Thecheshiredad

Hi there,

New to the forums but been reading with interest and ready to jump in with some questions I hope someone here can help answer.answer.

Bit of background. I'm a married chap of 37 with 3 kids. We've been frequent visitors to the US and Florida in particular since the late 80's and have a great affinity with the place. It's always drawn bus back and felt homely but we've never really considered living there as a realistic prospect.

Well, over the last few months we've come around to the idea and have tried to find out what we can, whether it's even possible or simply a non-starter. I'm under no illusions that it's a far from straight forward process, and the major question mark is finding employment/sponsorship.

The one thing perhaps going in my favour is my particular job is on the skills shortage list (project planner/scheduler) but I don't currently work for a company with a presence in Florida so no option to transfer. This I suppose leaves me two options, find work here with a company that does and hope an opportunity presents itself or find a job direct with a willing Employer in the area.

Is it worth me even trying to approach companies this way? Has anyone taken this path successfully? Are there any recruitment agencies that can help in such a quest?

My wife is self employed so much m unsure what difficulties or otherwise this might pose visa wise.

As you can see, I'm pretty green to all this and very much at the beginning of our possible journey and looking pretty long term as perhaps finding a route to do it. I just need some reassurance that there is indeed a route there to take!

Thanks in advance.

Nutmegger

SanDiegogirl

You are correct in that, to obtain a work visa, your options are to get an employer to transfer you or to find an employer to sponsor you - neither are easy tasks. but plenty of people have done it.

Yes, you can, of course, approach companies; you can apply for jobs you see advertised etc. Is it worth it? well you won't get a visa if you don't.

Sorry, don't know of any recruitment agencies.

What is this skills shortage list you mention? Did not know there was one.

Depending on the visa you eventually obtain, your wife may be able to get a dependent visa which will allow her to work.

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Do you have a degree/masters? There isn't a skills shortage list in relation to visas, so not sure where you're reading that? I'm not sure your job will lead to a visa, but what does your wife do and does she have any employees? It may be that her business is a better way over - have a look at the Wiki article above to give you info on those routes.

Good luck.

Thecheshiredad

Thanks for the replies.

​​​Hmm, it appears it was an unofficial list of in demand occupations I found. Apologies for the confusion.
I don't have a degree no, this was one of the things I was unsure about as most jobs I've seen advertised list them as a requirement. How essential is this in terms of acquiring a visa and chances of landing a job? (I have circa 15 years experience in my occupation).
No, my wife runs an online business by herself and although it's a steady earner, could not sustain our family as the main source of income.
For those that have managed to transfer to the US through their company, did the position get offered to you as an option or did you apply for the post in much the same way as any regular application?

civilservant

A 4 year degree can be substituted by 12 years of experience showing improvement and escalating responsibility I believe.

If you would even make it past the papersift without a degree is another question entirely.

That said, the only relevant factor to getting a job offer from a company that may actually be prepared to spend $000's to sponsor you is: What do you have to offer that a person already in the US, with US based planning experience, doesn't?

christmasoompa

I can't imagine anybody needing to apply 'in the same way as any regular application' would even get an interview usually, when up against US citizens that could start pretty much immediately and have relevant experience.

My guess (and I'm only basing this on on my husband's experience) would be that if you have specialist enough skills to warrant a company being prepared to hire lawyers, spend thousands and wait months for you, then you'd be headhunted.

Any chance of your wife growing her business enough to qualify for a company based visa?

Thecheshiredad

What I meant was more the route to application, ie through an internal company portal or some such rather than how you might choose to appeal to the potential employer. I appreciate that is very much the challenge that faces anyone choosing to go down this route.

I think we're willing to look at any potential avenue that might work and certainly if there was a way to grow her business in such a way that would make it viable then perhaps, but I can't see it being a quick transition.

I'd also be curious to hear from anyone who has been successful in any speculative approach?

Furthermore, also interested to hear from anyone who've moved to FL from the UK. What are the major differences, how do you enjoy living there, are living costs manageable?

civilservant

That's like asking how is the living in the entire UK in a single question

FL is huge, like most states, and there are significant regional variations within the state.

You also need to consider if you should pin your hopes on a state, especially since the nature of any potential visa for you will mean going where the work is.

Fred16

The age of the children should also be considered before any thought of a move

TexanScot

Internal transfer.

The position was offered to me informally and signed off on by senior leadership. Once everyone was in the loop, I had to formally apply for the job via our internal portal and go through two rounds of interviews so that everything was watertight from an HR perspective.

Theoretically anyone in the company could have applied for the position (nobody did), however the position and requirements were such that realistically speaking, I was one of only small number of people in the company that could have conceivably qualified - I was offered the position for a reason, after all.

It wouldn't have been possible to externally recruit for the job since the specific skills and domain experience that I have aren't really available on the open job market.

Pulaski

The most likely applicable visa type is only available for applications in April for a start date no earlier than the following October, so as of today the earliest an application could be submitted would be April 2020 with a start date of October 2020. However that visa type is invariably oversubscribed typically by 2.5 -4 times every year, so there is only about a 25%-40% chance of a potentially valid visa application being approved and a visa issued.

scrubbedexpat099

A job with a Company who would transfer you in the future would seem to be the best option.

robtuck

When you say Project Planner, are we talking about Project Management experience? It's a feasible route if you'd be willing to wait a few years and seek out the right company with a USA presence. My experience was in Contact Centre Forecasting and Planning and I expanded that to cover PM & Process, earning the offer of a transfer after 3 years at the company and aged 41, so similar timeline from where you are now. It required positioning myself effectively and ensuring I was seen as a valuable enough employee that they'd consider the cost of transferring me in the same way they might have done to counter offer if I was leaving. In fact, discussing my next career steps and being open about the fact that an external move was most likely for me pushed the agenda. Unfortunately we don't have Florida offices although we are based on a couple of hours North.

pejp

Look into higher education and healthcare costs (even if you have insurance). I'm married to a USC so am not going anywhere, but I think you'd have to be insane to want to move to the US with 3 kids.