emigrating to the USA

OLLIESMUMMY08

Hi we are looking to emigrate to Texas, USA. Not sure this is in right area to post on here....??
Basically i am confused about what we do or how the system works, we were always uk rooted, but our close friends in Texas own a building company and they have offered to rent us a home in Texas. My husband has been a panel beater for 20 odd years and has all certificates and qualifications etc, so i assume we will have to access the USA on this basis, but what do we do about the visa and how do we apply and what else do we need to do? sorry for being so thick!! Its all new to us, but we REALLY want to go now. Also my eldest son has problems due to a drowning accident in 2006, here we qualify for dla, do they get help for this in the US? No problem if not, just want to know he will be looked after as he has a lot of problems, which also makes me question hospital care, so we arrange insurance before hand? Im assuming this has to be all done prior? Im just not used to this at all. Hope someone can help? Thanks xxx

ferf1223

regarding the DLA question, the closest thing I know of in the US is SSI Disability.

http://www.ssa.gov/disability/

Whether your son would qualify or not I do not know...with no work history in the US, possibly not...I'm not sure how their eligibility for non-nationals works, especially those who may be emmigrating to the US...whether they would be exempt from eligibility they might otherwise have.

As for insurance - given that there's a known issue that may require hospitalisation, then I would think you need to be particularly careful...as you know, medical care in the US is quite expensive...insurance will likely be prohibitively expensive unless offered by an employer.

Whether your husband would qualify for a visa based on his occupation is another question - I'm not sure that he would.

I would think that in your case, unless you have family in the US your only option might be a work-based visa...which would require a job to be in place with an employer willing to sponsor (and document that they can't find a US citizen to do the job).

http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/employment-based-visas.html

oldschool

As far as I am aware you can only stay in USA for 6months unless you have green card. Y ou are not allowed to have one if the job is able to be done by an american. the only way I know you can sometimes get in is to have your own business and employee americans. Health care is all private and expensive, they do not have all the benefits as we do. check out the USA web site. Good luck, we looked into it years ago but it was well nigh impossible.

jackieblack

I think all the info/advice given to you in your previous thread "emigrating to the USA or Australia" is still valid

The USA is notoriously difficult to emigrate to. Applying for immigrant visas will be a long and expensive process with no guarantee of success.

Start here for details on immigrant visas.

It seems Skilled Workers are in the third preference category:
Skilled workers: defined as a person, who at the time of petitioning, is capable of performing skilled labor, requiring at least 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature, and for which there are no qualified workers available in the United States. Relevant post-secondary education may be considered as training for the purposes of this provision.

dmg24

You posted this previously on the Employment board, but you have not acknowledged any of the information that you have been offered on there. I understand you have no money to emigrate with?

Edit: Too slow!

OLLIESMUMMY08

Hmm its not sounding that easy is it?? And it upsets me having to accept this....

dmg24

One very important question on the previous thread - why do you want to move? Problems don't go away through a change of address.

ferf1223

OLLIESMUMMY08 wrote: »

Hmm its not sounding that easy is it?? And it upsets me having to accept this....

It's very hard.

I had some friends several years ago - about 2000...he was English, she was American...she had moved to the UK with a fiancee visa and they had been married in 1994...they lived in the UK for 5 years and decided to move back to America...in order to do so, she moved back...got a job, established residence, etc...effectively proved that she could support him...and only after a year was he able to get a visa (family/spouse, I believe) to join her in the US.

That was before things got even tighter.

I'm American, my husband is English and I've lived here in the UK for 10 years (also came here on a fiancee visa)...we have never even entertained the thought of moving to the US due to the experience of my friends. And that's ignoring the healthcare issue...sad thing is, the older we get, the more that is a real concern...but the harder it would be to decide to relocate.

OLLIESMUMMY08

dmg24 wrote: »

One very important question on the previous thread - why do you want to move? Problems don't go away through a change of address.

Things are completely different since then....so in a way you can ignore the previous post as my husband wants to now move more than me, so this is irrelevant, im the one who is now shocked!
Anyhow if i explain fully...in 2006 my then 6 yr old son had a drowning accident whilst in Mexico, the woman who saved him was an American from Texas...since then her husband who owns a building company has offered us a house to rent, so we are looking to move to the usa. I know is isnt easy, so im looking for advice, whether he can help us im not sure...all i know is i want to go but i dont know how xx

dmg24

OLLIESMUMMY08 wrote: »

Things are completely different since then....so in a way you can ignore the previous post as my husband wants to now move more than me, so this is irrelevant, im the one who is now shocked!
Anyhow if i explain fully...in 2006 my then 6 yr old son had a drowning accident whilst in Mexico, the woman who saved him was an American from Texas...since then her husband who owns a building company has offered us a house to rent, so we are looking to move to the usa. I know is isnt easy, so im looking for advice, whether he can help us im not sure...all i know is i want to go but i dont know how xx

With all respect, that post was only a week ago. You are planning a move for life, are things going to change again in another week?

Have you even been to Texas before? The US culture is very different to that in the UK, and can vary massively from state to state.

richardw

Do you have a forecast of what your son's needs will be for the rest of his life?

Are these more likely to be met in the UK?