Going crazy trying to decide.

[SamSan]

A lot depends on what your priorities are. I feel that money comes and goes. For me quality of life is important. That includes being with family, taking care of their needs(if possible wants), being satisfied with job, being in a cultural meilu that you like. Others may have different criteria. 35L in India is nothing to sneeze at. Yes many will be dissatisfied with even 2 crores. Regarding US citizenship you have to take the decision. In life one has to go through lots of give and take. Your decisions today will influence your childrens tomorrow. If you are old and need assistance at some point in your life I do hope that you will have your children around you. Your actions today towards your parents will to a large extent influence your children's point of view a few decades from now, though there is no guarantee in life.
Regarding your house. I suggest you see an immigration attorney on affects of your house sale/foreclosure/short sale on your 1) immigration record 2)credit history(in case you are thinking of coming back to US).

Yeah... it all comes down to your priorities... we were thinking about why we came to America in the first place, and that was mainly to make something of ourselves career wise... my hubby had very limited opportunity in science field in India, so thats why we were here... money is important but not the #1 driving force for us. Now having made something of ourselves and given this excellent opportunity we feel we will repent if we dont give this a try.
We informed our parents about our decision to return and the offer and they were all thrilled.
My 5 year old daughter doesn't want to move until she is 19 because thats when she thinks she would have stopped playing with her toys and wont miss them any more... after a lot of assurance that 'no toy will be left behind' she is now on board with great deal of enthusiasm.
We are putting up our house on sale this week... we'll see how it goes..

[SamSan]

Hi Samsan,

Not sure if you have already made up your mind or not. I moved here in Jan 2012. Kids are bit older than yours.

It all depends on how adventurous you are and willing to be.
1) Even if you are not citizens, does not matter, there is a sabbatical that you can take, I believe it is for 2 years, but you have to action that before you leave from there. Consult a lawyer as there are ways.
2) If you are willing to try it out, give your house on rent
3) Children: Now even though you are saying you did not get a good offer, you want to make sure that kids education is included in the package as good schools will cost you 2-3L a kid/year. However, nothing lost if you don't get the whole amount, your rental income should help you out.
4) Opportunities do not strike twice, remember, if things don't work out, you have experienced India and so have the kids, with the bonus of being close to family. Just make sure that the salary offered does not make you sacrifice too much on the living, otherwise the adventure could be more that what you had envisaged.
5) Be realistic. Granted that you want to be close to the parents, however, if they are not in the same city, the situation will not be far from the what it is now, albeit the travel distance, which will be the saver.

Hope I have helped in any way. Good Luck.

Yes we made the decision to return.. hubby will be off by october and I will move back with kids in December/Jan.
Yes, we are applying 'reentry permit' and N-470 to maintain residency as hubby is being employed by US company.
We are selling the house.. cant rent as we will have almost $1000 difference between rent and our mortgage
Well... after doing some research, I think our offer is not too bad.. with chennai cost of living and having 2 incomes.. we should be ok even with expensive kid's education
Ohh yes... that was our main motivation.. make hay while the sun shines... this came unexpectedly and we are opening the doors when the opportunity is knocking... even if this doesn't work out.. we wont have regrets that we didn't give it a shot.. but I honestly hope the move will work out for us
Yes... but 5 hour in shatabdhi express is better than 18-24 hours in an airplane. We can see our extended family once in 2 months compared to once in 2 years!!... I will take that any day...

[desihometown]

Yep, I am aware of that, but according to US tax laws they dont tax the first 160K or so of your joint income(2 income family) I believe... and there is no way we are going to make any where near that kind of money in Indian Rupees.

This law doesnt help much does it. Whether you earn more or less than 160K, you are anyway going to pay 30% income tax to india govt. How does it matter if US govt. taxes or doesnt.

Even if they do tax, you will just claim Indian taxes you have paid. If they dont, you still pay Indian taxes.

I'm not sure why some people think this 160K un-taxed global income for non-residents is a benefit. Its NOT.

its only a benefit if you work in a place like Dubai where you dont pay local taxes. Then you escape US taxes as well.

If you work in a country that does tax, its not a perk in any sense.

[hello81]

good luck..! To me 35 lakhs CTC looks like a good offer. If you dont mind sharing, how much was ur husband approximately making in US? how big will be his team in India?

[SamSan]

This law doesnt help much does it. Whether you earn more or less than 160K, you are anyway going to pay 30% income tax to india govt. How does it matter if US govt. taxes or doesnt.

Even if they do tax, you will just claim Indian taxes you have paid. If they dont, you still pay Indian taxes.

I'm not sure why some people think this 160K un-taxed global income for non-residents is a benefit. Its NOT.

its only a benefit if you work in a place like Dubai where you dont pay local taxes. Then you escape US taxes as well.

If you work in a country that does tax, its not a perk in any sense.

I agree its no benefit... but the point is its no penalty either.. If you go over 160K it is a penalty and you will have to pay taxes in both countries... thats why its called double taxation.

[SamSan]

good luck..! To me 35 lakhs CTC looks like a good offer. If you dont mind sharing, how much was ur husband approximately making in US? how big will be his team in India?

Yeah... after a lot of research, we think the CTC is not bad. His income last year (excluding mine) was 190K+ ... so it looks like peanuts in comparison. But biotech people in India aren't paid like here in US. He will be leading about 25 -30 people at first I guess not totally sure as the division is still being set up and he will play a role in setting it up.

[midesi]

Yeah... after a lot of research, we think the CTC is not bad. His income last year (excluding mine) was 190K+ ... so it looks like peanuts in comparison. But biotech people in India aren't paid like here in US. He will be leading about 25 -30 people at first I guess not totally sure as the division is still being set up and he will play a role in setting it up.

Well I am in the same dilemma. My husband is in the IT field and has an offer in hand but CTC is very less compared to US salary. We have a home, luxury car, child who is 5 and almost in the same boat like you. If we have to move its within the next 3 months. Your post was very helpful. So, what was your final decision? If you are in India, is the move positive? Appreciate it.

[write2anuj]

Well I am in the same dilemma. My husband is in the IT field and has an offer in hand but CTC is very less compared to US salary. We have a home, luxury car, child who is 5 and almost in the same boat like you. If we have to move its within the next 3 months. Your post was very helpful. So, what was your final decision? If you are in India, is the move positive? Appreciate it.

The OP mentioned earlier that Husband will move by October and she/kids will move by Dec/jan....if not already, start a new thread with more details about your R2i concerns and questions with information(CTC, location..etc) and you will definitely get the response faster....hope it helps...

[My Roots]

Just do it.
There is not much we can do and plan when we are in so much dilemma.
Get REP, go to India and see if things work out. After all we are still young and marketable in jon market both in India and USA to take these risky steps now. Can't say same once we cross that age limit, be it in India or US. If things don't work out, R2A.

[SamSan]

Well I am in the same dilemma. My husband is in the IT field and has an offer in hand but CTC is very less compared to US salary. We have a home, luxury car, child who is 5 and almost in the same boat like you. If we have to move its within the next 3 months. Your post was very helpful. So, what was your final decision? If you are in India, is the move positive? Appreciate it.

No, haven't moved yet. We took the decision and put our house on the market, it hasn't sold yet... keeping fingers crossed. My hubby is planning on starting his job in Sept/Oct and I will move with the kids early next year, so I can get my eldest to start 1st grade in India. Yep, I understand, it feels like you are giving up a lot in terms of material things... but I feel like if we don't give this a try, we will be really unhappy and frustrated on the inside may be 10 years from now. Also, have you thought about this - in India even if you can save Rs 1 lakh/ month , with the interest rate there you can make the money grow at a much better rate... even real estate investment is not as risky as it is here in US. Ultimately it all depends on what your priorities are.. if you think you will terribly miss all the luxuries you have here.. then dont give it up.. stay put and enjoy life here. For us though at this point of life, we feel our kids need to grow with our extended family, we want to be with our parents while they are growing older and having health issues.. We need to be amidst our own people and offcourse I cant wait to have domestic help. (tired of being the cook, cleaner, baby care provider, driver and everything else).