Anyone moved from the UK to live in the USA?

[Trev450]

EazyDuz said:

Trev450 said:

I visit relatives in Arizona every year for a few weeks at a time. It is the highlight of my year and I would give anything to stay permanently.

I think that makes it easier for you if you wanted to move there if you already have relatives there. OR get them to hook you up with a hot american looking for some English sausage.

They are reasonably distant relatives (aunt, uncle, etc) so of no benefit in this respect. I'm working on the other option....

[The Moose]

Trev450 said:

EazyDuz said:

Trev450 said:

I visit relatives in Arizona every year for a few weeks at a time. It is the highlight of my year and I would give anything to stay permanently.

I think that makes it easier for you if you wanted to move there if you already have relatives there. OR get them to hook you up with a hot american looking for some English sausage.

They are reasonably distant relatives (aunt, uncle, etc) so of no benefit in this respect. I'm working on the other option....

There's a reason why they say the most popular date for filing for divorce is 3 years + 1 day

[Zeek]

Moved from sleepy Sussex to the heart of Manhattan 4 years ago. Got a green card 9 months after arrival, and no plans to return now. Spend 50% of my time in Minnesota - it can be chilly at this time of year!

There's a lot to like about living out here, but it does have issues. I'd do it again, but would/should have moved here much younger.

[13m]

Zeek said:

Moved from sleepy Sussex to the heart of Manhattan 4 years ago. Got a green card 9 months after arrival, and no plans to return now. Spend 50% of my time in Minnesota - it can be chilly at this time of year!

There's a lot to like about living out here, but it does have issues. I'd do it again, but would/should have moved here much younger.

What issues and how old are you?

[Zeek]

13m said:

What issues and how old are you?

Late 30's. Should have been here single at 21!

Landing in the US as a mid-30s person is like starting again. No insurance history, no credit history etc. Everything is difficult to begin with. Tons of bureaucracy. The healthcare system is a joke. It's no wonder it costs so much. It's incredibly inefficient if you have the misfortune of needing it. One visit to the ER last year which lasted 45 mins had me receive 6 different invoices over the next 3 months. All from different companies, all for different parts of the process. And then you have to navigate the insurance companies. It's a huge mess.

On the bright side, the process for property purchases here is so much simpler than the UK. Then again, the transactions also costs a lot more.

[rufmeister]

Always loved America, and Americans (mostly), would love to live there given the chance.

The opportunity to take my family on a life changing adventure really appeals.

Easiest way for me as an early 40's married, family man, would be to buy a business I believe, but getting my head round actually doing it, is the struggle.

Have a friend who lives in Nashville, and loves it, similar to previous posts about great countryside, big and cheap houses, great outdoor lifestyle, and weather. That's enough for me!

[MarshPhantom]

Girl I used to go out with at school, her family moved to Silicone Valley in the very early Eighties. She now lives in Malibu, so not done too badly.

[Stu R]

rufmeister said:

Always loved America, and Americans (mostly), would love to live there given the chance.

The opportunity to take my family on a life changing adventure really appeals.

Easiest way for me as an early 40's married, family man, would be to buy a business I believe, but getting my head round actually doing it, is the struggle.

Have a friend who lives in Nashville, and loves it, similar to previous posts about great countryside, big and cheap houses, great outdoor lifestyle, and weather. That's enough for me!

Investors visas are a piece of cake, a few catches like needing to re-up them every few years but it's easy. Doesn't require the vast sums that some would have you believe either.

[rog007]

Always liked America and the Americans I have met and have visited 3 or 4 times on business and on holiday, including staying with American friends. Opportunity arose a few years ago to move there with work but the timing wasn't right for me sadly with other things going on so had to decline.

[EK993]

Moved here 7 years ago. To the NE. Summers are ridiculously hot, Winters are absolutely brutal. Contrary to a couple of posts in this thread - properties cost an absolute fortune and property tax paid anually is crippling. If you get ill you will be 1000's of $$ out of pocket. Cars are stupidly cheap though.

All in all I absolutely love it here and wouldn't want to move back to the UK.

[rufmeister]

Stu R said:

Investors visas are a piece of cake, a few catches like needing to re-up them every few years but it's easy. Doesn't require the vast sums that some would have you believe either.

Interesting.

Are you speaking from personal experience?

I've loosely looked at doing what I currently do here, and there's plenty of businesses available across the USA, but always thought it would just be a dream.

[hairyben]

EazyDuz said:

Easiest way is to marry your way in from what ive read.

Not necessarily, my sister married US serviceman (coastguard) and still had a lot of flak.

Really enjoys her life there in florida though, while america has its problems if you're willing to work the rewards are high and in many ways lifestyle surpasses here, nice house bought for silly low $ just after the gfc - hubby re trained as dentist.

[GavinPearson]

joshcowin said:

I would love to live out there but my wife would hate it!

Has Obamacare helped with the healthcare? It is being touted as a triumph, but why is trump scrapping/dismantling it?

There are two basic reasons that it is disliked:
1) Employers who had 50 or more staff working 30 or more hours per week had to provide insurance so many people have to work two jobs where one is 29 hours and the other is whatever they can manage. So a great number of people lost out.
2) It is very expensive. The policy might be free but if you have a $6000 annual deductible (in British terms a $6000 annual excess) then basically you are footing the bill yourself. For many people there is only one insurer available in their state that sells policies to individuals and their rates have in a number of cases gone up 50 to 100 percent. My retired in-laws have had their rates skyrocket and the costs are crippling.
I would recommend you do your own research and not just take my word for it.

[GavinPearson]

I moved to Michigan in 1999. I'm a US citizen and think my family and I have a much higher standard of living here than if I were be doing the same job in the UK.

[hairyben]

GavinPearson said:

joshcowin said:

I would love to live out there but my wife would hate it!

Has Obamacare helped with the healthcare? It is being touted as a triumph, but why is trump scrapping/dismantling it?

There are two basic reasons that it is disliked:
1) Employers who had 50 or more staff working 30 or more hours per week had to provide insurance so many people have to work two jobs where one is 29 hours and the other is whatever they can manage. So a great number of people lost out.
2) It is very expensive. The policy might be free but if you have a $6000 annual deductible (in British terms a $6000 annual excess) then basically you are footing the bill yourself. For many people there is only one insurer available in their state that sells policies to individuals and their rates have in a number of cases gone up 50 to 100 percent. My retired in-laws have had their rates skyrocket and the costs are crippling.
I would recommend you do your own research and not just take my word for it.

Would you compare it to new labours pfi hosptials, where the care and attention to the actual product and it's value to the people came a very distant 2nd to the opportunity to score headline political capitol?

[unrepentant]

Matt Harper said:

bridgdav said:

I've been here in North Carolina for 6 years...

All I can say is, for the first couple of years... "Welcome to America... give us all your money"

IMO - A Great place to live, with so much choice of cars, entertainment, sport and leisure, food and drink. But as has already been said, USA is a massive place and even though we live in a nice area, great neighbours and a local bar within a good walking distance... very close by are not so nice areas...
Just like any city or town TBH.

Getting a job, sponsorship and a green card application from a US company will be more difficult than searching for a location.

You also get the opportunity to buy something like this for peanuts.

Very apposite regarding costs in the early days - big security deposits for everything.

Here's my old banger..

I bought a new Camaro 2SS when I came here 7 years ago. Stupidly cheap for a 400 hp car with a 6.2 liter engine that could even take corners! Tend to stick with European since then but hanker after something muscly from the late 60's.

When I arrived I paid cash for a house and then had to give the electric company a deposit before they would hook me up! You can have a million bucks in the bank but if you don't have a credit score all sorts of things are problematic. The US credit system is a blunt instrument but a year of a car or home loan will give you a decent score and then there are no issues. Also the more credit you have but don't use the higher your score. If you don't borrow money at all you will have a low score. 10 lines of credit or more are considered to be good.

[Matt Harper]

rufmeister said:

Stu R said:

Investors visas are a piece of cake, a few catches like needing to re-up them every few years but it's easy. Doesn't require the vast sums that some would have you believe either.

Interesting.

Are you speaking from personal experience?

I've loosely looked at doing what I currently do here, and there's plenty of businesses available across the USA, but always thought it would just be a dream.

Stuff like this makes me wince a little.
E2/E3 visas (Treaty Investor/Treaty Trade) have some potentially very damaging limitations and restrictions. Vast (relatively) sums may not be required - the official line is "substantial at-risk investment". There is no definition of 'substantial'. That is up to the consular adjudicator.

I personally know a couple here in FL who run an E2 pool care business that they started with $80k. My E3 business required commercial premises, a healthy order book, $300k in stock on hand, 5 USC employees and $200k working capital. The variables can be quite gigantic.

With a convincing business plan that demonstrates thorough research and planning, potential to employ USCs and an existing customer-base, granting of E2/E3 is relatively straightforward. It's the renewals that cause most of the problems.

The unfortunate reality is that most E2s fail. Most commonly they don't meet the business plan end-points that the consulate are judging you on, they fail to provide employment for sufficient USCs - or they simply run out of money.
When a visa renewal is denied, that's it - you have to leave.

In addition, E visas do not provide a route to permanent status, meaning that if you divest yourself of the business, for any reason (including retirement) then you are no longer in lawful status and must leave. Also the children of E visa holders age-out at 21 years old, meaning they must organize an independent visa for themselves, change status (through marriage) or leave. Also - no homestead tax exemptions, horrendous out-of-state tuition fees and residency restrictions on some forms of credit.

For what it's worth, my advice would be to think long and hard about the negatives of this visa route, before getting all warm and fuzzy about how 'easy' it is to attain initially.

[Stu R]

rufmeister said:

Stu R said:

Investors visas are a piece of cake, a few catches like needing to re-up them every few years but it's easy. Doesn't require the vast sums that some would have you believe either.

Interesting.

Are you speaking from personal experience?

I've loosely looked at doing what I currently do here, and there's plenty of businesses available across the USA, but always thought it would just be a dream.

I married my way in. My folks paid 50k and just got their visa approved.

[Matt Harper]

Stu R said:

I married my way in. My folks paid 50k and just got their visa approved.

An E2?

[Stu R]

Matt Harper said:

Stu R said:

I married my way in. My folks paid 50k and just got their visa approved.

An E2?

Yep. Couldn't be more straightforward, helps having a badass immigration attorney too I guess.