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Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Old Jul 30th 2012, 4:29 pm
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Default Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Hi all,
As a family we are looking to “make the move” to provide our 3 little ones with a better standard of life. We have talked long and hard about it and having made the decision that it’s the right move for us all we are now faced with what seems like a rather daunting task of getting everything moving.
I am a teacher of science (Chemistry specialty) and have been told that this is a shortage subject but cannot confirm this anywhere. I have read through Pulaski’s questions and have provided the answers below:

Opening
Do you have an academic degree?
BSc(Hons) Chemistry
Do you have specialist skills?
Teaching degree with 8 year's experience (including A level Chemistry teaching and Pastoral leadership)

Closing
No to all

I have also looked through the VISA options and it seems that the HB1? Is the one that seems to fit but means my wife could not work (she is HLTA at the moment but will have completed her teaching degree by the time we want to move).
If you have any advice (even if its read this…) it would be really appreciated as we have heard horror stories of it taking 5+ years for people to sort out a move and with our eldest son being 5 now we want to have made the move before he starts secondary school (or the equivalent).

Many thanks for your time and hoping to hear from you,

John (and family)
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 4:34 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

You are unlikely to find a sponsor when teachers are being laid off due to budget cuts.

Curious why you think itwill be a better quality of life?
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 4:39 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

@sir_eccles: apologies, should have put in that we are looking to move to Florida (D'oh!).

The better standard of living is not so much the financial aspect as opposed to the climate, surroundings etc. We are currently based in the Midlands and while there are things to do, our boys love just being outside and more and more of the area's they can do that are being used to build houses.

So what I heard about teaching Chemistry being desirable is not true then?
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 4:47 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Oh dear. Have you actually been to Florida or just Disney?

You need to Google "teacher budget cuts in Florida "
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 4:59 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

@sir_eccles: we have close friends who we holiday with in Sarasota regularly and our children love it, ps never been to Disney
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:06 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
@sir_eccles: we have close friends who we holiday with in Sarasota regularly and our children love it, ps never been to Disney
Vacation is not the same as living.
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:10 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

true but we have done a lot of research both into living and working. You seem very anti-florida is there a reason?
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:18 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
true but we have done a lot of research both into living and working. You seem very anti-florida is there a reason?
It's just that so many people come on the forum looking for ways to move to Florida. It's interesting that of all the states, most people try to move to Florida.

I don't know where you were reading/hearing about chemistry teachers being needed/desireable...which may be true, I don't know...but it's unlikely that schools would have the budget necessary to bring over a foreign teacher. There are so many teachers out of work in the USA that it just seems unlikely.

If you were successful, you'd get an H1B, correct. Your wife would not be able to work. There may or may not be a path to green card (the employer has to sponsor it).

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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:27 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
Hi all,
As a family we are looking to “make the move” to provide our 3 little ones with a better standard of life. We have talked long and hard about it and having made the decision that it’s the right move for us all we are now faced with what seems like a rather daunting task of getting everything moving.
I am a teacher of science (Chemistry specialty) and have been told that this is a shortage subject but cannot confirm this anywhere. I have read through Pulaski’s questions and have provided the answers below:

Opening
Do you have an academic degree?
BSc(Hons) Chemistry
Do you have specialist skills?
Teaching degree with 8 year's experience (including A level Chemistry teaching and Pastoral leadership)

Closing
No to all

I have also looked through the VISA options and it seems that the HB1? Is the one that seems to fit but means my wife could not work (she is HLTA at the moment but will have completed her teaching degree by the time we want to move).
If you have any advice (even if its read this…) it would be really appreciated as we have heard horror stories of it taking 5+ years for people to sort out a move and with our eldest son being 5 now we want to have made the move before he starts secondary school (or the equivalent).

Many thanks for your time and hoping to hear from you,

John (and family)
At least you've got a possibility with a real science, slim though it may be. If you lock yourself to Florida, you'll make it even slimmer.

Data is here: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.g...rterlydata.cfm

Find out which districts are sponsoring, and contact them directly. Also, remember you're not on firm ground until you have green cards -- so ask at the beginning whether they will further sponsor you after X years. If they won't, it's a busman's holiday rather than a move.

No way round the H4 ban on work. Until/unless you get green cards, you're going to be on a very tight wage.
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:31 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

thanks Noorah101 - for us Florida is appealing because of the opportunities it would provide us with as a family as our boys are very outdoors orientated.

The schemes of work that are taught (have researched some of the schools schemes) seem slightly behind us as I have written a number of them for my current post which was nice as it wouldn't be a "new start" (not sure if they are consistent throughout though?)

From what you have said it would seem that the H1B is the only VISA available?

Thanks again

thanks also Fatbrit - will read now

Last edited by NEWKY; Jul 30th 2012 at 5:32 pm. Reason: new response
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:42 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
The better standard of living is not so much the financial aspect as opposed to the climate, surroundings etc. We are currently based in the Midlands and while there are things to do, our boys love just being outside and more and more of the area's they can do that are being used to build houses.
Depending on location, you could certainly end up with more space in Florida. As for climate, count me unconvinced. I know a lot of Brits flock to Florida, but the climate in summer months can be brutal in terms of heat and humidity. And the summer months in Sarasota (I looked it up because that's where you've been to) have more rainfall than the entire year in Birmingham.

Originally Posted by NEWKY
So what I heard about teaching Chemistry being desirable is not true then?
More desirable than most subjects, but the environment for teacher employment is very poor. Budget cuts mean that many school districts are laying off teachers. And it's difficult to see how that financial position is going to change any time soon. I hate to seem to be pissing on your dream, but I'd say you've got a slim chance of pulling it off. If I were in your position, I'd be looking at Australia. Or perhaps another area of Britain.
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 5:46 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

It's a Visa.... a VISA is a type of credit card

I agree with the others, unlikely that your skills are going to be called upon sufficiently to be granted an HB1. Even if you find a school willing to sponsor you, there's a question over if USCIS will accept the petition unless the sponsor can establish the scarcity of skills - again we're back with the budget cuts and lots of unemployed teachers.

If it's nice weather you're after, how about considering somewhere in Europe? The only difference I can see from this course of action is the fact English isn't a first language, the flip side is the lack of a visa needed to live and work anywhere in the EU.

Last edited by civilservant; Jul 30th 2012 at 5:49 pm.
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 6:28 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
for us Florida is appealing because of the opportunities it would provide us with as a family as our boys are very outdoors orientated.
I haven't visited all the states yet, but I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, have an outdoors. So, why are they less appealing?

As mentioned...you really cannot afford to limit your chances, slim as they are.
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Old Jul 30th 2012, 11:38 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
Do you have an academic degree?
BSc(Hons) Chemistry
Be aware that most Boards of Educaton require you to have a Master's degree before they'll offer you a full-time contract. Perhaps you'll want to think about that for a while before rushing off to Florida. Also, if you had a Master's degree, you could teach at a Community College... where chemistry might actually be a required course.

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Old Jul 31st 2012, 2:31 pm
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Default Re: Chemistry teacher and family looking to make the move...

Originally Posted by NEWKY
: apologies, should have put in that we are looking to move to Florida (D'oh!).
of course you are.

So what I heard about teaching Chemistry being desirable is not true then
any schoolboard who hires a foreigner when American teachers are being laid are will find themselves sparking a riot.
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