Have you tried Canada? We're kind of like the US, but better.
And that only takes three years of continuous residency.
Compare with the US: must make the H-1B quota, wait years, apply for Green card, wait even more years (EB-3 is what, 6-7 years at this point?), then get your green card. The entire time you're an indentured slave to your employer who can take advantage of you every which way knowing you're locked in. Barbaric.
For skilled workers, you're in if belong to a narrow category of professions and have worked for a year in the field[0], or you have a job offer. Otherwise, you need to score enough points[1] on this semi asinine questionnaire.
Things that work in your favour: Knowledge of French alongside English, a bachelor's degree, having studied in canada, being 21-49 years old, having lots of work experience, having a spouse with lots of work experience or who is studying or working in Canada, and having immediate family in Canada.
Frankly, I think we could do a lot to improve this scenario since there is this perverse catch 22 where a lot of employers (for good and bad reasons) will not heed attention to foreign qualifications claiming you lack "Canadian experience". This results in having engineers and doctors drive cabs for a living which feels... unethical.
On the other hand, my personal experience with immigration suggests that a majority of people skirt around the legal pipeline precisely because this system, while somewhat more humane than the US, is still somewhat too onerous.
[0] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp [1] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/index....
Personally, I'd take this approach over letting anyone who claims to have an engineering or medical degree practice obtain certification and practice accordingly.
He had years of international consulting experience in Asia, flying all over the world. Nobody would acknowledge either his education (masters degree) nor his >10-year experience in the field.
His path was: factory line worker -> IT infrastructure wiring guy -> front-line customer service phone jockey -> senior customer service phone jockey -> DBA -> consultant. So at least he's back where he belongs. Honestly, I think it was years wasted.
The Canadian government's definition of "valuable international education/experience" is rarely ever acknowledged by private industry - licensed/regulated field or otherwise.
Also, programmer salaries aren't exactly the same. A top notch coder in SF Bay area or NYC makes x2-x6 than a Canadian. Apart from money, I felt that there were few hardcore jobs that would improve my skills. Nortel was an exception before it closed down.
That said, Canada is a pretty nice place to live. Immigrants aren't expected to assimilate. Rather, society is supposed to be enriched by your diversity. My family immigrated to Canada when I was a teenager and I've always been grateful to the country for accepting us. It's unfortunate that I've had to leave her to pursue educational and professional growth opportunities in the US. Not sure where my future lies ... but I miss Canada dearly.
Yeah, we saw that one in Vancouver recently...