Guess this is one of the most common questions in the mind of prospective R2Is - when is the right time to do R2I? Most of the people don't want to discuss about this until their R2I plans are firm. With the 1+ year syndrome(if you are not familiar the 1+ year syndrome - this is where people plan for R2I during 'next year' and next year keeps getting pushed out by a year at a time!), it is always bit difficult to say for sure when you will R2I and discuss with friends circle.
There is no one single answer to the question - when is the best time to do R2I? but in some cases, it is very clear that you have to take the decision or forget about it. I have tried outlining few cases below:
1. Few years in US, have H1, no green card yet: It is unlikley this category of folks are reading about R2I yet!. If you have decided that you will be back in India, then your timeframe is basically on completion of H1. Path to green card and citizenship is a loooong one (trust me, this won't change that easily) and unless you have started early on, this will make the wait agonosizing. But, if you are close enough, well worth the wait to complete that process first before planning for R2I.
2. Several years in US, have green card, no citizenship: You have already stayed several years, why not complete citizenship and move once for all? Keeping the green card active while in India is a struggle (have seen several friends doing that, doing back & forth and spending their own $$ from pocket). Better to stay put while planning for R2I like booking an apartment, decide on work location, schools etc. This might get tricky if you have grown up kids since it is much more difficult for grown up kids to come back and adjust to Indian environment.
3. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship but single: Have to say you wouldn't find many people in this category, with the timeframe it takes to move from H1 to green card and citizenship. If you in this category, it is much more easier to decide - basically, whenever you want to is the time frame. Might be easier to find a partner once you are back here!
4. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship, married with smaller kids: Smaller kids here means within the age of 6-7 years. If you are satisfied with the savings and think you are ready for R2I, this is the right time. Smaller kids tend to forget things and adjust to the newer environment quickly than older kids(see next point). They learn the new food habits, enjoy the ceremoinies and mix well with kids here. Their English gets indiginized much more quickly than older kids, without they being aware.
5. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship, married with grown-up kids: This is the case of now or never. Main points to consider in this case are - kids school, how used to US culture the kids are and how flexible they are in accomodating changes. Once kids are 10+ years, they won't forget how things are in US (serioulsy, there is no comparision!) and will always think US is better - won't argue with the logic in-terms of facilities, cleanliness, structure, discipline etc. The value of staying closer to immediate family members is not visible immediately and it takes a good amount of time to establish the bonds. Hence, if your kids are older than 12 years or so, it might be bit late. However, if they have grown up learning the mother tongue, have very good exposure to Indian environment etc, it could work out. But, try to have some discussions with the kids - they are old enough to provide their feedback. They might have good amount of negative feelings based on their short stays in India during vacations but ask them to look beyond that.
If you are still confused, take the the assessment and evaluate yourself here:
http://r2idiaries.blogspot.in/2011/12/r2i-or-nr2i-not-to-r2i-dilemma-take.html
Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...
There is no one single answer to the question - when is the best time to do R2I? but in some cases, it is very clear that you have to take the decision or forget about it. I have tried outlining few cases below:
1. Few years in US, have H1, no green card yet: It is unlikley this category of folks are reading about R2I yet!. If you have decided that you will be back in India, then your timeframe is basically on completion of H1. Path to green card and citizenship is a loooong one (trust me, this won't change that easily) and unless you have started early on, this will make the wait agonosizing. But, if you are close enough, well worth the wait to complete that process first before planning for R2I.
2. Several years in US, have green card, no citizenship: You have already stayed several years, why not complete citizenship and move once for all? Keeping the green card active while in India is a struggle (have seen several friends doing that, doing back & forth and spending their own $$ from pocket). Better to stay put while planning for R2I like booking an apartment, decide on work location, schools etc. This might get tricky if you have grown up kids since it is much more difficult for grown up kids to come back and adjust to Indian environment.
3. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship but single: Have to say you wouldn't find many people in this category, with the timeframe it takes to move from H1 to green card and citizenship. If you in this category, it is much more easier to decide - basically, whenever you want to is the time frame. Might be easier to find a partner once you are back here!
4. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship, married with smaller kids: Smaller kids here means within the age of 6-7 years. If you are satisfied with the savings and think you are ready for R2I, this is the right time. Smaller kids tend to forget things and adjust to the newer environment quickly than older kids(see next point). They learn the new food habits, enjoy the ceremoinies and mix well with kids here. Their English gets indiginized much more quickly than older kids, without they being aware.
5. Several years in US, have green card, citizenship, married with grown-up kids: This is the case of now or never. Main points to consider in this case are - kids school, how used to US culture the kids are and how flexible they are in accomodating changes. Once kids are 10+ years, they won't forget how things are in US (serioulsy, there is no comparision!) and will always think US is better - won't argue with the logic in-terms of facilities, cleanliness, structure, discipline etc. The value of staying closer to immediate family members is not visible immediately and it takes a good amount of time to establish the bonds. Hence, if your kids are older than 12 years or so, it might be bit late. However, if they have grown up learning the mother tongue, have very good exposure to Indian environment etc, it could work out. But, try to have some discussions with the kids - they are old enough to provide their feedback. They might have good amount of negative feelings based on their short stays in India during vacations but ask them to look beyond that.
If you are still confused, take the the assessment and evaluate yourself here:
http://r2idiaries.blogspot.in/2011/12/r2i-or-nr2i-not-to-r2i-dilemma-take.html
Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...
Hi Mohan,
ReplyDeleteI have read many of your posts, and its helped me a lot. We are planning to R2i by Aug this year, and have a lot of things to plan. The details that you have provided here, the excel spread sheets have been very useful.
Looking forward to more posts!
-shubha
Glad to hear the posts have been useful. Good luck with the R2I plans. I am sure you will enjoy your R2I ...
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, my situation - H1 B 7th year, Green card priority date Oct 2011, 3 month old as of june 2012, Is R2I goal in 5 years a realistic goal ? or will it be too late with my kid turning 5 in 5 years ? Any thoughts will be appreciated
ReplyDeleteNo, a 5 year old will just do fine after R2I, as we are experiencing. You will have more of an issue since you would have stayed much longer in the US by then :-) Some of the things that could help are - getting a local language exposure or to Hindi (since that is offered as a language in schools) and with some exposure you can get the kid started right off from UKG here). It is better to set the R2I goal now so that you can plan towards that (like higher education, visiting places etc, see my 'http://r2idiaries.blogspot.in/2012/01/looking-back-what-i-would-have-done.html').
ReplyDeleteHowever, thing to note things could be different in India or in US by 5 years(like Job situation, economy etc), which you can't control anyway. Hope for the best and plan for R2I, if that is something you want to do ...
Thank you for the quick response. Will be reading your blog in detail and start the planning accordngly. Higher eductaion has already been achieved ( and loans paid :-) ) , got my MBA and M.S. in Accounting from American Universities, would agree on the travel part of your blog need to plan and execute. I am in a finance role and seems like a hard one for transition as this job family does not get similar attention as Tech when transferring jobs to India. Also advise I have been receiving is to re-locate only in a manager or above role only to be able to satisfied in the career after r2I, any thoughts will be appreciated - as I do not have a road map at this point to achieve a manager postion or higher position.
DeleteI am not quite familiar with the situation in the finance sector but in cities in like Bangalore, I am guessing there should be more openings now since there are so many tech companies which have needs in this area as well. Looking for such a role in a tech company might be a good idea. About manager role - in the tech industry, this is gradually changing where you have more value for tech skills (think you can differentiate and move to a new job easily with tech skills but may not be so with managerial role) and you need not be a manager to get recognized. If you have inclination towards such a role, that is something you could try after R2I as well. At least, in my company, I can build a road map for such a change if I like to do that. Hope this helps ...
ReplyDelete