A question about : Living in America
Wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction.
What visa would you require if you want to live in America.
I would not be looking to work there just live and maybe do a holiday let or 2.
Things have come to ahead this last few days when I realised I spend on average 3 hours a day in traffic jams and because I spend so much time sitting in jams my car is getting through 2 tanks of petrol per week at Ј65 per fill up even though I am not going that far. My heating is on most of the day because I am permanently cold. The weather is dismal and I cannot see any end to it.
I have been to the States several times in the past, some parts are nice for holidays but one part imparticular I do feel at home there.
I couldn't find anything against it, it was cheaper in everything we would buy from housing to a pint of milk, they speak our language, even the traffic jams were more manageable. (Spent 10 mins this morning trying to edge my way out of my drive on to the road. I live down a country lane that up to 3 weeks ago was pretty clear in the mornings but traffic has started using it to the point of log jam)
And the weather is good. Even January you could wear jeans and a t.shirt. The only one thing I hated was their bread which had way too much sugar in for my taste but even that has a silver lining as because I don't eat bread there when I go away I loose weight.
All the visa information I have found online refers to you working their in paid employment as opposed to just living there.
I have investments in this country and if I rented my house I would have sufficient income can anyone tell me where I go from here.
Best answers:
- The simple answer is you cannot get a visa to 'retire' to the USA.
You need to go on one of the many forums(mainly for Florida) and get specialist advice. Whatever you do don't spend money on brokers who will promise the earth and deliver nought.
You can buy a business - and almost certainly get ripped off - as a means of extending your stay.
You can travel on a Visa Waiver for 90 days at a time - returning to UK between stays. However if questioned by imigration they will want proof that you intent to retire in UK. - own a house etc.
You can stay 6 months on a B2 visitors Visa.
As for everything cheaper - when were you last there? Again go on a Florida forum and ask.
I can list endless problems for you to consider - getting running and insuring a car for instance. However by far and away the biggest obstacle is medical treatment - a couple of days in a hospital can cost tens of thousands of $$$$ - Do what my uncle/aunt do/did, they retired to a bungalow in the midlands, take the winter in Spain and holiday wherever they fancy.
- Getting a visa to live in the USA would take far more time and trouble than learning a foreign language. There are plenty of warm and cheap countries in the EU that offer all the advantages you list once you have mastered their language. And no need to worry about medical costs there either!
- I was last there in April of this year. So we were checking out the cost of things.
I suppose it depends on what you spend your money on.
Yes we have done our homework on cost of things and we would be substantially better off. Our biggest costs are mortgage, gas/electricity and my petrol bill which is an eye watering Ј600 per month. Not to mention the Ј720 per month my husband spends on getting into work each day. All things which would disappear or would be substantially reduced.
Please note my car is a rather modest hatchback but I spend good proportions of my day travelling in central London where I do my business and sitting in traffic jams.
We have visited several European countries over the years and as we do not drink we find them really not for us. Also the cost of living on what we do spend our money on has gone thru the roof and we could not run our type of business over there. - I am married to an American, am the mother of two, and have lived in the US in several States but I am back in North Yorkshire with no intention of returning. As others have explained, it is not straightforward to get a visa for the US, and even as the wife of one of their countrymen, the immigration officials are downright rude and unhelpful.
I can see that you are unhappy with where you live now, so perhaps a move is on the cards but I can tell you that there is a lot more to consider than the financial aspects. I learned the hard way that time with your family is by far the most important thing and I lost YEARS of this that I cannot get back. You may think that it will be fine as you speak the same language. Trust me, you don't. Many people there will struggle to understand you even though you understand them. Drive through? Forget it. You won't get what you ordered! The differences in culture are huge and only become magnified with time.
You also need to consider the costs of health insurance which can be hundreds of dollars a month. If you lose your job, there is no benefits safety net. If you don't have health insurance and you are diagnosed with a terminal disease, you may well find yourself turned away from treatment.
It is not a bed of roses in the US either although I apologise for the negativity of my post. When I moved back to the UK, I made sure I choose carefully where to live and am sure you could final somewhere you would be happier here. The US is in financial and political turmoil at the moment. They currently aren't paying their government employees salaries because they can't afford it! It is not currently the land of plenty!
Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do. - I am married to an American, am the mother of two, and have lived in the US in several States but I am back in North Yorkshire with no intention of returning. As others have explained, it is not straightforward to get a visa for the US, and even as the wife of one of their countrymen, the immigration officials are downright rude and unhelpful.
I can see that you are unhappy with where you live now, so perhaps a move is on the cards but I can tell you that there is a lot more to consider than the financial aspects. I learned the hard way that time with your family is by far the most important thing and I lost YEARS of this that I cannot get back. You may think that it will be fine as you speak the same language. Trust me, you don't. Many people there will struggle to understand you even though you understand them. Drive through? Forget it. You won't get what you ordered! The differences in culture are huge and only become magnified with time.
You also need to consider the costs of health insurance which can be hundreds of dollars a month. If you lose your job, there is no benefits safety net. If you don't have health insurance and you are diagnosed with a terminal disease, you may well find yourself turned away from treatment.
It is not a bed of roses in the US either although I apologise for the negativity of my post. When I moved back to the UK, I made sure I chose carefully where to live and am sure you could find somewhere you would be happier here. The US is in financial and political turmoil at the moment. They currently aren't paying their government employees salaries because they can't afford it! It is not currently the land of plenty!
Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do. - No offense Cardew, but my ex-husband is a US government civilian (as are a number of my friends) and he was on 20% reduced pay for a few months and was sent home completely a couple of weeks ago. He just emailed me 2 days ago to say he has no confirmation of what he will or won't be paid in his next 2 weekly pay. They sent 800,000 government workers home! Considering he is mission essential in his field, this is pretty horrendous!
- I am sure congress and the senate are still getting paid but that's because they set rules but don't expect to live by them themselves. Sad state of affairs for a lot of workers who may be living paycheck to paycheck.
- https://www.klewtv.com/news/local/Gov....html?mobile=y
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