Hi everyone,

We have been wanting to move to US for a long time but after looking into it heard from people that there was no security for our children there once they reach 18. So then we looked at Canada and have been accepted there, But there is just one problem.... We still want to be in the US.
Can anyone offer some guidance. Here is a little bit about us.

My Husband owns his own business, in the automotive industry and I work in a primary school and have just completed my BA Hons Degree in Education (with the hope of becoming a teacher)
We have two chldren 12 and 8 and have decided that we want a better family life for all of us. Just really fed up of the rat race of the UK and feel like this is just a stop gap for us until we hopefully eventually get to US. Are we living in cloud cuckoo land?? We are fully aware that it is not going to be easy but only want to pursue if there is going to be security for our children when they reach 18. Would hate for them to have to come back as that is what we have previously been told.

Advice really needed.

<<<sigh>>>

What do you actually know about living and working in the US?

It's 21, not 18.

Hannahlou, IMO, you're going in circles. I'm waiting for a call so I just went back and re-read all of your posts. I think it would be revealing for you to re-read all of the threads as well!

You say the same things over, and you get the same answers over and over. Nothing has changed in US immigration, although the economy is having a little bit of a problem lately that you may have heard about (search term: meltdown).

Based on the *reasons* you've given for wanting to move, I would certainly encourage you to think twice, three times before going anywhere else. I can tell you from experience that those issues tend to follow you everywhere.

I also don't think you've done your own research much. You have now fixated on the age 18 as an issue for your kids, when the only issue that has been brought up is age 21 with the E-2 investor visa.
You talk about wanting your hub to be the investor and potentially bring his business to the US, but you also want him to cut back/retire to spend time with the family? Since when do people retire when their kids are still under 15? You don't like the NHS so much anymore? At least you *have* a doctor to go to; literally millions of upstanding regular people here have NO health insurance coverage.

Then there's the pattern of timing.. I think this is probably a sucky time of year when the mind goes awandering. Until you change something in your equation though, you're not going to move forward.

I don't know what the laws are in this case, but your kids could well decide to come back to the UK of their own accord once they are of age. I have an Aunt who has one in each country and she is torn on where to live. Kids have a habit of being unpredictable.

I have to say, if I wanted to escape the rat race the US is not the first country I would think of. I have friends there and they work long hours and have 2 weeks annual leave which they tell me is normal!!

You are living in cloud cuckoo land if you think there's no rat race in the US!

Figure of speech

For real. If the UK is a rat race then the US is a genetically modified 100lb rat race! Very little vacation, longer working hours, longer (potentially) commutes to work, no real employee protection, no maternity leave, higher cost of living (often) and a million other things. There are many good reasons to make a move to the US if you can, leaving the "rat race in the UK" is not one of them.

Just be happy with Canada ....... You can always locate yourself close to the US border and pop across now and then, they have national health in Canada, they have ripoff health here

Just had to add that you do realise that being Canadian PR's or even citizens doesn't give you access to the US any easier don't you? If you're looking at Canada as a 'stop gap' and thinking you will be able to immigrate to the US easily from there then you'll be disappointed!! You'd still have to qualify for a visa, which based on what you've said so far is not going to happen.

If you're that desperate to get to the US then why not knuckle down and look at it as a long term goal i.e. get a degree and try and get into a career that might give you a chance of getting a visa?

Personally, I think Canada and the US are (in very general terms) quite similar. So you might find you like it there more than you think anyway.

Exactly.

I haven't been a member of this forum for very long but it seems a lot of the Brits that come on here have not considered Canada at all.

I get the impression they think it is just an irrelevant frozen wasteland (kind of like my perception of how the southern English think about Scotland), not realizing that Canada is in fact a beautiful and fantastic place without many of the complications of living in the US.

I really enjoy visiting Canada. Each country has a lot to offer, but Canada is quite frozen for part of the year. I just got back from Florida and saw tons of Canadian cars and flags down there.

Not very many people live in the "quite frozen for part of the year" places! Most of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US border. Indeed, at least two distinct regions of Canada get very little ice and snow during the winter.

Ian

I lived a few hundred yards from Canada for almost six years. Over 1/3 of the people in Canada lived in the province directly north of me. If I was freezing my a$$ off for a good part of the year, then so were they.

I know there are some more temperate areas near the coast, but I assure you that very few people are on the beaches there in January.

No kidding, but you'll find that they're all retired. You'll have no doubt seen plenty of Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin ones as well, because I do.