stuartk

I'm English and my wife is American,we have a 2yr old daughter with dual citizenship. Should we complete our visa application and move. What are the pros and cons of living in the States compared to England? Your thoughts and experiences appreciated...........Ta

ironporer

To make any rational judgement or form an opinion, MUCH more info is needed. Skills, likes, dislikes, work situation, etc are needed.

NC Penguin

To expand on what ironporer above has mentioned, could you describe what kind of industry/level within industry you and your wife work in.

Also, what kind of climate you prefer.

Actually, try the link below and enter your preferences for a place to live in the US. Once you narrow it down, you may want to post again with specific questions about the locations that the site identifies-

http://www.bestplaces.net/fybp/

Ray

Could there possibly be a more fatuous question!

Ash UK/US

Wouldn't your wife be able to answer more of your questions... given she is an american?

Ash

Lothianlad

That's exactly what I thought...surely she would know!

bromleygirl

Also another question to ask yourself is "What kind of situation am I in right now?" i.e Do you have a good job in the UK? Do you own your own home in the U.K.? What is your education level?

Unless you have a job here in the States you will not be covered by health insurance unless you want to pay several hundred dollars per month. Longer working hours - full-time jobs are 40 plus always, less annual leave 1-2 weeks per year depending on your employer and you have to earn it before you can even take it. Yes, jobs may pay a bit more in the States but once you figure longer working hours,less vacation and paying health insurance premimums it's works out to be the same at the end of the day.

I've been here 8 years and have decided to move back to the UK inpart to benefit my children's education. I am glad that I have lived here though and now have dual nationality as do my children so maybe one day when they are older and the States has universal health care (I really hope that Kerry gets in to do that) then I may well move back here again.

britchicknyc

Log on to www.findyourspot.com

It asks you a series of questions: size, location, climate, public transportation, whether you want a college town, etc...... and then gives you a list of places that you might want to consider.

Very interesting!

Patrick

If you cannot make your own decisions then you shouldn't move from your armchair.

stuartk

Thanks for the replies.
Did not really want you all to make the decision, just wanted some ideas of what I won't realise I'll miss until we're moved.
My wife was 19 when we got married and moved so we've lived our whole adult life in the UK.
I work in Learning Disability as a care home Manager, the turnover of staff is high so getting a job will be easy as pay is just as s*** in states for care jobs.
The main reason we are thinking of moving is because we've worked out we can sell our 2bed semi in London and take the equity and buy a 4bed and 2 cars and have no mortgage if we move to Rochester, NY where we have family.
Any ideas of what you found difficult when you moved or problems you were not expecting to come across?

bromleygirl

Credit History will be your biggest problem as you will have none when you move to the States so until you establish yourself it will be very hard to get any kind of credit going.

I'm assuming that you have been to the States before - if so for how long? What is your own personal impression of the States and how do you think that it compares to your life currently in the UK?

AmerLisa

Hi Stuart,

We just moved recently (this past January), my husband is British, I'm American and we have a 3 year old daughter (3 this Tuesday) Its been a very hard move for us. Hubs left a good paying job, we sold our house and brought the equity (believe me you'll need it, good thing you are doing that) and moved over. We moved over for family reasons, they were important enough to make the move, or else we would have put it off.
We didn't have enough money to automatically buy a house (with no mortgage) and if you are able to do that, along with cars, thats great. You will have absolutely no credit when you move over. Reading some of the threads concerning credit, banking, etc on this forum is very good. Search this forum on, for example credit, and you will come up with a host of valuable information. You are probably right on the job prospects, my husband is in telecommunications/IT and to say that he's struggling to find work is a gross understatement. He's working though, he accepted a job in retail because we, of course, had to have some income.
The other thing will be the culture shock. Your wife grew up here, but take my word on it, if you've been out of this country for a good period of time, she and you will be amazed. We made countless trips back and forth across the pond, but visiting doesn't do justice to actually living here.
What else can I tell you? Not sure, you of course know about needing health insurance. Its expensive and not all jobs insure your whole family, so you must pay out of pocket big time. Speaking of insurance, automobile insurance can be high here as well, especially since you will be considered a novice driver (your driving record won't follow you here either) and your wife has not had auto insurance here within 6 months if I'm not mistaken.
I'm sorry to sound negative. On the positive side, its extemely important that you do your research now, so at least you are taking the right steps. I thought I had done a lot of research, but failed miserably on the job front research. At any rate, the reason we moved was quite important and job or not it needed to be done.
Good luck and if I think of anything else I can tell you, I'll let you know.

Lisa

veryfunny

Nah, Stay in the UK.

g1ant

That's interesting. We are considering moving in the opposite direction, but for the same reason.

Is it the case that where ever you are, you think the education is better somewhere else?

sohosid

Not just education....but life in general. The grass always seems greener. But maybe that's not a bad thing, as long as you are positive enough never to regret the move and to make the most of the change. We are about to start the whole emigration process, and for every person saying "wonderul, you're making the right move" there are just as many saying "you're nuts, stay in the UK "....but the fact is that even if the US turns out to be not better, the UK is offering my wife and I nothing, and in my eyes the country is getting worse. I'd rather try something new, a challenge.