ILuvHyd\'s R2I (Hyderabad) Diary

[ILuvHyd]

28Sep2008 - I am moving some non-R2I related posts to my blog ILuvHyd's Blog
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I have been a silent reader of this forum for almost 2 years and started writing posts from Nov07.

I am a big proponent of information sharing for the betterment of all and I love this forum :emrose:.

I've learnt a lot from the forum (thanks to the founders and the contributors)and I want to give back by sharing my personal experiences as they relate to my R2I (to Hyderabad, specifically). (Copied it as it is from Nelly's blog :))

Background:
14 years experience in IT Operations, 5 years in India and 9 in US. B.Tech in India and part-time MBA in US and currently working as a Team Lead. Wife also has exact same experience in IT Software Development and part-time MS in US. Wife already resigned and middle of Feb is her last day as we want her to relax, spend time with kids before R2I.

Family:
Two kids aged 3 and 1. Our siblings(all younger) are all well settled in IT field here in US. Parents and inlaws in their 50s and split their time in US and India helping us with kids. Kids never in day care or pre-school.

Own a house and no mortgage.

All US citizens, OCI completed, wife and I finished 40 SS credits last month.

Why did we come to US?
To earn money quickly and achieve financial independence. We wanted to capitalize on the arbitrage opportunities that existed between India and US salaries in 1999. At that time US salary was roughly 10-15 times that of Indian salary.

Why R2I:
Achieved what we came to US for and want to return before the optimal window of opportunity closes. Wife and I are wired for India.

When R2I and logistics?:
Feb 2009. Not planning to take any furniture/equipment to India. No container/shipping. Just want to go back with suitcases the way we came here. Only change is 2 kids and their extra suitcases.

Parents and In-laws have decent apartments in the same area close to Hi-Tech city and will be staying with mostly parents and also use the in-laws newer, bigger, better apartment as the situation demands. Planning to build a house in that area in one of our plots. Need to sell some real-estate to generate cash to build house, buy cars and furniture. Brother-in-laws recently gifted a mid-size car to in-laws and we are planning to use it until settling and they already employ a driver.

What to do when R2I?:
Semi-retire. I am not planning to find a job prior to R2I. I want to take things slowly upon R2I and not planning to work immediately upon R2I. I want to enjoy the things I missed in India. Once I become absolutely bored and feel like working again, I will start looking for work and don't know when that will be. We don't really need a pay cheque to live and thanks to 14 years of work and some lucky investments. Wife is not planning to work atleast for the next 5 years after R2I. We like simple living and generally not very keen on luxiries and show-off.

Financial:
Net-worth split 40:60 in US and India respectively. Currently not planning on transferring any assets from US to India. I will later request an AAP/Financial help from gurus on this forum.

I think that's a good starting point and one can get more on my background by searching for my posts. I included the summaries/relevant points here and more to come.

[hellome]

Iluvhyd

Goodluck on your move.

That is a well written summary.

BTW, are you all US citizens or GC holders?

[ILuvHyd]

Iluvhyd

Goodluck on your move.

That is a well written summary.

BTW, are you all US citizens or GC holders?[/quote]
Thansk hellome. We are all USC and OCI. I was updating my post with that info and you might have caught it in between.

[idlyvadasambar]

very interesting and encouraging post. please keep posting. we have many similarities in our situation and thinking.
would you have considered r2i without USC for u & spouse? just curious

[ILuvHyd]

very interesting and encouraging post. please keep posting. we have many similarities in our situation and thinking.
would you have considered r2i without USC for u & spouse? just curious[/quote]
That was the original plan. We never expected to get the GC and wanted to return after 6 years of H1. Some of my classmates/close friends who came at the same time to US, shared the same ideas and they joined consulting firms and never applied for GC and left after their H1 period. We were also not very keen on GC at that time. But we both joined a big financial firm as we always wanted to stay close and not many companies in this area. This firm was doing GC for free anyway, so we applied and forgot about it. Amazingly, the whole process was completed in one year (Got GC in Feb2002) as INS relaxed some rules that eased the queue. Opting for Consular Processing (CP) helped in getting it quickly as other friends who opted 485 process got stuck with it for almost 2 years due to a sudden surge. Reason we choose CP was it was a good excuse at work to visit India :). As we got the GC, we amended our plan to stay until USC, 40 SSN credits etc.

[venkat786]

> Own a house and no mortgage.

Congratulations !!! Good Luck on your Return !!!

[ILuvHyd]

> Own a house and no mortgage.

Congratulations !!! Good Luck on your Return !!![/quote]
Thanks Venkat786. It's not a big mansion and both wife and I not keen on big houses. It is a decent sized 10 year old town house at that time, bought it in 160Ks in 2003 just before the bubble, put in another 20K for professional basement finishment, Laminate for entire house etc. I should get probably around 240K for it now.

[picket]

Very well written.

Congratulations! Wish you a successfull R2I.

I am sure there will be many more interesting additions from you which will help people on their path to R2I.

I have to say I am a wee bit jealous of your situation (the good kind of jealousy ofcourse) as I work towards achieving the same, both financially and personally.

[sponge]

Good Post and congrats !
You seem to got all your ducks in a row. :)

[Robbie77]

Good posting .Keep posting the valuable information.It inspires a lot to R2Is.
All the best ...