Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

If your business needs good connections, Atlanta would be a good choice and South of the Metro area you start to get some low relative wages which would probably help the business side. As an example, Kia have a factory about 70 miles South of Atlanta and pretty much employ the entire Town. I have no idea if that would help at all, but the smaller Southern towns from Atlanta seem to have been involved in older industries as well. As you move to Atlanta you hit the airline industry and then banking/tech once at the City and North.

Florida remains drive-able and the weather is a good match for 10 out of 12 months in the year.

Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer
 

I can't understand, personally, why people would consider east vs west coast based on timezones or proximity to Europe. I've had to fly back and forth 8 times this past 2 years (SFO-UK) and it's only an extra 5 hours or so on a plane. Making a lifestyle choice based on a 5 hour travel difference seems silly. Whether you consider the West Coast to be better or worse is a matter of personal choice, but I would make the decision based on more than just the time difference!

Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer
 

Probably more to do with crossover of working hours between East Coast and UK than the time difference within the USA itself. My employer has presence in Central and Mountain time, and by the latter it does start to impact the ability to maintain conversations with UK based staff. Not impossible by any stretch, but as the business would be UK based still, it may make life a little easier being in Eastern.

Re: Visa help and recommendations for an Immigration Lawyer
 

Yeah, fair enough! But if you are a 'morning person' (which I'm not :) ), you can get up early on the west coast and have some decent overlap with the UK. Where the west coast really shines is if and when you need to expand to Asia. In the 90s I was responsible for setting up worldwide customer service, 24/7 coverage, and we had offices in London, SF, and Melbourne, which gave us fairly decent coverage across timezones (I think China would have been better than Melbourne).

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

What the heck happened to my email notifications for this thread????

Yup, I prefer the St Pete/Sarasota area over Fort Myers, I like a modicum of culture with my high humidity swamp life, not that I'd choose to live in Florida. The traffic, especially during Snowbird season, makes up for the laid back, slow appearance, I prefer something less metropolitan myself, if it's got to be a city in the South West then I could just about stomach Greenville SC. We have St Pete just over the bridge if we fancy Euro standard stabby/shooty-free night life and St Pete (the same) should we fancy a stabby/shooty night...

That'd be the Ringling museum.

It is. Heaving with light industry, flippin' expensive properties and lots of professional types.

You mean Florida? Red tide up as far North as Tampa on the west coast, only mild this season, Blue/Green Algae on the East Coast and, I believe, around Lake Okeechobee.

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

There is a lot to do in Florida for active outdoorsy people. Just be warned....you can become very spoiled in the Florida lifestyle. Where else can you go shopping at the malls at midnight, then take romantic 3am outdoor swims with your significant other in winter. Stock up on the Champagne.

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

Shopping malls open at midnight? That is a new one! Is this something unique to Florida?

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

I'm not sure if late night shopping at malls is unique to Florida but I must admit not having seen that option in other states. Florida is a HUGE tourism destination which factors in why the Outlet malls stay open so late. I've seen them stay open as late as 1am.

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

I'd have thought that swimming in Red tide with a dose of flesh eating bacteria thrown in for good measure was about as romantic as a two week stay at Camp Crystal Lake, NJ! :lol:

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

I would suggest you swim in a swimming pool at 3am and not the ocean which is where the red-tide issue might be a concern. Have you ever seen the movie JAWS? I heard the theme music in the background while reading your post:lol:. We are a tough bunch in Florida but you never want to go into the ocean for a romantic swim late at night. Schools of Sharks are frequently shown on the news cruising only 75 yards off from shore.

I always tell people don't be fooled by advertising Florida is a fun place to live and vacation spot, but it is still a living eco system. While out doing my 10 mile walk in my community there is a large nature preserve nearby and I often see a lot of wild animals including HUGE thick pythons slithering along. There are so many stories of people coming down to Florida on vacation and not respecting the environment. A brother in-law's cousin moved down to Florida which was her long held dream and she talked her boyfriend into quitting his job in a different state and move to Florida. Within 5 months he was dead!

They went to the beach to enjoy the holiday break and because they both didn't understand the environment they did not know the fact that when there is a hurricane in the Atlantic ocean even 800 miles away, that situation creates rip-tides that can pull you out into the ocean and if you fight against it's pull you can get tired and drown. Sure enough he was in the water the tide pulled him out away from the beach and he panicked like a great many people would, and the poor guy drowned because he didn't understand at that point he should have allowed the current to take him where it was going then after which he could slowly swim back to shore further up the coast. It's happened to a lot of people but knowing how to deal with it is super important.

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

Hi,

Please don't take our talk about a visa too negatively. We constantly encounter posters who want to come to the USA and haven't even thought out the visa situation, or been misled by immigration attorneys who want only the filing fee but know the chances of actually obtaining a visa are very slim. We just ask because we want people to avoid getting too far ahead of themselves.

As people are mentioning, the visa issue is a significant problem, and not just whether you can get one but also what is going to happen to your son when he "ages out" and can no longer piggy back on your visa but will need his own. Will he attend Uni in the USA or the UK? There are visa and financial issues surrounding either answer (i.e. he may be considered a 'foreign student' in the UK having to pay much higher tuition fees every year).

We have a WIKI that outlines some of the issues related to schooling. A big situation for him will be his GCSEs as they will not be offered in the US schools (which gets back to the issue of where they will attend Uni and, if not, the issue of what visa they will be using after they turn 21).

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Educa...s_in_school%3F

Afraid I don't have much Florida specific knowledge to impart.

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

Thank you for that link. We need to look at schools that teach the IB curriculum (not the ACE) - I have contacted UK universities and they are happy to take him into the UK Uni system if that's where he ultimately chooses - it won't exclude him from applying.

That kind of helps with our search as we can now look at areas around schools that teach IB. We are going out for a visit in Feb for 2 weeks to have a good look around and have arranged time with estate agents and schools.

I probably really need to find West Coast Florida expats - are there any specific groups you are aware of?

Re: We want to move to Sarasota
 

IB schools in FL, you might want to refine the search to Manatee and Sarasota counties to save hours of unnecessary trawling! https://flibs.org/Florida-IB-Schools.cfm

Sarasota Expats group which I have had no dealings with but have had their name crop up a few times in conversation over the past few years. https://www.sarasotabritishclub.com/

I would invite in you for a cuppa, etc but trucks, canoes and banjo's don't have much in common with professional desk jockeys who live in a 'New Florida' gated HOA! :lol: