Why do you want to bring your spouse to the USA?

[A and T 82]

As things seem to fall apart more and more in the usa with high unemployment and a poor economy, I find myself thinking really hard about this question. I would love for my wife to be able to meet my family and see where and how life is in the usa. But other than that, I can't think of many reasons that we would be better off there than in the philippines.

Do any of you feel this way? My wife works in the philippines , but im sure once in the USA it would take a long time to find work if at all even though she has a degree.

Right now the advantages of the philippines are

1. Affordable healthcare (although not the best care by far)

2. Decent economy, I got a job here quickly and see lots of listings for jobs on jobstreet

3. Low cost of living

4. People keep religion to themselves mostly

5. More personal freedom (buying alcohol if you want without harassment , or pharmacy without a prescription for some things)

6. Police force seems helpful and friendly, no fear of them attacking you or tazering you for no reason/harassment

7. The way of life in the philippines is different , its not over ran with drugs or most people are not on drugs. Most kids arent alcoholics even though they have easy access to alcohol.

8. Education here is good, and affordable for college , compared to a degree in the usa that costs $50,000 or so..

personally i feel the only disadvantages are the heat/weather and poor infrastructure, and the food is sometimes hard for me to eat all the time

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Obviously every case is different, so I can only offer personal experiences from our case:

Norway's a much better choice as far as health care and economy goes these days; we have free health care, a very healthy economy, very low unemployment, crime rates, etc. The cost of living is higher than in most (I think all) of America, but not so bad that you'll really notice it on a Norwegian salary.

However, there were several factors that played into our decision.

1) The requirements for immigrating just got tightened; I'd need to have an income of USD 50,000+ yearly (for at least one previous tax year, and for the forseeable future) to sponsor my husband, and they don't allow co-sponsors. I'm not done with school yet (and boy, am I kicking myself for taking those years off after high school), and would likely not be able to swing that salary on a McJob. It would take at least two years for me to meet those income requirements.

2) My husband's not done with school yet, and his education is very much specific to America. He'd need additional schooling (or pick a different field entirely) that would take at least 5+ years to qualify for anything besides a McJob in Norway, which is not very attractive to any of us. If we stay in the US, he'll be done by next spring.

3) My husband doesn't speak a lick of Norwegian. I was fluent in English before we met, and we both like the English language. He's learning slowly now, to prepare for our child (whom I'm hoping to raise bilingual), but I wouldn't want to make him move to Norway without knowing at least basic, conversational Norwegian. It would also cause problems finding a job without any knowledge of the language.

4) He's very, very close with his family, and they've welcomed me with open arms. They're wonderful people. I love my family also and we talk regularly, but I've always been the "outsider" so to speak, by my own choice. I've always gone my own way in life, I've "wandered" and traveled a lot, and my family knows and accept this.

5) I'm taking the entirety of my education in the US, which means I'm not at any disadvantage entering the job market here.

6) We both get terrible seasonal depression. Even Oslo, far south in Norway, has up to 18 hours of darkness during the winter. Ew.

The way we see it is, Norway might be a fine option for a lot of reasons (healthcare, economy, job market) and there are a lot of things I miss about Norway, but there are minor downsides, too. Even little annoyances - like for instance, when I tell people in America I'm from Norway, they think it's cool and want to know more. When I told people in Norway I was dating/engaged to/marrying/married to an American, they react with skepticism at best, and disgust at worst. Americans are too often looked down on as a fat, war-mongering, greedy nation.

Weighing the pros against the cons, what we eventually decided was that it's in America we have the best chance at building a family life together. However that doesn't mean we've closed the door on Norway forever. If we at some point can make a better life for our family there, we'll go. We'll live where we feel our family will benefit the most. Right now, and for quite a good while into the future (I won't say forever, because who knows what the future holds?), that seems to be in America.

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Haha, I followed the link from the front page, and didn't see this was in the Philippines regional forum. Pardon me.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Times will be hard everywhere in the future. You should live wherever you are happy.

Having said that.. I have read doom and gloom every time the economy has gone through a down cycle... And every single time they always say the same thing "this time it is different"... I hope so! A hard jolt is the only thing that is going to make us make real change at this point. It will not just be bad for us, it will be bad for everyone that are indirectly subsidized - which when it comes to things like healthcare is pretty much the entire planet... Yes beleive it or not that 50 dollars we pay for the same pill that the Canadians and Europeans get for a dollar is an indirect subsidy... and the cat scan machines we pay 4.5 million for that they get for manufacturing costs plus 10% - that gravy train will stop when there isn't someone to dump the R&D costs on and they will have to make some major decisions as well...

[yankeelimer 1]

I would like to SHOW my wife the USA at least, but getting a tourist visa is pretty much impossible. I'll be honest she is not crazy about living in the USA, here in Trinidad we have a house and we're able to get by fairly easily with only food/utility bills. In the USA we'd have to get a mortgage or rent, in some ways our cost of living would be higher and in some lower.

The downsides as I see it to Trinidad:

1.HIGH HIGH food prices, even for food that is not imported. A burger is nearly $5 USD, just simply food prices are outrageous. Other goods are mostly all imported and customs duties are also sky high, I always feel to take a trip to the US just to "smuggle" back in purchases as it would be cheaper in the long run.

2.Connections are EVERYTHING, all of society from jobs to making sure your kid isn't stuck in the shittiest public school is influence based. If you have no connections you're kinda lost on some things.

3.Overt racism from a few bad apples, which is more related to the area we live in than the country as a whole. I can take it I'm an adult but I worry about my son as he will grow up as a very visible lone minority. More racially mixed cosmopolitan areas are way out of our price range, small apartments start at 1-3 million USD. He took after me almost completely, and has even adopted my texas accent somewhat but its hard to say as he's only starting to talk But that makes me worry for him. And my wife has even told me about a mixed race girl harassed to tears by STAFF at her public school when she was a child, things have changed but not that much.

In the end we probably will return to the USA for our son.

[gretchen_darren 67]

hmmm, long thoughts on this one. i think it is because I have children right now and they are living with their mom mainly, but also come to stay at my house. It is hard to say which is better or worse. I grew up in camp as a kid. I grew up in some very, very rough conditions. Everything I have right now, I earned. I worked hard to get to where I am today. No one gave me anything. I could easily adapt to the way my fiance lives with no problem. BUT my children have not been raised that way. Nor as they used to it. Also, I do not want them growing up without their mom, but also I do nto want to leave them without a father. With what I do, I can easily work anywhere in the world, and have had companies offer me to work anywhere in the world. I just choose to stay in the town I am in to see my children. One of my boys has 7 years until he turns 18, the other has 14 years. I do not know what will happen. Will jsut have to tae it one day at a time. If my ex moves somewhere to where I cannot follow to be with the children, then we will have to see. But for now, my ex has bought a home and lives nearby. So for now we are jsut trying to keep the kids happy while each of us moves on with our lives. My children have talked with my fiance, and accept her. My youngest now laughs at the faces she makes. The oldest takes with her. My ex hates it when they come home becasue they talk about my fiance a lot now. So for now, it is best if she is here in the USA. But we will also build a home there in her area. She will have a place paid for in the Philippines as well as in the USA, and able to return to live in Philippines if she chooses when we retire or when I have passed on. I hope to outlive her, but I am not stupid enough to believe i will.

[Richie Rich 70]

Every country has its advantages and disadvantages . Sorry for me --I prefer the Usa . My kids will grow up and stay here . Going for a vacation to the Pi is ok . Maybe when I retire I will consider living there if all the conditions are right . To answer your question --take a poll --over 50 % of pinays wish to migrate to the Usa if given the opportunity -believe it or not .

[B_J 2,752]

As things seem to fall apart more and more in the usa with high unemployment and a poor economy, I find myself thinking really hard about this question. I would love for my wife to be able to meet my family and see where and how life is in the usa. But other than that, I can't think of many reasons that we would be better off there than in the philippines.

Do any of you feel this way? My wife works in the philippines , but im sure once in the USA it would take a long time to find work if at all even though she has a degree.

Right now the advantages of the philippines are

1. Affordable healthcare (although not the best care by far)

2. Decent economy, I got a job here quickly and see lots of listings for jobs on jobstreet

3. Low cost of living

4. People keep religion to themselves mostly

5. More personal freedom (buying alcohol if you want without harassment , or pharmacy without a prescription for some things)

6. Police force seems helpful and friendly, no fear of them attacking you or tazering you for no reason/harassment

7. The way of life in the philippines is different , its not over ran with drugs or most people are not on drugs. Most kids arent alcoholics even though they have easy access to alcohol.

8. Education here is good, and affordable for college , compared to a degree in the usa that costs $50,000 or so..

personally i feel the only disadvantages are the heat/weather and poor infrastructure, and the food is sometimes hard for me to eat all the time

Here's the reasons we'll be living in the US.

1. I have a job here. That's pretty much it.

I agree with most of your advantages to living in the Philippines.

1. I agree on the affordable healthcare.

2. I disagree on the economy. I simply can't find a job in my field where I'll be paid the same with the same benefits.

3. Low cost of living. Philippines wins this one.

4. I have no problem talking about religion, so this one doesn't bother me.

5. I guess I like the personal freedom but it's not that important. I don't mind getting a prescription for drugs.

6. I don't fear the police here in the US; never been tasered or attacked. /crosses fingers

7. Don't know enough to comment on that one.

8. The educational system in the US is definitely superior to the educational system in the Philippines.

I really, really like the Philippines and we'll be moving back there when I retire. There are a few things better in the US but there are also things better in the Philippines. The worst thing about the Philippines is definitely the sputum test.

[rlogan 2,036]

6) We both get terrible seasonal depression. Even Oslo, far south in Norway, has up to 18 hours of darkness during the winter. Ew.

It's even worse here. 21 hours of darkness. Fifty below zero raw temp, worse with wind chill. Like you have in the North.

Adam and Thet- good post and yes, we too are looking at Philippines. If she could not have immigrated, I would have moved there. One thing we cannot replace in the Philippines though is wilderness and solitude. Philippines is approaching a thousand times more people per sq km than Alaska. Ball park numbers Alaska 600k people, Philippines around a hundred million. Philippines is only 300,000 sq kilometers and Alaska is over 1.5 million. We go days at a time without seeing any other people at all. No pollution. Birds and animals.

By cost of living Philippines is less than half of what it is here. But the remoter places we are interested in also have more NPA, MILF, Abu-Sayyef types of gangsterism. So we are looking for the right combination of safety and solitude. Even Palawan was way crowded for me.

The alarming thing about the USA is the accelleration in wars and destruction of individual liberties. We are going to be seeing stiff inflation from all the money printing the Federal Reserve has been doing to fund the ghastly amount of borrowing the US Government is doing. It is inexorable. Historically all empires collapse from excessive militarism abroad and fiscal insanity at home. Our people seem to be ignorant not just about history in general but even history of their own country. We have had our civil war and Lincoln shooting people in the streets of New York City for protesting the draft. Fifty thousand casualties in a single war battle.

We had a Great Depression and this one now is second only to that, and far from over. We have been through two world wars where we were the ones seeing the necessity of stopping a hyperpower from world domination. Now we are that hyperpower, making aggressive war in at least five countries simultaneously. Iraq, "Af-Pak" (Afghanistan and Pakistan), Libya, now Yemen and apparently Syria coming soon too? Always pushing for bombing Iran too.

I wouldn't have wanted to live in the USA during the Civil War, during the depression, and I don't think I want to be here for the USA's World War III and the concomitant police state. Our kids need to grow up in a free country with good economic prospects. Who knows. These disgraces we have had in public office for decades, bought off by the banks and military-industrial-security complex - have all been part of the problem. If Ron Paul won the presidency it would be a huge signal that things have turned around in the country.

The greatest financial heist of all time was just pulled off, and is ongoing with more than a trillion dollars showered on international banks, to take their bad loans and make laborers on wages pay them, through the so-called social security tax. Those taxes must increase now to pay the debt. There is no politician that can change that fact. The basic problem of corporatism - the banks and gigantic industries, largely war/security driven are right now still looting the country. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke has announced QE3 - Quantitative Easing III. Just stuffing more cash in the bankers' pockets, and adding to my children's debt along with inevitable social chaos from high taxes, high inflation, high unemployment, and government jack boots on the necks of protestors.

You have a revolving door between the US Treasury department and Goldman-Sachs. Warren Buffet made billions by knowing early that the trillion dollar TARP bail-out was guaranteed with Secretary of the Treasury Paulson of Goldman-Sachs and Congressmen Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, both Goldman-Sachs assets controlling the congressional financial services committee. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke was refusing to release information on who the bail-out money went to. Most of it went off-shore. In Iraq, more than $6 billion in cash was handed out off the backs of pick-up trucks without even a receipt. Not only was it of course stolen immediately, but Iraq is suing for that same $6 billion we already gave them since we were legally responsible for safeguarding it. All of this is outright looting of the Treasury on drastically historic scale. Torture, prison without charges, searches without warrants, rights to assembly and freedom to travel - the bill of rights is being shredded.

If this isn't turned around I'll build a walled house on the sea and hunker down in the Philippines. Home school the kids. Work a little bit.

[jrmejia 31]

Contrary to many people belief, USA is 10000% more secure for individual than MOST countries out there.

I will not walk alone in PI even if I get paid.

Edited June 20, 2011 by jrmejia

[jrmejia 31]

The worst thing about the Philippines is definitely the sputum test.

[jrmejia 31]

Now we are that hyperpower, making aggressive war in at least five countries simultaneously. Iraq, "Af-Pak" (Afghanistan and Pakistan), Libya, now Yemen and apparently Syria coming soon too? Always pushing for bombing Iran too.

Be careful what you write.

[jrmejia 31]

hmmm, long thoughts on this one. i think it is because I have children right now and they are living with their mom mainly, but also come to stay at my house. It is hard to say which is better or worse. I grew up in camp as a kid. I grew up in some very, very rough conditions. Everything I have right now, I earned. I worked hard to get to where I am today. No one gave me anything. I could easily adapt to the way my fiance lives with no problem. BUT my children have not been raised that way. Nor as they used to it. Also, I do not want them growing up without their mom, but also I do nto want to leave them without a father. With what I do, I can easily work anywhere in the world, and have had companies offer me to work anywhere in the world. I just choose to stay in the town I am in to see my children. One of my boys has 7 years until he turns 18, the other has 14 years. I do not know what will happen. Will jsut have to tae it one day at a time. If my ex moves somewhere to where I cannot follow to be with the children, then we will have to see. But for now, my ex has bought a home and lives nearby. So for now we are jsut trying to keep the kids happy while each of us moves on with our lives. My children have talked with my fiance, and accept her. My youngest now laughs at the faces she makes. The oldest takes with her. My ex hates it when they come home becasue they talk about my fiance a lot now. So for now, it is best if she is here in the USA. But we will also build a home there in her area. She will have a place paid for in the Philippines as well as in the USA, and able to return to live in Philippines if she chooses when we retire or when I have passed on. I hope to outlive her, but I am not stupid enough to believe i will.

mmmmmm

[AmyWrites 593]

I don't want to bring my boyfriend to the US (especially to my state) because I know he wouldn't find a job... a programmer with just intermediate English? Yeah, good luck. In Moscow we have our flat, the car, good public transport, my uni, it's safe(er) than my state, good friends, etc. If we moved to my state it'd be hell... so now I just want him to visit the US to see the major cities and my state, but moving there? Not in ten years at least.

[TeddyHoney 42]

Do any of you feel this way? --Not me, though I personally have nothing against living in the Philippines other than exposure to TB, Typhoons, Earthquakes, Volcano Eruptions and mudslides

My wife works in the philippines , but im sure once in the USA it would take a long time to find work if at all even though she has a degree. --My fiancee had a decent job but it had to start laying off workers because of the economy and she hasn't been able to find another int he last year. My ex-wife(also filipina) came here with no college degree and found 3 factory jobs then went to trade school and was placed in a job in her field. My fiancee would be no worse here jobless and with better opportunities for further education.

Right now the advantages of the philippines are

1. Affordable healthcare (although not the best care by far) --I have been on current job for 15 years with excellent benefits that supported my ex and two kids (my daughter still) and will also support my fiancee/future wife.

2. Decent economy, I got a job here quickly and see lots of listings for jobs on jobstreet --As mentioned earlier I already have a job for last 15 years and employed in same field at 2 other companies prior for another 15. My fiancee cannot find a job in the Phils.

3. Low cost of living --True, Considerably lower that here in US, relatively. But doesn't matter in my fiancee's case because she can't find a job.

4. People keep religion to themselves mostly --Depends on what religion, where you live, etc. I was baptist and converted to Catholicism when I married my first Flipina wife. Found out (I didn't know before) that there is a rather large Filipino community right here where I live in the midwest USA.

5. More personal freedom (buying alcohol if you want without harassment , or pharmacy without a prescription for some things) --Why would be harrassed for buying alcohol? Unless you are underaged and/or do not have proper ID! Don't know where you've been in USA, but I've been all around and never been harrassed for buyinh alcohol. there are dry counties and if you try to buy there you will be told just that. But here if you are of age and can prove it, you get oh, and if you have the money. And here we can also get OTC medications. Its good that many grugs need prescriptions to be purchased.

6. Police force seems helpful and friendly, no fear of them attacking you or tazering you for no reason/harassment. I have never been "Attacked or tazered" or had any problem with law enforcement here in the USA.

7. The way of life in the philippines is different , its not over ran with drugs or most people are not on drugs. Most kids arent alcoholics even though they have easy access to alcohol. --You're saying most people in USA are on drugs and most kids are alcoholics? Where do you live???

8. Education here is good, and affordable for college , compared to a degree in the usa that costs $50,000 or so.. $50,000.00? Are you talking 4 year degree for that amount?? How I wish my daughter could get a 4 year degree at even a small city college for that much!!!!

personally i feel the only disadvantages are the heat/weather and poor infrastructure, and the food is sometimes hard for me to eat all the time --I love many Filipino dishes and since I already love seafood I am right at home with a lot of the seafood dishes. I've been to the Phils many times to Mindinao, the Visayas and Luzon and yes it gets hot. It does here int he midwest USA in summer, just as hot as at least in Manila and in some parts of USA it get even hotter than in Manila.

I would have no problems living in the Phils except for the potential for natural disasters, TB not eradicated and my kidney condition. But the truth of the matter and fact is that I have a good job here and my fiancee's chances of further education and employment are better here and she wants to have a child and that child would be better off being raised here but definitely also visiting the Phils and its relatives often. As my daughter does between me and my ex going back to the Phils when we can.