[MNXCSKIER]

Dear all,

I passed all four subjects of my CPA exam in 2011, in Minnesota. Having had no luck with my job search, I had to leave the US before my student visa expired, because I was neither a permanent resident (green card holder) nor a citizen of the US. (I do have an H-1B visa, which a US employer can use if it is willing to sponsor me. It is good for another five years.)

Then I went back to my native Taiwan in Feb 2012 and found a job at the Taiwan’s RSM, which is in the same network as McGladrey but much smaller. RSM Taiwan has only about 70 employees.

I soon realized that I wasn’t able to apply my knowledge of US GAAP, US GAAS, and the Internal Revenue Code here. Because the tax system here relies heavily on documentation, audit and tax are done by the same group of people. We never had to handle any US tax. We audit the Taiwanese subsidiaries of a few US companies but I believe we did everything under Taiwan’s GAAS.

Needless to say, I was quite frustrated because I had to learn Taiwan’s GAAP, GAAS, and tax codes from scratch and have not been able to apply directly what I learned. I made it through a year, met all the requirements of licensing (the experience can be earned outside the US, at least that’s what the board of accountancy told me), and just submitted my CPA license application to MN Board of Accountancy. I should hear from them in less than a month.

My questions are: 1) What are my chances of finding an employer in the US while applying from overseas? 2) How can I gain real US accounting experience (not necessarily public accounting)? 3) How long should I stay on this job? I feel this job can only help me gain my license, but not much more.

I’m thinking about moving to Alberta, Canada, where the economy is quite robust and I may be able to find some jobs that may need my US training. Plus, it is much easier to immigrate to Canada, which is also a common law jurisdiction. What do you think about this plan?

Thank you for your help!

Passed All Four Parts of CPA Exam and ethics exam
Submitted CPA license application (MN)