The big move - is it really going to be worth it????

[lynJer 7]

For all those who are busting their buts to get to the USA to live....please rethink for just a minute.....could you both migrate to Australia?

Its just that this country is in a recession....meaning, not enough jobs etc..(although on the plus side the houses are cheap...but banks arent lending)

Where as Oz is not.....many more jobs and I believe the country and lifestyle is much more healthier.

Do I regret coming over here....well yes....but no...

eventually my husband and I will move back to Oz, but in the meantime....we are here and I just wish I had of left Australia making sure I had dotted the i's and crossed the t's - instead of rushing off to fit with the timings of the K1 .... hoping when we move back Australia will still be in its boom time....

And....Im sure, my husband and I would have been much better off financially if we had of migrated to oz, rather than here....

There are a number of little issues you will have to deal with once you move from the other side of the world to here..(and worth thinking about NOW...NOT ONCE YOU MOVE)...for an example prepare for going for your learners and licence all over again....yeap...buy the road rules book for the state your moving to....banking oz and usa....credit cards Oz....debit cards...

Feel free to ask me any questions should you want a bit of help with before your big move.....Im not doing anything these days....& would love to assist you guys...cheers :dance:

[NoneYa 73]

I am an American. There are plenty of jobs if you are qualified but most people aren't so I agree with your point. Since I grew up in America and I toy with the thought of me leaving my country one day, it is for one reason only. Healthcare. Our health care is very expensive. A family plan here in the U.S. is roughly about $ 13,000 per year and the deductibles are really high. I am on a single plan right now and a single person has a deductible of over $ 2,000.

What is healthcare cost in Austrailia now?

Back to the employment picture... 8% unemployment is where we are now.. that is 92% employment. There is still rush hour. Employers are welcoming this because the labor market has been so tight in some years that the quality of workers available was really poor. At least now, people are hungry for work when they are out and it is better for corporations. Our family owns a business. I hear both sides of it. I would not want to be unemployed now but I am sure I could find work if I was because I have 23 years in the computer industry in software development.

Edited February 9, 2012 by NoneYa

[Dana-Mića 51]

I am not an Australian but I have a handfull or two worth of family members that do live in various parts of Australia and they all say its great, they have all succeeded in life and are living it greatly. Im not complaning because America has given me an opportunity when I needed it most but back in the day if the option for us to go to Australia was open we would of went there instead of here. My little brother has been to Australia to visit our family and he swears he will move there if its possible.

[Hank_ 9,173]

This K-1 process isn't about making a right business decision based on the economy of the country, so "... is it... worth it???" would be a question of the heart.

People tend to make decisions emotionally and then defend them with logic later, instead of the other way around.

Only question I would have with moving to OZ would be "Where to I put my gun safe?"

[skiptex 225]

never mind..

this post was moved to DOWN UNDER>>

Edited February 9, 2012 by skiptex

[lynJer 7]

Yeah guys thanks for your comments, but this is going out to those Australians contemplating migrating to USA....

Some things need to be done before you leave....and if you havnt left then ask yourself...should you reconsider leaving the ONLY COUNTRY IN THE GLOBE THAT HASNT BEEN AFFECTED BY THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISES....

Yes there is great opportunity in the USA but so there are too in Australia....

It costs a lot of money to come over here to live and I just wanna help others to make the process easier....whilst the process of K1 CR1 ETC is covered....what about the other stuff....?

I have a huge network of aussie friends over here....and would be more than happy to get their views on any question i cant help with....-

Yeah guys thanks for your comments, but this is going out to those Australians contemplating migrating to USA....

Some things need to be done before you leave....and if you havnt left then ask yourself...should you reconsider leaving the ONLY COUNTRY IN THE GLOBE THAT HASNT BEEN AFFECTED BY THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISES....

Yes there is great opportunity in the USA but so there are too in Australia....

It costs a lot of money to come over here to live and I just wanna help others to make the process easier....whilst the process of K1 CR1 ETC is covered....what about the other stuff....?

I have a huge network of aussie friends over here....and would be more than happy to get their views on any question i cant help with....-

[Lainie B 465]

It's a tough choice. I have lived most of my adult life outside Australia, so I didn't think about the move very much, but it wasn't until I made this permanent move to the US that I really started missing it, and realising how great things are there, and how hard it is to leave family behind. My qualifications are recognised in the US but my husband's would not be in Australia, so we didn't really have a choice. I am enjoying it, I have a good job (though salary is a lot less than what I would earn in Australia, and no the cost of living is not proportionally less), and I get to spend time getting to know his family. However I do hope we end up living in Australia one day, in fact I'm counting on it, I don't want to retire here.

[Ippsy Pippsy 31]

Gee, my deductible is something like $4,000 ... not $2,000. Certainly my health insurance as a single person was my second biggest monthly expense next to rent. Haven't figured it out for two people yet...

[Amanda and Josh 12]

I tried, begged, pleaded but at the end of the day apparently my balls are bigger then my husbands. he is so entrenched in the American way of life that he can't see outside of it, so in order to be with the man I love I have to move. We would be way better off finanically in Australia, he would earn twice as much as what he does now and I earn twice as much as I will there. He just doesn't want to give up the security of his government job, but is asking me to give up mine (I work for QLD government and the benefit of that are far greater than the US government jobs). I hope I can talk him into moving here eventually but it is with a heavy heart that I go :-( (just being honest and yes he knows this).

[Travis and Meghan 24]

I'm really in two minds still. I loved Australia, Love my family and i miss them more than anything, more than i even thought i would actually. I've become a lot closer with my Mum through all of this. I also miss the healthcare and great wages and employment i had in Australia. On the other hand, despite the fact that we're so poor here and we don't have a lot of family support (okay, that's only half true, they are letting stay here until we save enough money to move interstate and Hubby's Mum did, in the end, decide to be my co sponsor but they treat my Husband like dirt...it's a complicated situation, lol) like we would have back in Oz we're probably better off being in the US as there are so many more opportunities here for us. Travis is a musician and i have a few business aspirations so there is much more of a market here for what we want to do and we just wouldn't have the same opportunities in Australia. We decided that it was worth being broke for the next however many years in the hope that we'll at some point be able to make a living off of doing the things that we love.

[S and R 8]

For all those who are busting their buts to get to the USA to live....please rethink for just a minute.....could you both migrate to Australia?

Its just that this country is in a recession....meaning, not enough jobs etc..(although on the plus side the houses are cheap...but banks arent lending)

Where as Oz is not.....many more jobs and I believe the country and lifestyle is much more healthier.

Do I regret coming over here....well yes....but no...

eventually my husband and I will move back to Oz, but in the meantime....we are here and I just wish I had of left Australia making sure I had dotted the i's and crossed the t's - instead of rushing off to fit with the timings of the K1 .... hoping when we move back Australia will still be in its boom time....

And....Im sure, my husband and I would have been much better off financially if we had of migrated to oz, rather than here....

There are a number of little issues you will have to deal with once you move from the other side of the world to here..(and worth thinking about NOW...NOT ONCE YOU MOVE)...for an example prepare for going for your learners and licence all over again....yeap...buy the road rules book for the state your moving to....banking oz and usa....credit cards Oz....debit cards...

Feel free to ask me any questions should you want a bit of help with before your big move.....Im not doing anything these days....& would love to assist you guys...cheers :dance:

This is a very good question, and it gives me sleepless nights just thinking about it. It is amazing how Australia just keeps going!

I don't know where the heart ends and rational thinking begins - happy but struggling to survive is a strange 'happiness'. The positives include being mortgage free and buying 2-3 investment properties. I plan to get a car with cash as well, so that we can get the big ticket items out of the way, hopefully we can then survive on limited income. The job market is a worry, Im not sure whether it is as bad as it is reported in the news. I miss my wife but we are planning that I work for another 3 months after the visa is issued, just to top up on savings. Scary.

Also, is it true that people are leaving the US in droves?

[TimmyH 0]

This is a very good question, and it gives me sleepless nights just thinking about it. It is amazing how Australia just keeps going!

I don't know where the heart ends and rational thinking begins - happy but struggling to survive is a strange 'happiness'. The positives include being mortgage free and buying 2-3 investment properties. I plan to get a car with cash as well, so that we can get the big ticket items out of the way, hopefully we can then survive on limited income. The job market is a worry, Im not sure whether it is as bad as it is reported in the news. I miss my wife but we are planning that I work for another 3 months after the visa is issued, just to top up on savings. Scary.

Also, is it true that people are leaving the US in droves?

I think it depends on individual situations. I'm about to relocate and have a bit of money saved up to tide us over while we look for work. I'm hoping that 5 years of engineering experience will allow me to get a decent job. Money isn't everything, as long as you have enough to survive.

It also appears the US economy is picking up, with the labour report and all. Fingers crossed it's on the up!

I for one am VERY excited about getting to the states and look at it as an adventure!

[Orando 57]

This is a very good question, and it gives me sleepless nights just thinking about it. It is amazing how Australia just keeps going!

I don't know where the heart ends and rational thinking begins - happy but struggling to survive is a strange 'happiness'. The positives include being mortgage free and buying 2-3 investment properties. I plan to get a car with cash as well, so that we can get the big ticket items out of the way, hopefully we can then survive on limited income. The job market is a worry, Im not sure whether it is as bad as it is reported in the news. I miss my wife but we are planning that I work for another 3 months after the visa is issued, just to top up on savings. Scary.

Also, is it true that people are leaving the US in droves?

I have not heard people are leaving the US in droves however, jobs, direct investment and manufacturing have been leaving in droves to Mexico through NAFTA over the past ten years, leaving to Asia and Latin America through all these free trade agreements, global re-balancing in full effect, highly skilled jobs are available in the US, the US still imports those types of workers in areas such as Information technology and the like, employment is decent for people with college degrees, although many of us with college degrees are not in the jobs we want, the headline 8% unemployment number does not tell the true story, participation in the labor market has steadily declined over the past 4 years, people giving up hope to find a job, leaving the work-force, underemployment is over 16%, not enough jobs created to keep up with new people entering the labor force, the US federal govt is running trillion dollar annual deficits...the OP asks a good question, if I could find decent employment in Colombia, I would move there to be with my sweetie, my opinion is that the 21st century belongs to the emerging middle class in Asia, India, China, Brazil, the broader latin america and the like, they have a long way to go to catch up with the developed world, US, Canada, Australia, western Europe, but their quality of life is improving every year....I would come to the US to be with my loved one, if I were looking for economic opportunity, I would look else where, or at least align with a multi-national career...I am looking to diversify and align my career to latin america, the US consumer is in for a tough ride I think...

Edited February 10, 2012 by Orando

[Barbara J 115]

Yeah well Lynjer and I have become close friends and we have discussed this often and are both feeling that our lives here are not what we expected. We have bought a house here in Georgia and ever since we have we have no money. The monthly bills are ridiculous so much so I have cut cable bill in half by changing it, my husband would be earning so much more if we were back home than what he is here but it is a government job and hence I came to him.

Medical here is ok but we don't get the coverage like I did back home for family. I was covered for glasses the lot but here it is specific things and even though we get cheaper as he is a veteran it's just not the same.

No family and friends to just visit . The shopping here is so different but admit cheap. I am 54 and am a homemaker but now because we are struggling with bills I am looking for other ways to make money as all the money I brought to this country is gone spent on getting my husband out of debt from when he was single and gone inot just living .

Even though I am not that unhappy here life is just so more pleasant back in OZ and NO we don't have guns in OZ. I hate that idea here too, no wonder crime is so high.

I miss my daughters so much more now too that I am here and not being able to just have coffee with friends or go visit my girls.

I love my husband but hope too one day I can convince him to come back to OZ as I really don't want to die here alone.

[chelle+james 0]

Yeah After nearly 3 years living in the US, were planning to move back to Australia... The hubby will earn way more over there for what hes doing over here in the US.... and for me.. I was a publc servant and was earning a decent amount... now i cant even get a job over here coz i dont have a degree.... so yeah, were gonna apply for my hubby's residency in a few months... For my family, moving back will be better financially The economy just seems to be getting worse here every year