Dabparry

I am in a similar, but different position. My wife and I want to move out to Arizona, where our son lives with his American wife, he got his green card in February. I am 55, still working as a national adviser to schools, my wife is semi-retired. We would like to move in the next five years, I would still need to work. What are our options? I have read loads of posts but am still unclear. Is it possible to retire to the states? Do I need to get a job first?
Thanks
Dave

civilservant

Your son will need to become a US Citizen before he could sponsor you. So your 5 year timescale is about right with processing times for USC along with the 3 years he will need to live in the US before he qualifies (assuming he remains married, 5 years if he does not) and then the year or so it would take for your visas to process.

If you have not paid into the system (and bare in mind you will be 60) you will not be eligible for either Social Security or Medicare without a massive buy in. You must work 40 quarters before you qualify, so you would be working until you were 70 to have any hope of getting anything from Social Security.

Frankly, at this stage in your life, it's not a good idea. Being poor in the US is no fun at all, especially when you don't have access to the social safety net, such as it is.

Pulaski

Agreed. Also bear in mind that it is recommended that a couple in the US should go into retirement with $250,000 saved ….. to pay their share of medical expenses during retirement, and that is assuming full access to Medicare!
What sort of job do you think a US employer would sponsor a visa for you for? It is difficult enough to find a US employer to sponsor someone mid-career with lots of experience in computing or engineering, so, given your age and career (in a fundamentally different school system) I can't imagine that there is any job you could do that would support a visa application. So while "getting a job" would work in theory, I don't think it has any practical relevance for you.

Dabparry

Thanks for the prompt and useful responses.
I hear about people retiring from the UK to Florida, but is that a myth? It sounds like long holidays may be more appropriate.
With pensions and property we would have money to move, but it seems that it's not a good idea, from your responses. Any recommendations?
Thanks
Dave

civilservant

After retirement you may get a B2, which will allow you to visit (not live in) the US for 6 months at a time, but you're unlikely to get it before retirement and a denial can lead to you being cut off from the US altogether for at least 12 months.

Pulaski

Well, to start with, there is a lot of misinformation in the media, with many reports of people retiring, or buying homes overseas, including in the US, and completely ignoring the visa/ right of abode issues, either because someone has a visa/ citizenship that isn't mentioned in the report, or they aren't going to live there full time. Sometimes there is a route to permanent residence in the US if you have substantial money to burn - in the US you can buy permanent residence for about $560,000 including legal fees - technically $500,000 is an "investment", but there is no guarantee that much if any of your investment will ever be returned. Other countries have similar schemes for people with substantial money to "invest", and/or a visa for retirees - several countries in the far east offer retirement visas, or a visa that functions as a retirement visa, as do Panama and Ecuador, and perhaps other countries in Latin America.

So, given that the US doesn't issue retirement visas, even Canadians who buy a home in Florida or Arizona can only spend a maximum of six months of the year in the US. So if you hear of anyone "retiring to Florida" you will likely find that they are only spending up to six months there each year, or they are millionaires who can afford to burn $550k on a green card(s) and pay medical insurance at $2,000/person/mth plus budget as much again for out of pocket medical expenses (yes, that's $50,000/yr for a retired couple). Or they are US citizens (at least one of them is) either from birth in the US (perhaps their parents were living in the US when they were born), or acquired citizenship from a parent who was a US citizen, or they themselves naturalized as a US citizen earlier in their life during an extended period working in the US. But remember, being a US citizen doesn't, by itself, do anything to protect you from the cost of medical insurance and out-of-pocket medical expenses.

By only staying six months of the year in the US you can get away with travel insurance, rather than US health insurance, but that will only work so long as your health is fairly good - have a heart attack or stroke, and insurance for travel to the US will likely become unobtainable.

So, I would say that yes, "retirement to Florida" is a myth as there is always a piece of the story missing.

sid nv

You will not need to be sponsored by a US employer, as your future US Citizen son will be able to sponsor you, so yes the 5-year timeline looks about right.
You will need to determine the cost of healthcare in the US. As a guide, my employer and I collectively paid around $2,000 per month for health insurance for the 2 of us. Insurance is not the end of it, you will also have to pay for health services and prescription drugs. Don't forget to add dental costs.

If you move to Arizona at age 60, after having been resident 5 years and age 65, you will be eligible for Medicare, the federal health program. Since you will not have paid enough into the social security system, there will be a monthly premium, currently $572.50 each per month. Again, this is just basic insurance, you will still have additional costs for health service.

Taking long holidays might be more workable, as you can avail yourselves of the NHS and use travel insurance. However, finding affordable travel insurance for extended periods as you get older can be a challenge.

Dabparry

All this is very depressing, We would like to be able to move to Arizona to be near our son and his new family, to support them as a parent would over here. I didn't realise it was so tricky, as he got over there relatively easily (albeit it took 2 years). It looks like we will need to rethink, and perhaps buy a 'holiday' home so that we can stay for a few months at a time, but come home in between trips. This does seem a little bizarre, but maybe we were being a little naïve. Thanks for the help, its been more useful than all the other websites I have trawled through over the past couple of months,

civilservant

Being married to a US Citizen is about as straightforward as it gets when it comes to US immigration.

Pulaski

As an employee you are on a group policy, and therefore protected from the impact of increased cost of health insurance as you get older, and $1,000/person/mth might not be realistic for someone approaching retirement age paying for their own health insurance.

sid nv

Immigration-wise, you are in an ideal position as unlike other family categories I believe there is no waiting period to sponsor parents.
There are some minor hurdles to undertake when immigrating, for example you have to take a medical test which includes being inspected to verify that you are in fact the sex you claim to be.

civilservant

Pulaski

Are you sure about that? I heard that the external genitalia examination has recently been discontinued.
Agreed. Visas would be very easy. It's likely that the only significant question regarding immigration under Dubparry's circumstances is "can you afford the health insurance and out-of-pocket medical expenses?"

Dabparry

I presume you mean that my son would sponsor us, however he is still a British citizen, with a full green card. Would that be enough, or would he need to be a US citizen?

christmasoompa

See post no. 2 - he'll need to be a US citizen.