Is USC/GC an asset or liability for R2I Job Seekers

MrNoDeal · Post by **MrNoDeal** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:11 pm

Friends - I would like to understand if USC/GC is considered a liability (Flight Risk ?) or an Asset by prospective employers in India. Please provide your perspective or Experience with the above situation.

Thank You!

MrNoDeal · Post by **MrNoDeal** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:00 pm

No response even after 85+ views?

I thought almost everyone who relocated to India would have their perspective or experience w.r.t the above question? Your thoughts would be very welcome!

KirKS · Post by **KirKS** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:14 pm

MrNoDeal;375882Friends - I would like to understand if USC/GC is considered a liability (Flight Risk ?) or an Asset by prospective employers in India. Please provide your perspective or Experience with the above situation.

Honestly, it shouldn't matter. In many cases, you can get through the initial interview stages without even revealing immigration status. All you need to fill in the forms/columns is "authorized to legally work in India" (or similar) box.

What your prospective employer worries is why you are returning to India after a long stay in the US. Yes, Indian passport might give them a bit more comfort level, but if you can plan on clearly expressing the need for you to be in India for a long term or permanently, they would let the discussion go further. They know that for someone who has lived in US for years if not decades, figuring ways to take a flight over there or find a job there is not that hard, irrespective of the US immigration status.

For an employer, who is fully setup in India from taxation purposes, there should not be any reason to pick Indian passport over US passport, as long as OCI is there as a sticker in the latter case. They have no additional liability AFAIK.

On the potential 'asset' thought, yes, if it is a company that wants you to travel to US in the near future, hiring a USC or GC (with validity & REP) may be a slightly profitable option. It saves them all those fancy extra costs Obama has put in as a part of his protectionism. But even there, very few think that further at the time of making an offer.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:04 am

MrNoDeal;375882Friends - I would like to understand if USC/GC is considered a liability (Flight Risk ?) or an Asset by prospective employers in India. Please provide your perspective or Experience with the above situation.

Thank You!

If the applicant is based in India, its neither a risk nor an asset to lead to denial or acceptance of candidature in most of the cases. What it means is that if one is deemed suitable in other parameters USC/GC wont sway your chances either way for most of the companies if you are based in India.

For some consulting companies USC/GC can be good for travel purposes and can sway decision if the role on offer has immediate travel prospects.

PeterGriffin · Post by **PeterGriffin** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:09 am

In one of my conversations with a hiring manager of a popular Indian IT firm, I was informed about how the company wants to hire more GCs and USCs for the positions that are based in the US. These positions are usually long-term (1-2 years). The reason behind such a preference is to show the amount of "US" employees in their payroll as opposed to having foreign employees working on visas, in the US. So, the company recruits more such visa-free workers for these short/long term roles in the US.
This is just a hearsay conversation and I can't vouch the authenticity of such information.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:58 am

Yes you are right. Some years back (in late 2007 and early 2008 If I remember correctly) when there was a lot of heat on Indian outsourcing companies on Visa abuse and on the issues of taking jobs away from the US citizens some companies acted to hire more US nationals (not GC but citizens) as part of the onsite recruitments. That coupled with the fact that most of these companies were trying to move to trusted advisor roles with their clients saw these companies hiring good number of American citizens. But these hirings were not for 1-2 year assignments and had no in-built clauses to ensure a smooth transition to India after the assignments. The hirings were primarily for US positions with the conditions that position is transferable across US.