Is Moving to America the answer
 

Hi everyone

Saw this forum and just had to join and see if any of you can help me with a big decision. :confused:

I moved to Spain 5 years ago for a better life for me and my family and its time for us to move on and we're thinking about America. I love it here, the weather is nice and the way of like is great but unfortunately for me, picking up the language is so difficult and therefore making friends is very hard.

There are other British people around here but most are retired or older than me and i have very little in common with them. I have made one really good friend but she is thinking about moving back to the UK which is kind of gonna leave me on my own. My husband works away a lot and i am left here with my children, i need people around me that i can communicate with even if its just to comment on the weather or something, i cant do that with the Spanish. I can get by with my spanish but then they assume i can understand everything they say and they talk at me at 90mph, i say that i dont understand at which point they just look at me and i end up feeling stupid! Im fed up of not feeling settled here and thats mainly down to the language.

So, we are now considering America, what do you think, i keep thinking if i can move to Spain and not understand a word theyre saying to start with, then America should be a breeze, or am i just kidding myself.

Any advice or comments you may have, i would love to hear them. :thumbsup:

Tracey

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Welcome to BE.:)

The first thing to sort out is what visa would you be coming over on? It's very difficult to get into the US and wondering about whether you would fit in or not is irrelevant if you can't get a visa.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

How do you plan on getting the necessary visas to come and live in the US? Take a look at the following...unless you or your husband fit into one of these categories you will need to look elsewhere I'm afraid.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Please read this: REALLY, READ ME: Want to Live & Work in the US?

Unless you have a way toward a visa of some kind, the rest of the discussion is moot. Visas are often hard to come by.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Snap. :lol:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

It would help to speak Spanish here too.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Well i guess that my bubble i was living in has just burst, i honestly didnt realise it was so difficult to get in, my husband works offshore and maybe there's a chance to get a visa that way but reading the page suggested by you it says that i would have to prove that an American couldnt do the job, which would not be the case.

How gullable was I ? I just presumed that i could move to America just as easily as I moved to Spain and others move to other countries. WRONG

Thanks for your help, i guess its back to the drawing board or UK (unfortunately)

Tracey

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Only in Eastenders :lol:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

If your husband's job is on the H-1B list or another work visa list, then it is a possibility.

Also look into Canada for immigrating. They have a point system and Alberta is the oil capital and always on the look out for workers. He might be able to get a temporary work visa from which you have an opportunity to get residency.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Ooh thats interesting, i will have to get him to look into that, maybe thats a possbility

Thanks

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Australia... also points based immigration, they speak English and you'll still have the nice weather.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Hope you like it cold...North Alberta temps can reach -70C...it's warmer in the south -50C. :eek:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

I would love to go to Australia, i went a number of years ago and loved it and also i have family and friends over there, but its too far away from home if anything should happen to any of our family members.

T

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Read back through some of the old threads in this forum and also the threads in the Rovers Return...it should give you an idea of the problems some encounter when they live is Aus, Canada and the US.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=61

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Ok thanks i will have a look :thumbsup:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

That's the great thing about the EU - free movement of people.

You don't say what part of Spain you live in, have you considered another part of Spain where there may be more Brits (or other foreigners) or where the local Spanish speak a clearer dialect.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Have you taken a look in the BE Spain or Siesta forums...you may be able to make a few friends through there?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=75

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Im just outside of Valencia and most brits are down south more.

The language problem isnt just down to communicating with the spanish people, its also a problem trying to help my two children with their homework, they get anything from an hour a night plus, and when i cant help them it makes me feel pretty stupid as a parent, to add insult to injury they work in both spanish and valencian, spanish is hard, valencian is impossible. This is why i need an english speaking country.

I agree that i could move down south where people speak more english but schooling would still be a problem unless i want to pay stupid money and put them into an international school, which unfortunately really isnt an option. I will have a look on the forum though, thanks

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Yikes - pain about the Valencian bit on top - at least if you moved south you'd only have Spanish - even if the Andalusian Spanish can be a bit rough in places. Perhaps you'll need to head to Gibraltar, seems to be half English half Spanish spoken there.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Que dithes?! :lol:

My parents put us straight into public school in Thpain when we lived in Barthelona in the ages ago 70s. My sister and I learned the language pretty much by ear and context.
When we returned to the States, the school put my thisther in speech therapy for a lithp! :lol:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Not easy though...

What about SA? Not as far as Aus...it's hot, it's doable...

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

The title of this thread keeps popping up in my profile...and seems very philosophical...:unsure:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

I think I am about to bring it down a few notches .....

I love the way they move about in the soaps. They just decide that they want to go somewhere and off they go. No worries about visas and air fares. Then they always, and I mean ALWAYS only seem to have one bag with them when they are in the emotional final leaving scene. No matter how many years they have lived in the soap, just one bag. It took me months to organize my move, pack up all my stuff and have it shipped here.
How I longed for a dramatic soap departure with my entire life in one carry on bag (no liquids of course).
If only TV was like real life .......................................

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

I arrived with a tesco's bag ...

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

That figures...you couldn't check the trolley right?

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

I cast away my wordly goods except a change of clothes and my slippers

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

http://smileyshut.com/smileys/new/Music/violin-011.gif

OK OK...where do I send the cheque. lol

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Is it not? I thought living in Gib was an easy thing to do for a Brit, I seem to remember some of the Spanish forum do.

SA :eek:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Gib ain't that easy, for a Spaniard maybe...certainly even harder to get citizenship if you wanted the long haul.

South Africa ain't that bad, got a couple mates in J'Bourg....though they are minted, which helps :D

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

other options include overstaying your visa or getting married...since the WTC events in NY it has been alot harder. The good news is the fist illegals they go after are from economic deprived countries like Mexico. UK citizens are usually last on the list to be messed with. I think there is an option if you can prove you are self employed. My friend is a web designer/consultant with a verifiable business in the UK and he was able to do it.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Wasn't that easy before Spetember 11th 2001 either. The rest of what you said is just plain wrong legally and ethically.

Now put the little glass pipe down and get some sleep.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

I found you ...May I present you "Moron of the Week award"

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

P.S. And welcome to BE! :rofl:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

The trolley was returned as he wanted his quid back.

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

:rofl: Reading that you must sound like my family near Barcelona when you speak Spanish I learned it with a lisp (by ear) and when I got to California couldn't figure out why no one else did :rofl:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

And there was me thinking i had it all sown up!! I was going to move to America, chat to my neighbours about anything coz i havnt been able to do tht for the last 5 years and enjoy my life again.

Then i get told 'it s not easy getting into America, what about visas' i look into that and it now looks near on impossible. So i then read another suggestion to have a look at another thread, which leads me to one that asks 'Has anyone moved back to UK and regretted it', oh my word!! most of them hated moving back to the UK and most then moved back to where they'd come from. Also i moved from UK for a reason, cost of living and mainly, sad i know, but the weather

Then .... i should perhaps marry and American, i have a problem there too, i am already married, quite happily actually, so thats not really possible, my husband is understanding with this moving lark but hell i dont think id push my luck too far. :wub:

So im left with my dilema, im unhappy here in Spain, cant get into America and Australia is just too far (family wise) and the UK makes everyone depressed, should i start a new thread saying 'HELP i want to move somewhere else, any suggestions?'. :confused::confused:

I think im gonna need quite a few trolleys and trust me its gonna be packed with tesco bags, How do they do it???

Where am i gonna go. :(
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

heheh.. yes, had to retrain the tongue to speak south of the border.. they have as many differences as we do UK/US with English.
And my Mexican friend complained that the Spanish were too snooty to him when he was there visiting & kept making him repeat himself. :lol:

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Is moving to America ever the answer....?

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Don't look at moving back to the UK as being unfortunate. It's still a great place, a lot of people move back there from here too :)

Re: Is Moving to America the answer
 

Have you visited the parts of Spain with more brits in?
My family are up by Barcelona, the kids went to the local school for a couple of years then to a private one, but not an anglo american one. They did great.
Some school in Gava I think, they used to go in on the train each day.
It couldn't have cost too much the mom was home all day and Dad ran a bar.