Cali_n_Cheshire

Hello,
I am American/British dual as is my son. My husband is British. About 4 yrs ago we decided to move to the US as my husband wants to have his "adventure". The recession hit and all plans where put on hold. We are not looking at putting the house on the market in the new year and move as soon as it does. I am hoping its quickly as I want to get settled before the start of the next Sept term.

We are looking at moving to N. Dallas area. My sons God parents are moving from Liverpool there and my uncle lives in McKinney. My sisters are even going to look into moving from CA to the area too. I have to admit I keep going back and forth. We live in a tiny town in Cheshire and there is nothing for kids to do. There isnt even a decent grocery store in town. We have to drive nearly 5 miles to get to one. There are no jobs. My husband is from Manchester and he isnt doing well in the rural area. I am from Sacramento and this is to small of an area for me. Dallas suburbs are more our pace. We can afford a large home there, we have a tiny 3 bed semi here. (3rd bed is no larger then a walk in closet)

My biggest worries are the schools there. My son goes to a really really good school here. There are only 13 kids in his reception class. They have a fantastic program. I am really worried that the schools there will not be up to par with the schools here. I have also heard that they are " rewriting" the history books. I am not really sure what that is all about. Any info would be helpful

I also worry about health insurance. Dont we all. Two sisters have none with their jobs. Hubs is looking to open his own business (no employees just him) so dont know if that will make a differnce. Its been 7 yrs since I had to think of insurance. I am hoping that it all falls into place.


Also... Over here in the UK we see all this info on what seems like right wing extremist. (well they seem extreme to me) Sarah Palin, tea baggers ( sounds like a sex postion) I dont even know what they are all about. Am I right to think that they are taking over in the states, or is it typical media hype and it doesnt effect daily life at all?

I guess its just the typical nervousness of having a complete life change. I have immigrated before, but it was just me. I moved to get married. Sold everything included my condo. It wasnt that big a deal. Now its the 3 of us. Much harder to do when others lives are being effected. Especially your 4 yr old.

So does anyone have any advice? Experiences? Suggestions? Advice?

Sue

Hi Cali,

I know you've been a member a few years but not a regulaterly poster it seems ( ) so I wanted to say hi and "welcome" you to the forum. If at any time you have any site usability questions please don't hesitate to give me a shout.

In the meantime, in answer to your questions, I suppose one needs to look at the reason you want to move. What is the driving force behind your move and what is your hope to achieve in the US? Better quality of life, better career choices, weather, schools ...etc, etc. Then seriously compare the advantages and disadvantages of each country. As you already know there are good and bad things in every country so the bottom line is are the bad things that you could experience in the US better or worse than the bad things you would experience in the UK?

For us we came because my hubby was head-hunted. Before the job offer we had not even contemplated moving abroad again (Once lived in Germany). Hubby loves it here, I'm not so keen, but we have a son, and the longer we stayed the harder it was to pull him out of education and move back. However, we have a good life here, (we live in NC) and our son has had a wonderful childhood here in NC, it's a great place to raise kids, although saying that, I think he may just as well had a great childhood in the UK too.

Sorry not been much help really have I ... just wanted to give you some food for thought. It seems that you are really taking the time to way up the pro's and con's about the move and are committed to doing lots of research. So I am sure whichever country you choose will be the right one for your family

Cali_n_Cheshire

Its so hard at this point. I have been gone long enough that I am a true blend of both worlds. Dallas will be a different state then home (CA) so it will be new for me as well. Its a lovely city. I do know that.

Over all, I do think we will have a better life in the US compared to what we can accomplish here. Its sooo expensive in the UK. I think if we where nearer a city I may feel differently but we can not afford to move closer to Manchester. We are pretty much stuck where we are in Cheshire without options. We can move to TX and start over and, I think, do much better.

This is such a hard decision. I dont dare bring my worries up to DH as he would put the brakes on the move full stop. He needs me to be the cheerleader in all situations or he seems to stall.

So much to think about my head hurt.

vegas

I live in carrollton which is about 20 miles north of Dallas. If I had to move to an area of north dallas I would move to the Plano / Frisco area. There are many things to do there with a few great malls. The Airport is only 20 miles away. The schools are great and there is a very good community college. A lot of students do 2 years in community college which is a lot cheaper then 2 years at proper university to get their degrees. The temperatures in August can be 100+ degrees. Electricity is very expensive in Texas we pay $400 per month in the summer and $150 per month in the winter for a 3500 sq ft home. House insurance is also very expensive $2000 a year for $400k coverage. Your car insurance for you and your husband will probably start at $2000 for 6 months as you have not built up a driving record here. As soon as your kids turn 16 they have to be put on your car insurance this can easily double or triple your premiums. Property tax is very expensive in texas I pay $5500 on a $300k house. If you can get a house without a HOA as they are a pain in the backside telling you what you can and can't do. I personally have had enough of the heat and we are going up for sale in Jan 11. With the house prices basically halved we are going to move to orange county CA

Mummy in the foothills

Not sure about Texas, but if you are comparing your cost of living I think it's More expensive to live here in the long run. Be honest with yourself about why you want to move, and what you want. 5 miles for groceries is nothing for me, I drive 45 minutes minimum (an hour if theres traffic) to get groceries and go to WalMart or Target, unless I shop the local place that is 10 miles away and super over priced. I'm only a couple hours or so from Sacramento and shop in Folsom a couple times a year.
Cheshire is a gorgeous area and life is what you make of it, (we are from North Wales originally) I live in a lovely area here too with nothing for kids to do and I have to drive and drop them to everything, Oh well, we chose the the house.
Do you realize it's going to be a whole lot hotter than Sacramento gets in summer? So you'll have to find lots of indoor stuff for kids to do for a few months each year.

Cali_n_Cheshire

See, I am from Rocklin. I loved it and If I could move back I would. But we can not affod it at all. Everything was at my front door. It was great. Its how it would be in TX. That is a massive plus. We are city/suburb people. Not rural people.

Dont know how long you have been gone but its is outragously expensive. The pay here is beyond low. I work two jobs and hubs does his just go make ends meet and they still dont. Taxes here are so high and car tax on my 10 yr old car was £125 for 6 months. In TX its would be $48 a year for any car.

Heat. I miss the heat. We went back to Sac this summer and I loved it. We have had 3 solid years of rain. Talk about finding indoor stuff. My son has never played outside in the Summer. Its just rain. It wasnt like this when I came over 7 yrs ago, but every Summer now is solid rain from end of June to Sept. He has never laid on our grass in the back garden because its always mud.


So what is this Teaparty all about? We hear so much about it but not really what its about here.


Being an expat is hard. Its still hard here after 7 yrs I am sure it will be there too. I know my hubs wants his adventure. Its so hard to make a life changing decision.

Mummy in the foothills

Heck Rocklin is expensive! I'd love to afford to live there.
You picked the coolest summer in forever to come back we only had something like 9 days over 100 and it's usually 22 or so.
No idea what the teaparty is all about, I'm staying out of it all.
It sounds like car tax in Texas is a lot less than here, the big stuff seems cheaper, washers dryers cars etc but you don't buy them very often I hope.
Food seemed cheaper last summer when we were in UK, we arrived in June and left in July and didn't get hardly any rain, it got pretty hot at one point.
Funnily enough, some reasons you give for coming here are things I say about coming home. But #1 is for family, women seems to need the family near more than the guys do. You sound homesick for family, and moving to Texas would be great for that, and Dh would get his adventure. I hope he settles as well as you probably will, so you won't be ping ponging about the world.
Get your UK citizenship before you leave, even if you feel you never want to move back, the kids may move one day and it just makes life easier. Our whole family are dual nationals, just in case.

Cali_n_Cheshire

I do have my Citizenship. I got that a while ago. I wouldnt leave without it.
It was a lovely 103 when we where in Auburn visiting family. I loved it. Yougot here during the 3 weeks of no rain. It rained solid most of Julyl, all of August and into Sept. I just cant do with only 3 weeks of sun a year.

I know what you mean, when I have Americans tell me they want to move to the UK I cant imagine why. Council tax, TV license, low pay, VAT will be 20% in Jan, Petrol £1.16 ltr. Its crazy. LOL Its always greener on the other side.

Sally Redux

Have you got jobs lined up in Texas? Otherwise the higher pay will be moot.

I believe Texas is cheaper than California, for me the property tax is a lot more than my old council tax and cable costs a lot more than the TV licence fee.

The politics is more right-wing and it's far more religious here than in the UK. Only you can decide how important that is to you.

If your husband wants an adventure, go for it but don't burn all your bridges.

jjmb

It seems to me that with your child at reception age, it would be a good time to move. Its not as if you moving to a totally foreign environment as you know the good and bad sides of living over here, from your own experience.
The Texas job market is not down as much as other states so finding a job, although difficult is doable.

Schools you need to research in detail as school districts vary a lot just within miles of each other. You say your son is in reception class at the moment, which means he is 4 and 5 by the time he get here? Then he would be in Pre-K so going back a year- you might want him to be tested to see if he can go into P1. School classes here can be large and all the elementary schools here (just outside Austin) take in about 200 pupil a yr, so he might find it over whelming at first going from such a small school to a much larger school. Charter schools are common in the Dallas/FW area so that might be an option if you want smaller classes. However, kids at that age are very adaptable and he would be a Texan before you know it

What sort of work does your husband do at the moment? Will it move easily over here without getting more qualifications? Does he have a work permit or legal status over here. If not, you need to do that first before moving. What sort of work do you do? Again will your qualifications be recognized in Texas? All of those sort of things need to be sorted out first before you move back. Moving with a company as a lot of expats do, is much easier than moving over on your own. Figure out the costs and if it viable option why not do it? You can only try it out and find out if the grass is indeed greener on this side of the fence. You will find some parts are greener than others but its amount of weeds you can put with, that ends up being the deciding factor.

The tea-party is a bit like the BNP but bigger and more middle class. In 2 yrs its will have faded as will Mrs Palin, hopefully.

Good luck.

Noorah101

You haven't mentioned much about what you know in terms of getting your husband his Immigrant Visa so he can immigrate to the USA. You'll be doing what's called Direct Consular Filing (DCF). The total process time takes around 4 - 6 months, so plan ahead accordingly. You will have a couple of hurdles to overcome, most importantly: The I-864 affidavit of support, providing 3 years of US tax returns, and proof of your intent to domicile in the USA.

Here is the link to the DCF process: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/DCF_I-130_Filed_In_London

Also have a look around the US Marriage Based forum for others who have done DCF through London to see how they met the I-864 requirements and intent to domicile issue: http://britishexpats.com/forum/forum...aysprune=&f=35

With your husband being self-employed, health insurance will be a huge factor to consider, especially with children. If you end up getting a job with health insurance, that's probably more affordable...you can add your family to your health insurance.

Rene

Cali_n_Cheshire

We are actually up to the point of interview. We have been for *cough* nearly 3 yrs. We where just about to move over and the economy crashed. So we stopped and put it off. We must finish it up by Dec. I am a member of a few expat forurms so I am pretty up on the visa rules.

There are so many good things about both countries. In some ways it will be easier because I grew up in the states so I understand the whole process of stuff.

Sorry I am not answering everyone. I am working at the moment so trying to pop on but not much time to. thanks for all the responses.

Noorah101

So you're just waiting for an interview date? You know that if his visa is approved at the interview, he has to use it within 6 months, right? You were concerned about moving to the USA before Sept 2011. But from what I can see, you'll be here long before that, since his visa will only be good for 6 months, and you're evidently close to getting the visa issued.

Rene

Cali_n_Cheshire

If anyone has found a way to stretch everything out to the last second its us. We have found every loophole known to man to push this process out.

Noorah101

That's fine, I'm just saying keep in mind that once the visa is issued, it's only good for 6 months. You can't stretch that one out.

Rene