any one know about emmigrating?

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any one know about emmigrating?

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its just an idea im playing about with just now, thinking of moving permanantly to florida. go to uni over there to do my phd then get a job etc.
i would just like to see some veiws on the hassel etc. i have a few older friends who have jumped the pond and have got some advice from them.

i know there has been fiat 500's and coupes shipped over, i presume they must be able to get insured ok, i would love to export the little cinq, but am very very well aware of how tiny and venrauble it would be over there. meh, im just playing with ideas.

if any one knows any advice of people who have moved to america, some things to consider would be appreciated.

thanks.
 
if your after a phd isn't it about 7 years over there (and including teaching)? in comparison to 3 over here? coming home regularly in general won't be possible if on phd wages especially with the exchange rate at the moment. it's a lot different over there as well and isn't too everyones liking. you got a placement for the phd there then? if it's what you want to do you should go for it, but if you have doubts then things may not work out.
 
if your after a phd isn't it about 7 years over there (and including teaching)? in comparison to 3 over here? coming home regularly in general won't be possible if on phd wages especially with the exchange rate at the moment. it's a lot different over there as well and isn't too everyones liking. you got a placement for the phd there then? if it's what you want to do you should go for it, but if you have doubts then things may not work out.

ive not even looked that far into it, it would be in a few years time. jUSt wondering what sort of stuff i should be finding out about as i presume it will take alot of researching. yes i will have to do a comparason of the courses.
 
Alaina, the USA is one of the hardest countries to immigrate to. There are are few options however, and here are some of the main types of visas that might get you in:

Immigration Diversity (Green Card) Lottery: Every year the USA gives out a set number of visas to randomly selected applicants. Only problem is you have to be from a country that is eligible to even apply - i.e. one that has had a low number immigrate to the USA in the past five years. Sadly the UK is currently not included and is unlikely to be for the near future as too many Brits immigrate through other visas each year.

If you are from Northern Ireland you can apply though! Or if you hold a passport for a qualifying country you are eligible. Some people are lucky enought to hold dual passports so you just use the passport from the country that is eligible.

Marriage: Find an American man and marry him. It's still not straight forward (forget about drive through Las Vegas style weddings!) but it will get you in.

Family: If you have immediate family living in the USA you can apply for a 'Family following Family' visa. It has to be fairly immediate family though.

Education: You can apply for a student visa and study for qualifications in a USA college/ University. However, you are only allowed to stay for the duration of your studies, though IF you can find a company to employ you and sponsor your green card application once you qualify then some people get to stay that way. Therefore it is very important to choose the right course - a Fine Art degree will get you no-where (not exactly in demand in the US job market), whereas becoming a Nurse/ Doctor/ Scientist will have American companies head hunting you.

Bear in mind USA education is NOT cheap, and is more expensive for foreign students (i.e. non US citizens). When I looked into it, foreign students were charged nearly double the amount to that of US students. You also have to SHOW you have in a bank account enough money to live on for each year and also to pay for your schooling. The course I looked at was $6,000 dollars per semester but you needed $12,000 at your disposal ($6000 tuition fees, $6000 for living/ accomodation fees). So with two semesters per year you'd need to show you had $24,000 available. Then you'd have to show the same again when in year two and then again for any subsequent years. You don't have to spend it all, other than the tuition fees, you just have to show that it is available to you. You are also restricted in how many hours you can work outside of school as foreign student too, though there are ways round this. ;)

Work: If you have a degree level professional qualification you can apply for an 'H1B' visa. This is limited in numbers and gets heavily subscribed, so again no guarantee. It's classed as a temporary visa, but if you can stay employed for long enough you can apply for 'permanent residency' status which gives you the right to live in the USA indefinitely.

Illegal Work: Lots of illegal immigrants in the USA! Not advised because you won't have much legal protection, no social security number, no-one will give you health insurance and if you get caught by the INS/ Cops you will be deported instantly and banned from re-entry for at least five years. Not advised...

Qualify in an in demand profession at a UK University: Nurses, some Doctors, Social Workers, some Teachers, College lecturers/ Professors, Scientists, High Level Business executives etc. will get you in. Basically you need to be qualified at a high level that an American company will be willing to sponsor you to come and work for them.

The most in demand profession in the USA? Probably Nursing (this is one of the reasons why I am training to be a Nurse ;) ) as there is a big shortage of RN's and the prediction is that demand will continue to increase. There are a number of agencies recruiting foreign nurses, though some require a minimum of one years work experience and a BSc in Nursing as well as the professional RN registration. Even then, you still have to sit a Nursing exam to show that your level of training is at the standards of USA nurses (which you MUST pass), and the visa/ paperwork application can take a further nine months.

I plan on emigrating to the USA after I qualify and looked into this a few years back hence my knowledge. The good thing is that it helped me find my new career (y) The bad thing is that I'm having to spend four years in higher education! :eek:

Policies change all the time so keep an eye on various websites, particularly official American Government sites. These are a few that might be handy.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html

http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

http://www.us-immigration.com/

http://www.immigration-usa.com/law.html

http://www.workpermit.com/us/us.htm

And be very, very sceptical about some of these immigration lawyers advertising. They convince you that they can get you in if you pay them fees, though many times you just won't have the requirements to satisfy the immigration process so it's just money down the drain.

Saying that, IF you can find a really good immigration lawyer there are a few back door (ish) ways of getting in to the USA. Word of mouth and recommendations from others who've already used them is a good way of finding one. But you need a lawyer who knows all the immigration laws and how to get round them while still keeping above the law. Obviously since September the 11th the USA has tightened immigration policies considerably and it's only going to get worse.

Whatever you do, KEEP IT LEGAL. Under no circumstances try and get in under any dodgy schemes unless you don't mind being deported if found out and possibly risk a long term or even life time ban for re-entry.

For all it's faults it's a great country to live in, on average the cost of living is cheaper than the UK, the standard of living is generally higher and the wages are more than competitive. But before you decide and if you haven't already, take a long holiday to where you think you'd like to end up. Not everyone likes the American way of life so make sure it's really for you.

Other than that, good luck and maybe I'll see you over there sometime after 2010 (y)
 
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i know there has been fiat 500's and coupes shipped over, i presume they must be able to get insured ok, i would love to export the little cinq, but am very very well aware of how tiny and venrauble it would be over there.

Nah, rubbish! Jim (E505 JPY) shipped over a classic Panda FIRE 1 litre called Sylvia, then promptly drove from East to West then back again. In the process he near enough circumnavigated the entire USA in it. A Cinq is almost the same kind of size! And he shipped Sylvia back to Northern Ireland of course ;)

Yes, you can export and run/ insure UK cars over there. A couple of years ago when I was in Los Angeles I saw a Fiat 500 being driven down a main street! But saying that, Fiats (and Italian cars in general) are very rare. The only ones that aren't are Ferraris and Lambos - in southern California and also in Miami they're almost commonplace!
 
Who wants to live in the USA :confused:
I certainly do not.
Been there, seen that, returned to Europe to spend the rest of my life here.
End of story.
 
It's not the great big land of the free that everyone makes it out to be, that's why my wife made the opposite move and came here (y)

Go for a couple of months and you may find you just want to come home and never see the place again, but then you may love it, it depends on the individual really and only you can decide if it's your sort of place to live.
 
I know a few people who have lived there with mixed success.

One my cousin was employeed as a nurse over there, the US medical authorites activly recruit straight from Scottish uni's (i'm sure other UK's uni's as well but i don't know for sure), she thought it sounded great and went they gave her a house and a few thousand to move, and decent wages, but she just couldn't get to grips with life there at all. It was a lovely suburb she lived in, and even though eth other doctors and nurse's really tried to involve heer in stuff she returned homje after only 5 months. they were very understanding and never asked for a penny back which was good of them.

A friends sister went to New Jersey straight from Strathclyde Uni as she got a job with Johnson & Johnson as a research scientist in baby creams of all things. She was given a contact of another ex.Strathclyde student who had gone out 2 years before, she met up with him and a year later they married and ended up living out there for 7 years together had 2 kids and were both earning 6fig salaries, but when child no3 was due they decided to return home as the need to be nearer there own parents and extended family prooved too strong. They had both gained US citizenship/passports and there kids were US citizens as well. There youngest was born here in UK but she was still granted a US passport at the US embassy as Laura was still employeed by J&J US but living in UK she just had to go over once a month, so all in they had a great experience of it, and still have this annual "will we go back" thing as they constantly get job offers, Ian is one of the worlds leading nanobot technology experts, but the kids love it here and have said they will not return, the will power of kids 10 and below can't credit that :D

Whenever it comes to making life changing decissions, its never going to be between black & white, its going to be unique to you and only you can make the choice, but I'd say if the opportunity comes forward then why not take it and see what happens even as it did for my cousin its not for you, then you can always say you tried and didn't like it and feel comfortable with that rather than sit in a few years and think what if.
 
I think another thing to consider is how the medical insurance thing works, regarding what is covered and what isnt. It's difficult for normal american citizens as it is, i dont even want to think about how it would work for immigrants.
 
Well put Mark and Aaron. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. As it is such a huge country you will also find some people love one area but can't stand another, and the natives themselves are totally different from one place to another. For instance NYC does my head in and is too cold and wet in the winter, but I love southern California, south Florida and to a lesser extent Arizona. The three all offer hot summers and mild winters (Florida in particular) which is hardly surprising seeing as Arizona and parts of California are geographically 'deserts' and most of Florida is tropical.

On the flip side, California has some of the most expensive taxes/ cost of living in the USA plus is heavily populated. Not to mention is at risk of earthquakes! Florida is cheaper (but still expensive compared with a lot of the country), is full of bugs (that bite!) and is at risk from hurricanes every year. Plus if you don't like humidity you really won't like Florida!

Arizona is not at risk from hurricanes or earthquakes and has cheaper taxation than the above, but can be very hot in the summer. It can also feel a little isolated and in the middle of no-where, though Phoenix and Tucson are both large cities. Depending on where you are it is also home to rattlesnakes, coral snakes, black widow spiders, scorpions, wild boars and coyotes and also lots of mosquitos in the monsoon season. Some of these also live in California!

These are only three of the states (there's 50 or 51 if I recall correctly), and they are all very different. Therefore have a good look round before deciding where to settle.

Like some of Aarons friends, some of mine went over in the early/ mid 1990's as graduates (H1B visas). Back then IT graduates were very much in demand and they were head hunted by American companies, though that isn't the situation with IT graduates now (the market is saturated). Three of them still live there - one has got his permanent residency, the other has got a citizenship and the other bypassed all that by getting married to an American woman. The last of my friends stayed for 6 years but left for a job in Australia!

Some people though really can't settle or adjust to the American way of life no matter how hard they try. Despite having basically the same language a lot of the mannerisms are different and the culture is also different to a lesser extent. I suspect as well many who can't adjust also feel homesick, so if you've never spent long periods out of the UK you may find it difficult no matter which country you go to.

Also worth pointing out is that unlike the UK/ Europe there is little in the way of a social security or benefit system for those that lose jobs/ hit hard times. As an 'Immigrant Alien' you won't be entitled to unemployment benefit (which isn't as easy to get as in the UK anyway and you may have to work for it if you can get it), and the benefit system over there is virtually non existant. If you want/ need it, you have to pay for it. And that of course also includes Health Care - there is no equivilent to the NHS other than Medicare (for over 65's) and the VA hospitals (for ex members of the armed forces). It's very much a capitalist country.

Oh, and just to answer CZ(Enda's) question about "Who wants to live there?", well, quite a lot of people actually. It's the country that receives some of the highest (if not THE highest) number of immigration applications in the world. Its opportunity positives often outweigh its negatives, and as a result it makes it very attractive to those wishing to start a new life in the 'promised land'.

If you've never visited it then you'll never know what it is really like and can't make an informed decision - try it first and then decide!

But of course, it's not everyone's cup of tea ;)
 
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Chas you type as if you've been or something mate!!!







LOL, just jesting, great info, I would go in a heartbeat, think I was American in a previous life.

Liam
 
Liam, I've spent over a year and a half in the USA since 2000! I've also been lucky enough to travel fairly extensively across quite a large part of it. Most of my time was spent in Miami Florida, Los Angeles/ Palm Springs California and also Phoenix and Safford in Arizona.

I also looked into studying for my degree over there but baulked when I saw the costs! It will take longer to get into the USA, but it's way cheaper to qualify in the UK first.

Ironically I never thought I'd like the USA until I actually went there. Prior to 2000 I was planning on moving to Berlin in Germany, but a chance opportunity to go and spend 3 months with friends in Miami changed my view. I still love Berlin (fantastic city :worship: ), but after spending winter 2001 in Florida I never wanted to experience a northern winter ever again!

Such a shame it's so difficult to immigrate to the USA :bang:
 
Yeah Visa's can be stressful I'll vouch for that (n)

There's good and people in every state but I have to there's a lot of really friendly people in West Virginia especially in the pubs and restaurants.
Although I did have a run in with some pervert who grabbed a girls arse in MacDonald's while she was working. He didn't know I was watching and she was really P'd off with him, he said hello when I walked past and I said it back in my own special way that I reserve for pillocks.

There are areas that you shouldn't venture into if you don't wanna get shot and that goes for lots of places in the states. Eating out is unbelievably cheap, you get twice as much food in most places than you get in the equivalent places here and you pay half the money for it too, no wonder there's a lot of obesity in the USA. :yum:

Mark.
 
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