thinking of emmigrating to america?

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ohmygodwhathaveyoudone

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Hi could anyone tell me the pros and cons of my situation?Have been offered a job in los angeles paying $18,000 per month :eek: I will hopefully being going out there this year as a visitor & staying with a friend to check it out.As per a green card or whatever that is is there something that i should be aware off.I hav'nt got a criminal record & i'm medically in good health.IF i do take the plunge & take the family aswell I should be able to sell my house (that has just been valued at £130,000) & pay off the mortgage £60,000.I don't know if that will be enough but have seen some nice family homes out there for only $150,000 :eek: obviously I would have to sell my car/tv's/all furniture etc.....I also have a dog so would she have to be quarentened for long etc....
There is soooooooooooo much to consider @ the mo but would like to use this forum as a sounding board if anyone could give me any practical advice that would be most helpful.My kids are both 6 yrs old so this should not distrubt their lifestyle too much as they hav'nt got any ties that could be broken.
 
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ohmygodwhathaveyoudone said:
Hi could anyone tell me the pros and cons of my situation?Have been offered a job in los angeles paying $18,000 per month :eek: I will hopefully being going out there this year as a visitor & staying with a friend to check it out.As per a green card or whatever that is is there something that i should be aware off.I hav'nt got a criminal record & i'm medically in good health.IF i do take the plunge & take the family aswell I should be able to sell my house (that has just been valued at £130,000) & pay off the mortgage £60,000.I don't know if that will be enough but have seen some nice family homes out there for only $150,000 :eek: obviously I would have to sell my car/tv's/all furniture etc.....I also have a dog so would she have to be quarentened for long etc....
There is soooooooooooo much to consider @ the mo but would like to use this forum as a sounding board if anyone could give me any practical advice that would be most helpful.My kids are both 6 yrs old so this should not distrubt their lifestyle too much as they hav'nt got any ties that could be broken.
Click to expand...
you may find a job alone is not enough as you will need a sponsor to support you if the job goes bandy. this is normally a relative.
 
A degree seems to be important too. I was offered a job with an American I.T. company, but as I didn't have a degree, it was a difficult process. It involved trying to prove continuous career development using previous managers as referees. Being an I.T. contractor, it was difficult to trace any as most had moved on or retired. We had to cancel Christmas twice because we were told we were sorted and then we were not. Knocked it on the head in the end. :(
 
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$18,000 a month, I think I'd be looking at properties @ around the $1M mark. I worked in the states for a while a number of years ago, make sure you get all the paper work done / green card etc, it's not easy, ironically, especially for UK (excluding Northern Ireland) citizens to get a Green card. Some special relationship eh.
 
The company has to say that it will be your sponsor and that you work in a specialized area that they cannot get anyone else to do the job. The whole point of sponsorship is also to do with taxation. You can get an individual to sponsor as well if you knew someone well enough. You will still have to pay for a green card to work initially ( about $5000 ) and you have to go for interviews etc. It is very difficult to get in but if a firm sponsors you this makes it a whole lot easier. Go for it. I lived in New York for a while and the whole thing has got to be better than this falling apart little island!!
 
I have a relative who moved to L.A. about 25 years ago. He works in the Chemical & Plastics industry, a sort of lagger, using glass fibre and acrylics. When he went out there operatives in that specialist field were scarce in the U.S.A. so he made a good living for a few years, but it ground to a halt when his sponsor hit a dry patch. He never qualified for a 'green card' so work was hard to find. When he is 'tween jobs and has to go looking for work he finds himself in the invidious position of only getting the job if there isn't any unemployed locals of the same trade, consequently he gets the jobs that others reject. I am relating to you what he has told me but don't be put off. Treat it as a caveat. Search for an expatriate site and glean what you can from them.
Best of luck in your quest
 
The job that has been offered to me is car detailing (valeting).I did it for 7 yrs so will not need training etc....In england we did contracts for different dealerships,about 50-100 cars on site at any one time.This worked out well for the dealers as they just paid us for the work we invoiced them,we had to pay staff/chemicals/insurence etc... but worked quite well.In L A they have never used this system so he employs mexicans & rents out flats for them so they are good workers and happy.The only difference is over there one dealership has over 800 cars on site :eek: the really big ones take you 20 mins just to drive past the holding compound :eek: As he has about 30 dealers on his books he is quite busy to say the least.I would be employed as a foreman to deal with the day to day running of the dealers etc....
Have found a few properties,new builds for £79,000 which include 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms,triple garage,all open plan in a nice district.It might come to nothing but its nice to have an ambition ;)
 
$18,000 per month for valeting cars ?! I didn't know it was so well paid, I think I'll give up the IT malarkey and get myself a bucket and chamois :LOL:
 
ohmygodwhathaveyoudone,

Have you thought about renting out your property for a extra income just incase it doesn't work out? They have very low interest rate in the USA which you should be able to run 2 property together at the salary you've quoted. Also might be an idea to rent a property in the USA for the time being until you find the one you want.

I have a friend in USA doing Lawn mower business and do lot of cutting grass service mainly all the school and doing very well, the hardest thing was to get a green card, took him 7 yrs (can't remember why though)

Good luck to whatever you do.
 
Eddie M said:
$18,000 per month for valeting cars ?! I didn't know it was so well paid, I think I'll give up the IT malarkey and get myself a bucket and chamois :LOL:
Click to expand...

I'm with you Ed.:cool:
 
Hi there,

I'm new to this forum, and this post caught my eye. I'm an American who has made the journey the other direction, and am now living in the UK.

There's a brilliant forum for Brits thinking about immigrating/in the process of immigrating to the States (and elsewhere):

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

I do have to say...$18,000 is NOT alot of money (think 9,000 pounds), especially for California. I was making $24,000 at my last job in the States in North Carolina and I was struggling. I find that I have alot more expendable income here in the UK than I ever did in the States. Plus, there's no GWB to deal with here!

If I haven't talked you out of it, try looking at that forum. They're really helpful with the legal/immigration stuff. The process is mind-numbingly complicated. Good luck!

Anyways, funny that my first post on a DIY site is about immigration, but there you go. :)

-kate
 
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