candyapple

Hey everyone
Just wondered if anyone could give me some advice on my situation.
I am 25, US citizen by birth although I have lived in the UK since age 2, graduated from a good UK University in 2009 with a 2.2 BA degree in English, have worked in Retail since age 17 & currently in a management role there as I've not yet really found what I want to do (one reason for wanting to move to the US, hopefully better prospects!). My husband is 27, UK citizen & has lived in the UK all his life, currently working for a bank (has worked there 6 years). We are considering moving to San Diego area but not really sure when would be the right time. All we know is we would like to have a family in the next 2 or 3 years, & we're not sure whether to move first or move the family there a few years after that. We also have our other family to consider - husband's parents be retiring in about 5 - 7 years - would it be impossible for them to move over with us? They are both UK citizens, have lived in the UK all their lives & have very little savings as far as I know.
One option was to save up enough to be able to move over there without a job for a few months while we each find one, or is it not so hard to find one before you go? I suppose it is different for each person. To be honest we would both take almost any job to get us there & would look for maybe one more suitable once we were there.
If anyone could shed any light on this I would be grateful - thank-you!

lansbury

As a US citizen you have been filing your US tax returns each year, if you met the earning requirements to do so, haven't you?

If not contact the IRS office at the US Embassy and get that sorted.

nun

A US citizen can sponsor their immediate family for a Green Card. Your husband's parents would not qualify. For them to be able to get a Green Card I think your husband would have to become a US citizen and then sponsor them himself. The other problem they would have would be health insurance as they'd have to pay for it themselves. They would eventually qualify for Medicare, but spanning the years of waiting would be hard.

I would be careful about giving up 2 ok sounding jobs to move to San Diego and "hopefully" find better prospects. The US can be a difficult country to be in if you are new and starting from scratch. You need to plan carefully and do your research, save money, look into job opportunities and have an fall back plan if things don't work out. Do you have US relatives that could ease your transition. Also emigrating is stressful.....even more so with young children.

Finally you should make sure your US taxes are up to date before you return to the US.

Noorah101

Hi and Welcome to BE.

The right time will have to be up to you. The thing you need to know, though, is that the Immigrant Visa for your husband takes about 8 - 10 months to process, so plan ahead. You will be his financial sponsor, but if you don't qualify you can use a joint sponsor, or combined assets (yours and husband's, if enough value). There is a LOT to the immigration process, so don't underestimate the time, effort, and expense it will take to get him the proper visa.

Once your husband becomes a US Citizen, he can sponsor his parents to immigrate to the USA. Your husband can apply to become a USC after he's been a US Permanent Resident (US PR) for 3 years, and it takes 6 - 12 months for the citizenship process. He becomes a US PR upon entry to the USA using his Immigrant Visa. So...he will most likely become a USC about 4 years after his arrival in the USA, and then he can apply for his parents to immigrate, which takes about another year to happen. By that time his folks might be retired. The big problem with his parents in the USA will be the cost of health insurance and health care. It's not cheap; in fact it's very expensive, and is the number one reason older folks do NOT immigrate to the USA.

It's very hard to find a job in the USA when you are outside the USA. It's much better to find a job while physically in the USA. Make sure you have enough in savings to tide you over many months after arrival in the USA.

You are lucky that you're a USC - your husband has the easiest possible path to immigrating that way!

Rene

Noorah101

For an Immigrant Visa, in this case. She could only sponsor him for a Green Card if they were already inside the USA, he being on some other non-immigrant visa.

Rene

Noorah101

If you want your children to be USCs, you will want to have them be born in the USA. You left the USA so young that you might not be able to pass along your US citizenship to them.

Rene

candyapple

No I haven't, although I doubt I have met the requirements - I will get this sorted. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

Re: nun
Thanks for your input, I will have a look into that. The other option is for them to visit for as long as they are allowed at any one time (is it 6 months?) & stay with us.

Re: Rene
Thanks for your reply - I really do feel lucky to be a US citizen, especially having looked into emigrating & seeing how difficult it is when you're not! I never fully appreciated it until now!

Noorah101

Realistically, for your husband's immigration, you will only need to file the most recent 3 years of US tax returns.

It would be 6 months at a time if they are able to get B-2 visas. If they travel on the VWP, it's 90 days at a time. They should not make back-to-back trips. They should still make sure they have some kind of insurance coverage during the time they're in the USA.

Rene

candyapple

We also have a 1.5 year old pomeranian, she can be quite anxious & I am just wondering whether emigrating her would be a painful process with the long flight & quarantine (if there is any), or if she would be ok!

Noorah101

Awwww. Look for posts by ianmstm on here. You'll love his profile picture!

Rene

Jerseygirl

No quarantine bringing your dog into the US. How much does she weigh? Some US and Euro airlines allow pets under a certain weight to be transported in the cabin. If she is around 10/15lbs call around the airlines to find out their pet transportation policy.

nun

The main requirement for filing US taxes is just being a US citizen. There is some minimum amount of income threshold.....but if you're employed in the UK you will probably be above those. There is probably no US tax due because of the foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credits, but you should be filing. You will need to get the last 6 years of taxes sorted out. Also make sure you comply with the FBAR rules.

Sally Redux

I would be a little careful about automatically assuming prospects will be better here.

Bob

The folks, would they really be willing to give everything up that they know at their age? And having to work for years to come to get medical insurance?

Job hunting from afar is tough, but as you've got jobs, probably a safer option than winging it. What will you do for health insurance? How long will you wing it? Who'll be the financial co-sponsor for your OH, presuming you don't have enough in savings?

If your OH has niche skills and works for a bank with a US presence, perhaps he could work a company transfer out? That would be your best option.

Bob

3 for immigration purposes.