Does anyone live in NYC? DP and I are about to move

[AllThatGlitters111]

Hi,

My DP and I (not married) are moving to NYC in December. He’s been offered a fabulous opportunity.

I will be leaving my job in the U.K. to join him - I know finding a job to sponsor me will be hard but going to try and if there is no luck after a few months then we will consider marriage (literally just for the piece of paper).

In the meantime, we will be relying on his salary to support the both of us. He will be earning $10,000 a month after tax roughly.

It sounds like a ridiculous question, but does this sound like enough to live on? Rents are insanely high there as well as just the general cost of everything.

I have been looking at areas such as Dumbo in Brooklyn, Williamsburg etc. I think Manhattan will be out of the question!

if anyone has any experience living in NYC or lives there now then I would be really grateful for any advise!

Thank you :)

Ps, As a half way measure to keep your you could take a job as cabin crew and do part time, then fly over cheaply on your time off! BA are desperate for people at the moment.

Something else worth considering, when I lived there I made the majority of my friends through work, and so did my husband. I did some meetups as well and joined groups, but work is where I forged strong relationships, especially because I was in a very work hard, play hard industry - so lots of socialising! If I hadn't been working I imagine I would have found it quite lonely.

Hi there I live in NYC and moved over last year. I think you would be far better of getting married first and going that way. You cannot just come across and get a job on a tourist visa and generally it's not easy to get a work visa in a lower paying field. I would visit the website visa journey it has a lot of info re US immigration.

In regards to money I think 10k a month is plenty to live on providing you don't have a very extravagant lifestyle. Manhattan would definitely be in your price range. I live in Brooklyn and much prefer it to Manhattan though. Good luck

Totally get it - the only way is marriage, which deep down I knew, but didn’t want it to happen this way! But if it means we can be together, it’ll be worth it.

I do think having NYC on my CV too will be amazing for my career. May catapult it far quicker than if I remained in the U.K. the entire time.

I’m a very balanced person - one half of me is saying stay it’s too risky and the other is like fuck it, get married and go live your life (which is very much where my DP is at).

I lived in North New Jersey for about 10 years. It was within commuting distance to NYC. NYC was good for day trips etc but I wouldn't fancy living in the city. We were only meant to go for one year! We really liked it. Came back to uk to be nearer older relatives.

It's a difficult decision to make. We moved to NJ with 2 young kids. We got married a month or so before we left to make the visa application easier. It didn't help one bit because I kept my own name.
I don't regret leaving the UK. It was a great experience. Wasn't all plain sailing but we grew and learned.

What will you do when there? I’d go for the excitement of living in NCY especially if this is someone I plan to marry longterm anyway. If what you earn is peanuts is there a way you can do something with it in NCY even if just voluntary or study? Or virtual work?

make sure you actually can afford a life when you’re there!

I loved Harlem btw. Very different place now and such nice big streets, amazing history.

Ok please do NOT feel like a failure. Yes independence is good and mumsnet have a real thing about women not ‘earning enough’. End of the day, if you are in a longterm relationship with someone who LOVES you and is willing to support you/pay more, then of course take a risk and actually do a job you love!! So many people stick in ok paying but dead end jobs for their whole lives as they can’t afford to go for their dreams.

OP, as a UK citizen with no visa of your own you can't just move to the US with your DP, just because he has a visa. I know it's a lovely idea to just move to the US and look for a job with sponsorship, but you should speak to an immigration lawyer before you say the wrong thing to a border agent and get denied entry. Seriously, the US is not an easy place to just move to. You have to jump through the hoops in the right order. I know, I've done it.

I've been in your shoes OP, and we did marry and live in NYC for a few years, not that long ago. It was slightly easier for us as we were planning on getting married in the next few years anyway and my DH was had an E2 visa which entitled me to a tied spouse visa and to apply for a work permit... But I would think very carefully.

Unless you are sponsored by a company, you'll have to reapply for your work permit every so often (every 1.5-2 years I believe). A lot of places were unwilling to hire a trailing spouse who would have to keep renewing the permit. My disjointed work history as a result of this has really damaged my CV (not a problem atm as I'm currently a SAHM but I will have to retrain when DC is older).

Budget wise, 2 of you can live in NYC on $10k a month as a couple with no kids without a problem as long as you aren't blasting money on shit every day. We had a slightly smaller budget than you and ate out at local restaurants a couple of times a week, went out for drinks often and were still able to save a bit each month.

Williamsburg is going to be pricey. For a similar vibe (and in my opinion, friendlier people!) consider Bushwick, which is close by and has plenty to do. Prospect Heights is probably just in your budget and is lovely too. Cobble Hill probably pushing it but a beautiful area.

If you are determined to go, as a team and can make it work on the visa and work front go out there for a week, get an Airbnb or hostel in Brooklyn and get a feel for the area you might want to live in.

Check out rentals on StreetEasy and Zillow- you may struggle to get somewhere at first as you need a decent credit rating and will need to build that up from nothing. Your DP will need a letter from his employer with details of his offer of employment. We rented a short term apartment for 2 months, got a credit card and made a start on this.

Oh yeah, and consider commuting from NJ on the PATH train or from Long Island on the LIRR. Lots of friends of ours who used to live in Manhattan and Brooklyn now do this in order to have much nicer apartments! Queens is another area to consider- Long Island City is popular with young professionals.

In the first instance, you need to see an immigration lawyer to talk your options through.

Thank you - this means a lot and there is a lot of sense here.

it can be hard when I barely earn anything to think I haven’t failed. My DP is on x5 as much as me and so yes, he does support me so we can do nice things together, go on nice holidays etc. I am very lucky.

But the most important thing is that I am in an industry that I adore, regardless of the pay. That’s what I’ve been struggling to give up.

Ultimately, you are relatively young and responsibility free. As long as you set aside enough money in savings to be able to move home, with or without him, if things aren’t working out, it’s a decent time for an adventure.

You have little to nothing to lose here in my view (I’ve lived in NY for reference).

Take the opportunity to live in one of the best cities in the world, with the man you love before you’re burdened by responsibilities when you get older.

You will need to get married or the visa will be too hard. But IMHO there is nothing bad about that. If you break up you can get divorced, it won’t be more or less painful than it would be anyway (I’ve also got divorced for reference!).

Get married now, check the health insurance, as people have said. And then enjoy it! The rest will fall into place.

So my DP has some sort of immigration lawyer/advisor via his company who confirmed today that if we were married, I could work in the US with no constraints. He’s going on a permanent visa.

Have you checked that you understand the taxation system and that the $10k is accurate. Will you be renting out a UK property (that has UK and possibly USA taxation implications)

But the most important thing is that I am in an industry that I adore, regardless of the pay. That’s what I’ve been struggling to give up

You can come back to it or continue it in NY (with the L2 visa!). You are young, there is plenty of time. Do not worry about this.

A permanent visa? There's no such thing. Permanent residence is a green card and he won't get that straight away - you have to have lived there for a while and meet various criteria and most work visas aren't a route to permanent residence anyway. What you've written on this post doesn't make a lot of sense tbh @AllThatGlitters111

My sister did it at about your age, she didn't have a visa that allowed her to work so she did some volunteer work and worked remotely for a company in the UK and then had a baby! They came home after 5 years.

@AllThatGlitters111 There are lots of us that can advise you but we need to know what visa your partner will be on. Several posters have asked but you haven't answered. There is no such thing as a permanent visa. You need to get the facts about the visa absolutely clear before you make a decision.

I don't think it will work op unless you are married , US very tight on immigration thats not in a specific skill list- they tend to prefer you at the 'servicing well off people' end of the spectrum or 100k a year plus specialist jobs- not much in the middle !!

You clearly work in fashion so there should be some decent opportunities if you do have that L1 visa , but may not be that well paid either- in demand creative jobs as you know tend to be a few people earning a shitload, the rest not so much. I wouldn't advise you to go without having an L1 visa though

@zafferana ok well maybe not a permanent visa then, I really don’t know much about the visa situation and still learning. All things we need to properly research, but things are moving fast and we are just trying to figure it all out.

He was originally meant to be going for a year, for which he 1 type of visa - then the offer became an ‘indefinite’ post, so his visa changed. We are just taking advice from DP’s company, who said if we marry, it’ll be ok for me to work.

His visa is L1 and I would be on L2 (once married).

You’ll be hard pushed to get a job /visa if you’re not married.

I don’t think $10k a month is enough, sorry!

ok well maybe not a permanent visa then, I really don’t know much about the visa situation and still learning
Not being rude, but if you're in talks with an immigration lawyer/advisor there's no real excuse to be so clueless?