Venus

We don't know the exact figure for the financial requirements. We are waiting till the end of Jan to see if he got in.
As well I have brothers that live there and one of them works for State Farm so he will be able to advise us in insurance matters.
Thanks Mummy in the foothills, I needed to hear a positive word. I know it is not ideal he might still not get in, and if we don't get the visa we will probably postpone it till the following year.

Duncan Roberts

You can do. Most colleges have some sort of medical insurance plan you can get in on, the coverage will vary but some are not bad. I'm not sure if all colleges do but I know that a lot require health insurance as a condition of enrollment. They have their plans or you can waive it if you are covered elsewhere and can prove it.

Venus

Sorry I din't mean that the other reponses weren't positive, I'm just worried about it all and my husband is the positive one I am the one finding holes in it. So I was glad to hear both sides.

Duncan Roberts

Somebody can correct me but I believe you have to have 1 years worth of expenses (tuition, living expenses, everything) in liquid form to be approved for a visa. I'm guessing that 40k for a family of 4 is not going to cut it if that is indeed the case.

Edit: From USCIS

"The student must have sufficient funds available for self-support during the entire proposed course of study"

DollyLlama

Our ex California neighbors a couple of doors down can vouch for that..

DollyLlama

They do look after their flock....

Venus

yes we do have the money for fee expenses aside, the
$40k was just for the living expenses for the first 9 months. But obviously we are counting on him getting and intership and working on his 2nd year if not definately we won't be able to live on that.

Ray

Are they always checking up on you ??

Bill_S

My honest opinion is that I agree with dbj. Setting yourselves up for a financial wipeout just to earn an MBA is a bet I wouldn't take.

DollyLlama

Curtains twitch a lot..........

Not had any visits since the time I sent them on their way with a couple of choice words........

Tegwyn

Yup, after them trying to send a few Welsh/Scottish/South African missionaries around, I think they may have figured that we will not be converted. I live next door to a Bishop and he finally gets it. Most of my neighbours are LDS and they are nice people, but am aware of not being included in the fellowship stuff. I'm okay with that.

U of U, or is it BYU are excellent schools if one can look past the religious factor. It is an unfortunate fact that it is challenging for anyone that is not in synch with the majority faith though. So being LDS will make the transition that much easier.

Still, cost of living here is high enough that I would shudder at the thought of a family of four living on only $40,000 for nine months, especially since we are heading into winter which will soak up a good chunk in heating costs alone never mind the other requirements. Rent is fairly expensive the closer to the Uni you get. You will be looking at West Valley for something cheap and it is a place I would not exactly want to send my kids to school. Crime being one issue and their quality of education and environment would drop. What guarantees do you have that a position is available after conclusion of his studies? I am assuming you plan to come over on an open ended return ticket should things not go according to plan?

Leyther

It is my understanding that one must be able to prove to the ConsOff that they are able to financially support themselves and pay for tuition without relying on obtaining employment or an internship.

However, I would just like to bring up that if this internship is not part of the program curriculum then this idea is really a no go since he would be looking at Optional Practical Training as opposed to Curricular Practical Training. The former of which has many restrictions.

Either way, most internships do not pay that well; certainly not well enough to support a family of four for the remaining year of an MBA program.

Take a look at the two links for both CPT and OPT.
http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/opt.htm
http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/cpt.htm

Giantaxe

So you not only have to work out whether $40k is enough for the first nine months, but whether income from a subsequent internship is enough to support your family after that...

Obviously a big factor is healthcare. Your college may be able to help here. BYU has the highest number of married students with children in the country, and iirc they have reasonably priced health insurance that affords family coverage. Certainly worth checking out.

What I am missing is why you want to do this? The US is typically not a cheap place for a student to live and you say you cannot be employed. Why not go to college where you could contribute financially as well?

Taffyles

Just a suggestion- but can't your husband come over alone to do his studies and you and the kids stay put in UK for the time being. Student visas only allow restricted hours to work- certainly not enough to support a family. And what happens when he completes his degree- will he be able to get a green card? If his intended field of work doesn't have a shortage of qualified people - he may get a job but not a visa to stay in the country. Occupations for which there is a national shortage, such as nurses, lab techs (mainly in healthcare) could get him a green card. Not sure an MBA will qualify him for any of the "green card getter" jobs .

He'd be better off doing a nursing degree than an MBA.

Bob

yeah, but it tends to be for the student only....getting the rest of the family covered will be a problem and generally not very cheap, even in a cheaper state.

Transport, well Utah isn't exactly the best of places to go walking around or catching the bus, so that means two cars, or it'll be a bit tough, and that'll get expensive.

There's also no guarantee he'll find a job straight away....this is a massive gamble...if your dead set on coming to the US, you'd be better off as a family staying where you are, have him come over on his own, get the stupid mba and find a job before you come over, because depending on what visa he ends up getting afterwards you might be in a better or worse spot than now.

Plus it'll be cheaper and less disruptive to move one person back than a whole family when this goes up the shitter.