britishamerican

Hello you all!
I'm new to this, but I have been reading up a lot on the different forums that gives a lot of advice and useful information.I'm hoping all you wonderful people out there will help me on this terrifying but exciting journey I'm about to begin.

Now, to give you some insight into my and my husband's current status at the moment.My husband has lived all his life in the UK but also has a loving family from his mother's side in the US.He has always had a dual citizenship for both UK and US.He is 32, and I'm 27(no children yet) We are both very fed up of our lives in England and ever since I married him 2 years ago, I have been trying to pursue him to make a move to the US and now he is finally convinced that we should.We are giving ourselves 6-8 months (Feb/March 2015) to get there basically.

Although we have visa side of things sorted (almost!) since he already has a SSN and a US passport, and I'm going to get the boll rolling for I-130, the only thing we need to really sort ourselves out is jobs! This is what really got me worried(always has), but hopefully we can find something that will be adequate for monthly bills etc and more hopefully.

My husband has worked in retail all his life and is now a store manager on a decent wage but he doesnt have a degree.He has some btech qualifications which I'm not sure will work when he applies for jobs.I have Bachelor's and Masters degree in business, and been working in a Commercial enviornment for past 2 years.I'm hoping that my husband will get some sort of a general manager job(hes been a manager for almost 8 years), and I could get a job like junior buyer or something similar.

Does anyone have an idea of what our chances are to get a job once we get there? Anyone been in a similar situation as us, where you have gone to usa without a job offer and once there got the job? We like Chicago, Detroit, california, Carolina states... And won't be fussed of where we live the first few years.I have heard the chances of getting a job when you apply online from the UK are very slim to none since the companies dont entertain overseas applications, and apart from making linkedin contacts, you cant actually job hunt until you get there when recruiters start taking you seriously.

Please can someone shed light on the job hunting, your ideas and opinion about our situation? I have told my husband to leave his job here, and just go and see how it goes, and once he finds a job in few months time(hopefully!) I could make arrangements to get over there but he doesnt want to do that alone.he wants me to go with him next year when I have my visa and all is sorted which I think will be more expensive.

Thank you for all advice, really appreciate it.

Hotscot

Well, it's a tough job market for those with few qualifications and the pay and conditions are usually very poor.
Even for those with a degree, you could find something immediately or it could take the better part of a year.
It's true what you say about your chances being better once here...can you use a family address perhaps?

Is there perhaps anywhere else in the UK that could satisfy your need to move? For example, is being fed up to do with your geographic location and you think things will be better in the US? (They may not.)

Pulaski

In practice getting a job while you are still in the UK is going to be difficult, very difficult, as you said, little attention is given to applicants who are outside the country. Despite having a good agent, an established career, and some qualifications that were acknowledged if not exactly recognised, I had no interest from potential employers that could be converted to even interviews until I actually visited the US.

There are a few things you can do to help your presentation, to try to disguise that you're outside the US - such as getting a VoIP phone number in the US, and registering a mail box address in the US with The UPS Store, as they come with a "street" address, and then you give the box number as "Unit" or "Apt", and it is unlikely that most potential employers would ever notice. The only drawback is that someone might call at rather short notice for an interview.

Another thing to look out for are "mass hirings" at new retail developments. These are not common these days, but, for example, there is a new outlet mall being constructed near Charlotte, NC, that still had a substantial number of vacancies as of just a couple of weeks ago.

Honestly though, it's not going to be easy, and if you really want to move to the US it may take a huge gamble leaving your job(s) to seek work in the US, and quite possibly 8-10 months apart while your husband goes ahead and gets a job, and then applies for a visa for you. I only say that because a spouse visa only has a short life (six months from the medical), so trying to coincide a viea for you and a job for your husband is going to need more than a little luck. I see you're talking about starting the visa process yourself, but you could end up wasting the not insignificant cost if at least one of you doesn't have a job to go to, or you aren't prepared to risk the cost of several months of unemployment for both of you after you arrive.

Out of curiousity what does "working in a commercial environment" mean for you?

andrewlohnes

this is exactly what I will be doing in 18 months time, but luckily I wont have any bills to pay until I get a job! I can't really add much more but will interesting to see the replies in this thread.

Has your husband been filing his taxes by the way? I'm in the same boat as him but only recently got my passport but had never filed taxes so had to catch up.

a_J_Martin

Hi there,

My wife and I did the same kind of thing in 2005.

Basically the goal is to secure a job before the money runs out, so do anything you can to live more cheaply or get a job quicker.

I would figure out your finances to see how long you can go without an income to see how long you can last. It could take months to get a job or at least a job you want. You'll have all the regular bills plus health insurance and probably a car depending on the city you choose. Consider staying with family at first to save on rent to make your money last longer.

Hopefully you won't have a problem finding jobs, but I think it's good to plan for the worst case scenario especially because you won't have access to benefits.

Before you come, get your resume up to date and make sure you know all the places to apply for jobs before you arrive. Research potential companies, recruiters, job websites. Etc. Before you come. Recruiters probably won't put you forward for jobs until you move but they will probably be willing to talk to you.

Perhaps your husband can use linked in to figure out who the area managers of some stores are then make some contacts or set up a meeting with them.

Finally, if you do apply for jobs from the UK. Make sure to issue that you don't need sponsorship and the date you intend to be in the US.

I hope some if this is helpful.

Good Luck!

britishamerican

Hello and thank you to all of you for the replies! Life is actually not that bad that we HAVE to leave the UK to be honest.We have been saving up for a house and although we hate our jobs at the moment (easy fix = new jobs) but just the fact that although both of us together earn easily above the national average but still find compared to our US families, everything is so much more expensive and honestly we just want to go on this adventure where we explore a new country, meet new people, etc and I know everything is going to be so much more challenging but we are at the stage in our life where we dont have kids at the moment and no ties such as property that we CAN potentially do this as we are still early 30s and late 20s, I think I would get cold feet from 5 years from now.
In a year's time after we get there eventually, and nothing works out I guess we can mave back with all our experiences to talk about - just trying to be optimistic maybe here....
I work as a junior buyer, not filed any taxes so I'm going to have to look into that as well, and I'm hoping to get a green card by the time I get into the US since I have been married for over 2 years so not so bad.
We do have several families in the US where I'm confident we can stay for as long as we need to or use their addresses for the job applications no problem.will that work though? What if they call us and we need to give our phone numbers? Thank you for all replying!

a_J_Martin

With regards to the phone number, you can get a local number from skype. You can even get voicemail through them. The problem is if they ask you to come for an interview tomorrow or next week and you can't.

hoffage123

We did exactly this, and I would advise that you proceed with extreme caution, especially if you have kids and nowhere to stay in the US rent-free.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would have saved up at the very least 6-8 months worth of savings, before I attempted moving to the US without a job.

The advice others have given you is also very good. I would suggest that you have a plan on researching potential areas for vacancies, people to meet up with for informational meetings etc, before you arrive. Otherwise it will be hard (trust me, I am going through this right now).

Retail jobs are 10 a penny here, competition is high, and management would require a bit of fanagling I expect; your husband may have to settle for a non-management role initially to get his foot in the door, especially with no degree. To give you a direct example, my wife has a PhD and is working as a cashier atm. There are no guarantees you would replace/improve your standard of living, which is why I am advising that you seriously think through all the scenarios and make sure you have a proper financial base to work from.

Also re: staying with family in the US - yes it sounds great in principle, but it can easily go sour and lead to tension, especially if the unemployment situation goes on for any length of time. Beware of that.


Hoffage

scrubbedexpat097

I agree with you about doing it now before you start a family. It's a lot easier if you only have to keep two heads above water and also easier moving around if you are not worrying about schools, childcare etc.

Good luck, it will be tough and even though it may look like everyone lives at a higher standard than in the UK it really isn't so in many places and for many people.

md95065

Realistically, it might be best if you started the visa process for you immediately and your husband moves to the US as soon as possible to try to find work.

If all goes well and he finds something suitable in a reasonable period of time then, when you get your visa, you go out and join him.

If it turns out that he isn't able to find work by the time you get your visa you might want to reconsider your plans and have him just come back to the UK.

Noorah101

It doesn't matter whether YOU (the UKC) have been filing taxes. What matters is that your husband (the USC) has been filing a US tax return each year. If he has not, he needs to file at least the most current 3 years of US tax returns.

Once you enter the USA using your Immigrant Visa, you will automatically become a US PR and will get your green card immediately. The length of marriage is only relevant as to whether you will get a 2-year green card or a 10-year green card; but both green cards carry the same US Permanent Resident status for you.

You also mentioned a couple of times moving to the USA next year. Keep in mind that if the I-130 is filed directly to London (you have that option as long as the USC is still living in the UK), the visa process only takes about 4 months. The visa itself will be valid about 5 months after being issued (it's valid 6 months from the date of the medical exam). So plan accordingly.

Rene

Pulaski

By which time you've completely wasted the cost of the visa. Hence my advice in #3 above, hold off on the visa until your husband finds a job.

hoffage123

+1

And have savings. Plenty of savings.

britishamerican

I understand, I know we have some challenges to overcome but I just want to get out of England! The plan for now is to update our CVs and LinkedIn profiles, make some contacts(I have never done it before!) alternatively file for I-130 petition and prepare the savings as well as taxes for the last 3 years! Hopefully, when we do make our move with my immigrant visa hopefully granted, we will have some good job prospects ahead of us.Once we are ready for everything professionally, I think we will also start applying online from the UK with US addresses and hopefully, things will work out. OMG! Also worrying about I-864 and proving things financially is going to be tough! Hopefully, our savings will be enough.

Anyhow, I'm almost certain I will be asking a lot more questions (different ones) as I proceed higher in this forum and I cannot thank you guys enough for your advice,opinions and sharing experiences.Please let me know any more experiences of your move to USA from the UK, how successful it was/is, if you took pets(OMG, did I mention I have a dog?!) and how was yout overall experience..Please please let me know your challenges and how you overcame it all.maybe I'm just depressed and I want a better life for my husband whom I love a lot, or maybe I'm misguided.Either way, let me know your thoughts.
Thank you.

Nutmegger

Unfortunately, this is prone to be the worst reason to move to the US. When you arrive you find that it is the same s*%t, different bucket, but minus the NHS and the social safety net available to you in the UK. I would second the suggestion that your husband come over first to look for a job, and that you hold off until he attains one (hopefully one offering health insurance coverage for both of you!). You will find a number of threads about the procedure for shipping a pet to the US -- people seem to be paying in the region of $1,000 for the process. Good luck to you!