Move to California from London
 

Hi All!

Just joined the forum after seeing some good threads re UK to Cali move.

Im also interested in making this move. I have alot of family in USA - Dallas, NYC, and Cali. Reason for the move is to achieve a better lifestyle. So want nice weather and a big house which in the UK is impossible. From looking at house prices on realtor.com (dont know if thats a good site?) they dont seem that bad at all for what you are getting. The area iv been looking in is Fresno - I read someone mention Fresno in another thread and hinted it isnt a great area? For $400k $450k there are some beautifull places for sale, anything similar in London would run into the millions of £.

Also my uncle in Fresno will help in anyway he can - is anyone able to throw some light on how he can or if he can sponsor me to go over? With regards to work my aim would be to go into a business, all my family in USA have businesses and always tell me there is alot of opportunity out there, my uncle is in the trucking business and has mentioned opening a truck insurance brokerage in partnership with him, or even a subway franchise. I suppose my main question is - is there really much more opportunity out there for business than London where it seems like everything has been done and there is just too much competition? (if there was surely everyone would be in business?)

Im quite comfortable here financially and have a decent job, plan to go freelance after which can afford to make a few trips to Cali to check it out and also go out there for 3-6 months without work to see what its like aswell.

Any advice re visa/sponsorship, business, houses is appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Move to California from London
 

Also whats the deal with health insurance - how much is it per person on average or is it much more complicated to figure out? (Will be asking uncle all this aswell but want to gather as much info prior to grilling him)

Re: Move to California from London
 

You need to bring big bucks to come in as an investor, there are several possible ways, but realistically you'd need to invest $200k in the business alone, and more is better.

Your uncle cannot sponsor you for a family visa, only lineal relatives and siblings can, and even that can take 10-13 years!

Re: Move to California from London
 

How long is a piece of string? :rolleyes: ... It's like asking how much it costs to buy a car.

I'd say an average policy with "average coverage and conditions" (whatever that means) would be around $500/mth for a healthy 30 year old.

Re: Move to California from London
 

If you are eligible to use the VWP (which will allow you to visit the US for up to 90 days), you are unlikely to get a B-2 visa (which will allow you to visit the US for up to 6 months). If you apply for a B-2 visa and it is denied for any reason whatsoever (including you being eligible to travel on the VWP), you won't be visiting the US any time soon... because that visa denial will also put a halt on your ability to use the VWP.


How much? There is no way to know how much it will cost, so plan on about $500-$1000 per month. That is not an unreasonable amount in the US.

Ian

Re: Move to California from London
 

Way to bust his bubble, guys....:cry_smile::D

Re: Move to California from London
 

I seem to remember Fresno is on the verge of bankruptcy.

None of it really matters without a route to immigrate in the first place.

Re: Move to California from London
 

Little seems meaner than a straight shot of realism! :rolleyes:

Re: Move to California from London
 

Thanks for all the quick replies guys, Wow! So very difficult for a family sponsor...and that much for health insurance?! So USA citizens (yourselves) actually pay that much for health insurance per month? That's unbelievably high. Will contact uncle with this to get further info.

Lisa - not a burst bubble (yet) but very good to know all this before looking into it further as now can have a realistic plan (if one at all).

Pulaski - I'm defo a realistic bloke and this is the type of info I was after.

So the best way in is via a UK company sending me for work in the USA?

Why have the govt made it so hard to migrate in?

Re: Move to California from London
 

They have only made it hard to immigrate legally.

No different from most countries you might want to move to.

Re: Move to California from London
 

If their employer doesn't cover health insurance, yes. Either that or they forego the health insurance and hope to hell they never have to go to the hospital. A single hospitalization, without health insurance, could easily bankrupt you.


What is "best" is what works for you. However, this would be among the easiest ways!


Why? Consider this: What have you got to offer the US? If nothing or not much... then, quite frankly, the US has no place for you! It is well known that the US is among the most difficult of countries to migrate to.

Ian

Re: Move to California from London
 

Bankruptcy in very very extremely rare cases. Of the tens of thousands admitted to hospital without insurance my son included. How many times has anybody been bankrupted from a hospital. Most if not nearly all hospitals will accept payment arrsngements. A hospital will only want to go the bankruptcy route if you have tens of thousands of dollars in the bank and are refusing to pay your hospital bills. My theory isnt based on rumors its based on my first hand experience of the usa hospital system. Where our bill so far has exceeded 600, 000 dollar's! !!! And still counting! ! And no our health insurance did not cover hospital stays. Most health insurance companies would like you to believe a hospital will bankrupt you for obvious reasons but it is mostly not the case.

Re: Move to California from London
 

This is why I wrote "could" instead of "will". I almost never use absolutes! :)

Ian

Re: Move to California from London
 

Presumably you're going to have to pay back a fair bit of that money though.

Re: Move to California from London
 

thanks for the insight golden. although an uninsured hospital admitee may not end up bankrupt the payment arrangements will be lifelong on the figure that you have mentioned?

from the sounds of it health care trumps all (to quote another user from another thread) I wouldnt dream of moving the family to the USA and putting their future in jeopardy by not having insurance due to expense (and then paying for it via payment plan for yrs to come) but equally it seems way to expensive (unless employers pay - which wouldnt apply if self employed). not sure where im going with this now... i think what im trying to say is it just sounds unreasonable to pay for health care - probably just me as never really considered it before. Also the lack of time of if employed by company seems pretty low.