Why did you decide to make the move to the USA and not the other way?

[Okian 0]

We discussed where to move several times, neither of us has children so that was not a concern.

Originally we thought he would move here as I am more established in the UK than he was in the US. I had a great job, 2 houses, cars and my parents are in England which is important to me if we decide to have children; and at the time he didnt have any capital in the US.

And then Yorkshire weather set in. He lived in Florida at the time, and after his first trip to the UK during which it rained every single day (the trip was in July as well) I think he changed his mind

Having said that we are that boring that we did a 5 year financial plan based on both of us moving each way (no comments on how ####### we are - just be glad we found each other and no one else has to be subject to that ). And yes we even googled wage levels, projected income rises and tax changes . Funny thing was after 5 years both plans turned out about equal. (so much for statistics)

To be honest though the real decision came down to adaptability. Although he is Ex Military and has travelled the globe he always felt foreign in the UK, and despite all the visits here never felt settled. With my job I often travelled so felt comfortable in the US.

[David And Katie 5]

Well Katie had always wanted to live in England, but I think it was a romantic, Hugh Grant Notting Hill, The Vacation, Wimbledon kind of England that doesn't exist anywhere except Hollywood.

I love the UK and Britain will always be the motherland for me, but I cannot stand the amount of people here, the chavs, the never ending population, the traffic, the weather, the pressure, the unfettered immigration, the fact you can't get away from it all, ever, anywhere. Remove the people from the UK and it would be a really, really nice place.

It was also a money thing - I didn't have a job at the time, and there was no way I could afford to support us both, nevermind move into our own place. I live in Manchester, but house/flat/one room and an outside loo would be way too expensive. She didn't have a great job, but she has a better one now with prospects and we are going to move into our own place as soon as possible (she is still at home now).

So, really it was a no-brainer. Leaving my folks and family will be hard, as will realising I will never see some of the UK ever again, or ever have the chance to. But, who knows, we may move back - I am going to hold off having kids as long as possible to give us the option of getting Kate a UK passport

Edit: I should say, her degree isn't very transferable either... I am also very adaptable, I can do my work anywhere and I love travelling. Honestly, the UK would be a total culture shock to her, and she doesn't want to drive on 'the wrong side' either!

Edited April 22, 2011 by David And Katie

[Justine+David 218]

I have a great job that I love that pays well. David had a job that he didn't like and got paid about 1/3 of my salary and felt like he was getting shafted promotion-wise. Plus, the band pay rate for nurses in the UK is roughly about half of what I made last year, yikes!! We will probably move there for a few years when we have kids so they can see their culture and know their grandparents...hopefully I'll be a nurse practitioner then and can at least make the same salary as I do as just a nurse.

Edited April 22, 2011 by Justine+David

[Amy and Nick 37]

For Nick and I it was just a given that i'd move to the states. We were both close to graduating when we met, and Nick has always had his career planned out.

I, on the other hand, want to teach, which can be done as easily in the US as the UK.

Plus, ive always loved America, whereas Nick's not so keen on England (cant understand why people are always rushing about!)

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Because of my son.

Because he doesn't have any children over there.

Because my parents are still living and his are not.

Otherwise, we'd be living across the pond in a heartbeat. May still one day.

[HikerMark 5]

We weighed up all the pros and cons and in the end it came down to just a few factors. Kim would have found it difficult to find similar work where I lived in the the UK. Housing is cheaper here in the US and my career was more transferable being a tax adviser. So far it has worked out pretty well. We now have a nice brand new house, after two tax seasons with H&R Block I will soon be starting up on my own and Kim has kept the wolf from the door with a good job and benefits.

Oh, and I don't miss the UK weather. Waking up to blue skies and sunshine almost every day is very therapeutic.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to see why you chose to make the move to the USA and start a life here instead of the opposite...having the USC move over there?

I lived in Ukraine and we still have property there and may move back, for at least part of each year. We came here to offer Alla and the boys a way to citizenshiip which will give them more opportunity in the future. Alla would eventually like to be an ESL teacher in other countries and that will be much easier if she has...

1. A masters in English from a US university (she is almost finished with that) and

2. US citizenship.

The boys, likewise, will have good educations and dual citizenships allowing them to live or work and travel where they want. If we, or they, later decide to live and work in Ukraine or Russia, that is OK also.

[rallybug 17]

My fiancee has a house, two dogs and is an accountant, so she'd need to do some re-training to stay in the same field if she moved here instead of me to the UK. Along with that, our combined salaries would barely reach an apartment here, let alone a house with room for the dogs.

On the flip side, there's a chance I could continue working remotely for my existing UK employer after moving to the US, otherwise I start again over there. I sold my apartment here in 2009, and am currently living back with my parents, so there's not as much upheaval from this end.

As previously mentioned by others, once I have US citizenship, we may choose to come to the UK until my fiancee (wife, by then) could eventually obtain UK citizenship.

[Sapphire1965 5]

Hi UKLover

Well my fiancee is from my home town here in England we met through his brother who is a work colleague of mine, anyway after several visits over to see him in the US and him coming home to England to see myself and his family, it seemed a much better idea to live in the US as he has been there for almost 20yrs now and is very established, in a well paid job, which he would not be earning the same money here in England and the US is a much better life. As he said he moved forward and most certainly does not want to go backwards returning to his childhood home, which is nice for family visits but we can have a nicer life in the US. Also he does not have children holding him to the US so it is a purely personal choice.

Good Luck to all VJers my interview is tomorrow sooooooo nervous and excited. x

Edited April 26, 2011 by Sapphire1965

[Rob and Jill 82]

Rob moved here because I already own a home and had a good job. I would have had to completely relicense and find new work there and he was from a small town. I also have TONS of family close by while his family is more spread out. While there were no children involved at the time I also had 2 elderly dogs that would not have survived a move like that, and I couldn't leave them. Unfortunately, I lost them both last year, but fortunately I gained a hubby

[ZedbraGuy 6]

We actually wanted to live in England, and we were going to when they were forecasting a huge crash in the housing market. But that didn't happen. So it came down to two things

The UK has completely stupid house prices

Karen would have to finish her education in the UK, so we'd have to wait another five years

[Alex & Rachel 78]

And the weather.

Sunshine in California is grand ;-)

I hear you on this!

I originally came for a multitude of reasons:

1. Money! Salaries are low in the UK.

2. I have a degree, and my husband doesn't. He wished to continue school (and he's still going... I've also returned to school! Boy, working full-time and attending school full-time is fun, I tell you)

3. I had itchy feet! I can't stay for too long in any one place. I thought, hey, why not a new country?

Now... I'm staying for the weather. At first I thought we might return to the UK some day. But I am currently still too in love with California to contemplate it!

[Barry and Jackie 0]

For me this was very hard, I wanted to remain in the UK. However after researching what my life would be like and experiencing it I feel the US just has more to offer. There is far more stuff for a our little girl to doand I genuinely feel the standard of living is just better all round.

[hamtaro 4]

I 100% cannot stand it here. Born in the lowest sector of society, not expected to go to uni so I didn't, nor did any of my friends, raised in poor northern town, no prospects, had to live in low rent housing, plagued by, teased by chavs, been called a spastic more times than I can remember because of my disability. Set up an importing business that got plaugued by tax and ridiculous import taxes, went to live overseas for 4 years, loved it there. Came back because I met my husband to pursue whatever visa we could get, been supremely miserable for 2 years and not earning half my potential thanks to aforementioned import taxes.

I hate this country but IMO the aforementioned "unfettered immigration" is the best part about it. The anti-foreign feeling makes me want to leave the most. Lord only knows how somebody on an immigration forum can complain about immigration. :/ Gotta hand it to the British to do just that.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Plus, ive always loved America, whereas Nick's not so keen on England (cant understand why people are always rushing about!)

I think just the opposite! The one thing that perhaps drives me a little crazy here in the US is how fast-paced life is. Stress has caused me all kinds of problems! I presume this all depends on where you live, however.

I 100% cannot stand it here. Born in the lowest sector of society, not expected to go to uni so I didn't, nor did any of my friends, raised in poor northern town, no prospects, had to live in low rent housing, plagued by, teased by chavs, been called a spastic more times than I can remember because of my disability. Set up an importing business that got plaugued by tax and ridiculous import taxes, went to live overseas for 4 years, loved it there. Came back because I met my husband to pursue whatever visa we could get, been supremely miserable for 2 years and not earning half my potential thanks to aforementioned import taxes.

I hate this country but IMO the aforementioned "unfettered immigration" is the best part about it. The anti-foreign feeling makes me want to leave the most. Lord only knows how somebody on an immigration forum can complain about immigration. :/ Gotta hand it to the British to do just that.

Hopefully you'll be in the US and enjoying life very soon!

Barry and Jackie, I also feel that the standard of living is a little better. I was discussing this with my coworkers (also immigrants; in the two jobs I have worked here only 5% of the workforce have been American-born!) and they all feel the same way. My only two gripes with the US are healthcare and education. Unfortunately they're two very important things!