Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Hi All,

I'm writing for some advice, My wife (American) and I (British) are considering relocating to the US. She's around 16 months from qualifying for British citizenship, so we're talking about getting her citizenship, then looking to relocate. Our current plan is to start looking at jobs for her around the time she get's her citizenship, then hopefully secure something ASAP once she's legally a dual-national. Around the time she gets her citizenship I will apply for my green card, and once that comes start applying for jobs myself hopefully get something starting at a similar time.
I guess what I'm asking is this a crazy plan, or does it seem feasible to others? I've read a few forum posts and most seem to be about work visas so I'd be curious if anyone has any experience going this route. At the moment my biggest concerns are around sorting housing & cars, but from what I've read neither of these are in-surmountable. We're looking at Michigan as there's plenty of job opportunities for both of us and we could be looking at a minimum of $200k between us annually.

As a follow-up does anyone have any experience of moving to Michigan? It really looks like the vibe we want (lots of outdoors, lakes etc) and seems affordable give our potential take home. I've read about the weather, but I think this is ok for us, my wife grew up in New York and I grew up in a rural part of Northern England (not the same but constant rain, and every few years our village got snowed in and cut off from society..) I should add we also have a one year old, who will be turning 3 around the time my wife get's her British citizenship.

For context, at the moment my wife is struggling to get a job beyond basic admin in the university sector, despite having a PhD. Many of her friends that she studied her Master's with have been able to move back to the US and easily get lecturer jobs despite not even having a PhD. We've lived in the UK together for over 7 years, however a lot of the reasons we chose to stay here for seem to be losing merit specifically, healthcare, annual leave and gun-crime. The NHS is in tatters, and many companies in my industry seem to offer competitive leave (15 to 20 days) I've had about 3 sick days in my life in the UK and would hardly consider SSP worth much these days, so the extra personal days will balance out the missed holiday as beyond maybe a 10 day holiday the rest tend to be used for DIY or long weekends. The gun-crime remains an issue, but I'm pragmatic and understand that it's situational (don't go to/live bad areas, having a gun in the house increases the chances of accidents etc)

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping for some solid advice on this, we're both feeling demoralised about our lives in the UK and the more we research this move the more it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Does not sound crazy at all.
Wife will petition you on an I-130 and this will take about 12 months to process, so you are looking at around 2.5 years before arriving in the US if not intending to apply before she gets her Brit citizenship.
Plenty of time to get things sorted. If you think you have good opportunities in the Michigan area then go for it =- no point in comparing the US and UK; they are like chalk and cheese.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Seems largely a question of timing.
It reads as though you want to apply for your GC (via IR1/CR1) from the UK - when do you want to make the move?. If sooner, why wait for your wife to get her UK citizenship? You generally have a 6-month window after approval to move to the US (caveats apply) and it's around 1-2 year processing time. So you may want to apply sooner.

You are unlikely to get the timing to work perfectly so you both have jobs lined up when you move. More realistic is to save 6-months' expenses (incl. healthcare!), move over here and then try to get jobs. If one or both of you manage to get a job in advance, that's great. Do you have family you could stay with for a little while so you can find somewhere to live and keep expenses low while you're looking?
You don't mention what you do, but another option is to get a transfer visa. If you work >1 year for a company in the UK, then take an internal transfer to the US, you may be eligible to do so under L-1 which can be faster and also mean you have a job and health coverage from day 1. Then adjust status to get your GC when you're here.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Totally agree with all of this. The US immigrant visa process is taking nearer 2 years than 1 year at the moment, and I don't think the shut down will be helping that, so I'd get that underway now personally.

And yes to a good chunk of money to bring over to tide you over until at least one of you finds a job (finding one before you move may not be realistic, depending on the jobs you do), the US is far more expensive than the UK IME, so save more than you think you'll need!

Best of luck.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Thank you all for your replies. I think the sticking point is that while we see jobs, it doesn't guarantee my wife will get one and it'll will be a big shame of we go through all this hassle and she's back in the same boat.
I'm less worried about myself as I work in the automotive sector and have quite a diverse background. Unfortunately inter-company transfer isn't an option as I work in a small consultancy at the moment who's only international presence is in Prague.

With all said and done I'm increasingly thinking of applying about a year before the wife's citizenship, obviously there's a lead time for that too but it's only a couple of months.

I know quite a few people who've been recruited by US companies in the industry but it's usually West Coast start ups (Tesla, Lucid, Rivian etc) but I've seen loads of jobs very similar to my experience so I hope I'll be OK.

On the family route, my in-laws live in NC and sister in law lives in CT, so I don't think it help much beyond giving us a chance to establish credit and find somewhere to live.

The most challenging but about moving is we'll struggle to save close to enough given how out of control cost of living is. At the moment we're only really putting aside £200 a month. We're planning to push this to £350 but that's only going to go so far, hence we'd rather have at least one job before moving.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

How recently did they find these jobs? Everything I am reading shows academic jobs dwindling, especially as regards full-time positions and tenure. The orange one is sure to be worsening the situation.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Exactly why we want to move, the advice she was given was to find any job at a university and then at least you're on the inside and can apply first for any jobs that open up. Instead they're doing mass redundancies, fortunately her job is safe for now, but it's not exactly a warm fuzzy feeling. It doesn't help her degree is in English literature, she's looked at jobs in publishing etc but they're all in London and pay less than she's on now, so it's hardly worth it to live on trains commuting.

And yes it was a few years ago that these others got the jobs, but for example in Michigan there's 2 jobs she could be a good fit for right now and both her degrees are from internationally prestigious universities in the field so she'd have a decent chance.

At the end of the day I think she'd be open to more than just a lecturer role, even a high school teacher makes more than double in the US than the UK. The UK as a whole is struggling and it only seems to be getting worse.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Cost of living would be more than double though.

I know you probably don't want to be apart, but maybe it's something to consider when she gets to the point of applying for jobs? She'll find it much easier than you I'd imagine, so perhaps when you're at the end stage of your visa app she could fly over and job hunt in person, with the hope of getting something and then you joining her in a few weeks.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

I'm not sure what you've seen that leads you to believe cost of living is double in the US, but for our mortgage payment over there we have to could own a house twice the size, fuel is less than half the cost, energy is cheaper, and tax is comparable if not less. Having just spent a few weeks on holiday in the US the only thing that seemed obviously more expensive was food. I known things like TV, Internet, phones etc are all a lot more but that's relative.

I've done loads of research on the financials created a few budgets and me earning a middle of the road salary alone puts us in a better position than we are here.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

I'm in the US. Moved here two years ago, we're in a pricey area but most things are triple what we paid in the UK. We moved on an expat assignment, and our cost of living adjustment (done by an independent company) was just under £4000 a month. Bear in mind our house, car, kids schooling, etc, were all paid for, so that's how much extra they expected everything else (groceries, vet bills, transport, mobile phones etc) to cost us each month compared to where we lived in the UK. Which was probably about right.

You'll have one advantage over us as your wife will have a US credit score, driving history, etc which will help. For example our monthly car cost was $1900 for a fairly standard SUV, most of that was insurance as we were treated as brand new drivers, despite having driven for decades in the UK. Income tax is lower, but property tax and other taxes are much higher, so it evens out for us. Add in healthcare and it's far more.

I think you'll be fine on $200k if it's just the two of you with no kids, but all I was saying is that salaries are higher because the COL is higher.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Can I ask where you moved to as you mentioned it was an expensive area? I only ask as for example I could triple my salary alone in California, we just decided that the time zone difference and travel costs for family to visit would outweigh the benefit.

At the end of the day, our situation in the UK isn't going to drastically change in the mid term. We're currently paying almost my wife's entire salary to live in a small 3 bed ex council house. We do have a son and childcare costs are spiralling here, for some reason the extra government support drove massive price rises so now it's going to cost more than our mortgage for nursery. According to the IFS we're in the top 11% of earners in the UK yet only have £200 to £300 left each month to save.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

An island or the USA - USA every time...
Go for it, good luck and enjoy...

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Boston. I'd imagine that a lot of places in California might also have triple the cost of living compared to the UK, so again the increase in salary wouldn't actually be as much as somebody from the UK might think.

My kids were teens when we moved so I never needed to worry about childcare costs, but I know people on the forum say childcare is usually way more in the US. It might be worth searching the forum for info on that. Also, you mention having done budgets, it might be worth sharing what you think your monthly outgoings will be, then people can tell you if it's realistic or not, and add in anything you've maybe not thought of.

Best of luck.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

I could triple my salary alone in California, we just decided that the time zone difference and travel costs for family to visit would outweigh the benefit.

What...? you want to move to the US but time zone difference and travel costs for family to visit put you off....... ?

You need to be more enthusiastic/determined to move ......

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Perhaps your wife needs to be open to exploring long term opportunities outside of her current field. There are plenty of opportunities (both here and in the UK) for those with higher education who are talented, driven, committed and open to change. If looking outside of her field you guys could relocate closer to family and benefit from whatever support they can provide to help you get established. You sound like you are pretty versatile and could do the same. It may mean taking a step back down the totem pole but the US presents plenty of opportunity to move back up again fairly quickly.

I don’t personally think the cost of living is double the UK, higher but not double and of course it will depend upon circumstances and lifestyle. Perhaps it is in the big cities on the coast, but there is plenty of land in between. In any case for anything other than menial positions pay is usually higher in the US so that balances out somewhat. The standard of living is better but of course that is subjective, and you need to determine if you believe that, and also if you can handle the generally reduced vacation time and longer hours on the job.

Expenses that you may be underestimating are health care, home property taxes which can be a substantial expense on top of a mortgage, insurance (particularly car insurance) and of course you recognize that food is generally more expensive. Everything else pretty much evens out. For example fuel is less expensive but you will drive a lot more miles and use more. Don’t forget about state taxes unless you move to one of the handful of states that do not have state income tax. There can be surprising additional local taxes such as property taxes on cars, boats, just about anything you own and a city tax on top of federal and state taxes, and others, so your total tax bill may be a lot higher than you anticipate.

Doing a self move without the comfort of employer sponsorship needs commitment and most definitely will be a hassle, but plenty manage it successfully every year. Waiting for the ideal conditions and limiting yourself to jobs in a narrow field won’t be your friend here. You need to determine if you really want to live here, and if so get on with it one way or the other (as soon as your wife has UK citizenship). It’s a lot more than (potentially) improving your standard of living. It’s a complete life style overhaul. If that is for you, make it work despite the hassle and challenges because there will be plenty of those and time will not make any of them any easier, particularly if you have kids. Very worthwhile though if the lifestyle is what you are looking for.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Thanks all for your input, I appreciate your advice regarding the costs, obviously my wife lived most of her life in the USA and we have family and friends in various states we can ask for advice regarding costs (NY, CT, NC) I know it varies state by state, but there's lots of useful tools online for these estimations.

Obviously there's a lot of research to be done in terms of finding a job, we don't expect to both have jobs on day one, but it's pointless uprooting our family in the hope we'll find jobs that may not even come. What I think would be helpful is if anyone has any similar experience (moving back to the US after an extended period abroad). I think that would be most useful advice right now.

Also, regarding the West Coast, we understand the timezone difference and travel costs, we made a decision that 5 hours is better than 8, we want seasons etc etc etc we have to short list states somehow hence our decision to put it down the list.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

When we were coming to the end of our first 2 year secondment in the USA, in Houston, my company offered 3 options on new projects for another 2 years. They were Louisiana, Delaware and California. We ruled out California because of the extra travel time and time difference for our families and ourselves visiting, so I fully understand your reasoning on this.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Understand that you are centering on Michigan because of the automotive industry. Don't limit yourself to just there. For example, here in Mississippi there is a large Toyota manufacturing plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi. They are currently expanding so yes, the industry is doing well here. As for university employment, look into universities in Oxford, MS and Hattiesburg, MS. I'm not English but an American who married a Canadian 27 years ago. He emigrated to the US and we lived just outside of NYC but have retired to MS. If you are intent on continuing work in the automotive industry, don't limit yourself to only Michigan.

So much depends on what you and your wife are looking for in life. Big house, lots of land, good yearly weather, big city living nearby? Some people are content with living in rural areas, others in large metropolitan areas. Some want to own a home while others prefer apartment living. My advice is to decide how you want to live your lives during your first years in the US. Once that is decided you can then focus on where you want to live and go from there. You have plenty of time as you are waiting for your wife to become a British citizen and then you need to obtain a US spousal visa. (BTW concentrate on the US Marriage Based Visa section for information on going through the process.)

One word of advice, politics will change in the US like ladies changing undies. The current president will not be the White House when you get ready to move to the US. So don't base decisions on his still being influential.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Thank you this is all very good advice. We've actually spent some time looking at various states, and you're very right Michigan isn't the only option, we've have explored a few, but there's just a multitude of things that keep pointing back to it - weather (seasons), environment etc. I should add my wife as an American (New Yorker) also has strong feelings about where she will and won't live so that's also a factor....

We're going to keep looking, but I've become a bit of a niche (I specialise in EV tech, in particular battery systems) so that is somewhat limiting.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

I wouldn't rule out California due to distance - how often are you or relatives really going to be making the flight? More than twice per year? The time difference isn't that big of a deal either, I chat with my parents in my morning while it is still late afternoon for them.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Do listen to your wife's relatives/friends, as they will have first hand info on how much their electricity bill, healthcare etc costs. Don't use online tools as they are notoriously inaccurate, things like Numbeo are next to useless IME.

I totally get that. We were given the whole of the US to choose from, and top of my list was an easy way back to the UK as we both had elderly parents and kids that we thought may have ended up back in the UK for uni. As it happens, we were right to make that a priority, as my parents deteriorated and so I was back and forth every other month, and both kids are now back in the UK at university, so they travel home for each holiday and even occasionally long weekends too. Being a short flight from the UK means it's super easy, I can walk out my front door in the US and be sitting on my sofa in the UK within 8 hours. Do also look at how often flights are, we have a choice of maybe 10 flights at day which keeps costs down and means people are happy to pay that to come and see us. Also think about what they'd want to see if they come to you, I know they'll be visiting you but you'll need stuff to keep them occupied around you, particularly if you're working. For us that's easy as we have NYC within a 4 hour drive, ditto Canada, Cape Cod, the mountains, lakes, Boston, etc, etc. So people have been back to visit us time and time again as there is so much to do here.

And I get the seasons thing too, my idea of hell would be living somewhere where it's hot all year round. I love the seasons here, and we're very outdoorsy, so being able to ski in the winter, sail in the summer, hike all year round, etc, works so well for us.

I'd visit Michigan before you commit. We had it on our shortlist but it wasn't for us in the end.

Good luck.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Oooof. Hopefully by the time you move we'll have a more EV friendly president. Might be worth me putting you in touch with my husband, he has a lot of EV experience (works for one of the biggest engineering consultancies). Ping me a message if you want me to.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

I actually do think this one is helpful-ish
https://smartasset.com/data-studies/...mfortably-2025

Detroit doesn't make the list. But:
Minneapolis $273k
Columbus $236k
Note that this is framed as "Most households aim to maintain a cushion between the necessary spending for day-to-day necessities – like housing, food, utilities and childcare – while also enjoying life in the moment and saving for the future. This means keeping room in the budget for the occasional vacation or splurge, as well as savings for long-term goals like retirement or a child’s college education."

If you told most Brits they could earn £200k ($270k), they would be living a much more luxurious life than described above, especially outside of London.
Day to days are 2-3x depending on location, some are much higher e.g. property tax (again depending on location) and some existential - healthcare and college.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Oh yes, I should have mentioned that one - that is the only one that we found remotely accurate! It's spot on for Boston and I've shared it a few times on the forum. That's for a family of 4 though, so OP could look at the single person amount and times it by 3 maybe.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Then you should take a look at Georgia which is doing a lot of pioneering work and manufacturing of EVs and EV systems.

https://georgia.org/EV#/analyze?show...e&region=US-GA

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Yeah that's helpful, I'm using direct info where I can find it (EG looking on zillow at property, going on daycare websites for real pricing etc) i re visited my budget spreadsheet today after everyone said I was probably under estimating. I came up with around 9k USD per month with generous budgets for everything and we're still 3k GBP a month better off in the US. As it happens there was a BBC article today about inflation in the UK and it reiterated how poorly we're doing, highest in G7 etc. As an example, with 30 hours of funding for nursery, going 5 days a week would cost £1200 a month. Meanwhile the highest rated nursery in Ann Arbor (an up market down in Michigan) was coming in at around 1700usd, so actually cheaper than the UK. Likewise I paid £9.50 for 750g of diced beef at the weekend and by all accounts this is only going one way....


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Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Also regarding other states for work, a lot of the suggestions I've seen refer to manufacturing sites. I think the best analogy I have for it is that it would be like asking an author if they can run a printing press instead.

I really appreciate the advice and I'm not trying to be flippant, it wouldn't seem that way from the outside, but development and manufacturing are as different as being a Chemical Engineer, I literally wouldn't know where to start!

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Great!
How have you modeled your net income i.e. tax rates in this analysis (Federal and State) ?
On the spending side, how much did you budget for healthcare both premiums and copays etc.? How much are you going to save for college?

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Hi All, thanks for all the advice.

I think I'm going to leave it on here for now, as I've said previously I have an entire network of Americans who can advise on finances. It's getting quite contrary one person says quality of life is great, then everyone else can't help but tell me how much expensive everything and it seems set to discourage me. I'm guessing next you're going to tell me MIT don't know what they're doing and more than doubling their recommended living wage will still have us living like paupers? https://livingwage.mit.edu/states/26

I'd still welcome advice related to the process of applying for a visa/greencard and tips for getting set up.

Re: Contemplating a Move to the US
 

Please remember people are just trying to help. You implied in your first post that you've decided to move for job/financial reasons, hence people have been focused on that side of things. Nobody is trying to discourage you, just to make you aware before you spend tens of thousands on moving your family and then maybe aren't any better off after that.

I'll close this thread now as you're done with it, but if you have questions about the visa process, you should post those questions in the Marriage Based Visas sub forum, where you'll get good advice.

Best of luck.