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tushnurse reminds me ... you want business class or first class travel. You do NOT want to fly to/from India in coach.

Yeah, I am really thinking that the frequency of travel is going to become a deal beaker for me. I really appreciate all the comments. You all are bringing up a lot of issues that I need to make sure I have good answers for or I will not proceed. I'm almost thinking that if I hadn't already purchased my ticket then I might cancel the interview. But maybe I'll be surprised and something that is beneficial to both of us can be worked out.

I am going to echo what others have said-

TAXES

TAXES

TAXES

I was the "people" manager for our ex-pat program for years. The Tax implications are HUGE. And can impact you for years (retirement income earned during expat assignement taxable in bot countried when liquidated etc).

Also quality of life. I was sending people on fixed assignemtns. The retention/success of these assignments are less than 50%.

Sorry to be negative.

sunandmoon

UPDATE:

Wow! What a day! I flew up to Boston yesterday to meet with the VP of product development for this Indian company. We had a great discussion. He went over a presentation of the corporation and all of the public outreach work they do. Helping farmers, supporting education, sending out buses for girls to go to school because many girls in India don't go to school. Then he presented information on his division and what they are trying to do with this new product line. It sounds like a really great company and a good opportunity but everytime he talked about what they expect from a consultant I kept thinking - I don't think that word means what you think it does.

So we went into a lot of detail of what he needs and then we went to lunch and he wanted to set up a plan of how we will work forward. So I asked outright what his expectations for my time in India would be. And he said "about 2 days"! I actually started to argue that I needed more time than that to be effective.

Major sudden surge of relief!

He really wants me to work as a consultant. When I explained what the recruiter had told me he said no that was not what they were looking for. They use consultants frequently and are looking for me to provide guidance, set-up experiments, analyze data and help drive this development forward. They have people to do the work and report their information and observations. They need someone who understands the material that they are developing - I can do that!

I will be working from the US as a true consultant.

They want to move quickly. I need to send a contract proposal out for their lawyers to review and then we can both sign it. The plan is that I will go to India in mid-June and visit their corporate HQ, meet the leadership team including the CEO and then fly down to their R&D center on the SE coast and spend a couple of days there meeting the team and learning how they do things. Then we will communicate by Skype and e-mail and phone. Regarding additional visits, we discussed maybe I will go out there once a quarter for a couple of days each time for reviews and updates or something.

This is what I wanted this job to be. I will consult with them and I will also consult with other clients I am making contacts with and have the opportunity to build my business the way I wanted to.

Thank you everyone for all of the comments and information you gave me. I knew what to look for and how to ask and in the end we were able to put together a plan that met what I wanted.

Now I have a lot of work to do to get started and get the ball rolling. Including getting my passport renewed and getting a visa. But these are good problems to have.

UPDATE 2:

The headhunter just called and he said that he will work with me to get all my documents through and deal with any issues at the embassy to make my travel documents smooth. I asked outright about a fee and the way he described it it sounds like he gets his fees directly from the company. I also asked him to send me a document in writing of what we need to do so that I understand what is required and what the expectations are. I don't want to leave anything to chance that I mis-understood something that costs me money.

Have Business Class written into your contract. Seriously.

^^^^ I'm planning to. I know it makes a huge difference.

Congratulations! Sounds like the best outcome.

The US will probably expedite the passport for business travel, if you pay an extra fee. The company probably has a connection in India for expediting visas.

As of a few years ago, India visas were processed in the US--sort of turnaround is fair play...

One tip:

Join all executive, rewards and loyalty clubs you can and get points for the travel and hotels you stay at.

A couple of years ago I did a consulting job that had me travelling most Mondays and Fridays and staying at hotels during the work-days. I gathered points for the flights, the hotels and what not and could invite my wife for a weekend getaway fully paid.

And DEFINATELY get buisness class or first class. The access to the lounges alone makes this worth it's weight in gold.

As of a few years ago, India visas were processed in the US--sort of turnaround is fair play...

My Indian visa was handled in the US. Most visas are issued at consulates or embassies abroad, Sad. Only a few countries send passports back to have them processed (UAE did that to me - took WEEKS). My Indian visa took about 3 weeks to process.

India does, however, outsource their visa handling, so you'll work with the vendor, not the embassy directly. They just changed vendors within the last 12 months if I'm not mistaken.

[This message edited by Amazonia at 1:03 AM, May 25th (Sunday)]

At one point, I was going to a project in Korea. The consulate said 3-4 weeks for a visa. My company paid a fee, and I got the visa in 2 days. Malaysia was similar, IIRC. I assume that's pretty standard.

Congratulations!

YAY!

Sounds like it worked out pretty well! Keep us posted- and we expect pictures of India!