old_spaghetti

Hello, anyone got any latest info or recommendations for Brits moving to Fort Lauderdale area?

We (I and my US wife) are considering moving there due to a job offer. What areas are best/safest to live in? What are the most challenging practicalities relating to getting a leased home and setting up life there once we arrive?

-old_spag

Rete

Hi there. Welcome to BE. I've asked for your thread to be transferred to the USA main sub-forum as you are not asking to set up a meet and greet but asking about advice about a particular Floridian town.

Please have a read of the site rules when you have a moment. http://britishexpats.com/site-rules/

And again, welcome to BE.

scrubbedexpat099

Is this a company transfer?

old_spaghetti

David - no, a job offer my wife has received with a new company.

Noorah101

So she would get an H1-B visa. You would get an H-4. You are aware you cannot work on that visa?

Edit.... never mind, Boiler pointed out your wife is a USC. You're fine to work upon entry using your immigrant visa.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

Oops missed the bit about a US wife, anyway have you started the process for you to move? Takes a while and often US employers do not like waiting.

carcajou

Traffic in all of South Florida is a nightmare; you need to consider location of your house and the company very carefully. Getting an initial lease should not be too problematic.

The metro Miami area (Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach counties) is huge and asking generically about neighbourhoods is a bit like asking generically what town in the UK you should move to. Narrowing it down to Broward doesn't help a whole lot. You are going to need to be more specific about everything from your projected income to your lifestyle to where the office is going to be. South Florida has some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the entire United States; it also has some of the most violent and crime-ridden.

civilservant

You realize you're looking at 6-9 months before you can receive a visa to move there, right? Even DCF is not super quick.

Rete

Where do you see that he is getting a visa? That is the one thing that he hasn't mentioned. The wife, being a USC as the OP stated in his opening post, can return to the US and work. However, the husband (OP) is only a UK citizen and has no right to live in the US or to work here until he has a visa.

To the OP, is your wife going to file for your IR-1 visa at the US Consulate before she returns to the US and you will follow once you have the visa?

old_spaghetti

Thanks all for your comments, although I didn't really have any questions about visas, I have done alot of work about that already, I realise people tend to jump into that debate first. I am currently in the US as we only became aware of the job opportunity whilst we were here with family over the holidays, I am delaying my stay here until we have a final decision, so in order to avoid extended separation times I will not go back but stay and file AOS (I-130, I-485). I am taking legal advice about that. I can't even go home to help pack up as I couldn't re-enter under ESTA with pre-conceived intent, this makes things very difficult but it is what it is. As someone mentioned employers generally won't wait so it would have been impossible to do this filing from the UK without extended separation time. US immigration system sucks even worse than UK.

carcajou - thanks for your comments about traffic and crime, these are important considerations. We'd be moving because my wife would get a good salary that we could both survive off until I get employment authorisation. A comfortable budget for a leased home would be $2,500 - $2,700 a month, probably for a 3-bed at least 1,600 - 1800 sq ft. My wife's job would be in the area of FLL airport. Ideally we limit my wife's commute to 20-30 mins max. I have looked online at Weston, which looks like a nice neighbourhood and a safe area but I've no idea what it would really be like. I've heard it called "westonzuela" and that people aren't too friendly, but other people seem to love it there.

What about Davie, Plantation, Cooper City, Sunrise etc?

I don't think we can afford to live by the ocean and I'm not sure we'd want to with the hurricane risk, but are there any places you would suggest we look at along the coast?

We're looking for an active lifestyle, I would love to have a squash club I could play at but expect I will need to convert to Tennis. I like to play golf, run outside, scuba dive occasionally. Somewhere peaceful and quiet, family oriented would be ideal, we're not looking for nightlife or anything. A local sports bar with micro-brews and premier league football would be ideal!

civilservant

Oh dear. This is not a quick decision marriage we are talking about, it's a job offer. There is nothing stopping you returning to the UK other than inconvenience. You are risking a lifetime ban from the US.

old_spaghetti

A lifetime ban for what? I am currently here legally and once AOS is filed I will continue to be here legally even after the ESTA expiration date. I have had the case reviewed by an attorney who is satisfied we have sufficient evidence to deal with the pre-conceived intent/visa fraud issue.

Winston_the_Great_Dane

6-9 months is on the pessimistic side. I just nailed it in 4.5 months.

Winston_the_Great_Dane

To add, I probably wouldn't do it the way the OP is suggesting. I'd take a short trip home, file DCF and take time to pack up the UK while waiting for interview. Nothing to stop you re-entering on VWP while it's going on and with less risk of it going wrong.

Good luck whichever way you choose.

civilservant

It seems you know the answer to your own question:

They aren't the one that ends up with the issue when it goes wrong, of course they are looking on the sunny side - they get paid either way!

The maximum penalty for visa fraud is a lifetime ban from the US. I hope you have a high tolerate for risk, because the potential penalty is pretty stiff. Good luck.

This is far safer.