kodokan

It has a university campus so public transport might be reasonable. Two caveats - once outside of the usual student neighborhoods, the buses in US towns often drop to a peak hour commuter schedule of running downtown in the mornings, and back out again in the evenings, with nothing between. Check the schedules, as well as just looking at the route map. And the other caveat is the cold. Even if there are buses, she will need to be prepared to dress VERY robustly for the weather, and embrace suitable boots, coats, hats, gloves, lined trousers, etc, without regard for fashion or style sense. I live in Ohio where it's sometimes -15C or more in the mornings when my high schooler leaves to catch his bus, and it's an uphill struggle to make him wear a hat because hair vanity.

The volunteering thing - she'd be permitted to do the sort of volunteering that's not usually expected to be paid: walking dogs for a local shelter, putting out chairs and passing out drinks at the old folks' home, litter picking at the local park, manning a stand at the community music festival, etc. The kind of things retired people do to stay engaged, or high schoolers do to make their college applications look rounded. But nothing where a company should be employing an American but are using free slave immigrant labor instead

I drove through the area a couple of years ago on a road trip, and Montana is achingly beautiful. It is also very, very religious - huge fire and brimstone, pictures of aborted fetuses on billboards religious - but I expect this will be mitigated in Bozeman by being a college town. There's also a happy clustering effect - when I lived in a very Mormon area of AZ, those of us who weren't religious formed tight friendship groups over a shared love of margaritas and occasional cursing.

Pulaski

Light weight isn't a bad consideration, because once you start sliding, 4x4 isn't a whole lot of help. Granted my experience isn't with Idaho style winters, but people with SUVs seem to think that their vehicle automatically makes them great drivers in winter weather. Nothing could be further from the truth.

robin1234

True. But my experience (England, Boston, northern NY) indicates that really cold places (northern NY) winter weather is not too much of a problem, since the snow remains dry (40 or 50 degrees below freezing, snow is like sand..) and they clear the roads anyway. The problem is with relatively mild places (Boston or England) - with the temperatures in the 20s or 30s F, snow/ ice/slush can be really treacherous on the roads...

SanDiegogirl

I'd be interested to know why you are contemplating moving to the US, especially since it is to Montana.

With an 18 year old daughter I think you would be mid 40's (?) so will have an established, stable life in the UK with job, home, friends, hobbies etc.

I ask, because husband I moved to US when I was 52 and he 54. We too, had very established life in Guildford, Surrey with good jobs etc.

I was offered a transfer to California. We had visited California and the West coast frequently and had always wanted to live and work there. We had turned down an earlier move to Florida back in the early 90's, so thought this was our last chance to get to the US.

We moved with the intention of making it a permanent move. Making such a huge move at our age we did not contemplate doing it for just 2 or 3 years - too expensive and too disruptive. Getting our Green cards was also very important for us and we obtained a written agreement from my company that, if the job worked out OK for both parties, they would support my Green Card application within the first year.

If you are moving just for the adventure of it, then good luck to you, I applaud your zeal and energy; but please don't underestimate the effort and cost this move will be.

Montana is a wonderful state with some outstanding, scenic areas; and lots of snow!

Teanmontana

I am so happy you spent the time to write that reply to me, we are exactly as you so so unsure of what to do.

The main reasons for contemplating the move are as follows I hope this sheds a little more light on the subject.

I was approached late last year with a secondment opportunity to go and work in Bozeman Montana for 3 years to cover a role, I successfully got through the selection process and found more information on the way. The plant where they wanted me to go are struggling to find an engineer with my qualifications and experience. The situation changed at the beginning of the year when they pulled out of the secondment offer and offered me a full time job. This came with the details I have previously posted. We have now been given all the details to relocate.

The main reasons to go are

1. Promotion into a new higher role.
2. A great life experience in an exciting location.
3. Gain knowledge of a different plant.

We are a married couple of 35 & 36 with an 18 year old daughter studying sports coaching. We own a house in the UK and have a good life here. I suppose this is part of the problem, is the pull of something new and exciting 4400 miles away from home greater than what I currently have in the UK.

I suppose this is the kind of things I put the post up for having the chance to be able to communicate with like minded people who have done this themselves. Having crunched the numbers and done the best research I can I'm unsure whether the salary would be enough to cover what we need to live to the same standard we currently have in the UK.

D

Nutmegger

Sorry if I missed it in one of your posts, but have you ever actually visited Bozeman? If not, I would suggest that it doesn't make sense to take this big step without actually having done so.

Teanmontana

Yes you have a very good point, we haven't actually been to Bozeman. We have the option to go and visit before I sign on the dotted line. I believe this is a definite to do before we make such a big decision.

Are you indicating that it isn't what it seems? I only have tourist information and google to go on at this point.

Nutmegger

Not at all -- beyond the fact that nowhere is ever what it seems! But you are obviously mulling a big disruption in the lives of each member of your family -- not least your teenager -- and to do so without actually having visited the place certainly wouldn't make sense to me. Of course, living there will be very different from visiting, but at least you would have some idea of what to expect.

Teanmontana

Yes you are spot on - thanks for your reply.

SanDiegogirl

35 and 36, so quite a bit younger than myself and hubby!

When we moved to the US I don't think we thought of it as going to be 'greater' than what we had in the UK. We knew it was not going to be worse and it was going to be very different, and we were willing to give up our 'safety zone' in the UK to try it out.

I was not going to be losing out on salary with the move (70K back in 2000 - but it is California!) and hubby thought he was going to be a live-at-home trailing spouse! That did not work out and indeed, he continued working until he retired at 63.

We wanted a permanent move so we sold up in the UK - this gave us a nice nest egg and usually, you get more house for your buck in the US. Also hubby could not face the administrative issues of having a rental property back in the UK. It also spurred us on to get our Green cards quickly.

As previously said we had visited the West Coast frequently - and my brother in law lives just south of San Francisco. We knew the area somewhat and that would enjoy living there. You unfortunately do not know Bozeman at all.

Any chance you could do a quick visit there? My old company paid for a visit in order to look at apartments.

Another important aspect is that hubby and I have no children. So no worries about the impact of moving on them.

Personally, if you are keeping your property in the UK, really think this job would be a good career move for you AND are prepared to put it down to experience if it does not work out........ I'd go for it.

Teanmontana

Thanks again - Yes we are relatively young to do the move and under no illusion that it will be a very different lifestyle to the UK especially the weather.

Salary wise i'm being offered 70k which I thought was good but others are saying that's about average. What do you think in your opinion?

We are keeping the house in the UK to rent out as a backup and an agency will look after it for us - this covers the UK mortgage.

I don't really know what is holding me back at this moment in time - scared of it going wrong? worried about salary? Medical cover? maybe all.

Excited and anxious at the same time probably sums it up tbh.

carcajou

I would avoid local news to get a picture on the neighbourhoods - US media have a saying, "if it bleeds, it leads."

Outside the northeast corridor, public transport in the US is not usually viable, and that is particularly true in smaller towns like Bozeman. You will need car(s). Someone mentioned that Bozeman has a university - true but the bus lines will be geared at getting students from student-aimed accommodation to campus and not for generally getting around the city.

Another point is that it will be very, very cold in winter - do you want to be standing at a bus stop for a half-hour?

But, as a university town in Rockies/fly-over country - it will be cheap to live there, and Montana is beautiful. Just make sure you have your home heating sorted.

ddsrph

The median household income for Montana is 49,500 so 70k can't be that bad. Even better if your wife works full or parttime. By keeping your house you have nothing to lose and will always wonder what you may have missed if you don't take the opportunity.

SanDiegogirl

Yes, I'd say 70K was pretty average depending on what industry you are in and where in the country. Is your company an IT/Software company or in the manufacturing arena?

Whereas Bozeman's rentals and property purchase may be reasonably inexpensive, I should imagine heating costs are very high due to the long winter.

You have to forget about the a health system similar to the NHS - medical costs are a factor of living in the US. Just be very sure that your company's insurance coverage is comprehensive and know what the deductibles, and co-pay are (these are in addition to your monthly premium).

Your anxiety is probably due to Bozeman being a complete unknown to you - hence my question as to whether the company would be willing to fly you over for you and your wife to take a look at the place.

This is not an unusual request - they are recruiting you you to move, not the other way around, and you have not even seen the town yet. They also have had difficulty recruiting into this job for some time, so they may well be open to giving you a trip out there in order for them to "sell you the virtues of the place" What have you go to lose by asking them?

One other thing to ask the immigration lawyers about - when would you obtain the Green card based on the fact that you would move on an L-1B?

With your daughter aged 18 you want that Green Card sooner than later and, if, I'm not mistaken getting the card takes longer from the L-1B than an L-1A due to the fact one has to go through Labour Certification.

Good luck to you.

Pulaski

It's interesting how things change. Until about 50 years ago almost nobody who emigrated made a rece visit first. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I wouldn't say a rece visit is essential either.

It depends on your nature and flexibility as to whether moving "sight unseen" is a good idea, but if you're already 99% sold on the job and the promotion, how bad would an area have to be to make the move unacceptable?