michelle45

Hi I wonder if anyone can help with information. My husband and I would like to relocate to Orlando Florida with are Twin girls who are 6.
Need to know how we can get out there and what is the easiest way.
My husband is a qualified ACCA accountant. He does not have a degree. Is the best thing to geta degree? Can you get a job with an american company before leaving the UK? If so would they be able to sponsor you to get the Visa?
It seems that the Visa is the hardest thing to get.
If anyone has any info or any websites that will be help full to look at it would be very grateful.

Please help want to move to the sunshine

Orangepants

Hi,

The best thing for him to do would be to get a job with an international company that has offices in the UK and US and work for them for a couple of years, work his way up and get to a position where they would be willing to transfer him over. The L1 transfer visa does not require a degree but knowledge of company product etc.
Not an ideal time to be looking for a job (either in the UK or the US) or a transfer but make it a long term plan and do lots of research.
You are so right - the visa is very hard to get, I've been trying for over three years (with initially 6 job offers), two attempts at the H1b lottery and now an L1b.
Unless you are headhunted or have an amazing opportunity fall in your lap, then it's an uphill struggle but I'm getting there so it is possible but I don't have a family to consider.
Good luck.
PS Living in the US is expensive, health care, the myriad of taxes etc.. and there are lots of sunny places other than Orlando.

elfman

try Australia

YoungSteve17

Erie PA is nice this time of the year

NC Penguin

Personally, I think moving because you want better weather is an unrealistic reason to emigrate, taking account of the global recession.

Read this BE Wiki article first about possible options to move to the USA:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

I would also advise you to search and read threads and posts in this and the Trailer Park about hot topics such as health insurance and education (K-12) in the US.

dbj1000

There's no "easy" way. Given the info you've given us, the advice you've been given about working for a US-based company that can relocate him after a year or two is probably your only real choice.

Bob

I'd look at another country...accounts work is a bit different here...and errr...ten a penny, so unless he's got niche skills or company knowledge it'll be a hard sell and without a degree, without a company transfer he'll need 12 years experience, even then qualifications might mean nothing over here depending on the state.

And with school age kids, I think it would be crazy to move to Florida, because generally the school system there, with a few exceptions, is pretty shit.

Voltore

Yep, agreed.

I have a friend who worked high up in Accounts for a UK company at the US office. He got his Green Card and after a while took a buy out. He had a degree and was a Chartered Accountant (UK) not a CPA.

When he was applying for accounts jobs, a couple declined him interviews because his degree was NOT accounting (despite being a Chartered Accountant). That said, he did find work because some people understood what a Chartered one was and I believe he his close to becoming a CPA.

Even at my place some of the accounts people have BA's in Accounting yet the work is so elementary. Over-Qualified but that's they way it is. Sorry.

CitySimon

Don't listen to him, it's a trick! Come to Rochester, NY... We're like the caribbean compared to Erie! Especially in winter.

Ray

I just cannot think of any reason why anybody would want to move to a tourist town...
Its a town of high crime ...low wages and traffic noise

CitySimon

Well, that's me sold!!! The high crime got my attention, but it was the traffic noise that was the icing on the cake.

meauxna

In the middle of nowhere, and far from the beach!

CitySimon

This place is getting better and better... I'm starting to understand why all these Brits want to move there.

hobbes79

I got back from Florida (Fort Myers Beach) a couple of weeks back. While the weather was great, I could NEVER live there. I found all the tourists and old people intolerable! And old people and tourists on the road are a) lethal and b) incredibly slow. Took an age to get anywhere.

And holy crap, the supermarkets were expensive. I assume due to catering to tourists they don't worry too much about prices.

EDIT: Though in fairness, probably anything is better than Basingstoke... I worked in Chineham for 18-months... never again.

Finch2

What happened with your 6 job offers if you don't mind me asking ? And what do you do for a living ?