Before you permanently move to the US

[micmac 6]

I have always regarded that red passport as the difference between life and death or at least economic ruin if we ever encounter a serious health problem and the health insurance rats on us.

I was listening to woman on telly who lifted a weight and had chest pains and went for a check up. She had no insurance for her 2 hour visit to the hospital, and she was expecting a bill of around one thousand dollars.

She was billed FOURTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for 2 hours of tests. She will be paying it off for many years.

Similarly, If my wife lost her job at say 55 years of age, we would have 10 years with no health care. It would cost well into 6 figures to buy it for 10 years and even then they might not pay up.

The chance to escape to the UK if health problems arise is very valuable. I was paying $55kpa tax in 1995 so they owe me.

A middle aged friend of mine was charged $400 for a pregnancy test... even though being pregnant was probably impossible.

This country is insane when it comes to this stuff. It feels like they are quicker to hand out pills as well because the government isn't footing the bill. But pills aren't a cure all. I was given anti inflammatory medication for a shoulder injury with no real advice as to exercise or recovery. The tablets didn't work and I had to play google doctor. My own doctor would have probably have told me about the condition and referred me to a physiotherapist. The american one didn't even tell me about my injury except for it's name.

I laugh when people here tell me healthcare is better in the US. All you have to do is look at the league tables and bankrupt sick people. My husband's auntie had $40,000 bills for the same cancer treatment my mum had in the UK.

Would do but she is hanging onto a really good job in the US

By sods law, she will lose it soon after the deadline

Fair enough :-) I have no job so nothing to lose!

Her US income will count in the 18 grand threshold under the new rules, she doesn't need a UK job offer if you are applying from the US.

[Captain Oates 910]

A middle aged friend of mine was charged $400 for a pregnancy test... even though being pregnant was probably impossible.

This country is insane when it comes to this stuff. It feels like they are quicker to hand out pills as well because the government isn't footing the bill. But pills aren't a cure all. I was given anti inflammatory medication for a shoulder injury with no real advice as to exercise or recovery. The tablets didn't work and I had to play google doctor. My own doctor would have probably have told me about the condition and referred me to a physiotherapist. The american one didn't even tell me about my injury except for it's name.

I laugh when people here tell me healthcare is better in the US. All you have to do is look at the league tables and bankrupt sick people. My husband's auntie had $40,000 bills for the same cancer treatment my mum had in the UK.

Fair enough :-) I have no job so nothing to lose!

Her US income will count in the 18 grand threshold under the new rules, she doesn't need a UK job offer if you are applying from the US.

My mother fell down the stairs at age 72 and fractured her skull and had brain damage

She had fabulous treatment and eventually got into a beautiful local authority residence with patios and gardens and summer houses. I have been in worse 4 star hotels.

At age 92 she had a FULL HYSTERECTOMY

At age 94 she broke her arm and later her femur

She died surrounded with great carers when she was 95

Then I turn on the telly and some Republican is lying through his teeth saying in the UK you will be left to die over age 50 and they give you an aspirin and send you home.

The Americans aren't stupid - they are just lied to and don't know the truth

The total cost for my mother - all health care and all residency costs from age 72 to age 95 - NIL - NOT ONE CENT !

My red passport is my lifeline

Edited June 28, 2012 by Ashud Cocoa

[rocks 494]

Would do but she is hanging onto a really good job in the US

By sods law, she will lose it soon after the deadline

That sucks. Glad she has a job she enjoys at least. My husband has a job he enjoys, I feel terrible telling him we have to move before the end of the year. If I wasn't expecting we would stay here for sure. I can't imagine how travelling with a newborn around Christmas is going to be. Thanks Theresa May.

[Captain Oates 910]

That sucks. Glad she has a job she enjoys at least. My husband has a job he enjoys, I feel terrible telling him we have to move before the end of the year. If I wasn't expecting we would stay here for sure. I can't imagine how travelling with a newborn around Christmas is going to be. Thanks Theresa May.

She hates her job but it pays mega bux - so we need to wring the last bit of advantage out of that while we can..

You will be fine at xmas - that guy in Bethlehem traveled at xmas and he was fine too

heck it might be the second coming - watch out for stars !

[rocks 494]

She hates her job but it pays mega bux - so we need to wring the last bit of advantage out of that while we can..

You will be fine at xmas - that guy in Bethlehem traveled at xmas and he was fine too

heck it might be the second coming - watch out for stars !

Thanks, I hope so.

Working at a job that sucks, well... sucks but if she makes mega bux maybe you can save for the 62,500!

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Would do but she is hanging onto a really good job in the US

By sods law, she will lose it soon after the deadline

OMG that would so totally suck!

Here's Mr. Durkan's very brief reply to my husband's letter:

"Thank you for your email regarding the proposed changes to immigration rules in the United Kingdom. I have written to the Home Secretary, Teresa May, asking her to consider the issues which have put to me. I will also continue to make the necessary representations where possible in Parliament to achieve a satisfactory outcome. I will keep you updated on progress in this area."

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Don't know how I missed this!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2157740/Is-EU-love-really-worth-Asian-love.html

Home Secretary Theresa May is doubtless trying her hardest within these meddling statutory confines and legal limitations. She is clearly very much in favour of policies which foster British allegiance, encourage greater integration, and which ensure that immigrants can speak a Year-6 level of English. But her latest proposal to limit the number of non-EU nationals is arbitrary, banal and embarrassing

[rocks 494]

Don't know how I missed this!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2157740/Is-EU-love-really-worth-Asian-love.html

Home Secretary Theresa May is doubtless trying her hardest within these meddling statutory confines and legal limitations. She is clearly very much in favour of policies which foster British allegiance, encourage greater integration, and which ensure that immigrants can speak a Year-6 level of English. But her latest proposal to limit the number of non-EU nationals is arbitrary, banal and embarrassing

Wow, I wasn't expecting that from the Daily Mail! Now for all the educated comments.

[ldndee 0]

Not at all. There is no option for a co-sponsor. To move to US as a two person family requires an income of approximately £12,000, not £18,600. In the US there is no option to bypass the system if their partner is a European national. The instructions on this are also terribly written, UKBA has a thing or two to learn from USCIS.

Hi there, do you know where I can find some proof that the UK doesn't have co-sponsor program ?

best!

[snapdragon 9]

Hi there, do you know where I can find some proof that the UK doesn't have co-sponsor program ?

best!

Well, this is one of the questions I asked my MP, who passed it onto Theresa May, so I'll have an answer from the horse's mouth soon, so to say.

[rocks 494]

Hi there, do you know where I can find some proof that the UK doesn't have co-sponsor program ?

best!

Unfortunately you will have to read this very long document to understand it fully.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/soi-fam-mig.pdf

We will not accept promises of support from third parties. We want the sponsor or the couple to demonstrate sufficient, independent financial standing, with adequate resources under their own control not somebody else’s. At L above, cash savings above £16,000 now under the sponsor or applicant’s control can have originated from a third party, such as a parental gift, but these must be real resources for the couple to use as they see fit, not a loan and not an undertaking that a parent will continue to subsidise the couple or step in with money if they need it. Promises of support from a third party are vulnerable to a change in another person’s circumstances or in the sponsor or applicant’s relationship with them: that is not the basis for a sustainable system. Accommodation, which is a matter of personal choice (provided it meets the adequacy requirement under the rules, which means that it does not breach the statutory overcrowding definition), can still be provided by a third party.

Edited June 29, 2012 by rocks

[TracyTN 237]

Wow, I wasn't expecting that from the Daily Mail! Now for all the educated comments.

LOL Yeah gotta love those comments. A well spoken Expat did make one though.

Britons should be outraged by this - I am and I don't even have a desire to move there. It's just one of the most patently unfair things I've seen in a while. Theresa May is an idiot.

[rocks 494]

LOL Yeah gotta love those comments. A well spoken Expat did make one though.

Britons should be outraged by this - I am and I don't even have a desire to move there. It's just one of the most patently unfair things I've seen in a while. Theresa May is an idiot.

I was expecting there to be more hateful ones. Maybe the angry people are still at work.

I agree she is an idiot. It's hard for me to take her seriously with that huge grey streak at the front of her head. Every time I see her picture it makes me think of Donald Trump the birther.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Well, this is one of the questions I asked my MP, who passed it onto Theresa May, so I'll have an answer from the horse's mouth soon, so to say.

You asked your MP where the proof is? Or you asked your MP why third party sponsorship isn't allowed?

I don't think you'll get anything from the horses mouth except hay. My husband's MP also says he wrote to May. I'm sure she's got boilerplate responses for every question that could be asked, all of them containing the phrases "we think it is right" and "Migration Advisory Committee".

That's not saying I'm unimpressed that we are getting responses from the MP's. I just think that writing to May is fruitless. What's more likely to bear fruit is if enough MP's get inquiries to cause them to call for change. May isn't going to be persuaded. The MP's will have to do it themselves.

[snapdragon 9]

You asked your MP where the proof is? Or you asked your MP why third party sponsorship isn't allowed?

I don't think you'll get anything from the horses mouth except hay. My husband's MP also says he wrote to May. I'm sure she's got boilerplate responses for every question that could be asked, all of them containing the phrases "we think it is right" and "Migration Advisory Committee".

That's not saying I'm unimpressed that we are getting responses from the MP's. I just think that writing to May is fruitless. What's more likely to bear fruit is if enough MP's get inquiries to cause them to call for change. May isn't going to be persuaded. The MP's will have to do it themselves.

I asked if there will be provisions for co-sponsors, and if not, why not.

Yeah, I know writing to reps is, on the whole, fruitless. I once worked for £6 an hour as an assistant for the Scottish Government. Most of my job was to copy and paste standardized answers to letters the minister responsible for the policy I worked on, according to correspondence rules (correspondence to UK reps must receive a reply within a 6 weeks deadline). I'm sure there is a temp or an intern copy-pasting my letter as I type and the minister will never actually really be involved. But the benefit of writing to reps is that sometimes a deluge of correspondence can send a message to policymakers.

Plus I can be an unsatisfied grumbler when I get my unsatisfying response, and as a Brit, that is my prerogative!