he is guaranteed a safe employment, can we both stand having only one income? If he does get laid off (God forbid AND it won't be performance-based, that's for sure), it won't be hard for him to get another job even here in Omaha but like I said, we go back to square one with our labor certification, which is a huge factor in obtaininig an EAD or Green Card. We frequently ask ourselves, do we work on buying a house now or do we concentrate our efforts on Canada as early as now? Can we do parallel efforts on both? How secure are we at First Data? With my biological clock, can we risk delaying having kids to two more years, pending our financial stability? WHICH ONE DO WE PRIORITIZE??
These are what we spend a lot of time on. Just thinking... thinking of the future and what we can do about it. Thinking of the future and what we have no power over.
This is how our 2007 will be. Wish us luck.
Hoen and I are seriously considering moving to another country. The factors are:
1) Our Status -- Green card is still 2 or 3 years away (that's a stretch)
2) My (non)working status -- with an H4 Visa, it's not legal for me to work here in the US without sponsorship and they don't usually come in my chosen field which is Project Management, Accounts Management, etc. I have only been applying fully this month and I am not going to give up but the fact still remains, it will be very hard for me to find a job.
3) We want to start a family already and we don't want to do that without buying a house yet. And although buying a house with one income is doable, it's so much better if the both of us have work. They call this demographic DINK- Double Income No Kids. We want to belong to this category already.
4) Now that the wedding is over, I am so itching to work already. I want something full time.
5) Hoen's company has had rumors of lay-offs again. Employees are being rated and even though Hoen doesn't get laid off, can we stand feeling insecure and unstable for 2 - 3 more years?? Is it worth losing sleep over or do we do something about our situation in the most proactive fashion rather than just wait for things to happen?
The solutions:
1) I get a job
2) The November elections will result to a speedy resolution to pending visa applications
3) We move to another country where although our visa situation might be the same as here, at least both of us will be working. We will be DINKs in another country.
Our limitations / impedements:
1) If we move states or companies, we would have to go back to square one with our labor certification. The labor certification states that "...we have looked all over Nebraska for someone local to fill this position but we haven't so we chose to hire Joen Moreno from the Philippines da da da."
2) Considering moving to another country means back to square one with EVERYTHING as well.
3) We are limiting our choices to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Canada is first on our list because I have uber relatives there and it is the nearest.
What we are doing about it:
1) We just attended a Homebuyers Seminar last Saturday.
2) We are researching about our chances of going to Canada.
3) I am continuously looking for work.
4) We are praying.
5) We are definitely going to Canada to visit my relatives on the first week of July to get our passports stamped.
Right now, we are giving ourselves the first quarter to see if First Data will indeed push through with the lay-off and how we would feel after that. I stressed to Hoen that even though he is guaranteed a safe employment, can we both stand having only one income? If he does get laid off (God forbid AND it won't be performance-based, that's for sure), it won't be hard for him to get another job even here in Omaha but like I said, we go back to square one with our labor certification, which is a huge factor in obtaininig an EAD or Green Card. We frequently ask ourselves, do we work on buying a house now or do we concentrate our efforts on Canada as early as now? Can we do parallel efforts on both? How secure are we at First Data? With my biological clock, can we risk delaying having kids to two more years, pending our financial stability? WHICH ONE DO WE PRIORITIZE??
These are what we spend a lot of time on. Just thinking... thinking of the future and what we can do about it. Thinking of the future and what we have no power over.
This is how our 2007 will be. Wish us luck.
posted by maudester @ 1:02 PM
0 commentus maximus
