Moving to Florida from UK
 

Hello!

I’m very new here with very little experience and I would just like to know if it would be possible to move to Florida. I’ve never been there but I’ve always been very fond of it, I have friends who travelled there and say they love it and the more stories I hear (good and bad) the more I want to move there.

Ive been working since I was 15 (now 19) I have had two years retail (shop assistant) experience, one year waitressing experience, five months receptionist experience and ten months Faculty Administrative experience for a college I currently work at.

I’m thinking of maybe going in to do Administration for the medical field as it is something I’m highly interested in. I moved out of my Mothers a year ago and as someone who has travelled to different countries before (I used to live in Thailand) I know I want to try my chances working in another country again.


Any advice is welcome, I have a thick skin!

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

:welcome:

The quick answer is that based on what you have said here, there is pretty much zero chance of you getting a visa to live and work in the US.

Read this thread, and then if you find a way that you think may apply to you, come back here and ask your questions:

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulas...ork_in_the_USA

Oh and by the way, how can you possibly be 'fond' of somewhere that you have never been????? I would go for a visit first before I put anymore thought into investigating a move somewhere.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

You are young and have life & career ahead of you.

Like the previous poster said, go and visit Florida once to get the idea of what its like. Then do some research on the job posting sites (like indeed.com) to see what kind of wages are offered for what kind of work. This way you can see what kind of career would be worth aiming for. You can then go back to college/Univ and study for it.

just keep in mind that US is an expensive place to live (compared to the Uk) and there are not much social safety nets. Life can be hard if you are in a blue collar job.

Also your priorities and taste in life may change with age and exposure to other things/places. So take your time and plan accordingly.

I wish you all the best!

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

As above, none of the jobs you've mentioned will get you a visa for the US. You'll need more specialist skills, and ideally a degree, as realistically even if there was a visa you could get for a job like that, no employer is going to spend $5-10k on your visa application when they could just hire a US citizen to do the job.

So make it a long term plan - visit first to make sure you actually want to move there (when I visited Florida I couldn't stand it, you may be the same!), get some further education, and work your way up to a job where you'd be needed in the US (a multi-national company with a history of transfers would be a good aim).

Best of luck to you.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Focus on your eduction, get qualified to a high level in a field in demand.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

STEM is the place to focus if you are academically inclined.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Likely your friends were only in Florida on holiday and it's hard not to like somewhere where you don't have to go to work, where you stay in a hotel, have 24 hours a day of free time to do whatever you please, don't even need to make the beds or vacuum the carpets. What's not to like? In that respect, I have liked everywhere that I have been on holiday. Living somewhere is completely different.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

US work visas are all either dependent on academic qualifications and skills - requiring some of each and lots of one of them (there are no visas available for trades, only jobs requiring a degree), or are for seasonal work doing seriously crappy jobs, such as farm labour or hotel cleaners, or short term "cultural" jobs such as camp counselors or sports coaches.

As Civilservant said, I don't see anything that Lphillips has done, or is considering doing, that will get her a work visa for the US - and I mean literally "no chance".

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

google working holiday visa... not Florida but NZ, AUS and Canada are all possibilities. Most allow about 2 years living there, I think you can work for half the time and travel for the balance.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Like others have, you are still young so lots of opportunity make career choices that would allow the move to the USA. On the flip side, you may change your mind with age.

A bit like you, I visited the Florida, USA for the first time when I was 20 years old and for some reason really liked the idea of moving to the USA since. I often went on holidays, visiting various States.
I ended up working as a medical professional, and eventually working for a Medical Devices Company that has its head quarters in the USA. I have been lucky to travel lots globally for my job to assess various places.
This year I was offered the opportunity to relocate within my company to California.

I have seen many people have the opportunity to work in the USA in a variety of professional skills. Therefore if it is something you want to pursue, it is definitely possible.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

All true, but the devil is in the detail, while not an actual requirement the type of job that will get you an L1A is likely to be one where applicants either have a undergraduate degree and likely a higher degree or significant experience.

I had a similar idea to move to the New York at 21, I already had an undergraduate degree but no work experience. I ended up going to NZ and getting Residency and a postgraduate degree and multiple years work experience in the UK, NZ, Ireland, and lots of business travel and networking in Asia and the US before I was in a role senior enough to then be offered a transfer to the US on L1A, and then it took another couple of years before I had a Green Card. My next few years ironically I had to commute to London for work. So yes with patience and hard work it’s possible, but it’s likely a “TYP” 10 year plan... will people be further along that path and make it quicker, yes, some will have a in demand skill or a great network, and others will never make it. And it really depends on the type of industry or employer, think finance, tech, multinational, other highly specialized industries and service industries like law, audit, head hunting etc. The silver lining to most of these jobs is they pay well so it’s a win win.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Go on vacation, sit in a bar and strike up some conversations with locals.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Agreed!

And also the comment regarding a profession in STEM.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Although the answers are most likely negative for coming to the US, brief inquiry should be made regarding your family tree and it’s relation to the US. This should always be done.

Re: Moving to Florida from UK
 

Look into https://www.campamerica.co.uk/ and other similar organisations offering work experience opportunities in the US. You are still very young and would likely never be able to get a visa to work here with your current qualifications so this might be a good option to get you over here for a few months so you can see what life is really like in the US. Obviously, there likely won't be any way to do this this year, but it could be a plan for next year. As others have said, Florida (or anywhere in the US really) for someone working in lower paid jobs is not a great a place to be. As a foreigner, without a university degree or many, many years of experience in a specific field your chances of living comfortably are slim to none. Sorry to be blunt but that's how it is.