Post Embassy Drama, UK VJer 'Life In The USA' Edition.

[rob999 51]

Live in Aberdeen, Scotland with fog, cloud and just grayness (even the people are gray - I turned gray) for four years. Definitely defines the lower boundary of expectations in where to live.

[wbeem 567]

Live in Aberdeen, Scotland with fog, cloud and just grayness (even the people are gray - I turned gray) for four years. Definitely defines the lower boundary of expectations in where to live.

Indeed!

Even the snakes I've encountered on my walks this week haven't made a Scottish "summer" sound vaguely appealing

[-Shana- 152]

Except the Canadian winters suck big time! And they insist on speaking in French (at least in Quebec, the Canadian equivalent of Wales!)

I'll deal with the harsh winters vs. being shot . That's why we move to Toronto!

[-Shana- 152]

That awesome moment when USPS screws up and you have to arrange your EAD card to be redelivered through USCIS.

Edited July 29, 2015 by -Shana-

[ChasUno 101]

I'll deal with the harsh winters vs. being shot . That's why we move to Toronto!

It was a big enough process for us to get ONE visa so I could get to the USA to be with my partner. It will be another thing entirely for us as non Canadian citizens to get Canadian visas!

There's also a reason why we chose to move to Sarasota and not Miami!

That awesome moment when USPS screws up and you have to arrange your EAD card to be redelivered through USCIS.

Sounds like they are related to the DX courier company that failed to deliver my visa the first time round...

[-Shana- 152]

It was a big enough process for us to get ONE visa so I could get to the USA to be with my partner. It will be another thing entirely for us as non Canadian citizens to get Canadian visas!

There's also a reason why we chose to move to Sarasota and not Miami!

Sounds like they are related to the DX courier company that failed to deliver my visa the first time round...

Haha, true, very true. I'm going to hope one day I'm rich enough to be considered valuable to live in Canada .

Gawd, we go through all this faff only to have the messenger pigeons screw up! Fingers crossed this time it gets here ok.

When are you off to the States?

[ChasUno 101]

When are you off to the States?

My partner is from, and at this moment, lives in Ohio.

Within a few days of my arrival in the States, we are driving down to Sarasota, Florida, to look for (and ultimately buy) a house there. We both love the area, and as we both come from northern climates we want to get away from harsh winters. If we could afford to be snowbirds, maybe we could have a home in Toronto for the summer (a great city btw!)

[-Shana- 152]

Thinking of applying for a capital one credit card to start building some credit history, I get the impression they give a card to anyone so might try my luck. However I really don't want to be declined considering it hurts your score. Husband just got his own with capital one, having lived abroad for 6 years he didn't have credit either so we're both trying to build it up from scratch.

My partner is from, and at this moment, lives in Ohio.

Within a few days of my arrival in the States, we are driving down to Sarasota, Florida, to look for (and ultimately buy) a house there. We both love the area, and as we both come from northern climates we want to get away from harsh winters. If we could afford to be snowbirds, maybe we could have a home in Toronto for the summer (a great city btw!)

Sounds like a plan, though what a shock to the system to arrive and then immediately begin house hunting! Hang in there .

[ChasUno 101]

Thinking of applying for a capital one credit card to start building some credit history, I get the impression they give a card to anyone so might try my luck. However I really don't want to be declined considering it hurts your score. Husband just got his own with capital one, having lived abroad for 6 years he didn't have credit either so we're both trying to build it up from scratch.

Sounds like a plan, though what a shock to the system to arrive and then immediately begin house hunting! Hang in there .

My partner and I will have a joint account. He's going to get me my own bank card so I can get paying for stuff straight away.

With regards to house hunting, we actually started a year ago! Last summer we decided to look at potential places to live, and narrowed it down to two viable places - Charleston NC, and Sarasota FL. We visited both, and though the central part of Charleston was nice enough, once outside into the 'burbs it was just "Anywhereville, USA". After the recent tragic events there, we're kind of glad it didn't appeal over Sarasota. We looked at houses in both cities and felt that we'd get more for our money in Sarasota, plus the Florida lifestyle appeals more. As such, when I went over for Thanksgiving week last November we spent a couple more days house hunting. We already have a Realtor who set us up with a personal online web portal where we get sent new properties that we can view and then add to our "Favourites" or "Maybe" lists. As this has been an ongoing plan it won't be so much of a shock when I arrive, more an expected continuation. I'm more worried about the fact that after arriving my 'address' for the K1 Visa and AOS will virtually immediately become invalid than I am about finding a home!

Edited July 29, 2015 by ChasUno

[oscillate.wildly 1]

This is a great thread. I'm not as far along as most of you as I don't have my K-1 yet (waiting on NOA2 any day now...) but I have spent long periods (6 months) in the US with only brief trips back home. I get a it fed up about not finding the exact foods I want and certainly notice how expensive it can be compared to the UK if you're one that buys the cheap basics. I don't want to talk about the chocolate situation because it is upsetting!!! And high-fructose corn syrup in EVERYTHING (I have fructose intollerance which makes it a nightmare). I am pretty petrified about health care too. Being able to just go to the doctor when you really need to without having to think about whether you can afford to pay for it is certainly a blessing.

But there are some great things about the US that are certainly not in the UK. We love the outdoors and the weather is just incomparable to Northern England. The sun shines all the time in Virginia. We can drive to the mountains and walk for miles and miles on tiny trails surrounded by miles and miles of forest without signs and fences. We get two Christmas's with Thanksgiving! Fuel is cheaper so you can afford to take more trips out. There is real wilderness that is accessible - we lived in Scotland for a few years and got to go to some amazing places, but I've never been in a large forest in the UK or one that didn't feel manicured. You get much larger houses for your money compared to the UK. The weather is good enough to grow awesome vegetables and lots of them. Fruit tastes better. I can't wait to have a garden. Porches don't really exist in the UK, or at least sitting out each evening in perfect weather. Crickets sing in the summer and you can fall asleep listening to them.

I will miss pubs very very much (although local breweries are awesome!), and I will miss English Christmas's, but the latter is just sentimental and would happen if I were living anywhere that wasn't in the UK.

BTW, I'm in Canada right now, working up in the boreal forest. Oh. My. God. the mosquitoes!!!! and black flies!!! It's like something out of a horror movie. Absolutely beautiful place though, I saw a lynx the other day and raspberries and blueberries galore

[Englishsammy 17]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread! I am British and my husband is the USC and we've been living in the UK for 7 years now. We have applied for his British naturalisation so that is all going ahead (can take about 6 months) but we are planning to move back to California in the next couple of years as we have to sell our home and get everything in order. We will be DCF so hopefully that should be a smooth process. I've been a conditional permanent resident but we moved back just before that expired.

We still feel anxious about everything but have come up with a Pros and Cons list:

Pro USA

Outdoor lifestyle

Better food

High school/college opportunities for our children (they are still primary age)

family/friends

Community feel

Cons

Healthcare

Guns

My family

Starting over jobs, home, schools

It'll be difficult because I'm a teacher here and my husband is a social worker so we are pretty settled but we think it'll be worth it in the end.

Just thought I'd share my story because I'm sure I'll be on here asking questions pretty soon :-)

[-Shana- 152]

EAD Combo card received today! I have to double check with USCIS on Monday to see if arranging for a re-delivery messed it up in any way, but for all intensive purposes I'm able to work now . Woohoo!

This is a great thread. I'm not as far along as most of you as I don't have my K-1 yet (waiting on NOA2 any day now...) but I have spent long periods (6 months) in the US with only brief trips back home. I get a it fed up about not finding the exact foods I want and certainly notice how expensive it can be compared to the UK if you're one that buys the cheap basics. I don't want to talk about the chocolate situation because it is upsetting!!! And high-fructose corn syrup in EVERYTHING (I have fructose intollerance which makes it a nightmare). I am pretty petrified about health care too. Being able to just go to the doctor when you really need to without having to think about whether you can afford to pay for it is certainly a blessing.

But there are some great things about the US that are certainly not in the UK. We love the outdoors and the weather is just incomparable to Northern England. The sun shines all the time in Virginia. We can drive to the mountains and walk for miles and miles on tiny trails surrounded by miles and miles of forest without signs and fences. We get two Christmas's with Thanksgiving! Fuel is cheaper so you can afford to take more trips out. There is real wilderness that is accessible - we lived in Scotland for a few years and got to go to some amazing places, but I've never been in a large forest in the UK or one that didn't feel manicured. You get much larger houses for your money compared to the UK. The weather is good enough to grow awesome vegetables and lots of them. Fruit tastes better. I can't wait to have a garden. Porches don't really exist in the UK, or at least sitting out each evening in perfect weather. Crickets sing in the summer and you can fall asleep listening to them.

I will miss pubs very very much (although local breweries are awesome!), and I will miss English Christmas's, but the latter is just sentimental and would happen if I were living anywhere that wasn't in the UK.

BTW, I'm in Canada right now, working up in the boreal forest. Oh. My. God. the mosquitoes!!!! and black flies!!! It's like something out of a horror movie. Absolutely beautiful place though, I saw a lynx the other day and raspberries and blueberries galore

I'm the same, I'm gonna miss Christmas in the UK so much. It's my family's favourite time of year and I know that even though I'm sure it'll be great here it just won't be the same. Take care from those mosquitoes! They're little buggers for sure.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread! I am British and my husband is the USC and we've been living in the UK for 7 years now. We have applied for his British naturalisation so that is all going ahead (can take about 6 months) but we are planning to move back to California in the next couple of years as we have to sell our home and get everything in order. We will be DCF so hopefully that should be a smooth process. I've been a conditional permanent resident but we moved back just before that expired.

We still feel anxious about everything but have come up with a Pros and Cons list:

Pro USA

Outdoor lifestyle
Better food
High school/college opportunities for our children (they are still primary age)
family/friends
Community feel

Cons

Healthcare
Guns
My family
Starting over jobs, home, schools

It'll be difficult because I'm a teacher here and my husband is a social worker so we are pretty settled but we think it'll be worth it in the end.

Just thought I'd share my story because I'm sure I'll be on here asking questions pretty soon :-)

Your pros and cons list looks a lot like mine! It'll be a transition for sure, but if you feel it's the best thing for the both of you for your future then it'll make it easier.

[chrismorrison 96]

EAD Combo card received today! I have to double check with USCIS on Monday to see if arranging for a re-delivery messed it up in any way, but for all intensive purposes I'm able to work now . Woohoo!

I'm the same, I'm gonna miss Christmas in the UK so much. It's my family's favourite time of year and I know that even though I'm sure it'll be great here it just won't be the same. Take care from those mosquitoes! They're little buggers for sure.

Your pros and cons list looks a lot like mine! It'll be a transition for sure, but if you feel it's the best thing for the both of you for your future then it'll make it easier.

How did you manage to get your card on a Sunday??!

[-Shana- 152]

How did you manage to get your card on a Sunday??!

Whoops, I misspoke! I meant yesterday. The days are all blending together...

[chrismorrison 96]

Finally some movement on Kas' EAD/AP... we were approved today and they ordered card for production. Fantastic!!!