chris1234

Dear All, first post but feel free to pull me into line.

I am looking to move to the US under a sponsor program. Most of which will be done by the company, however wanted to ask some general questions before entering this process.

I am a British Citizen and Australian Resident living in Australia, my partner and two childrens (10yo) are Australian Citizens.

Can anyone see an issue with the above.

Other Questions are around topics such as education -

Can they attend public school in the US the same way we allow them to attend ours? I read conflicting advice that we can do 12 months and have to pay for it to a simple no.

Health Insurance - generally healthy, one of my kids has mild cerebral palsy but only physical. What are the general costs and can we take it out?

Kind of unrelated, looking at Dallas so any tips around this would be good, good area's, bad area's etc.

Thanks for your help

Chris

ian-mstm

Yes - you and your partner must be married. If the children are not yours, your partner will need written permission from the children's other parent (or a court order to that effect) to remove them from Aussie jurisdiction.


These are not immigration-related questions and should be posted in the general USA forum.

Ian

Noorah101

Hi Chris, Welcome to BE.

What is a "sponsor program"? Which visa would you be getting?

Rene

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck!

To add to what Ian has said, there's a couple of current health related threads that should get you started on the insurance questions.

Have a search too about Dallas, as it has come up a bit so would make a good starting point.

Schools, you rent/buy a house, kids go to the school tied to the address, unless you want to send them to private school. The whole thing about not being able to go to the public schools is probably related to the B1/2 tourist visa.

SanDiegogirl

Presume by sponsor program you mean a company is going to sponsor you for the work visa.

Yes, your children will be able to attend school in the US

Your company should be providing you with a comprehensive health insurance scheme; they will pay part of the premiums, you will pay the rest. If they are not providing you with health insurance then this is a major red flag with regards what type of company they are. For a family of 4 you are probably looking at $500+ per month for company scheme?

scrubbedexpat099

What is unique?

Pulaski

That rather understates the matter - his children will be required to attend school (unless there is an adequate home-school plan in place). Not only is there is no charge, there is no mechanism to collect a fee for a child to attend a public (state) school in the US. Plenty of children in the country illegally attend public schools and their status is unknown, undetected, and irrelevant for the purpose of attending school.

I agree, I see nothing remarkable. So far as the US goes, it makes no difference if you are from the UK, Australia, or Mongolia. There are a few special rules for Iranians and North Koreans.

Bob

Provided they are grade 1 and up. Pre-K/K, is a different story.

Pulaski

Maybe that depends on the state, because "k" is included in NC and VA, but in any case I don't think someone would be asking about "school" for 3-4 four year old.

Bob

Probably, down here, pre-K isn't free, full day costs extra and you've got to prove legal status which is dubious but there you go and for K state only pays half day and you have to pay for the rest if you want full day and you've got to prove legal status for that.

Though depending on birth date, could be up to 6 years old.

kins

Hmm, Maine schools charge a fee to anyone attending who doesn't live in the administrative area. The state sets the fee - it's around $9k. My daughter also attends a state boarding school and I pay for her room and board, also around $9k. The mechanism is certainly there *weeps*

Pulaski

It sounds like those are choices you are making. If you have a child, living in Maine, and are unable or unwilling to engage in home schooling, are you not required to send your child(ren) to a school funded exclusively by taxes? If you fail to send your child to school, or provide home schooling, are you not at risk of prosecution?

As far as I can tell, and despite the petty regulations that certain school districts have purported to introduce, there isn't anywhere in the industrialized world (G20 +++) where education for children isn't (i) mandatory, and (ii) funded by taxes and free from fees at the point of service.

petitefrancaise

Our school district is pretty strict too, for certain schools you MUST live within school boundaries. There isn't a "fee" scheme.

The only way around that is doing something like the IB program which is only offered at certain schools. Even then I don't think they will allow out of district students.

Pulaski, children don't attend school illegally if they are illegal immigrants. I'm nit-picking but if they live in area, if they have had vaccinations then they can go to school. The school is NOT allowed to ask about immigration status.

kins

Indeed, but you said there was no mechanism for collecting fees. And I pointed out that there absolutely are mechanisms.

Pulaski

I was talking about "mandatory" free public schools, and I think you knew that.