scrubbedexpat099

People do use the F1, obvious not cheap especially for overseas students. So a cost to factor in.

Hotscot

Ok. Just be aware that although you might have a wonderful experience if the business is successful and employs Americans/Permanent Residents, neither EB-2 or F1 are permanent residence visas.
If things don't work out you may be invited to leave as you'll have no right to be here.

(It is possible to convert to other visas but the options are complex and can depend on your level of risk acceptance.)

Nutmegger

Time for a second opinion. The business can't be a subsistence vehicle for your family.

Hotscot

Yes, has to be a genuine business with genuine potential for expansion, profitability, and a concrete business plan.
It's purpose it to get 'real' jobs for Americans et al.

clairelow

christmasoompa

People are simply concerned - most people wouldn't touch that visa with a bargepole if they had kids and/or wanted to stay in the US permanently. You'd be amazed how many people we see on the forums who have been badly advised or conned, our members just want to make sure you're not among them. But if you're happy with a temp visa and the kids not staying for more than a few years then all good.

Best of luck to you.

clairelow

christmasoompa

It's worth searching the forums, there have been quite a few threads recently about moving with kids of similar ages and info on how they'd integrate in to the school system. May not have been Florida (can't remember off the top of my head), and obviously a lot of things will be dependent on state, but could be worth a read of them anyway.

Nutmegger

This. If it was a simple as "selling" a portion of the business to the kids it would be a giant loophole that everyone would exploit. The OP is being incorrectly informed and the children's futures could be put in a lot more jeopardy than would result from choosing the wrong school district.

Octang Frye

At the risk of sounding like an echo chamber, are you sure you want to do this? If you go through with it, bear in mind that most people here raised a quizzical eyebrow. Huge elephant in the room.
The advice about "kids buying into the business" is one of the most pie-in-the-sky things I've seen in these forums over the years.

Anyway, kids typically graduate high school here at 18 and get their high school diploma. They take SATs for college admission.
I don't know if your older kid would need to take SATs; not sure how to translate A-levels into a college application.

And you realize how much tuition is over here?

scrubbedexpat099

I will probably get chewed out about this but the most common route I have seen for somebody to get Permanent Residency from an E2 is for a child to marry a USC and eventually be sponsored by them.

Children who can go through Uni, and Parents who can afford it, may be fortunate enough to get work sponsorship, but the competition is fierce.

E3 Employee I have seen, but believe you need to show skill set.

Spouse working outside the E2 Business with an Employer who will then sponsor another.

Hotscot

Or if the E2 is massively successful transfer to an E5.

Personally, if I really wanted to move to Florida via an 'E' I'd work away in the UK until I could do an E5.
It's such a risk where you could lose everything and have little to show for it.

Half of small business fail @ five years.
60% @ 10 years.

Giantaxe

Bigger universities that deal with international applicants will likely know what A-levels are.

Certainly going to need to think about college costs for two children, with several years at non-resident rates. All in all, it seems a very high risk proposition to me, especially for the two children.

tom169

Worth noting your kids won't be able to use UK student loan company to fund higher education.

zzrmark

The reason you are in a middle is because the education system is totally different here, the two systems have about as much in common with each other as garden peas and beetroot!
​​​​​
The 16 year old will be ok to enter the public school system, their GPA will suck as they will have missed two years of US grading.
The 18 year old will go to college ( what we Brits call university), they will have to take college entrance tests, SATs and ACTs being the most common, take evidence of their gcse and A level results ( there is plenty of info on the net to get a rough conversion of those into an equivalent GPA, which will give everyone involved an idea of how little Johnny stands compared to his US counterparts)
Florida has a good program for cheap/ free college tuition for it's qualifying residents but I suspect that the oldest will not qualify, you will need to check.

​​​​​​​What area of Florida are you headed to? Education standards vary widely across the state, hardly surprising considering it has a land mass about the size of England and Wales.