Thread: Moving to the USA from UK

Hi,

We would really appreciate any information with regards to moving to California from the UK. My husband has registered with a recruitment agency in California, but we would like to know all the in's and outs with regards to visa's, medical insurance, living standards etc. Would really love to hear from anyone who has made the move, all information received would be a great help. We have four children aged 18, 15, 9 and 7 and am unaware if this will hold us back.

Many thanks in advance

Hi
I cant help with California ,sorry but welcome to the forum, i hope someone is along soon who can help

Cal x

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Hi Max40 I was wondering if you could give me the name of the recruitment agency you are with. My husband and I are also looking to relocate to the USA thanks

Hi and welcome

I can't help you specifically about California as I have never lived there, but as immigration is federal it's the same throughout the USA

I am really surprised a recruitment agency would register your husband, most won't touch people without the right to work in the US already (i.e. have a green card or be a USC).

The first thing that jumps out at me are your children's ages, especially the eldest. S/he will 'age out' at the age of 21yrs and have to leave to US or qualify for their own visa if they don't have a green card by then. Also if they intend on going to college (university) here you will likely have to pay international rates as you aren't a resident.

As for visa's, there are several ways, immediate family, work or invest $500K-1Mil. I assume as your husband has registered with an agency you would be looking into a work visa. The most common kind is the H1B (unless it's a job transfer within a company then it would be a L1 visa). For an H1B a company sponsors a person, there are lots of rules they have to 'pass', the job has to require a minimum of a bachelors degree, they have to prove that they cannot get a USC for the job, the person they are sponsoring has to have a minimum of a bachelors degree or equivalent. The company cannot submit the application until April 1st for a start date no earlier than October 1st (total pain in the butt when you have kids and the school year starts in August!). There is also a maximum number of H1B's issued each year (65000), some years this has been reached within a few days and more recently it has taken a few months due to the recession, last year it was closed after 2 months (June 11th). Spouses and children cannot work on H4 visa's, the one's that come with H1B's.

Health insurance is the biggy here!!! You should make sure it comes with the job. This usually means the company will provide subsidised cover, you get a selection of different coverage, choose which one you want for your family, the cost comes out of pay each pay period (it's common to get paid every two weeks or twice a month here) before other deductions. How much you will pay depends on how good a deal the company has with the insurance company. We paid around $1000 a month with my husbands first job (2 adults and 3 children), it was a medium sized company. As well as the monthly payment there are also co-pays (basically excesses) to pay each time you visit the doctor, get a prescription etc, how much these are depends on the cover you choose, $20-30 per 'GP' visit is probably average.

As for living standards, that's going to be really hard to answer as everyone's are different.

HTH If you have any other questions just ask :)