Those who moved to the US - yay/nay?

dowie said:
we sent a support guy over there - sure he had a bachelors degree but that was it, he'd worked at the company for just under 2 years - we could justify it as we wanted to set up a support team there and have him train them/act as team lead

one other guy hired as a consultant moved to the NYC office simply because he wanted to - I mean we had consultants in various offices, they change projects regularly, they work around the world anyway, doesn't make a huge difference to the company if someone really wants to move elsewhere

if someone is working in tech (like lots of this forum) and isn't a complete **** then I don't see the issue - there ought to be various opportunities - in many cases part of your team will be spread out over the globe whether you're in dev, support or you're a consultant

ditto to banks and dedicated consultancy firms etc..you do your 2-3 years in one place, do the usual networking and make sure the guys you work with in the US like you/consider you valuable then you find a way to get moved over there
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To be clear, there is a separation between internal transfer and new hire. A US company probably wont hire DBA/SysAdmin from the UK, but a there are plenty of possibilities for internal transfer.



As you say, anyone techy and reasonable at their job can get to the US if they want to. The people that claim it is impossible haven't tried so what they say can largely be ignored.
 
I've been here just over a year. I travelled back and forth a lot before and now work from home in Tennessee for a company in NY. Getting a work visa (usually a H1B) is very hard. My company paid around $10k for mine but, due to the massive volume, it wasn't even looked at and then you have to wait another 12 months and try again (you don't get a refund either). This is pretty common.

Healthcare is a bit of a **** take. We've just had a child and without insurance it would have cost us around $30k-$40k, with insurance it's cost maybe $4k-$5k. Our insurance premium has just doubled too thanks to Obamacare. You get massive tax penalties if you're uninsured too (I think). When we did our taxes in January I got a $400 penalty for being uninsured, that went up to something like $750 then $1600 year on year.

As Fox mentioned, holiday allowance is awful. If you don't like taking holidays then you won't have a problem. I get 12 days/year with the option to use whatever personal time I've accrued, which isn't all that much.

Aside from all that, I love it. So much more space, property is cheaper (4 bed, 4.5 bath, 3500sq/ft houses around here start at about $250k), the people are more pleasant (I live in the South, it might be a bit different elsewhere), the weather is better, etc etc.

Getting married isn't the 'easy option' either btw :p
 
D.P. said:
You really don't need to be that much of a specialist though. If you are a software engineer with any ability and a bachelor degree then you already have a good shot at getting a visa sponsored. Sure, as Fx says you wont get a visa for being a DBA but I don't think you would want to move ot th US if that is your career.

people seem to forget there is a massive shortage of good software engineers and big companies will fall over themselves to scoop you are. If they are paying 150K a year to have you (you have to factor in-overheads, employer SS taxes, benefits, bonus, health so even a mediocre junior salary will quickly add up). then a one off 6-8K for a lawyer and visa expenses is a drop in the ocean. heck, they will be hiring people through job agencies losing 30-50K + a year for the first 2 years, paying for a foreigner is far cheaper.
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But the amount of DBA's with Bachelors degrees is small and specialist when compared to the entire workforce. Your are looking at this as a geek with said skills, most people have neither. So to my point you need to have specialist skills. My organisation for example has a team to handle such moves, including sourcing housing, schooling, guidance on areas and sorting the entire move, that is rare and not open to most. You need to not look at it from purely your standpoint as I suggest you are creating a debate that refutes your assertion and supports the point Fox and I have made.
 
timmeh said:
I've been here just over a year. I travelled back and forth a lot before and now work from home in Tennessee for a company in NY. Getting a work visa (usually a H1B) is very hard. My company paid around $10k for mine but, due to the massive volume, it wasn't even looked at and then you have to wait another 12 months and try again (you don't get a refund either). This is pretty common.

Healthcare is a bit of a **** take. We've just had a child and without insurance it would have cost us around $30k-$40k, with insurance it's cost maybe $4k-$5k. Our insurance premium has just doubled too thanks to Obamacare. You get massive tax penalties if you're uninsured too (I think). When we did our taxes in January I got a $400 penalty for being uninsured, that went up to something like $750 then $1600 year on year.

As Fox mentioned, holiday allowance is awful. If you don't like taking holidays then you won't have a problem. I get 12 days/year with the option to use whatever personal time I've accrued, which isn't all that much.

Aside from all that, I love it. So much more space, property is cheaper (4 bed, 4.5 bath, 3500sq/ft houses around here start at about $250k), the people are more pleasant (I live in the South, it might be a bit different elsewhere), the weather is better, etc etc.

Getting married isn't the 'easy option' either btw :p
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What about the "American Dream"? I've been hearing a number of Americans saying it is diminishing... Less and less opportunities.
 
Housey said:
But the amount of DBA's with Bachelors degrees is small and specialist when compared to the entire workforce. Your are looking at this as a geek with said skills, most people have neither. So to my point you need to have specialist skills. My organisation for example has a team to handle such moves, including sourcing housing, schooling, guidance on areas and sorting the entire move, that is rare and not open to most. You need to not look at it from purely your standpoint as I suggest you are creating a debate that refutes your assertion and supports the point Fox and I have made.
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????:confused::confused:

I said a DBA wont likely get a visa but some else like a software engineer with a bachelor will. A software engineer with a BSc in computer science is not exactly uncommon or particularly skilled.
 
D.P. said:
????:confused::confused:

I said a DBA wont likely get a visa but some else like a software engineer with a bachelor will. A software engineer with a BSc in computer science is not exactly uncommon or particularly skilled.
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You said this "You really don't need to be that much of a specialist though. If you are a software engineer with any ability and a bachelor degree then you already have a good shot". My point is that both elements make for a specialist, even if you might view as nothing special, one assumes because you work in the sector. Move yourself out of your community or that community and it is uncommon.
 
Housey said:
You said this "You really don't need to be that much of a specialist though. If you are a software engineer with any ability and a bachelor degree then you already have a good shot". My point is that both elements make for a specialist, even if you might view as nothing special, one assumes because you work in the sector. Move yourself out of your community or that community and it is uncommon.
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Software engineers with a BSc is incredibly common. not like we are talking neurosurgeons or quantum physicists here.

Yhe H1B visa is a skileld person visa, so of course it doesn't apply to burger flippers, no one said it did.
 
yup from the pov of a tech forum it isn't exactly uncommon

I'm sure there are plenty of people on here working in tech firms and in possession of a degree
 
D.P. said:
Software engineers with a BSc is incredibly common. not like we are talking neurosurgeons or quantum physicists here.

Yhe H1B visa is a skileld person visa, so of course it doesn't apply to burger flippers, no one said it did.
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As I said, you need to move out of your community. This is a tech forum, the reason good techies get paid well is because they don't grow on trees and I say that as someone who has worked in the sector for 30 years. This is a tech forum, there will be many here, but stop trying to convince me that both are common as they are not and I am not suggesting its tech guys or burger flippers.
 
Housey said:
Indeed, hence my point about the community.
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eh? this community - where working in tech and having a degree isn't uncommon?

I'm not sure that highlighting the fact joe blogs flipping burgers has limited chances is very relevant here
 
I keep pondering this, work for large U.S. Company and am a specialist within the company for the particular stuff I do, and work with the U.S. Side of things a lot as the products are based out of there.

Have spent a little while over there on odd weeks for work but would be nice to have a longer period there, then decide if we wanted to go for the long term.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Well, it's not fair compare US private health care to free NHS.

It would be comparable between US Health care to something like BUPA, which I have seen through my dad and how it works. Want a hernia OP on the NHS? 8 months, oh, you got BUPA? How about tomorrow.

Own room, sky TV, a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner with variety of food to choose from and a lady who push round trolleys with teas and biscuits.

It was like a hotel!
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Nothing free about the NHS.....
 
I moved to SW Florida in 2004, and i'm never moving back to England. So a big yay for me.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1j9A2NNb5QsxUPkta_gmtw

Depending on your whether your employer pays your insurance, if he does healthcare is actually much better than the UK..

If you have no insurance, you're in for a surprise cost wise. I contribute less than what i was paying in National Insurance. So its been a win for me.

Roads where i live, whilst boring in terms of no curves or mountains, are excellent and very well maintained. (Think French standards) and as long as its a beach road, its nice to ride down.

I'm contemplating a move to perhaps Colorado, or hmm maybe California.. oh the choices.

Downsides do exist. Biggest one is not being close to the Med/ Europe and of course family, but trust me they'll be over more times than you care to count, but you know when they get old and all.. already feeling the guilt etc, and some of the american culture can be annoying... But for the most part, its a win win win for me.

Just make sure you move to a decent part of the states and not a ghetto dive, which many of exist on both ends of the spectrum, and its all good.
 
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acemastr said:
Nothing free about the NHS.....
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Sigh, I know that.

But if you are a homeless bum, never paid tax in your life, you are still entitled to the services of the NHS.

/waits for someone mention medicare or something similar in the US.

Then I redirect to the above poster who would've had to pay $30k to have a baby.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Sigh, I know that.

But if you are a homeless bum, never paid tax in your life, you are still entitled to the services of the NHS.

/waits for someone mention medicare or something similar in the US.

Then I redirect to the above poster who would've had to pay $30k to have a baby.
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The bigger crime isn't that they'd have to pay $30k, it's that they still had pay $6k with insurance. Absolutely mind boggling.

I've never had £6,000 available to me at any point, it's hard to comprehend having to pay that just to receive medical care.
 
My brother is over there, 2 years near new york and now 2 years on the west side. He says he never wants to move back. Seems to be a common theme. Same with Aus, people who go there never seem to come back.
 
squerble said:
The bigger crime isn't that they'd have to pay $30k, it's that they still had pay $6k with insurance. Absolutely mind boggling.

I've never had £6,000 available to me at any point, it's hard to comprehend having to pay that just to receive medical care.
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TBH, I am not sure how he amounted to 6K after insurance.

We had a baby last March. There was minor complications (severe jaundice so blood tests every 6 hours, and the wife was torn and had prolonged bleeding :eek:), also due tot he timing of things we were forced to stay in longer anyway (well, could have left the hospital at 10pm but no way was I driving that tired).

the total delivery cost with the insurance was around $2500. A standard birth would be a bit less. This is with my wife's insurance which everyone at the university gets from toilet cleaners to the dean, very typical large company insurance.




Luckily I had an HSA account that my employer pays for so the total out of pocket cost was $0 to me, but we were somewhat lucky having both an HDHP and HMO health plan.


a lot of the health costs you can also mitigate with a flexible spending account that allow you to pay for medical expenses on your gross salary, i.e. tax free. And if you really end up with a big health bill then that itself is tax deductible if more than 7.5% gross salary.



The costs are stupid though. Ibuprofen was $40 a time every 6 hours. Our co-pay would be like $50 or something for ibruprofen:eek:
 
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