Thread: How much cheaper is it to live in USA

Originally Posted by Tillyfloss

Doesnt sound much more than here in Australia....wages are good here for nurses on the whole. So whats the immigration game like if you want to get to the US, what do they want...criteria etc?

The most common ways are:
Immediate family who are USC's (such as parents)
Work visa - company sponsorship, requires a degree or a minimum of 12yrs progressive experience in a specialised area.
Investment of a minimum of $500K which is likely to be lost.
Buying a business (although this doesn't lead to a green card)
Transferring offices e.g. UK office to US office.

Those are the basics...obviously it's not quite as simple as that ;) We are here as a company sponsored my husband for a work visa, his job is very specialised and hardly any people in the world are qualified to his level, he doesn't have a degree but did have 15yrs of progressive work experience and over 40 specialised qualifications ;) Thankfully the company has started the green card application as that will take around 6-7yrs!!!! madness!!!

Sounds more difficult than entry into Australia

Originally Posted by Tillyfloss

Sounds more difficult than entry into Australia

Apparently it's the hardest country to emigrate too

Sounds about right, must be good then!

I don't know if anyone still needs information about this topic, but if you do:

I'm an American who's lived all over the world, but I grew up in California. Cost of living in the USA in general is significantly less than the UK. However, California is one of the few exceptions to that rule. It is very expensive to live in CA if you're in the bay area (San Francisco) in particular. That being said, 130k is enough for a family that big if you spend wisely and don't plan on living in the ritziest part of town. The bay area had some very nice public schools, but you'll need to do some research. Let me know if you have any more questions! I'd be happy to answer them and can speak about California and the USA in general.

If I was planning a trip to the US which cities would you say are a must to visit?

That's really difficult to answer because America is huge and you'd have to fly between cities to really get to everything good, not to mention all the great places you can't fly too. In a hypothetical perfect world, though, here are my favorite (major) cities:

Los Angeles: my hometown and hands down my favorite place for beaches, food, and perfect weather on the country. The piers, the theme parks, the celebrity sightings, the tourist traps, etc are not to be missed and are classic American. One of the most diverse places on the world. The mountains are also a short drive away and offer great winter sports.

New York City: a gimme. Everyone knows why New York is great. The center of the universe and the quintessential big city.

More to come later, have to get on a plane

...

Continued:

Washington D.C.: wonderful museums and history everywhere. Diverse, vibrant population and correspondingly awesome cultural events. The food scene is really great. Gawk at politicians.

Seattle: beautiful city with water and trees EVERYWHERE. If you're a big fan of hipsters, Seattle is the place to go, along with Portland. Natural/vegan/vegetarian food and products, lots of great live indie music. Ferries are more fun than you think.

San Francisco: amazing, AMAZING city. It's one of my absolute favorite cities in the world to be in. Wonderful hippie, laid back vibe, live music everywhere, great seafood, amazing cultural offerings, fine dining, activism--it's got everything.

Places I would skip, personally: Boston -- pretty miserable, angry city, and not very attractive, but if you're a history buff there's a lot here (the same goes for Philadelphia); San Diego if you're going to L.A.; Chicago if you have to go extremely out of your way; Miami if you're not a fan of of the ostentatious. This is just my opinion and probably pretty controversial.