Why USA and not UK?

[BMJ 0]

Just curious for all those who are from the UK why you are choosing to move to the USA instead of your fiance' moving to join you in the USA.

Mark (Xaos) have talked about him moving here vrs us moving there. The main reason for us is me having kids and it would be hard to uproot them. However, because he makes more at his job than I do at mine, we have also talked about the possibility of us moving there if our co-sponsor falls through.

Why are you guys choosing USA over UK?

And if we would have to switch to trying to move to the UK, is there a good website we can look at and is there an income guideline like there is for the USA?

Thanks!

[Damian&Kelly 16]

We chose the US over the UK for a few reasons.. 1st here in the US house prices are a lot lower then the UK so we figured we could get starter here easier then there. 2nd My parents are more supportive then his. 3rd He isn't as close to his family as I am to mine. His parents told him to move here a few years ago where as my mum cries at the thought of me even moving an hour away.

I've looked into the process of moving to the UK I am unsure about with kids but I know that a UK spousal visa doesn't take very long to get and costs over 1000 and theres no interview or medical in most cases. there are certain income guidelines just like the US. but I don't know of any websites.

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

Just curious for all those who are from the UK why you are choosing to move to the USA instead of your fiance' moving to join you in the USA.

Mark (Xaos) have talked about him moving here vrs us moving there. The main reason for us is me having kids and it would be hard to uproot them. However, because he makes more at his job than I do at mine, we have also talked about the possibility of us moving there if our co-sponsor falls through.

Why are you guys choosing USA over UK?

And if we would have to switch to trying to move to the UK, is there a good website we can look at and is there an income guideline like there is for the USA?

Thanks!

I know in Kris and I's situation he is moving here as where he currently live he's had a rough go of it finding good work.. but more than that it would be extremely tough for me to get the ok to move both my boys overseas. The boys' dad would um.. have major issues and well.. we figure we can do it this way for a while and when the boys are out of the house we will probably move back over that way.

[Hannah+Vito 0]

I am at cross roads carrer wise and earn less than him even after taking into account the exchange rate( i would be shocked if i could sponcer him) . it would be mad him giving up his job he loves with a good wage when i'm planning on leaving mine anyway and wanting to relocate to a city area.

i would have said the quality of living there is more affordable than here for newlyweds establishing a familly home but the los angeles house prices are not that much cheaper

leaving familly would have been hard for both of us so that was not the deciding factor.

Hannah (the UKC)

Edited May 19, 2008 by Hannah+Vito

[Stephen n Stacie 0]

We've chosen the US because my children's father is here, they're 14, 12, and 5. I would love to live in the UK. For now we'll have to settle with visiting Also the housing costs are so much higher in the UK. Stephen sold his flat in London--it was worth a 5 bedroom home here in Ohio--I couldn't believe it!

[gwenneh 7]

We're here because my family is here. Once we have kids we'll go to the uk.

Immigration to the UK is rapidly getting more complicated. A good site to get through it is www.uk-yankee.com.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Hi, we are moving stateside after me living here in the UK for just about a year and a half now. We are leaving because we feel financially we will be better off.

I went through the UK visa process just before I moved over here. I can tell you that at the time, it was a far less complicated procedure. After compiling all of the documents I needed and sending them off to the UK Embassy in NY (that was my closest one) I received my visa in 4 days. You will probably have to actually do the filing online. It cost me £485.00 but I believe it has gone up since then. I don't know how you go about children as mine are in the States with their dad. You do have to prove that you will be self sufficient financially but I don't rememeber having to hit a certain amount of money in some guide.

These links may help you if you decide to go that way. Like I said I dealt with the Embassy in NY and they were fantastic. I emailed them regularly with questions and they always got back to me quickly.

http://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/Welcome.htm

This is the website that you file online with...you just follow the links and it should tell you everything you need.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ukreside...fecivilpartner/

That website has some information about spouses staying and getting permission as soon as they arrive but it looks like there are some conditions to be met. You will find it almost at the bottom of the page.

The following is the UK embassy in the States. They were fantastic and I was emailing them constantly to find out if I was following the procedure properly. It also has the list of fees and it looks to be £515.00.

http://www.britainusa.com/visas/index_visa.asp?i=41000

[redkitty 0]

I've been living in the UK for two years and was ready to move back home after 6 months! Neither of us care for the weather here, the cost of living is ridiculous and over all we feel it can be quite depressing. We are much closer to my family & friends and miss the sunny friendly vibe in San Francisco. I miss California in general! Also, both of us have far more potential to earn more money in the US than here in the UK.

[Lisax 0]

Who wants to deal with paying $11 dollars a gallon for gas over in the UK?! and the price is still going to rise according to my Dad over there. Very serious illegal immigrant issues over there. Tax continuously keeps getting higher and higher and higher over there. I really don't get why people would move from here over to the UK, it's like stepping back in time moving to the UK, why would you want to do that? I'm so glad I moved from the UK and found my husband here. If anyone has an opportunity to get out of the UK, I would do so as quickly as possible.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Darren is moving to the States for a couple of reasons. I am established in my career here and make a decent living. My family is here, and I am quite close to my family. He has always wanted to live in the United States, and conversely, I have always wanted to live in the UK. We are keeping our options open in regards to where we will live, but we are seriously considering moving away from FL for the same reasons Lisax wanted to move from the UK...

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Alex hasn't finished his further education yet; I have, and I also stand a better chance of finding a reasonably-well paying job in the US than I do where I currently live. I'm also really looking forward to the sunny climes of California. We are both probably equally close to our families in terms of relationships but I live several hours' journey from my parents anyway whereas Alex's family is largely concentrated in the same area. While I do love the UK and would consider moving back here I do find the high taxes quite tough (although I realise that costs balance out in other areas; for example I'm not having to pay for medical insurance here!).

[Lisax 0]

Yeah, in England your most likely not paying for health insurance, unless you go private, but all those huge taxes people are paying over are for the health care system. So not only are you paying for everyone in the UK to get health care, that also includes all the hundreds of thousands probably millions of illegal immigrants who are trying to get free health care as well. So in actual fact it probably is better to have health insurance, reason being with how much your paying in taxes over there.

[Lisax 0]

Even though I moved here, I am close to my family, but I know they are going to visit every year or me and my husband visit there, whichever is easiest, plus the internet and phone, which makes it all easier to keep in contact. My parents though, if they had the opportunity, they would love and would much prefer to live over here in the USA than UK.

Anyone else have family members who would love to move out here? and if they did would you try to help them to move over here?

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

For us, Mark earns more than I do and there's no way that would change unless I moved away from my family in the country to live in a city. Also he has elderly grandparents whereas my last living grandparent died several years ago. House prices and rent are a lot less where he lives than we could hope to find here. His family are a lot more... clingy... than mine are and would be devastated if he left the country, whereas my Mum would never pull that kind of guilt trip on me and talks instead of looking forward to coming to visit us. As for the rest of my family, I'm only really close to my youngest Uncle and his children and my half sister and her two children... pretty much everyone else I only see at weddings and funerals anyway. If we lived in a different part of the UK I would probably only see my Mum a couple of times a year due to transport costs and lack of time, so it seems more sensible for me to move to the US and just fly my Mum out once a year to visit. I can keep in touch with everyone else via the Internet.

I would definately sponsor my Mum if she wanted to move over in the future, but I doubt she would.

[BexandAlan 0]

I am just about to finish university and haven't dug my heels into a career yet whereas when Alan left the Army he secured a really great job and has excelled to the point where he can support us both on his salary now. If one of us has to make a fresh start it might as well be me as I have less to give up. He also has a 4 year old son which admittedly lives very far away and he doesn't see as often as he should but it would be less often if he moved here. We're happy with the thought that we could be with him in 8 hours if we really had to be and we hope to have him more involved in our lives once I'm there, his mom would never let him move to the UK so this can only happen if I go there I guess.

As a diabetic I'm very reluctant about moving to the US - just fear of the unknown I guess. I'm sure it will all work out ok but the thought of insurance costing so much and then my prescriptions as well, it scares me quite a bit. My degree is worthless in the US which is very disappointing but we are starting to find ways around it. I will have to pay back my £11000 debt anyway though and I will be earning a US wage so will have to deal with exchange rates and the differences is earning/cost of living. There are lots of things I'm not looking forward to but it makes sense for me to go over there. I love Alan and Nicholas so whatever works for them will work for me.

Bex xxx