How do we emigrate to the US?
 

My husband, children and I are DESPERATE to live in the US but it appears to be impossible unless you are A. married to an American, or B. rich.

We are both British (English) born and I am a housewife. My husband works in the City (London) in finance and we have six children. We would easily be able to afford a decent sized house without a mortgage but only have about £50,000 in savings.

Please help, we all totally love the place so much and feel constantly sad about the seeming impossibility of getting there. Any advice? Thanks

Re: How do we emigrate to the US?
 

There are basically six ways that you can get a visa to live and work in the US:

(i) Marriage (or engagement in anticipation of marriage) to a US citizen.
(ii) You have skills that are in short supply in the US e.g. IT, scientific or medical training.
(iii) You have an employer who is willing to transfer you - but even the employer has to make a good case for you - so you have to be a manager unless you fall under category (ii), above.
(iv)get a greencard in the diversity lottery (UK citizens, except N.Ireland are not eligible)
(v) You own a business (does not get you permanent resident status .e. no greencard)
(vi) You are an "investor" i.e. you have at least US$1m in assets to bring with you.

It is not easy to get even a recruitment agent to take you seriously if you are not already in the US, but if you are getting a visa under (ii) above then you need a job offer before you can get the visa. It's a chicken and egg situation.

If you want to come to live in the US then, as a British citizen, the only realistic options you have are (ii) or (iii) in my list above.

Which ever way you try to do it, it is going to be very difficult, but if you really want to it is possible.

I hope this helps.

Re: How do we emigrate to the US?
 

If you can't get in one way, try another. You could immigrate to Canada and be right next to the US. That means that you are presenting yourself as a British Canadian to US employers. The vast majority of people in the US have no clue about modern english life.. all they know is that we fought them and won our independence from their oppression. Canada is a little more nuetral and allows you to take short flights into and out of the US instead of the long haul over the Atlantic. Also, you may like Canda as it is much more like the US in terms of being a melting pot and a big country, but still very different.

That is how my parents (both British citizens) got into the US. I think the employer may also have respected that he had already uprooted and gone through the immigration process once so it is a hop, skip and a jump if you've got the right candidate for the job. However, the other thing to think about is that Canada is full of people who would like to emmigrate to the US. It just depends on him having high qualifications in a specialized field. I don't know about how compatible finance is..

Re: How do we emigrate to the US?
 

Hi,

Your best bet is to get taken on by a company over here. They will then apply for a work visa for you. If you have no contacts, consider coming over on a fact-finding holiday and establishing some.

Eventually you can get resident status through working on a visa for a length of time - not my specialty sorry - but you need to be aware of the risks. If you come on a work visa it is tied to the company that employed you. If they sack you - and that kind of stuff happens a lot over here it seems to me - your visa expires and unless another company is willing to take on the expense of a new visa you have to leave pretty suddenly. Also, if you do successfully switch companies the clock on getting a green card goes back to day 1.

I have German friends who have been here 5 years now without a greencard because he has to switch jobs just before the clock stops at the magic number. The wife finds the uncertainty of living with the possibility of having to up sticks at short notice (employment law in Texas does very little for employees and they don't have to give a reason to let you go) very stressful.

Probably you need to talk to more people who've done it this way. An immigration forum would be your best bet.

Good luck - it's nice here.

Regards
-=-
Scarlett

Re: How do we emigrate to the US?
 

If there's any chance at all to make that work you'll have to wait until the economy is stronger.

It is just about impossible to justify employing people on non-immigrant visas (H1 or H2) right now, many such people have been "released" over the past 21 months and had to return to their home country.

When the economy is growing again it might work, but by far the best, and safest, route when you have a family to think about too, is to get a job with an employer who will transfer you to the US - point (iii) in my post above. Anything based on an H1/ H2 visa is going to be a serious seat-of-the-pants roler coaster ride for at least five years until you establish enough residency rights to apply for a greencard.

Re: How do we emigrate to the US?
 

Hi, as an American I would like to wish you all the luck in the world with your efforts. I supposed I should stop taking my Americanhood for granted, I keep reading posts about people who're desperate to get here but can't. Anyway, good luck.

This may or may not help you, and I know very little about the whole immigration process (I'm just starting it myself). My immigration lawyer told me when we were discussing my options that if you invest between $50k and $100k in a business (either buy into one or start a new one, amount varies depending but the more the better), you can get a visa. If you've got £50k savings, the exchange rate is good so this might be an option.

I really, really advise you get an immigration lawyer. Newsgroups are great, but you can't beat expert advice. Just do an initial consultation - some laywers give free ones, or expect to pay up to £100 ($150) for between 30mins and an hour phone consultation. They may come up with other options for you.

I would like to thank everyone so much for their advice. It's really kind of you to take the trouble to offer help. Perhaps the Canadian route is a possible way - I may look in to that. I have to be very careful though because of my (many) children! If it were just us I'd be prepared to risk almost everything we own but as I am responsible for their little lives I have to make safe decisions. I think I may speak to an immigration lawyer but have heard scare stories of firms who take your money and run. Thanks also to Pulaski, who offered a follow up comment. I will re-read all the replies and use the advice - thanks.

Just being nosy aramintaalice :p , but what area of the US would you like to live in?

If I'm really honest - I'd prefer somewhere warm but I'd happily go to Michigan if it meant being in the US. If it were just a case of warmth it would be very easy for anone British to go to Spain or similar. It's the American way of life that we love - truly - it's wonderful and I'm sad every day that goes by that I'm still stuck here.

You could look at doing a home exchange. Today, there are plenty of sites on the internet. My parents did something like this with a Canadian family in which you only pay a deposit under the terms of the agreement and a car is included. This family liked their one year stay in England so much that they made an offer to buy at the end of the agreement and bought the house which provided enough to buy a typical neighborhood 4 bedroom suburban home in the US and a lot left over that went into a savings account.

Since when did homes, British or American, come with attached immigration visas? :confused:

Thank you very much for those kind words about my homeland, aramintaalice. I don't think I've ever come across anyone else from Britian who was as kind to the US and it's people as you. Again, thanks.:D

" It's the American way of life that we love - truly - it's wonderful and I'm sad every day that goes by that I'm still stuck here."

I have never been to the UK, but I thought that we all weren't all that different. What does America have that the UK doesn't offer?

free refills? (went to lunch the other day and paid £8 for 4 cokes.)

customer service? (my estate agent is taking me to court for their fees even though I have sold to my friend and next door neighbour as a private buyer)


reasonable gas prices? (My sister in laws car costs $11 to fill up where as mine costs are $55 in the UK, similar cars, hers a focus, mine an astra)


better taxes? (my mortgage interest is not deductable, nor are a range of other home related outgoings).


value for money on most things?


the ability to have a better quality of life on less income?

Im sure there are literally 10000's more examples.

But you do pay the price with having to put up with dodgy beer and no BBC / Channel 4. Oh well, cant have everything.