Recently, the premier business magazine, Forbes has come up with a list of people with Indian origin who are making it big in the American corporate world! Forbes’ list of, ‘Eight Indian CEOs At Big US Companies’ has proved that how Indians are writing success stories in the Corporate America.

Madras-born PepsiCo’s Chief Executive, Indira Nooyi gains the top slot on the list. Nooyi is a prominent Indian immigrant in the US and has been an inevitable part of the country’s corporate world.

After the PepsiCo’s CEO, Forbes listed Vikram Pandit on the second position. The Nagpur-born CEO of Wall Street-based Citigroup is an eminent corporate figure in the US. Before joining the Citigroup, Pandit served the Morgan Stanley’s fixed income and capital markets businesses and investment banking as President. He also co-founded and was the chairperson of Old Lane Partners.

Cognizant Technology Solutions’ head Francisco D’Souza holds the third slot. D’Souza was born in Kenya, however his grandparents were the natives of Goa, India. He joined the corporation in the year 1994, the year when the latter was founded. Within the three years of serving, he became the director of North American operations in Cognizant.

Fourth on the list is Shantanu Narayen, who leads the computer software company, Adobe Systems. Surya Mohapatra, Dinesh Paliwal, Jai P. Nagarkatti and Abhijit Talwalkar in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight slots follow Narayen respectively.

Surya Mohapatra is amongst those who have been vital in plotting growth strategy for their respective companies. The CEO of Quest Diagnostics was instrumental in raising $750 million from the capital markets through acquisitions.

The Chief of Harman International, Dinesh Paliwal is a native of famous Indian city, Agra. He joined the sound-systems company as the CEO in the year 2007.

Jai P. Nagarkatti has been serving Sigma-Aldrich Corporation as CEO since January 1, 2006. Prior to this, he served the company as President and COO till December 31, 2005. Nagarkatti is also a director in Sigma-Aldrich.

Abhijit Talwalkar is the Chief Executive Officer of California-based electronics company, LSI Corporation. Earlier, Talwalkar had served Intel’s digital enterprise group, as well as Bipolar Integrated Technology Inc., Sequent Computer Systems and Lattice Semiconductor Inc.

Forbes caught Richard Herman, co-author of a book on migrants to the US, saying that Indians immigrating to the US are far superior to the immigrants of other countries, thanks to their English language skills, as well as advanced education that they bring to the nation! However, Forbes maintains that regardless of the personal success stories, the number immigrants leading corporate America, including Indians and others is still very small. To this, Herman said that the number is growing and quite satisfying, as compared to the data ten years ago.

There are many aspects that must be considered and worked on before actually getting on to the flight and post landing in Australia. Some such activities include banking your money, car, telephone and internet, utilities and so on.

Ensuring that all your savings are safely transferred is the key of all aspects. For this, efficient banking is a must. Thus, opening a bank account is a must which would require you to present an ID such as that of a passport. Certain banks in Australia permit you to open an account prior to your landing in Australia. Once you land, you must to go the particular branch within the first 6 weeks with an identification proof. You must provide with a current residence address. This can also be a temporary address till you find a decent accommodation for yourself. After getting the bankcards, you can subscribe to phone as well as internet banking.

However, it has to be remembered that banking in Australia might turn out to be quite different from that in your native country. Here, it is followed on a points system based on which an individual is permitted to open a bank account. Ideally, a minimum of 100 points have to be acquired to open one. Additionally, a passport and a driving license are also mandatory to be produced.

Also, there are many different types of bank accounts that are available. The most common ones opted for are the deposit or the transaction accounts meant for daily purposes. The interest charged on these accounts is not more than 0 – 1%. A savings bank account is another option that could be considered. Credit cards are also available for immigrants but its takes time to build a good credit history.

Another important aspect is subscribing to a telephone and an interest connection. For this, a service provider could be contacted to fit a connection. You might have to pay some amount to get the connection active.

You must know that Telstra and Optus are the biggest telecom companies in Australia. Either of the above could be contacted for a connection. You would have to be pay monthly bills and there are a number of packages to for you to select from based on your needs.

You would need to buy a new mobile handset since the ones from your native country might not work here. All the major mobile handset companies are present in Australia. You can get a connection along with handset itself. Regarding the network coverage, be careful on the connection you opt for. To know more, contact the Australia Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy.

Next in line are the utilities. If you are living in a rented accommodation, your landlord would look into it for you and pay for you. To know more on the water supply, you can visit the Australian Government National Water Commission.

For gas and electricity, the Energy Australia is the largest service provider. To get a connection, a simple phone call to them would do. However, Utilityone is one single service provider for all your needs of water, gas and electricity, telephone and internet.

A driver’s license is another important document which would prove your identification. If you have an international driving license, you would be permitted to use it in Australia for the initial one year. Post one year, you would have to take a written test to convert your current license into an Australian one.

Last, but not the least, having an independent mode of transport is of utmost importance. You would not find any problems buying a car in this country. However, look around for the best possible deal available. Your vehicle must be registered for you to legally drive. The registration would involve a fee, a pink slip, proof of purchase and ownership, insurance and an ID proof.

All in all, there are many aspects that must be looked into. The above were some of the most important aspects to be considered. To know more on the same, you can get in touch with an Immigration and Visa expert. He can guide you more on the post landing issues.

The H-1B visa is a form of work permit for the non – immigrants in the United States. This visa permits an employer in the US to hire a foreign national on a temporary basis for a specialized job. The various occupations include those in Finance and Accounting, Medical and Health Care, IT, Hospitality, Computing, Banking, Business Management, Marketing, all the occupations in Engineering, Public Relations and Advertising, Sales, Lawyers and other Legal professions, Recruiting, Teaching, Telecom and Hospitality.

To ideally qualify for an H-1B visa, an applicant must have any one of the following:

• At least 12 years of work experience in the relevant field.
• A Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree (from the US or a foreign equivalent).
• A mixture of educational qualifications (such as a 2 years diploma course) along with at least six years of work experience.

In order to apply for an H-1B visa, an applicant must first find employment in the US. The employer would then file for the candidate’s visa. The process starts by paying for either the Prevailing Wage or the Actual Wage (whichever is higher). Here, the employer would be asked for the job responsibilities being given to the foreign national, the skills and qualifications required and the total duration of the work experience needed.

This is followed by filing for the Labor Certification Application (LCA). This is an application to be submitted by the employer agreeing to the terms and conditions and that he is ready to pay the higher wages.

However, an individual working on the H-1B visa decides to leave or change his job or has been terminated from his job, the candidate has the right to find a new employer and file for a status change, and otherwise, he should not reside in the US.

To know more, it is best recommended to contact an Immigration and Visa Consultancy firm. Such firms usually do a prior assessment of your skills and qualifications before actually filing your application. Most firms offer this service completely free of charge.

If you are one of those who are planning to immigrate to New Zealand but are worried about handling your financial transitions, there is no need to worry!

Bank of Baroda – India’s very own bank, along with having various branches in 70 countries has registered its branch in New Zealand. It is likely that Auckland would be the place to have the first ever branch of Bank of Baroda in the land of Kiwis.

The services would include student loans, trade finance, mortgage loans, and other banking products and the bank will change its name to Bank of Baroda (New Zealand) Ltd after its establishment.

Dr Anil Kumar Khandelwal, who visited Auckland as chairman and managing director in the year 2007, confirmed that Bank of Baroda is looking forward to establish its foundation in New Zealand and considers the same as an ideal destination for business.

M D Mallya, who succeeded Dr Khandelwal, elaborated that BOB in the land of Kiwis would mean an overseas expansion, and a chance to serve global customers in a better way.

An Indian bank in a foreign country gives you a feeling of a home away from home! The news is simply great for people of Indian origin who are planning to immigrate to New Zealand!