Is there anyone (preferable a family) who has moved from the UK to the US if so could you possible give us an indication of costs for all the various things we will need to pay for.....


is it better to ship our own furniture out there or buy new when we arrive....

how much does it cost to ship our own?

Sorry about all the question but i have been to several libraries and small book stores and have been unable to find a suitable book to help us and at the moment it looks like a very large minefield......)

"MrNellie" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Is there anyone (preferable a family) who has moved from the UK to the
    > US if so could you possible give us an indication of costs for all the
    > various things we will need to pay for.....
    > is it better to ship our own furniture out there or buy new when we
    > arrive....
    > how much does it cost to ship our own?
    > Sorry about all the question but i have been to several libraries and
    > small book stores and have been unable to find a suitable book to help
    > us and at the moment it looks like a very large minefield......)

You're already planning your move based on the fact you may get extremely
lucky on a visa lottery that in all odds you aren't even eligible for?

I haven't read any of your previous posts, but how about telling us why you
want to move to the US so bad? What educational qualifications you have?
If you have any family in the US? Etc...

Maybe there is another way.

Good question.......

Reasons for moving to U.S are:

i suffer from S.A.D(seasonal adjustment disorder) which means i hate the cold and snow and i mean really hate.

having had a holiday in florida last year we are complete wrapped in america. (the people are friendly, the food is good etc)

the U.S is so big it offers that there is always going to be somewhere to go, things to see.

the weather

the cars, countryside, buildings etc.

the oppotunaties, a better standard/quality of life.

Daughter wants to study in american college/university(oh and the nice beaches)

Educational qualifications :

Qualified bus driver

Audio-visual technician (running large conference around europe)

Have worked in the construction industry ((underpinning, building water booster station, and general groundwork) however no certified qualifications)

Spent nine years working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Have a diploma in storekeeping/stock taking.

Qualified first aider(red cross)


As for family....i think i have some distant cousins(whom i've never met)and my wifes dads second wife has a son who lives in the U.S and he has dual nationality(i think)



oh why do you think we don't qualify for the lottery as we are'nt claiming UK but Germany which is where my wife was born.

On Thu, 29 May 2003, MrNellie wrote:
    > Good question.......

What was the question?
It would help if you provided some context, by qouting the relevant parts
of the post you are answering to.

    > Reasons for moving to U.S are:
    > i suffer from S.A.D(seasonal adjustment disorder) which means i hate
    > the cold and snow and i mean really hate.

There is lots of cold and snow in the US. Just go to NYC in January.

    > having had a holiday in florida last year we are complete wrapped in
    > america. (the people are friendly, the food is good etc)

Being on vacation in a country and actually living there are two quite
different things.

    > the weather

Again, what's the qualifier? A lot of areas in the northern states have
6 months or more of snow...

    > the oppotunaties, a better standard/quality of life.

I guess the homeless beg to differ.

    > Daughter wants to study in american college/university(oh and the
    > nice beaches)

Did you start saving already? College in the US is expensive.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need to get a dose of
reality.

-Joe

    >Subject: Re: costs....
    >From: Joachim Feise [email protected]
    >Date: 5/29/03 5:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time
    >Message-id:
    >On Thu, 29 May 2003, MrNellie wrote:
    >> Good question.......
    >What was the question?
    >It would help if you provided some context, by qouting the relevant parts
    >of the post you are answering to.
    >> Reasons for moving to U.S are:
    >> i suffer from S.A.D(seasonal adjustment disorder) which means i hate
    >> the cold and snow and i mean really hate.
    >There is lots of cold and snow in the US. Just go to NYC in January.
    >> having had a holiday in florida last year we are complete wrapped in
    >> america. (the people are friendly, the food is good etc)
    >Being on vacation in a country and actually living there are two quite
    >different things.
    >> the weather
    >Again, what's the qualifier? A lot of areas in the northern states have
    >6 months or more of snow...
    >> the oppotunaties, a better standard/quality of life.
    >I guess the homeless beg to differ.
    >> Daughter wants to study in american college/university(oh and the
    >> nice beaches)
    >Did you start saving already? College in the US is expensive.
    >I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need to get a dose of
    >reality.

From following the thread, he wishes to live in Florida. I agree that the
assumptions on success in the lottery are kind of pie-in-the-sky. Probably has
a better chance of getting hit by lightning...

Hnchoksi wrote:
    >>>Reasons for moving to U.S are:
    >
    > From following the thread, he wishes to live in Florida. I agree that the
    > assumptions on success in the lottery are kind of pie-in-the-sky. Probably has
    > a better chance of getting hit by lightning...

Well, the OP posted "reasons for moving to the U.S."
If he had said, "reasons for moving to Florida"...
The post and the reasons are in fact typical for people who visited
the US on vacation, and liked what they saw during their vacation.
Once they move here, they are often disappointed that it is not the
paradise they envisioned. On a vacation, people only see the sunny
side of things.
When they actually live here, they find that they can't afford the
nice houses, nice cars, etc. and have to live "on the wrong side of
the tracks".
As far as the weather is concerned, the OP probably wasn't in Florida
during the summer. I don't consider high humidty, swarms of mosquitos,
hurricanes, etc., as overly desirable (I prefer CA...)

As for the lottery, there are usually 10-20 million applications,
100,000 are selected, and a maximum of 50,000 can actually get a GC.
So the changes are quite low, and making moving plans now is of
course folly.

-Joe

    > Well, the OP posted "reasons for moving to the U.S."
    > If he had said, "reasons for moving to Florida"...
    > The post and the reasons are in fact typical for people who visited
    > the US on vacation, and liked what they saw during their vacation.
    > Once they move here, they are often disappointed that it is not the
    > paradise they envisioned. On a vacation, people only see the sunny
    > side of things.
    > When they actually live here, they find that they can't afford the
    > nice houses, nice cars, etc. and have to live "on the wrong side of
    > the tracks".
    > As far as the weather is concerned, the OP probably wasn't in Florida
    > during the summer. I don't consider high humidty, swarms of mosquitos,
    > hurricanes, etc., as overly desirable (I prefer CA...)
    > As for the lottery, there are usually 10-20 million applications,
    > 100,000 are selected, and a maximum of 50,000 can actually get a GC.
    > So the changes are quite low, and making moving plans now is of
    > course folly.

Exactly. Vacation areas spend billions of dollars making those places look
like paradise. I think the US has many good aspects for immigrants to
consider, but it is wise to research the downsides of the US as well (no
country is by any means perfect). To give the OP an idea of what I'm
talking about, I am going to list my favorite aspect and least favorite
aspect of the US:

Favorite:
The freedom to live and have access to meaningful work in a wide diversity
of cities with all kinds of different climates and terrain. I think the US
is unique in this aspect, in that there are many metropolitan type cities
that you can choose from with all these varied attributes.
I also have the freedom that once I choose a city to live in or near based
on my desires for climate and terrain, I can choose rural or urban life and
both types will usually have good highway access to the heart of the city
and the suburbs.

Least Favorite:
The health care situation. The US does not provide free health care to its
citizens. Many US citizens have been forced into bankruptcy due to one
illness. Even if you have health insurance from an employer, you will
probably still be required to pay a relatively large sum of money to have
any kind of surgery.

"Duran" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Least Favorite:
    > The health care situation. The US does not provide free health care to
its
    > citizens.

As an immigrant, this is one reason I came to the US, being fed up with
socialism in Europe. By the way, healthcare in Europe is not free. Everybody
is forced into paying into the crappy socialized healthcare systems over
ther.

Carlos Antunes.

    >Subject: Re: costs....
    >From: Joachim Feise [email protected]
    >Date: 5/30/03 1:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time
    >Message-id:
    >Hnchoksi wrote:
    >>>>Reasons for moving to U.S are:
    >>
    >> From following the thread, he wishes to live in Florida. I agree that the
    >> assumptions on success in the lottery are kind of pie-in-the-sky. Probably
    >has
    >> a better chance of getting hit by lightning...
    >Well, the OP posted "reasons for moving to the U.S."
    >If he had said, "reasons for moving to Florida"...
    >The post and the reasons are in fact typical for people who visited
    >the US on vacation, and liked what they saw during their vacation.
    >Once they move here, they are often disappointed that it is not the
    >paradise they envisioned. On a vacation, people only see the sunny
    >side of things.
    >As far as the weather is concerned, the OP probably wasn't in Florida
    >during the summer. I don't consider high humidty, swarms of mosquitos,
    >hurricanes, etc., as overly desirable (I prefer CA...)

I guess so. I was in Orlando last May and got my brain fried. Then again,
if the OP is from England, then he is probably used to fog and rain and more
fog and rain. So Florida probably looked like paradise when he visited. Until
he has to deal with the likes of Hurricane Andrew...

Carlos has a valid point. The UK has something called "National Insurance" which is basically another forced tax that you have to pay. It covers a lot of things, but the primary ones are pensions (bear in mind that the state pension in the UK is a pittance and not even subsistence living), and healthcare.

Healthcare is an interesting topic. Pick up any UK newspaper and you can read how the NHS is down the drain. Depending on where you live in the UK the quality of care varies - much has been made of the "postcode lottery" where 1 person qualifies for care, but someone in the next street doesn't because it's a different health authority. Waiting times for operations stretch to years (yes, years) on the NHS.

So, the normal solution is private healthcare. Unfortunately this is double-taxed. You have to pay for the healthcare itself, then you have to pay tax on the value of the healthcare (especially if it's a company benefit). After all that, you *still* have to pay national insurance for the NHS, which you don't use. Nothing like the UK govt for taxing you twice.