MrsCee

My husband and I are looking to move to Michigan!
We have 2 children, 11 and 8.

My husband did 8 years in the Army and a specialist driver with the Welsh Guards. He's since completed his tree surgery training and is qualified in Felling and Crosscutting.
I have 12 years experience in administration and management, though no degree.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone would mind giving me your experiences? Job searching, Visa applications, finding a home etc.

All well and good searching online, but nothing beats personal experience.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you!!

steph0scope

Hello.

The jobs and experience you have mentioned would not provide a path to a visa for the US, sadly. Why Michigan? Do you have immediate family there (parents or siblings) who are US citizens? If so, they can petition for you under the family-based immigrant visa route.

The US is one of the most difficult countries to immigrate to. The vast majority of people who want to move here don’t have a valid path to a visa to achieve this. Did you look at the link in the sticky post at the top of the page with all the various routes that exist? If you don’t fall into one of those categories then you are most likely not going to be moving here.

Wolverine75

Hello,

I am a life-long Michigander, so I might be able to provide a bit of information. To what part of the state are you contemplating moving? (I live in metro Detroit.) As others have said, are you moving to be closer to relatives, or for some other reason?

For tree experts, one would either start your own tree-trimming service company (very difficult for a non-resident) or try and get a job working as a tree-trimmer for an electric or phone utility company, keeping the lines clear of tree branches (again, difficult). Your personal administrative experience might be more pertinent, particularly if it was in the medical field or some other specialist area. Please provide some more detailed information.

MrsCee

Hi both!

Thank you so much for replying! I wasn't expecting you to be so quick!

No family there (that I'm aware of!)
We're drawn to MI generally for the weather believe it or not! We're looking toward the Detroit/Ann Abor kind of direction.

My background is in banking and financial administration with a side order of Military archiving (as random as that is!)

We're trying to look at all avenues to get where we want to be. We are determined that we'll get there. I'm not bothered with how long it could take. I'd go tomorrow! But I'm willing to wait as long as it takes.

We had been previously told that with my husbands military history, he would be "snatched up". From my research, I'm not convinced that that's the case?

christmasoompa

He might well be, if he was work authorised and didn't need to qualify for a visa, or find a sponsoring employer. Unfortunately it's the visa side of things that makes it so tricky.

Have you read the Pulaskis Ways sticky link mentioned above, and if so, any of the visa routes seem like it might be possible? https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulas...ork_in_the_USA

SanDiegogirl

Simply, to live and work in the US, based on your information, the only ways to do so are:

a) get a work visa via an employer willing to sponsor you. As work visas require effort, time and money you need skills that US employers are looking for : IT, banking, engineering etc. A typical work visa such as the L-1B requires degree level education
b) an investment visa which requires several hundred thousands of dollars.

christmasoompa

And just another thought, if the weather is the reason you want to move to Michigan, rather than family or any other ties, then how about looking at Canada? MUCH easier than the US for most to get a visa for!

jkeller

Husband's skills might get him a job at Disneyland(world), or one the large casino properties in Las Vegas. The Wynn in particular has a huge amount of landscaping opportunities. Sorry I can't think of anything near Detroit for you.

Wolverine75

Well, Ann Arbor is a great town to live in. It is a "college town", with a population of 115,000. It's also the main campus of the University of Michigan (45,000 students) so there are a lot of 18 to 24 year-olds around, for better or worse. It contains a large population of very educated people, so there is are a lot of interesting activities occurring year-around. There are many university-related jobs in the area, including 12,000 that work for the University medical system alone; also, many high-tech jobs are in the area, spun off due to the University.

As far as metro Detroit, you will no doubt get many questions from people asking "Why would you want to live THERE?" My answer would be that the City of Detroit proper has had rough times in the past, and still rides on that "Ruin Porn" reputation, but in actuality it has been recovering financially and in regard to housing and new development for the last dozen years. The actual City could use another 30,000 - 35,000 jobs. In the surrounding suburbs, there are many pleasant suburbs, including thousands of lakes.

There is a place called the Commonwealth Club that exists in metro Detroit that is a gathering place for British Expats. I don't really know much about them, but perhaps they could be a source for information for you. Their website is: https://commonwealthclubmi.com/ You might want to check it out.

ddsrph

Regarding tree trimming there are a lot of small companies that do that for a living. I have a friend who started one of those companies here in TN and he can’t keep up with all the work he gets request for. He has made a ton of money with his business and there are about four competitors in our town all doing great. I don’t know anything about visas (was born here) but is investing in a tree trimming business one possible avenue? You say you like the Michigan weather but have you ever spent any time there in Jan-Feb? If you do like Michigan weather that opens up a giant swath of the US with similar climate. As already mentioned Canada has same weather and easier to move to which is another option. If ever interested I could refer you to my local friend in the tree business for some professional advice.

scrubbedexpat099

I know quite a few people in the tree business have a couple of chainsaws myself.

Not sure how that would translate into immigrating.

Banking and Financial Services, well certainly there are people in that line of work whose employers have moved them to the US.

ddsrph

You can easily have 500k in equipment for a basic tree trimming company. Much more if buying new stuff.

scrubbedexpat099

Even the new Stihl is just over $2k.

Now that I really like but diffiuclt to justify.

I suppose most of your money would be tied up in vehicles. And whilst there may be some areas that could justify that does not seem the norm, or how most people start in the business.

Or maybe fire wood processing, large scale, but that is a hard business to make money in.

Trouble with landscaping is that you are competing against existing business's who have built up a client base and can access much cheaper labour.

ddsrph

[QUOTE=Boiler;12943366]Even the new Stihl is just over $2k.

Now that I really like but diffiuclt to justify.

I suppose most of your money would be tied up in vehicles. And whilst there may be some areas that could justify that does not seem the norm, or how most people start in the business.

Or maybe fire wood processing, large scale, but that is a hard business to make money in.

Trouble with landscaping is that you are competing against existing business's who have built up a client base and can access much cheaper labour.[/QUOTE

Chain saws are nothing in the big picture of tree trimming. A new bucket truck alone can easily be 200k. You also need huge stump grinder, limb grinders, box trucks to haul away debris, pole saws a couple of pick-ups , and then a couple chain saws. Now if you want two crews double that. A person with a couple chain saws is not a tree trimming business. At least not in Tennessee.

ddsrph

Fire wood and landscaping are not part of most commercial tree trimming/ tree removal companies. Much of these companies work comes from storm damage or dying trees next to structures, or just need to remove overhanging branches from large trees. In most cases the home owners wants all debris gone. A 80 foot tall oak tree next to a 500k house requires heavy equipment and more than a little expertise. That is a typical service call in our area for these companies.
My thought was the OP buying a company. Most are one man owner employing a half dozen employees. In our area for example I personally know three owners all nearing retirement. At some point they will be selling the businesses.