Why the US?

[C_María 6]

The most immediate thing is that we want to have our baby in the US and start our new family life here "on dollars and not pesos" as the couple from DR so perfectly put it! But I love, love, love Mexico (as does he)and in the end we decided that it was very important to be able to travel freely as a family from one country to another. And because right now I can do that and he can't we wanted in the future to be equally privleged to move across borders when we pleased. But they don't make it too easy, do they?!!

Edited January 26, 2011 by C_María

[Christi85 86]

Thought I'd add my two cents.

I'm not originally from the UK (I'm from another EU country - one of the rather poor ones) but my husband and I met in London while doing our Master's degree here in 2007 and have been here ever since.

So to begin with, going to live permanently in my country of origin is out of the question, at least for the next several years.

But why did we decide to leave the UK and go to the States (we're moving to Southern California):

1)bad and very unpredictable weather in the UK. It can very easily be cold and rainy in mid-July, and this restricts any outdoor activities we could have planned. For this reason, we would never want to raise kids here as we feel we'd be constantly restricted due to the weather. We simply want to go out and play with our kids pretty much whenever we feel like it

2)London (can't talk about the countryside, but then I don't think we could realistically live in the countryside due to the lack of jobs) is overly crowded and populated. As a result, houses and flats tend to be on the small/very small side, and are also extremely expensive for what they are. When you see what your money can buy here and there (even if "there" is Southern California which is generally expensive), and when you know that there the climate is also 100 times better, then it's hard to resist.

3)Taxes in the UK are generally higher than in the US, and salaries are quite lower. My husband has a marketing manager job here in London and he gets paid £30k, whereas for similar positions in the US the equivalent salary is at least $60-$70k.

4)Back to the kids argument, I wouldn't want to raise kids in London because, from what I've seen, the mentality among most teenagers here is: "drinking and sleeping with as many different partners as possible makes you cool". Surely it's not ideal in the US either, but the US is still more conservative and family-oriented than the UK today.

There are lots of other reasons, but for us these are the main ones. It all comes down I suppose to better quality of life in the US - better weather, larger living space, more variety for family activities, generally higher income etc. etc.

Good luck in your visa journey!

[* Kristin * 49]

I actually live in the UK with my fiance at the moment, and have done for the last three years... and we're leaving beacuse it's bloody expensive. We would never be able to afford a property to buy (we live in West London), and are really concerned for our futures. We're both in well-paying jobs, but are always living paycheck to paycheck, practically.

We did think about moving out to Cambridge area where his family is from, but honestly- the UK is a bit grim. I'm from California, and could use with some natural vitamin D every now and then

Would anyone want to share why they picked having their fiance come to the US rather than emigrating from the US to your fiance's country; especially those of you from England/UK with it's National Health and benefits system. My fiance has been asking himself this question and I don't have any good answers. I thought maybe someone who went through it and made the decision might have some good advice for him. Thanks!

[Lisa & Vinko 9]

You posed a really good question...one that's been on my mind as well for seeing all these folks so dedicated to bringing over their loved ones on this site.

My story: Vinko has no ties in Chile, and was actually thinking about immigrating to Canada with a cousin. But we met and that changed. Although the US was never a thought that entered into his mind, he does like the idea of "starting over". Vinko emigrated to the former Yugoslavia from Chile as a baby and was there through his entire youth. Moving from there back to Chile was a transition he was not prepared for at 19 and although he thought he knew the culture and the language as a result of family influence and his own roots, it was very different from Europe.

My life is established here; I have a career, family, and young children. So being here is the obvious first choice. If for some reason things did not work out, though, I'd be willing to marry and spend time there; then possibly directly file with the consulate.

Either way, it means sacrifices...what makes the difference is your commitment as a couple to make it happen either way!

[matalie 1]

Honestly, the first week I moved here, I cried for a week. I assumed everything would be different and all my friends would forget about me back home and I was just willing myself to be unhappy! Now, it's a completely different story and I have only been here a month! I'm going to hold off saying I "love" it here, until after my husband's apartment lease is up and we can move (His neighbour two floors up blasts obnoxious rap music and the bass shakes our windows! Uggggh!!). But I've gotten very used to my new life here, and while I love Canada, it'll be waiting for me if we ever choose to go back and live there!

[curvebell 29]

Great thread!

For me, moving to the US was a no brainer. Fiance has just graduated and landed a fantastic stable job. Price of living is a lot lower than in Sydney - prices are absolutely through the roof here!

I just feel like the US is much more exciting place to live. Here in the suburbs of Sydney after 5pm on a weekday everything pretty much shuts down. In the States there are many places to visit all within a couple of hours plane ride of each other... if you want to go skiing/canyoning/forests/beach/mountains/rainforests it's all within reach! Australia is so far from the rest of the world

Also, I need my Urban Outfitters/VS fix!

Although I do have family in Oz I know I will get to visit them often enough and my parents are jetsetters whom I will see a lot of! Siblings in England so I will be closer to them!

One last thing, a lot less deadly snakes/spiders in the States then Oz!!!

[slangofoil 50]

I was living in Ireland with my husband (then boyfriend) in 2009 and could have remained there legally as long as I wanted. But the economy was (and still is) atrocious and I was barely scraping by. Student loans were coming due and I had no real hopes of finding a good job.

So I came back to the US, with the intention that he would join me in a year when he finished college. We weren't engaged yet, but I pretty much knew we would be before long. He had always pictured himself coming to the States for a couple years anyway.

I think it was the right choice considering the state of Ireland at the moment. No jobs, turmoil in the government, high taxes. I live in the DC metro area where comparatively, jobs are abundant, so he shouldn't have much difficulty getting a good job.

The only bad thing is that he's much closer to his family than I am, so he misses them a lot.

We may go back to Ireland eventually, but not until after he's gotten citizenship here to make things easier. And hopefully things will have settled down over there by the time we consider it.

[Ally & Rach 24]

Im from Scotland where the majority of us have NO quality of life.. There are plus points to living here but cost of living is extortionate.. you don't get much for your money and are lucky if you get 5 days of sunshine a year.. and I don't mean warmth.. I just mean blue skies..

Im finding a lot of people are miserable here and if you don't drink to excess you don't have the best social life.

I love the vastness ofthe US.. if it doesn't work in one are you can travel thousands of miles and still be in the same country. I find people over there to be far more positive and encouraging.. I also see far more opportunities to be successful there.

I think it all comes down to the question.. Scotland or Florida!!..... it wasn't a difficult choice..

[payxibka 10,044]

not a K-1 visa process or procedure topic but more a general immigration discussion topic... moving thread

[Ellie-and-David 38]

SUNSHINE!!!!

Hubby is originally from Connecticut and moved here 18 years ago and he cant live without the vit D anymore.

The healthcare situation does worry me, but turns out I feel much healthier here than I ever did in the UK. We can afford to buy a house in $'s that would cost us nearly double in £'s.

A lot of people aspire to retire in Florida, so we figured we would get a jump on that and move here 30 years earlier than we might have done

I miss my family, but they definitely dont find a built in holiday home in Florida a bad thing.

[william_wallace 8]

A topic of conversation that comes up quite often. The main reason we stay in the US is for the wife's kids. If it wasn't for that, we would be living in Scotland. When they have grown up and left we will more and likely move back. I for one, find it more expensive to live in the States than where I'm from. My wife loves Europe and Scotland. She is sick and tired of the 100% grind of American life eg -

1- Health is a killer for us, damn expensive

2- Car insurance, again bloody expensive. She was involved in a car accident 3 years ago. An 18 year old rammed her from behind, the girl's insurance was on the States minimum requirement which was $25,000. My wife's medical expenses was over $50,000 so we were over $25,000 out of pocket.

3- Crime, It don't matter where you are, there is always some idiot killing someone. To me, gun laws are crazy. Something that won't go away in this country (maybe it's just the Deep South)

4- The heat and humidity. I hate it and so does my wife lol.

5- The roads. It don't matter where or when, accidents everywhere.

6- Fuel. Gas might be cheaper here but when I lived in Scotland, my 2.0 litre diesel injected car got me 600 miles on a full tank. My Toyota is lucky to get me 350 miles here.

7- Peace and quality of life. Something we both want in the Highlands Of Scotland.

8- Money. Our both combined income of $1800 per week is bollocks.

9- Public transport....What public transport, there isn't any here.

10- Fast food. It's in your face everywhere you go. Obesity is a BIG problem here.

11- Travel. If you want to go to another country. One it's expensive, two it's miles and miles away.The option of hopping on a plane and choosing various country's in Europe is something we both want. We both have lived in Germany and loved it.

Now they are only a few pointers that we have. There is good points living here in the US, but overall if we had the chance and we may in a few years. Back to Scotland for us.

Edited January 26, 2011 by william_wallace

[Udella&Wiz 325]

The reason I movd with my daughter vs my husband and his 2 sons (then 14 and 16)moving to Canada was the fact that he has a joint custody agreement with his ex and if he moved, he would not have been able to see his sons very often nd that wouldn;t ahve been fair or good for them. I on the other hand had sole custody of my daughter(then 15) we were just more portable. We didn't really consider anything monetary since we're both is highly employable careers in IT. I'm actually closer to my family then he is to his, but we've tried to make as many trips back and have guests down as often as we can.

Just because of the standard of living in Northern VA - my salary now is about 1.5 times as much as it was so that's been a great boost. Healthcare wasn't a consideration, we're employed so we're covered....I can honestly say I didn't receive as good care in Canada as I do now in the US. The wait times weren't horrible, but I have much more access to specialists here .

Edited January 26, 2011 by Udella&Wiz

[rallybug 17]

My fiancee in the US has a good job, her own house, lives a couple miles from family and has two dogs.

I'm currently living back with my parents after coming back to the UK from the Isle of Man in 2009 - I expected it to be a short stay until I found somewhere of my own, but house prices are still high here, and then I met Gin online and the urge to buy my own property in the UK has dwindled Also, as a self-employed contractor for my old employers, there's a slim chance that I will be able to stay working for them from the US, depending on how the business is doing.

[Lisamarie 79]

Me too, for moving to Morocco, but it's not my first choice......I would have to be able to make trips to see my kids though, even if it's only once a year....hopefully we won't have to worry about that and he will be here with me.

At first I contemplated moving to Japan but I think life is much less hectic in the US compared to Japan.My company has branches in Japan so I could apply for those jobs but language is a barrier for me and even then I don't think I could survive in the Japanese corporate environment.

For some countries, it's a no-brainer and you can even see some posts here that allude to the fact that moving to the US is considered to be a big fringe benefit of the whole K1 thing. But someone from the UK or Canada, or France or Japan or Germany, it's not so easy.

We decided that she will not get US Citizenship as we plan to stay in Japan for extended periods in the future.

Edit: Make no mistake though. If for whatever reason she could not come here, I would move to Japan in a heartbeat!

[connyk 0]

A topic of conversation that comes up quite often. The main reason we stay in the US is for the wife's kids. If it wasn't for that, we would be living in Scotland. When they have grown up and left we will more and likely move back. I for one, find it more expensive to live in the States than where I'm from. My wife loves Europe and Scotland. She is sick and tired of the 100% grind of American life eg -

1- Health is a killer for us, damn expensive

2- Car insurance, again bloody expensive. She was involved in a car accident 3 years ago. An 18 year old rammed her from behind, the girl's insurance was on the States minimum requirement which was $25,000. My wife's medical expenses was over $50,000 so we were over $25,000 out of pocket.

3- Crime, It don't matter where you are, there is always some idiot killing someone. To me, gun laws are crazy. Something that won't go away in this country (maybe it's just the Deep South)

4- The heat and humidity. I hate it and so does my wife lol.

5- The roads. It don't matter where or when, accidents everywhere.

6- Fuel. Gas might be cheaper here but when I lived in Scotland, my 2.0 litre diesel injected car got me 600 miles on a full tank. My Toyota is lucky to get me 350 miles here.

7- Peace and quality of life. Something we both want in the Highlands Of Scotland.

8- Money. Our both combined income of $1800 per week is bollocks.

9- Public transport....What public transport, there isn't any here.

10- Fast food. It's in your face everywhere you go. Obesity is a BIG problem here.

11- Travel. If you want to go to another country. One it's expensive, two it's miles and miles away.The option of hopping on a plane and choosing various country's in Europe is something we both want. We both have lived in Germany and loved it.

Now they are only a few pointers that we have. There is good points living here in the US, but overall if we had the chance and we may in a few years. Back to Scotland for us.

Agreed. I only moved to the US because I already lived here in 2006/2007 and felt that I could adjust easier and faster compared to my American husband moving to Austria. I know the English language pretty well whereas he can't talk any German and that would also have been a problem at first. Also, we are both musicians and in the process of starting a band right now here in the US, and there are a lot more opportunities in this sector here than in Austria. Furthermore, living is a lot cheaper here in FL than it is in Vienna, where I lived before, and this is also a plus.

However, I can not see myself living in the US for longer than a couple of years. The general life quality is a lot better in Austria than it is here for pretty much the same reasons william_wallace stated above. Right now children are out of the question for us anyway, but if we'll ever decide to have kids, I would not want to raise them here in the US.