British Expats - Relocating

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- - Relocating (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/relocating-670293/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenstate31 (Post 8601232)

First things first. Age is irrelevant, ANYBODY that is in the US is contributing in someway to the US economy, whether that be directly or indirectly! (its a shame that united states citizen and immigration service seem to forget that ;))
whether thats putting gas in your car, shopping at best buy, or paying sales tax for your food.
You mentioned that you have two homes in Wales and one in France. IF selling any of those is an option for you, AND raised enough money for an EB5 investment visa, you could look at that. Heres one JUST as an example www.eb5jaypeakresort.com/ they are regional centers set up by the government, whilst they dont promise a return for your investment, your money is safe, by SAFE i mean, enough to qualify for a green card:)
(cost about 500,000 plus filing fees US dollars)

If this is not an option, you have an E2 visa, however as you mentioned you would like to retire, so that may not be something you would like to do.
OR you have the option of the B2 visa, which allows you to be a 'snow bird' no cost, relatively easy to apply for. This allows you to spend the cold winter UK months in the US and ......well whatever way you want to do it.

Lastly once you have decided on these things, then look at your health insurance, which is another minefield in itself.
Good luck:thumbup:

Thanks for your informative reply. I think I'd have to sell at least two of my properties to finance the EB5 option and to be honest, I'd really only rather sell the French one which would not fund the EB5, but it's already up for sale as I'm mulling over my next move.
I'd read about the B2 Visas in the David Hampshire book "Living And Working in America" but was a bit apprehensive about that approach as I believe the B2 only lasts for ten years and I thought there would be little point in making such a big investment if the visa had the possibility of not being renewed. I guess you can see that I'm the cautious type. However, Hampshire also states "A ten year visa allows the holder to enter and leave America as often as he wishes during its ten year validity period. However B2 visas normally allow an entry period of six months at any one time (the actual period is decided by an immigration officer), although extensions may be granted." Perhaps I'm interpreting this incorrectly or pessimistically, but I wouldn't want the duration of my stay to be decided by the whims of an immigration officer. On the other hand, could an immigration officer grant permission for one to stay in the U.S. for say 9 months or more (the extension) in any year?
The E2 option is also mentioned in the Hampshire book, though again by going down that route I wouldn't have enough money to finance the house purchase and have a reasonably comfortable life style.
Loads of food for thought. Thanks for your reply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8600229)

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

I'm impressed, two pages and that wiki link hasn't been mentioned yet.

Fir any of those categories and I'm sure you'll get more help, other wise it's a waste of very ones time I'm afraid.

Nice link, thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8601628)

You'll get bounced after a couple of trips doing the VWP thing, it's not meant for people to live here.

As a retired person, you could get a B2 visa, which allows up to 6 months in the US, generally hard to get for those who are eligible for the VWP, but if money and retired, you'd have a chance.

It won't allow you to reside permanently and as a none resident, you'd probably not be able to get proper medical insurance. And travel insurance wouldn't cut it, plus that would get terribly expensive too.

Thanks for pointing out the pitfalls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dai Cooder (Post 8601806)

However B2 visas normally allow an entry period of six months at any one time (the actual period is decided by an immigration officer), although extensions may be granted." .

There are literally 1000s of Brits who own property in Florida mainly and who
stay Nov-April every year for 180 day a year.. which keeps the POE happy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dai Cooder (Post 8601827)

Thanks for pointing out the pitfalls.

Think of the B2 as the snowbirds visa...6 winter months in the US and 6 months out. You may get away with coming back before 6 mths but it will start to look like you're intending to live here.

I'm afraid it looks like that's all that will be on offer to you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl (Post 8601839)

I'm afraid it looks like that's all that will be on offer to you.

unless of course he wants to 'cash in' and sell his three houses (1 in france and 2 in wales) to qualify for EB5, if of course it meets $500,000:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenstate31 (Post 8602108)

unless of course he wants to 'cash in' and sell his three houses (1 in france and 2 in wales) to qualify for EB5, if of course it meets $500,000:)

500k won't cut it. That goes to the green card, and you may or may not get a little out of it down the road. Presuming he want's to live in a house, drive a car etc, he needs at least twice that amount.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatbrit (Post 8602120)

And be starting from scratch, no US credit history, so all the hassles that go with it for car insurance, utilities etc.

It's not an easy thing to do for anyone but gets far more expensive in later years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenstate31 (Post 8602108)

unless of course he wants to 'cash in' and sell his three houses (1 in france and 2 in wales) to qualify for EB5, if of course it meets $500,000:)

The OP has already said he doesn't want to sell them all...and $500K wouldn't be enough as FB as stated

Dai - have you considered Canada as an option? It's pretty warm in the summer, the people are nice, pretty similar to the US as far as lifestyle goes, and you can pop down to the US for a holiday any time you want. I have no idea what the visa situation is, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfromusa (Post 8599946)

What they are trying to say is, this isn't Australia, or Europe, where you can retire here if you wanted to. The only people that are allowed to retire here without restrictions and live anywhere in the 50 states and territories of the U.S., are USCs and Green Card holders. From what I gather, you don't have either, since you seem to be dodging the questions. So then, you're only limited to 90 day visits at a time, after which you must leave the U.S. for at least a 90 day period (or more), then you can come back for another 90 days, etc. etc. etc. Other than that, you're pretty much out of luck as we do not have retirement visas here. Of course, we're just speculating that you have no visa here to begin with, based on the information you're giving us. So I'll reiterate what FatBrit and others have said, without the proper visa, health insurance is the least of your worries. No point in worrying about health insurance, if you can't live here beyond 3 months

Note to OP: despite what is says in this post, it is not possible to retire to Australia as easily as this makes out. In fact it is easier to retire to the US providing you have enough money to buy one of the investor visas. This is not possible to do in Australia where you can only buy your way in if you have certain family members living there.

So if you're wealthy it's a lot easier to buy a retirement in the US, and you'd only want to retire in the US if you were rich anyway for the obvious reasons you have already raised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seneca21 (Post 8602759)

you'd only want to retire in the US if you were rich

I'm far from rich and I retired to the US

Quote:

Originally Posted by lansbury (Post 8603029)

I'm far from rich and I retired to the US

What was your route, lansbury?

Dear Folks & Posters,
I think I have enough information now to make a decision about which avenue to take if I do decide to purchase something over in the U.S.
The cost of the health insurance, as I originally suspected, does look expensive and would take a good chunk out of my disposable income every month.
What I now need to do is to weigh up whether I think the move is worth (not just in the financial sense) going for. If I sit tight I have the prospect of a relaxed lifestyle in rural France, unless of course another hurricane like Klaus decides to come ripping through. Trips to Portugal (late September) and Morocco (next February) are in the planning stage and are available for a few tanks of diesel for the camper van. At the end of the day, I guess only I can make the decision.
A big thank you to all who replied, especially to those who gave links, pointed out pitfalls or simply offered encouragement.

Cheers,

Dai

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seneca21 (Post 8603038)

What was your route, lansbury?

I retired end of 2006 at 58, got on a plane at Heathrow and flew to Oregon. Haven't worked since live off my pension. My wife is a US citizen and I become one 6 months ago.