British views on emigrating to America

[xylo 4]

Seeing as all of us on here know quite how difficult and complex emigrating can be, I was wondering what kind of attitudes you have encountered from friends and family?

I have a friend who is very blasé and has said several times that it would be 'so easy' for her to move to to the States, because her family have so much money. I've tried to explain that you can't just buy your way in (unless you're an investor) and that it may well take some time. All the same, she likes to update her social networking sites with details of the lavish houses she will buy in America!

Anyone else come across similar?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Yes please!! Tell her there are lots of nice houses here just waiting for her money!!

[Robert&Karen 264]

I brought my fiancee from the UK to the US last September to see if she could adjust. She turned out to be more American than many Americans! She loves root beer which apparently they do not have in the UK. She also loves the customer service and nice attitude at many businesses. Even the local "English pub" is decidedly un-English with their free refills of drinks and customer is always right attitude.

As for her family, aha. Adult kids loathe the fact that she is moving. Her neighbors are jealous and excited at the same time. They are old enough to fly over for a visit, and they prefer the UK though they have never left it once.

[xylo 4]

I brought my fiancee from the UK to the US last September to see if she could adjust. She turned out to be more American than many Americans!

Haha, brilliant! Very true with the English pub, too. I have come across a lot of the jealous-but-excited type, and in equal measure those staunch Anglophiles who have never been abroad. I think perhaps some people like their world much smaller than others...

[jingo 38]

When I lived in California for a year as an exchange student, at first, people would get so excited at learning I was British. They'd ask a million questions and go nuts over my different words and pronounciations of things. By the time they got to know me better they got over it.... I think....

I will miss Tesco though! (and M&S and Nandos!)

[Robert&Karen 264]

My fiancee is despised in England because she is Scottish. But she comes here and is an instant celebrity. She even talked a cop out of his rifle and got to examine an unloaded M-16. I told her cops NEVER give up their guns, she is the charmer!

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Seeing as all of us on here know quite how difficult and complex emigrating can be, I was wondering what kind of attitudes you have encountered from friends and family?

I have a friend who is very blasé and has said several times that it would be 'so easy' for her to move to to the States, because her family have so much money. I've tried to explain that you can't just buy your way in (unless you're an investor) and that it may well take some time. All the same, she likes to update her social networking sites with details of the lavish houses she will buy in America!

Anyone else come across similar?

Have you told her that the US is not part of the Commonwealth? She cannot live or work in the US unless she has a green card. She would need to invest at least $500,000 USD in a US business that would create jobs to even begin to immigrate to the US as an investor. And it's not just as simple as sending a check and coming over. There is a ton of paperwork associated with it.

As a UK citizen, she can come to the US as a visitor and her time here will be limited to 90 days on the VWP or six months if she has a visitor visa. If she wants to live or work, she will need a green card.

Edited July 7, 2011 by Jojo92122

[Boiler 45,486]

You can buy in- EB5.

[Saker 6]

Utter nonsense!

Your partner is despised as she was a Scot in England?! I think you have been given a slanted version of the truth.

The only offence that a Scot might take in England is that they feel they are accepted simply as being "regional" the worst they will hear is that they might be called "jock" when in a group of people. Now, let us reverse the situation, an English person in Scotland might experience real abuse as they are perceived as the bad people who did bad things to the Scots (the English policy in Scotland was primative and brutal) Popular culture likes to enforce a "them and us" philosophy between the Scots and the English (the movie Braveheart being an example) Today, the English born person walking through Glasgow is about as responsible for primative English brutality as they are for killing the dinosaurs.

History shows that the Scots were good at fighting themselves, the various clans fought brutal wars for generations (just like other early civilisations) the one thing that the clans mostly agreed on was their despising of the English. A Scot telling of being despised in England is an example of someone reaffirming modern stereotypical popular culture rather than studying history.

I dont personally feel a need to defend the English, only a desire to bash them with facts a little closer to the truth.

Good luck with the visa journey.

[xylo 4]

You can buy in- EB5.

I think the EB5 is the investor visa, and as jojo mentioned, the level of investment must be $500,000 and individual wealth must be over $1m. Plus, she has this idea of bringing everyone over all together, you know, brothers, sisters, boyfriend etc.

As a UK citizen, she can come to the US as a visitor and her time here will be limited to 90 days on the VWP or six months if she has a visitor visa. If she wants to live or work, she will need a green card.

Yep, I tried to say this as tactfully as possible! I didn't want to sound like 'I'm emigrating and you can't'. Maybe her reaction is a strange form of jealousy yet I'm under no illusion that I'm moving to the American dream!

[EmmaGrayshon 3]

Yes, there is a hell of a lot of ignorance about what it takes to move to the US. So far I have been told I need to become an au pair, my fiance needs to have a million dollars, that nobody who has been arrested is allowed into the US, that 'you just write to the Embassy and they send you a greencard' (actually, talking to both parents about their experiences in the late 70's that may once have been a little true). Worst of all, there is the immediate assumption that marriage to a US citizen is to gain LPR status. "Would you marry him if he was from Bolton?" Err...I lived in Bolton and yep...I would.

[JoannaV 174]

Many of the Americans we meet seem to assume that upon marriage I became a US citizen. There are a few who know better, but most don't. It's kind of nice that they think such an easy policy is in place, if you think about it :-)

I think the Brits tend to have a slightly clearer idea of immigration, although they still tend to think of it as easier and quicker. That is, you get married and then you go to the Embassy and get your visa. (Well that's probably what the Americans think too, if I were to ask them what they think I had to do after getting married.)

[xylo 4]

"Would you marry him if he was from Bolton?" Err...I lived in Bolton and yep...I would.

This made me laugh so much! I'm from the North-West too so I know Bolton. My Mum and sister were similar: "Are you sure you don't just like him because he's American? It'll wear off" Give me some credit! Good old practical Lancashire.

Many of the Americans we meet seem to assume that upon marriage I became a US citizen. There are a few who know better, but most don't. It's kind of nice that they think such an easy policy is in place, if you think about it :-)

I think the Brits tend to have a slightly clearer idea of immigration, although they still tend to think of it as easier and quicker. That is, you get married and then you go to the Embassy and get your visa. (Well that's probably what the Americans think too, if I were to ask them what they think I had to do after getting married.)

A friend of mine married an American and she asked me the other day: "Don't you think everyone seems to make a fuss over immigration? I didn't think it was stressful at all, really straightforward". She didn't do any of this process though... she just went over, got married, pretended it was a last minute thing and her husband did all the forms! Almost 3 years on, it worked for her.

[xylo 4]

I'm not quite sure how to link to another post properly but on the following thread, 'Just Bob' sums it up perfectly: Which visa for my family?

[Sapphire1965 5]

My fiancee is despised in England because she is Scottish. But she comes here and is an instant celebrity. She even talked a cop out of his rifle and got to examine an unloaded M-16. I told her cops NEVER give up their guns, she is the charmer!

Hi I find it hard to believe that your fiancee being Scottish was despised in England I too am Scottish and moved to England when I was 29 and lived there for 16years without being loathed had lots of great friends and there was never an issue me being from Scotland, I moved to Chicago 8 weeks ago and I love the way of life the people are so friendly, and the level of service is outstanding much better than in the UK. I do miss HP brown sauce, gravy granules, peppercorn sauce in packets and Warburtons bread to name a few.