laura257

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

First of all what visa is your husband’s company applying for? This will determine whether you will be authorized to work or not.

laura257

Pulaski

OK, so is he being transferred by his employer within the company?

Sorry to keep asking but BE members are reluctant to invest a lot of time in posting advice when we have been burned in the past and people either aren't permitted to work, or worse, don't even move in the end.

A transfer would imply an L-1, with an L-2 for you, or perhaps an E-2, within an E-2 for you. You can work on both an L-2 and an E-2 so long as you have an EAD (Employment Authorization Document, which takes about 12 weeks, as you apparently already know - but bear in mind the 12 weeks isn't fixed, it's just an estimate of how long it takes, and sometimes it takes four or five months.

laura257

civilservant

Can always do a Certified Nursing Assistant position, usually a few weeks training to get certified. Pretty low wage though.

petitefrancaise

I think we've had a few nurses on the forum. Why not post a separate thread asking specifically about that with "nurse moving from UK to USA" as a title to get their interest

Jerseygirl

We also have a forum for nurses.,,

https://britishexpats.com/forum/nurs...ccupations-72/

Pulaski

I doubt a phlebotomist would get any more. I know someone who went into that field, having previously worked as a "child care professional", which I don't think was a role she was massively overqualified for, or indeed overqualified for at all.

Giantaxe

Have you been to Fresno? It would be quite a culture shock moving there from the UK.

Intrigued to know what kind of company is based both there and in the UK.

laura257

Cape Blue

The Central Valley can be a bit redneck, some parts of it are quite poor, but doubtless it will be fine.

Pulaski

Most of America, beyond the suburbs of large cities, is "a bit redneck", with bits, or rather more than "bits" which are "a bit poor" whether you're in Oregon or Florida, California or Maine, or anywhere in between, or indeed especially the bits in between. And yes, they are just fine.

Giantaxe

The Central Valley is extremely hot for many months, although humidity is very low. The air quality is pretty much the worst in California because the valley is a huge bowl with nowhere for the pollution to escape. Culturally it's a mixture of long time residents who tend to be very conservative ("red neck", if you like...) and farm workers who are largely, but not completely, Hispanic. Crime rate is considerably above average for cities of its size. It's become a sprawling area that doesn't have much character. On the plus side, it's within close range of the Sierra Nevada, a quite magnificent mountain range if you're into hiking/skiing/snow shoeing etc.

If your husband is going to be working in Madera, I would give thought to living in Merced instead. It's a much smaller place, but houses a small University of California campus.

TexanScot

It's referred to as the "armpit of California".

See when you think of California and think of Los Angeles, San Francisco, golden beaches, great surfing and everything that you saw on Berverly Hills 90210?

Yeah that's not Fresno, not in the slightest.

That figures - the Central Valley has industrial agriculture on a scale that I've rarely seen anywhere else.

It's hot, humid, close-knit, conservative and a million miles away from all the stereotypes of the State - I've had people from Fresno tell me not to judge California by what San Francisco is like, with pained expressions on their faces.

Great Mexican food, that's for sure.