Am I being selfish?

gingin_2

Does it have to be the USA, Pulliptears? I still worry you won't get in but your OH might get in on a sponsored work Visa, although it makes your options very limited in the future. I think your choice is fab, though, I would love to live in California.

You would almost certainly get a skilled visa for Australia and you might then be able to sponsor your mother to come over also.

pulliptears

gingin wrote: »

Does it have to be the USA, Pulliptears? I still worry you won't get in but your OH might get in on a sponsored work Visa, although it makes your options very limited in the future. I think your choice is fab, though, I would love to live in California.

You would almost certainly get a skilled visa for Australia and you might then be able to sponsor your mother to come over also.

Aus is a place that's never appealed to me to be honest, I don't know why. Probably because I've spent time in California, Arizona and Nevada and grew up with so much knowledge of those places from my Dad. Funnily enough, I was supposed to emigrate to Oz when I was a child, but Mum refused to go in the end Ironically, because of leaving her family (90% of which she didnt get on with!!)

It's all a bit pie in the sky at the moment I know, and until I graduate later this year I don't have the qualifications myself to even attempt an application. I guess I'm just trying to make sense of the "whats if's and how's" for now.

gingin_2

pulliptears wrote: »

Probably because I've spent time in California, Arizona and Nevada and grew up with so much knowledge of those places from my Dad.

Yes. I love those places also, just amazing to explore. I almost went on a student visa to San Francisco with OH, when I was 21 but DS decided to make an appearance. No regrets about DS but, sigh, I would have loved to have lived in San Fran.

SP123_3

US is very, very difficult to get into. Look at the British Expats website - there's an article called Pulaski's Ways which will give you a lot of info to help you see if you'll even be able to get a visa.

C_Mababejive

I'd lik to go live in the US too.

I suggest the OP goes along to the US immigration website and sees how difficult it is to actually get a visa.

A trip over to britishexpats.com forum may also be revealing.

The bottom line is that unless you have
a)lots of money to invest in the US/A business
b) A close relative who is a US citizen to sponsor you
c) An employer in the US to sponsor you with a job offer

Your pretty much stuffed.

Green card lottery this way>>>

Oops...no..the English arent included in that either!

iolanthe07

Excuse my ignorance here, but how did you do it? Did you find a job then go or just take the risk etc? It's all quite confusing and I'd be interested in hearing your experiences.

We had sponsorship from my US employer who had advertised in a UK newspaper. We went out on a work visa to start with and then applied for a Green Card while we were there. Getting a Green Card was time consuming but pretty much hassle free, really. My job included health insurance, and it is very important to insist on this from any potential employer. Good employers will offer it as a matter of course, but make sure that it is good cover - some policies leave you with lots of co-payments and exclusions.

You can't just go and take a risk, though I suppose that some people do, but the immigration rules are fairly ferocious. AFAIK US employers have to show that they have tried to recruit locally before they can recruit a foreigner. There are other ways (such as starting a business or taking lots of capital into the country) but you would need specialist advice about this.

chesky369

If your son wants to remain in the UK - why doesn't he stay with your mum and kill two birds with one stone.

Lotus-eater

There's a lot of speculation going on here, but as it keeps getting pointed out, getting into the USA is almost impossible.
Find out if you can first then agonise about it. Because I can't see one possible reason that you are going to get in.

Oh and I wouldn't move there, middle class life US style is lovely on the surface, scratch that surface shine and it gets horrible pretty quickly.
Not only that, but an acquaintance of mine makes sure he packs his revolver every time he goes to the mall (apparently, I have no reason to disbelieve him) I could do without living in that sort of paranoid atmosphere.

iolanthe07

getting into the USA is almost impossible.

Well I managed it all right, and that isn't speculation!

Not only that, but an acquaintance of mine makes sure he packs his revolver every time he goes to the mall

I suppose it depends on where you live, but we never had any such concerns, and never owned a revolver! Actually, we could leave the house unlocked and people routinely wouldn't bother locking their cars. Crime where we were was much lower than here.

middle class life US style is lovely on the surface, scratch that surface shine and it gets horrible pretty quickly.

Well, you haven't lived there and I did for five years, and I fundamentally disagree with that ridiculous generalisation.

Lotus-eater

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Well I managed it all right, and that isn't speculation!

I didn't say it was impossible, merely, almost impossible. Maybe very very difficult would be better, would you be happy with that?

iolanthe07 wrote: »

middle class life US style is lovely on the surface, scratch that surface shine and it gets horrible pretty quickly.

Well, you haven't lived there and I did for five years, and I fundamentally disagree with that ridiculous generalisation.

It's true I haven't lived there and wasn't pretending that I had. AIUI the USA is a lovely place to live while you have health cover and enough money. Your health cover runs out because you lose your job, or refuses to cover you and you are in a whole heap of sh*t very quickly.
Is that a ridiculous generalisation, or is that true?