ryanayr

LOL NSBlake

With what I know they will at least take away my laptop and give me some paper and crayons for 3 months...

Englishmum

http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm

http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/default.htm

Be Aware! http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnroll...DS/default.htm

PS: You may also need to check out the NYC criteria regarding child vaccinations. Some schools won't accept pupils unless they can prove the child has had vaccinations for chickenpox and Hepatitis B - not commonly administered to children in the UK.

Wibblypig

Sorry cannot add anything that hasn't already been said about schools, but just wondered what visa you were coming on as you said you would be starting in July? Assuming it's not a normal work visa such as H1B as you cannot start until October which is a pain in itself due to it being after the school year starts! Just wanted to make you aware of that just incase you are/will be on an H1B.

ryanayr

I have got myself a US passport thanks to my parents. The family will be on immigrant visas though and that's the NEXT thing on my list!

Again, thanks for all the info - I also appreciate the off topic stuff on jabs etc

Wibblypig

Aha, excellent Get started on your families green cards asap as I believe they can take a few months.

Jerseygirl

It's good that you're a USC...for further info and help about getting visas etc for your family...I suggest you post here.

Bob

Kids might possibly be USC's already then, something to look into.

Spouse IR visa, about 8-10 months or there abouts, but who knows what kind of spanner in the works the Olympics might throw as they won't be processing certain visas during the summer months which will likely cause a delay and backlog for all visas in the coming month as everyone tries to get in before they cut off processing.

ryanayr

really? blimey - I was given the impression this was a 60 day turnaround from the london embassy!

Unfortunately the whole crew will be on immigrant visas as I never lived in the US before.

ian-mstm

Bob is right... visas will take 8-10 months from when you apply until your family gets visas in their passports. There is no way to speed up the process. As the USC, of course, you can take the job and travel ahead of them. Once the I-130s are filed, you aren't required to remain in the UK.

The good news in all of this, is that your children will immediately become US citizens the day they enter the US with their immigrant visas.

Ian

ryanayr

Yikes

According to http://london.usembassy.gov/immediaterel.html

"Approximately three to four months should be allowed for the administrative processing of the immigrant visa application by the National Visa Center on receipt of the approved I-130, or the Immigrant Visa Unit at the Embassy for those whose I-130 is filed with the USCIS in London."

Have I misunderstood this - ie are they saying it's 3-4 months for processing and then a further 4-7 months to get it on the passports?

Seems crazy - did you guys have to wait that long before you were able to relocate or is there some interim visa that can have them out there sooner?

Bob

There's a petition stage followed by the visa application stage, hence the time frame.

There isn't anything that will speed things up. In the past people used the K3 visa, but that is now defunct as it takes just as long to get these days with the added hassle and cost of needing to then AOS once in the US.

You really want to get this on the go quickly as there is a real chance that the Olympics will add delays to the whole process.

ryanayr

Noted - thanks!

Going to push the company hard on immigration support to make it as smooth as physically possible.

I will talk to embassy and schools to get some expectations. I notice that in this thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=719495 there are some people who sent letters requesting to expedite the process. It's clear that we have two opposing forces: the need to get residency and a school ASAP vs the probablility that we will miss some or all of the first term...

ryanayr

Well I have to say I am completely exhausted from this!

I have no idea how to overcome it.

From researching, it is likely that the best public schools in NYC, and those that would feel as much like his existing school, would be the district and citywide "gifted and talented" schools.

But typically I have found out that we would have needed to apply for G&T testing last October and they just finished the tests on Feb 10th for the Sept 2012 enrollment.

So it looks like the only way we can ensure that our son goes to a high standard state school will be to write off 2012 and try to get him set for 2013. That prospect sucks and it's a big risk to take if he doesn't happen to hit the 90th/97th percentile.

Even if we had the cash for private, it's the same story on admissions anyway!

So I think the plan will be to get lucky on a great non G&T school in Manhattan or Brooklyn (and we are not finding any) and just stick with it, or perhaps homeschool him for the first year, or hold him back a year in part time pre-K at a private school and set him up for the G&T test in 2013. The latter is not great as we have to fork out $18k for the priviledge of holding him back a year.

I knew this would be tough but I cannot believe that this school system is looking likely to turn a great offer with a great company into a "no way".

jackattack

Not that this helps you in any way, but we're in the same situation in reverse.

Our daughter is in a great school here (California) and we're really happy with it but husband's company really want him to relocate to London. We are resisting because we can't find the equivalent London school. Luckily we don't have the visa complications, but it's frustrating having to navigate the 'system' from afar and realizing that it might not work.

Nutmegger

NSBlake already mentioned Connecticut -- is a commute to your job feasible? Many towns in Fairfield County, CT -- the part that in the London area would be called the "commuter belt" -- have top notch public schools, where your child would be able to attend automatically as a result of residence. People put their kids down for NYC private schools as soon as they are born, it is cut-throat and competitive (in an obnoxious way) -- not sure you would want that for your child. In CT your child could enjoy the US high school experience with bright kids in a public school.