Hi, I was hoping that someone out there maybe able to help me?
Sounds very silly all this but,

I am wanting to moveover to the states, in the very near future, only trouble is i really don't know much at all about the day to day living. I.E. cost of living, schooling (i have 2 kids aged 8 and 10) visas, tax etc.

My husband works for an American company in the Middle East and I am a housewife. We currently have an US bank account. At present we are living in Spain but have only been here for a year. Prior to that we lived in the UK and are both Uk residents.

Please could you give me some tips and info about anything you can we know we want to move there but the reasons are not clear as yet!!!! I hope some of that made sense???

Regards,

NOTACLUE!!!!!XXXXXX

If you are starting from scratch you will need a K3 Visa.

I would start with visajourney.com, excellent for Visa information.

And as to the other issues, it is a big country!.

Your husband should be aware of most issues, assuming you are going back to his area.

Most things are cheaper than UK except Health Care, hopefully he will get that with his job.

THANK FOR YOUR SPEEDY REPLY!!
ONLY PROBLEM IS MY HUSBAND DOESN'T COME FROM THE US SO REALLY HE DOESNT KNOW A THING!
THE HEALTHCARE IS NOT AN ISSUE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THINGS LIKE TAX? IS IT THE SAME AS THE UK IS THERE A LOT OF TAX TO PAY ON EARNINGS ETC.
I KNOW HOW BIG THE PLACE IS THIS IS WHY I AM TRYING TO FIND OUT THE LITTLE STUFF FIRST COS ITS A LITTLE LESS SCARY!!
HOW DOES BUYING A HOUSE WORK OVER THERE IS IT THE SAME AS THE UK OR AS WEIRD AS SPAIN ???

SORRY THINKING ON MY FEET HERE, OTHER THINGS I FORGOT.

WHAT IS THE SOCIAL LIFE LIKE FOR KIDS OUT THERE LIKE I SAY I HAVE AN 8 YR OLD GIRL AND A 10YR OLD BOY. THE SOCIAL LIFE IN SPAIN IS VERY STRANGE AND THEY CANT GET INTO THE SWING OF IT. IN THE UK THEY ALWAYS HAD FRIENDS OVER OR CLUBS AFTER SCHOOL IS IT THE SAME IN THE US?
WHAT ARE THE BEST ESTATE AGENTS TO GO FOR?
IS IT EASY TO GET A MORTGAGE OUT THERE?

SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS!!

KIND REGARDS,
JANE

What visa do you plan on coming over on? Far more important than any of your other questions is the question of whether you are entitled to a visa to enter the US.

I presume if your husband works for a US company, he would need to have his company get him an L1 visa as an intra-company transfer, but before you go any further with your plans you really need to find out what visa your are eligable for.

The rest of your questions are far to broad for me to help with much. America is a very large country, and nothing I tell you about Texas will help you much with somewhere thousands of miles away.

Where are you planning on moving to? When? Has the company already decided to relocate your husband? Do you have money for a down-payment on a house? Are you aware that your credit history will need to start again from scratch (more-or-less) in the US, and you may have to wait some time before you can easily get a mortgage or even a credit card?

Give more details and ask more specific questions and many people here will be happy to try to help!

Sorry I mis read, I thought your husband was a United States Citizen. So I guess that you are getting a company move and the company is sorting out the visa's for you all. The US is a very difficult country to get in to otherwise.

Houses, well the market varies like it does in the UK but you get a lot more, some places are unbelivably cheap, others like California more expensive. You can see property details on the web through the MLS system.

Where I am you have an agent acting for the buyer and one for the seller. The seller comission includes a cut for the buyers agent making it very expensive to sell a house. To be fair the Realtor (Estate Agent) does much more including much of the legal work.

Interest rates are lower, most locals go for much longer fixed terms than in the UK.

Property tax is related to the current market value, where I am it works out at about 0.6% of the value.

Market over here is fairly dead.

If you get the chance come visit first, do not assume it is the same because they speak a similar language.

The other thing is that prices rairly include the equivalent of VAT, say 7%, varies by town never mind state.

And many things are controlled by the individual states, they act like mini countries so do not assume what works one place, works elsewhere.

You van get BBC America and Engish Football, not quite SKY in Spain.

And if you speak Spanish that could be quite a help

Sorry for the rather general questions but we are still in the very early days here. the only family we have out there are in Santa Cruz CA and we know by the house prices there that that is not an option. People have suggested Florida but the problem i have with that is that most properties are just rentals for vacations and we are looking for somewhere permenant. i really just wanted some broad opinions on living over there for the long term.kids are our main priority. as far as down payment on a house goes we will be fine on that its just that i dont think wed have enough for an outright purchase.i have always like the southern states but i have only visited them twice. ive been to CA and FL but everywhere else i dont really have an opinion. all i know is i am not settled here in spain and going back to the uk is not an option. any general info would just be a great help. thank you.

Social life? Take your pick. There's a city, town, neighborhood, suburb, district or rural area to match any lifestyle, ethnicity, religion, social standing, policital view, age or whatever. Do some research and visit the places that seem to match your needs.

But in all your replies you've failed to mention how you intend to get a visa.

If only that were the case everywhere!

Here in Plano, TX property tax is a staggering 2.5% of the house value.

We thought Council Tax was bad until we realised that we'd be paying upwards of $7000 in property tax over here!

Yes, the US is much bigger than Europe, and at least as diverse in customs, ethnicity, geography and weather. You wouldn't ask about moving to Europe and expect one answer that covers Spain, Greece, Ireland and Finland, Mediterranean coasts, and the Alps, London and rural Provence, etc. etc. would you?

You asked about taxes - yes we pay them, it's more complex than the UK but not difficult. We pay Federal income tax, and then most states levy a local income tax of a few percent, and a sales tax (like VAT but a much lower percentage) on retail sales (which can also a vary within a state). Prices in stores are invariably quoted net of tax, the only thing I can think of off-hand that is priced tax-iinclusive is petrol.

We have recently moved back here having been back in UK for 6 yrs. It is easy for me as my husband is American.
I think my biggest worry this time was my daughter as she has not schooled in US until now.
I have found the school system very different, now I can only say Florida as every state is different. The who set up is different, they have to pass vigorous tests to be allowed to go up to next grade, her school has no music at all very little art & crafts and they don't have rescess (playtime) at all. She has no after school clubs either at her school.
Generally I would say her education is good although she misses they things mentioned. They stay at elementry here until 6th grade (7th yr in UK) which I like. The teachers are much more interactive with parents if you want it.
As for buying a house as someone else mentioned credit rating is the most imortant (only thing that counts I think). When we first moved to US in 1992 we couldn't even get a car loan or a credit card as we had no credit rating which killed us for a while.
I think you should definatley visit the place you want to move to before you make any further decisions also most info you want is available online somewhere if you search.
Hope this helps
Suzieque

Hi,
Just putting in my twopence - worth.
My hubby's American so I don't know about the visa situation - I assume your husband's employer would sponsor him + family, although that may not cover you to work here though. (but that may not be an issue with you)
In all states you pay Federal Income Tax - most states also have state income tax. Here in Texas (and 6 other states) ref ; http://www.govspot.com/know/incometax.htm) we do not pay state income tax, but then our tax on retail goods may be higher than states with state tax. There are deductions too such as mortgage interest and home equity loan interest. Also tax credits for children etc. A really informative website is www.irs.gov for all your tax questions.
You said you already have a US bank account - that's good. To build your credit score, you should also try have a couple of US credit cards, and use them to build credit history in this country. As for getting a mortgage, several important issues are taken into account, some being:
Household Income, employment history, credit history and outstanding debt amounts. rates here are at an all time low, so it's a great time to get a mortgage. There are many to choose from - I have a 15 year fixed rate mortgage (at 5.25% fixed for the whole term !!) You can also get 20 year, 30 year fixed and ARMs (adjustable rates) If you can put at least 20% downpayment on a house, then you will not have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance, which insures the mortgage company against you defaulting on your house payment !!) A great website for banking/mortgage info is www.bankrate.com
You really need to narrow your choices down to a couple of states if possible and then get as much info online as you can. Take into consideration the climate, airport hub locations (if flying home often is important), employment possibilities (not sure where your hubby's company is in the US), housing costs, facilities/amenities, educational standards for schools, crime stats, geographic location - coastal, mountain, desert, forest, lakes, urban, city, suburban, inland, prairies etc.
The worst thing here is the high cost of health insurance and treatment. Otherwise, I find it very reasonable (food, clothes, petrol, utilities, vehicles etc)
Well, hope this helps a bit. Good luck.
Tracy in Texas.

Katy, Texas - 4%...damn that hurts!!

I saw an article a few weeks back about tax levels in various countries - it was a bit like the old budget day broadcasts as to how it affects "the average family" whatever that is. Basically it was totting up all the taxes the average family was likely to pay from income tax thru social security, council tax, vat and so on. The US came out at 33% and the UK was 37%. The difference was nowhere near as large as I had expected, though take those numbers with a shovel full of salt, given the massive generalisations involved in such a study, and especially given the other comments on this board about differing taxes in different areas.

The thing that scared me about the taxes though is that in the UK if you were laid off, most if not all of that 37% would disappear or be self controllable to some extent eg by changing consumption habits/ belt tightening, whereas here, some of those taxes just keep rolling on,such as the property tax - no wonder there are so many foreclosures around here. Or maybe you could argue that that is self controllable by moving to somehting smaller/cheaper....

can i just say thanks to suzieque and tracy in texas, great info!!
as far as all the other replies, you all seem as though you are cross with me for asking these questions!!!!! like a said before this is just something we are CONSIDERING at the moment and we just needed a few general questions answered. If i am perfectly honest we haven't looked into the visa issue yet (stupid i know) but i just wanted some honest views from you people living stateside so that i can build up a small picture.I ahven't even the first idea what we need to do as far as a visa goes! no i am not ill-educated nor an idiot, i just don't know where to begin in my quest for a better life! i just want to make some comparasons between th US, Spain and the Uk before i get too deep into the paperwork side of things. so please keep the info comin, anything is a great help (especially visas)
regards again,
jane