Immigrating to the US

Rich_L · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:08

You can get study visas fairly easily I think, though it's expensive (not for the visa, the course is expensive for foreign individuals) which is probably the best way of staying in the US for longer than a few months and actually 'living' here for a while - also you never know where it might lead in terms of employment offers etc.

Long-term 10 years wise, your best bet without marriage, or setting up a super$$$$ business (or lottery if you're eligible) is to go into a field like law, pharmaceuticals, accountancy or something and get a job in one of the multi-nationals then angle for transfers over to US offices.

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:09

In many circumstances it is a great place to live. I'd love to live there. But I think you need to have a certain level of wealth to enjoy life in the US. And if you don't have that, it's really a rather harsh place to live.

There are other places you can go which are easier to get into. Australia would immediatly spring to mind. But VISIT THESE PLACES FIRST! You've no idea where you really would be happy until you visit all these places and see what you think.

Superficial · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:20

The US now offers an paid-for green card for $500,000 dollars (around £320,000) per person LOL

Ev0 · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:26

[TW]Fox;17462837 said:
In many circumstances it is a great place to live. I'd love to live there. But I think you need to have a certain level of wealth to enjoy life in the US. And if you don't have that, it's really a rather harsh place to live.

Definitely.

I'd also love to live there, or at least visit for work.

I'm job hunting at the moment and have some potential opportunities with some companies who have a presence in the US that would mean I could do some work over there.

Aw well, holidays will have to do for now, roll on tomorrow for my flight over there

OzyOly · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:26

Superficial said:
The US now offers an paid-for green card for $500,000 dollars (around £320,000) per person LOL

That's not too bad actually.

Scuzi · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:26

[TW]Fox;17462837 said:
In many circumstances it is a great place to live. I'd love to live there. But I think you need to have a certain level of wealth to enjoy life in the US. And if you don't have that, it's really a rather harsh place to live.

Yup. There's a fine line between working your ass off to survive and living quite comfortably. There doesn't appear to be any middle ground and to live comfortably you need a bigger relative income than you would in the UK for example.

regulus · 27 Sep 2010 at 20:45

It never ever ceases to amaze me how differently people see the exact same thing. I know many Americans that never want to set foot in their country again. I even know of an American living in Poland working on in a shipping yard as a labourer that wrote to the US Bureau of Citizenship and asked them to remove him as a citizen. He also sent along his American passport. I have no idea if he succeeded but it's funny to think that there is people that would literally kill to have his citizenship, whilst he so carelessly disregard it. Yes, senseless post that doesn't help the OP. Try the lottery.

deuse · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:20

[TW]Fox;17462787 said:
Even though you've never been there? How odd. It strikes me that perhaps you've chosen where you want to live through what you see in movies and on the television. This is a huge mistake.

There are many negative aspects to living in America. I'd go so far as to say that unless you are absolutely certain that you will be succesful and reasonably wealthy before you go (To give you a bigger chance of acheiving this once you are there) it is one of the worst countries to live in.

The gap between rich and poor is huge, and unlike many countries, the support offered to the poor is... very low.

How different do you think Southern Canada and Northern USA are - they are of course at some points seperate by a few feet

I disagree with most of what you say. From Virginia north is crap and so is CA the mid west is great.

And who told you that you had to be wealthy to go?
Looks like you have been watching to much tv or you holiday there a lot and think you know it all.

But to the OP 7-10 years is a good plan, go and buy cheap land and sit on it till your ready to go.

Rich_L · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:37

I think what Fox said is exactly right, from middle-class upwards, life in the US is great, i.e. if you can afford decent education, decent healthcare, decent transport etc, for working classes who can't afford that, life can be pretty miserable.

Also that's a pretty broad brush you're painting with there, there's enough variation in CA alone to make such a statement entirely meaningless.

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:38

deuse said:
I disagree with most of what you say. From Virginia north is crap and so is CA the mid west is great.

And who told you that you had to be wealthy to go?
Looks like you have been watching to much tv or you holiday there a lot and think you know it all.

How about you explain why I'm wrong which will help the OP rather than just accusing me of thinking I know it all?

I wouldnt want to be poor in the US, thats for sure.

Berserker · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:44

I'd love to live in the US too, but I'd be severely restricted where I could live. Essentially, it'd have to be a major city (probably San Fran). The reason? There aren't many places where it is practical to get by without a car. Americans generally don't do walking!

But Australia or Canada would do for me. I could quite easily live in Sydney, or Toronto, for example.

Sounds like 'grass is greener' syndrome to me. Yes, it can be if you're sufficiently affluent (to avoid the high crime/high deprivation areas), but it can also be a hellhole.

Rich_L · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:48

NYC then

Manhattan would be just fine

As an aside, it's 35C and sunny here in SB today :eek:

Scorchio!!!

[FnG]magnolia · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:52

[TW]Fox;17463452 said:
How about you explain why I'm wrong which will help the OP rather than just accusing me of thinking I know it all?

I wouldnt want to be poor in the US, thats for sure.

Yeah, I'm not sure where he's coming from with this, either :confused:

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:57

Rich_L said:
NYC then Manhattan would be just fine

As an aside, it's 35C and sunny here in SB today Scorchio!!!

D.P. · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:59

OzyOly said:
That's not too bad actually.

I actually heard of a legit scheme where if you invest $500K into certain businesses then you get a greencard. A ski resort in New England allows you to invest 500K into them, in return you actually get a a Condo and a lifetime ski pass.

That isn't so bad for someone like me who wants to ski all the time.

deuse · 27 Sep 2010 at 22:04

[TW]Fox;17462787 said:
Even though you've never been there? How odd. It strikes me that perhaps you've chosen where you want to live through what you see in movies and on the television. This is a huge mistake.

I was 14 when I started to plan my move. At 18 I bought my first piece of land in Floral City FL.
Then kept buying and selling till I was 28. Then I bought land on Hudson beach FL
Even if I did fail in the US at least I could say I Tried

There are many negative aspects to living in America. I'd go so far as to say that unless you are absolutely certain that you will be succesful and reasonably wealthy before you go (To give you a bigger chance of acheiving this once you are there) it is one of the worst countries to live in.

There is no certainty in life even if you are rich or poor.
As long as you want to make money, the US is the place to go because it's all about the money.

The gap between rich and poor is huge, and unlike many countries, the support offered to the poor is... very low.

I agree but most of the poor are drunks or druggies and who in the hell cars about them.

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2010 at 22:10

deuse said:
I was 14 when I started to plan my move. At 18 I bought my first piece of land in Floral City FL.

Perhaps you could tell the story of how those 4 years went, it would be very interesting to see how a 14 year old manages to emigrate to the USA and purchase land by the age of 18?

Berserker · 27 Sep 2010 at 22:12

Rich_L said:
NYC then Manhattan would be just fine

Bit expensive for my liking, and I don't like snow! Have to admit that I got around very easily there (have been to NYC twice - first time was on Concorde, la de da!)

Vanilla · 27 Sep 2010 at 22:14

As already said US is very hard to get a visa. I lived and worked there for a year.

I like visiting the US but I wouldn't want to live there again that's for sure.

Currently in Australia and really enjoying it. Aus is much easier - you can get Working holiday visas which are approved quickly and let you just come over and work. If you find a decent employer they may sponsor you for a full visa.

semi-pro waster · 27 Sep 2010 at 22:23

Rich_L said:
As an aside, it's 35C and sunny here in SB today Scorchio!!!

As long as you're happy, living in that regularly sounds pretty horrible to me. Anything much over 20-25C should only be holiday weather although your job probably isn't too bad in that regard.

D.P. said:
I actually heard of a legit scheme where if you invest $500K into certain businesses then you get a greencard. A ski resort in New England allows you to invest 500K into them, in return you actually get a a Condo and a lifetime ski pass.

That isn't so bad for someone like me who wants to ski all the time.

If I had the money I'd certainly be tempted, it's a fair chunk of money but it's something I'd use anyway although depending on the resort I might not use the facilities too much. Figuring if I'm rich enough to afford that I can probably also afford to go to other resorts.