notaclue

Hi all,

Been thinking about a wild idea for years and only now am I realizing it may indeed be possible. I don't want to live in a big city and would favor the life of an island (Where I'm from originally). Has anyone on BE ever lived on either the BVI or USVI? I would rather move to a US island to continue my citizenship path.

I'd be curious to explore the cost of living and so on when it comes to moving to a place like this. Job wise I wouldn't be terribly worried as I can go fire/police/ems amongst more general day-to-day jobs, if indeed there is availability (which it seems there is).

Any thoughts?

ddsrph

Interesting idea. Also consider Puerto Rico, Guam and Hawaii.

notaclue

I'm not terribly keen on Guam or Hawaii due to cost of living. The attraction to the VI's are the close proximity to a UK territory (Only four hours by boat).

Looking at renting an apartment, it's cheaper than here in Houston. Purchasing a home is around $250-300 for 1500sq/ft. Not great but my alternative is to have my boat shipped there and live on that (She's over 40ft in length so could live on it quite comfortably).

ddsrph

The boat sounds ideal at least initially. When you live somewhere there are more opportunities for good deals on houses than being in a rush to buy something.

scrubbedexpat091

The pictures look pretty.

Just keep in mind if your the politically minded your votes for US Federal offices are not on par in US Territories.

• U.S. House delegate with limited voting privileges.
• As a U.S. territory, the Virgin Islands will not cast electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election or any presidential election.
• No representation in the Senate.

I'd also check to see what income is like assuming you need to work there and not working via distance at mainland wages, the territories can be more poor than states, and incomes lower, I looked into Guam once, but man were wages low there, way too low to live a mainland quality of life anyhow.

Jerseygirl

if we had no ties...we would be in Hawaii.

scrubbedexpat091

Unless one speaks Spanish Puerto Rico might be more difficult, when I visited while the tourist places English was common, day to day life Spanish is a necessity, most everything outside tourism is done in Spanish.

notaclue

Salary for police is 60k which is only 5k less than my base right now. The only issue is they require citizenship so unless a waiver is possible....That said I could indeed look in to remote work!

My biggest hesitancies would be a job, and meeting someone new.

Rete

Try posting this and asking questions in BE's Caribbean forum

https://britishexpats.com/forum/caribbean-121/

notaclue

Thanks!

Jerseygirl

I have moved the thread into the Caribbean forum.

uk_grenada

Dont want to burst your bubble, do enquire and see what you can achieve, but you have no right of abode in the bvi and only in the usvi if you have a us passport - and getting a job in either requires a prospective employer to prefer you over a local,, and pay for the privilege. This is normal. Usvi is the same unless you are a us citizen.


https://dougall-luxury-bvi.com/bvi-i...loyment-rules/

notaclue

I'm a UKC and USPR with pending citizenship, so would have right of abode in either, correct? I'm looking at the USVI. I have existing job offers, just not precisely what I want to do (I'm a cop/medic).

uk_grenada

I can’t be sure what your TLAs mean, but a uk citizen gets no rights either place, and a US citizen has right of abode in the us islands.

Be careful you make sure your us status means you don’t break any laws in relation to their immigration, it could backfire on not just your presence on that island.

Im sure the immigration people there can answer that for you.

notaclue

UK citizen and US permanent resident!