You know for sure you are dreaming and hope never to wake up ?

or

Suddenly she'll realize you are an ugly git and kick you off ?

Healthcare is the one concern for me. I came in '83, loved it, never looked back. Don't miss UK one bit. Have a great job, fantastic health insurance. But now I'm in my early 50s ... retirement and possible health issues loom ... what if I lose my job? What if I want to retire before 65 (Medicare)? What if I get a debilitating condition ... how will I pay for it ... These are the sad thoughts of an aging man ... I seriously hope 'Healthcare reform' takes root and grows, and the evil twits on the right crash and burn ...

I loved living in London for 6 years before coming here, but the opportunity in CA arose and I took it. I never looked back. After 25 years in CA, that's really my 'home' and now I find myself in AZ, I miss CA more than UK. My 82 year old mom lives in UK. My brother is nearby and deals with the 'daily' stuff, I fly her over here once a year for 4-8 weeks and she adores the sunshine (it drives me insane but I honestly believe I see her more in those 4-8 weeks than my brother sees her living nearby!). Some day, she will get sick. It will tear me apart and I will end up flying back and forth a whole lot. I don't like to think about that and won't after typing this ... something will work out.

This thread brought tears to my eyes and I haven't even got my L1 yet. I've already had the "will it be permanent discussion", and thoughts about returning for kids University and my retirement.

I spent the weekend with my parents knowing that I won't see them that many times again, and they their only grandchildren.

Yet I prefer to jump for the new opportunity rather than live to ponder 'What If'.

Of course you do, and if its right for you, go for it. I think others here would agree that our thoughts fall into the category that....

Life's a bitch every now and then. You realise that there is a price for every action.

This thread sums up so many thoughts I have as well. We came here in 2009 initially for 2 years. In that time we decided to get our Green cards as we had a son soon turning 21 who wanted to come and work here. The 2 years are now up, and I was tearful at the thought of leaving , but at the same time scared if we decide to stay - it seems so final. So for now we have extended another year, and will face the same dilemma in a years' time.
As others have said, if only the healthcare issue would sort itself out I would feel much more comfortable making the decision to stay.

The years go by so very quickly. We came here in 1996 for a year or two.

I was about to start trying to make a "swiss tony-ism" about citizenship

i know the ponderances that you have Tony, i myself have only been here (FL) for just under 2years , im a UKC and came to be with my wife who is a USC, the plans we both had were to stay here for a little while then perhaps move to the Seattle area or somewhere up WA/OR way , then we discovered that we were going to have our 1st baby, now WA/OR are gone out the window lol.....
so we decided that since we had insurance through our employer that we would stay here at least till the baby is born and then see where life takes us , but after having the conversations about where we want our child growing up and going to school etc , we decided that we are going to head back over to Scotland in 3 or 4 years to put our kid through school over there , which gives me the time to sort out USC to leave our options open for later years
good luck in whatever you decide to do and bear in mind that , as so many have said before me in this thread, make what decision is right for you and your family at this moment , the future will take care of itself , whether its this side of the pond or the other side of the pond

Issues to consider:

1) How permanent is permant to you?
2) A green card and after 5 years in the country you can apply for Citizenship
That means you take US Citizenship as your primary status (above that of your other passport).
3) You will always be taxed on worldwide income and have to file taxes annually not matter where you live in the world.
4) Once you have done the 5 years do apply to Citizenship as the family will then feel the US is their real home. Complications can come up if you don't apply. e.g. a famly member is traveling as a passenger in a car which has a routine police stop. A small amount of drugs are found and ALL occupants are charged. Even a misdemeanor charge/guilty offence, however minor, becomes an issue when converting to US citizenship and a worse offense can mean one family member might be deported. Yeah won't happen but s..t does happen to some people.
5) Are you happy with the cost of paying for US colleges? European's often get highly subsidized college education. Even with the UK's recent rises in costs it's WAY cheaper than the US.
6) As well as contributing to social security BUDGET for IRAs/401Ks etc They are a MUST for retirement. The US is NOT a nanny State.
7) Healthcare, around 65 one transitions onto Medicare (requies 10 full years of paying into the fund). Evaluate the costs one has to pay for Medicare at 65 e.g. higher than that in Europe.

So overall if you really feel comfortable heading to US citizenship it's a fine goal. If that's the way for your family, do it ASAP. And do your long term budget NOW.
The US is a great country. Enjoy it.

LOL @ all the people thinking you're a Swiss national and not named after the fast show character, bless.