tht

you don’t have to imagine, if you watch the news you can see for yourself, I am sure there are many countries in Africa/South America/ME and Asia where the social net is no better and probably worse than the US. Like I said my guess is this may not be a French Citizen, not sure where the UK came in to it.
Edit:
reading back to the 2016 posts by the OP maybe they are EU citizens... denied B2 despite being VW eligible and had property in the US they were trying to stay at for 6 months...

tht

Yes I know / used to employ some of these economic “refugees” we had to close our office in Nice (which sucked as I had to do visits). That said they were easily able to move to “little Paris” in South Ken and it’s all set up with bakeries and other shops that have everything from home and French speaking schools so they did not seem to mind so much....

steph0scope

I am aware. I mean it in the sense of “don’t want to see myself in that situation”. Prior to my illness, I traveled to India frequently with my job. It’s no surprise that a janitor job in even the most economically deprived area of the US would be attractive to many. Strange that a janitor can afford to own property overseas. My guess is they didn’t work as a janitor in their homeland. Unless they inherited the property...

Pulaski

Counting by population of French citizens, I hear that London is now the sixth largest French city.

tht

maybe they have real skills and just did this as a cheaper / quicker way in than others. I assume they “consultants” who offer this sell the cost benefits of this “route”.

When I decided to move here at 21 (not wanting to marry my USC girl friend) I looked at all the options, I think the craziest on my list was to become a Cuban Citizen and move here under the The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. However further research indicated it wound have been harder to get Cuban Citizenship due to language and other requirement... also looked at Private Bills, and some other random ones, but the reality was get work many year experience, network, work for a US owned company and then move on an L1a, get a GC and wait my time.

I don’t really agree with all the talk of no social net here. Assuming your are educated and have a well paid job, you bank the significant tax savings and worst case there is state UI, COBRA, and other things like ACA. If it was a bad here as posters make out why are there here and why are Americans not trying to get to Canada/UK/EU... the reality is both have pros and cons and with some smarts my judgment was I would make out better here and to date I have.

Pulaski

I kinda agree with you but a lot of the random "I've always wanted to move to Florida" question here on BE, are from people who aren't well educated and don't have a well paid job, who seem to think that because you can get a room in a hotel for $80/night, rent a car for $30/day, and eat dinner at an AYCE buffet for $12, that America is a cheap place to live.

tht

yep, but back to the OP, assuming they did. as they said... you can look at it another way... it’s not 6 months as a low paid janitor.. compare its say spending $1m on an EB5, if this path costs $100k and 1 of them being a Janitor for 6 months... then net result is saving $900k which is $150k a month... now that’s a well paid janitor.

and I also agree with you.. while the American Dream needs the new immigrants to do the low paid jobs, rent investment properties etc, I don’t think that the ones you describe are those...

neill

Not to mention, an EB-based visa means you can work anywhere else in addition to the job that sponsored you for the greencard (and not fall foul of not taking the job that 'sponsored' you in the first place), your partner gets a derivative GC, can work immediately, anywhere, in comparison to the H-1B which is largely a lottery, ultimately restricted to the field of employment, and the derivative H4 which requires an EAD that the govt keeps threatening to revoke.

neill

'America is cheap' is the biggest myth going, a bigger myth than "America is a dangerous place". It comes from a day when a pound bought you $1.90 US. It hasn't been cheap for Brits for years - I was in a FL walmart with my British friends a couple of years ago and they were shocked at how expensive simple grocery items that were pence back home were.

tht

Also there is no set time you have to work the job when you become a LPR your can work for anyone. I discussed it with my employers lawyer when I got mine, I know some think that you have to wait 6 months or a year, but there is is no hard rule. I have seen some say it impacts citizenship... but let’s say you quit after a week, and waited 9 years to file for citizenship there would not even be a, you N400 would only have your last 5 years employment listed...

Pulaski

But then there are the costs of being a homeowner that nobody in the UK would ever consider - such as the perpetual cycle of replacing roofs, and heating/ AC systems, and the fact that "things" always seem to need repair or replacement in American homes. As I have posted from time to time, my US home isn't just a home, it's a hobby too! It might sound like a joke, but anyone who has owned a home in the US knows that the joke very quickly wears thin.

tht

That kind of comparison only works for individual items. Is it cheaper buy your Abercrombie T-shirt and Levi jeans at home or in the mall in Floria during your 2 weeks in “heaven”. For comparing living in the 2 you have to look at what your standard of living and assets would be in both based on your abilities. I think I have more assets and disposable income here than I would have had in the UK/IE/NZ etc.. I probably would have had more in the ME or Asia as a “real” expat, but I would not have wanted to do it for more than maybe 5 years.

Pulaski

Er, there is no EAD for an H-4 - a trailing spouse on an H-4 cannot work unless they qualify independently for their own work visa.

neill

And the cost of appliances here is insane compared to Europe.

Pulaski

But they're so much bigger, and "bigger is better"!

From what I read over on the Italy forum, our US cooker apparently has a circuit breaker that can handle more power than the standard home supply in Italy.