Relocating to the US this year?

[Jamandbreadd]

Looking for views from people particularly those based in the US I guess. We were supposed to relocate with dh job to the US (NYC) next month. Clearly this was put off quite quickly due to covid, we were jsut beginning visa applications with his company in March and nothing further has happened. I now have no idea what to expect. Obviously no crystal ball, but how realistic is it that we will relocate to NY this year now? And/or would you think it was crazy to go ahead with it?
Need some advice as I hear some very scary things coming out of the US and our whole year has been thrown into doubt. Our jobs are fine (for now) if we stay in the U.K. Dh is very excited about this opportunity but we have a school age dd and I don’t wish to put anyone at risk.
Any thoughts at all?

Too many variables at the moment I think to make an informed decision.

I really cannot see international travel happening this year.

And personally the way the US has responded to Covid19, I really wouldn’t want to live there.

I'd be incredibly worried about moving to New York this year, completely gutted for you though having this decision to make. Damned if you do damned if you don't. I think with a dd I'd be especially reluctant, the political situation in the US is abhorrent as it is with the lack of leadership during this pandemic I'd nope out of that quick, no job is worth the potential danger. Xxx

My guess is that you could probably successfully move to the area this summer and have your child enrolled for the school year starting in September. However, our president is very unstable and all it takes is a comment on Fox News for him to take unforeseen actions. The UK is still in his favor and I would think that visas won't be so terribly challenging to get by summertime. With that said, I expect that NYC will be locked down to some degree for quite awhile. A crystal ball is needed to guess just how long, though. There are lots of news stories here musing about a 'second wave' of COVID-19 that might hit later this year, so you could find yourself in a hotspot if that happens.

Interested in this! We’re due to move to upstate NY this summer, and quite uncertain about whether or not it will happen. It’s not a problem for us to stay here, but this move had been rumbling along in the background for a couple of years and we had finally made the decision to do it for sure when all this hit.

Our situation is a little less complicated in terms of visas because I’m American and our children have dual citizenship, but there are so many logistics to work out and it’s not like you can just pack up and do an international move in a weekend. We’ll be renting out our house in the U.K., for example, and I’ve no idea how we would organise that in the current situation.

We’re just sitting tight for now to see how things develop. I think there’s a decent chance that the move could still go ahead in the summer, but do we want to move to a new place when we can’t even meet people and establish a new community? I’m not sure.

We moved to the States a few years ago and can’t wait to move back to the UK.

It is difficult to explain but the cultural differences are a lot greater than we anticipated and it really has been a difficult place to live.

I’d advise you to really think about it carefully.

If you do come, make sure you have saved a ton of cash as you have to pay everything up front such as car insurance, phone plans, home insurance, tv packages etc. Your credit in the UK means nothing here.

The cost of living for some things is less but food, insurance and healthcare is ridiculous. Think $8 for 4 apples where we live.

I think you probably would be able to move towards the end of the summer, Trump is determined to get things moving ASAP.

I’ve heard that USCIS are resuming operations in June, embassies also. As to what will actually happen when is anyone’s guess. I imagine that when visa issuing restarts that the IR (immediate relative) categories will be prioritized. Assume OP’s husband is doing an L-1? Can’t see those categories being a priority.

I think it will be at least the autumn before things return to the usual workflow in embassies and within USCIS. My citizenship application has been sitting with USCIS since September last year. I can’t see it being finalized before the November election, unfortunately.

I really cannot see international travel happening this year

I know someone travelling to Europe in 2 weeks

I personally wouldn't consider moving to the US until (and depending on the result of) the election in November.

@Quizacabusi can you expand any more on why you haven’t liked living there? What kind of area do you live? I have had some doubts but we thought YOLO, NY is awesome etc... this was pre covid obviously.

I’m with @Quizacabusi, I’m a Brit and DH is American and we’re just waiting for our elderly dog to pop off. I’d leave tomorrow.

It’s not the best time to move if you can afford not to. Political turmoil, massive unemployment, public services (like USCIS) are backlogged. I’d recommend waiting if it’s possible.

I'm a New Yorker. You're going to be exposed to the virus eventually no matter where you live. There are lots of British ex-pats in the city. I think they have an on line forum somewhere.

I don't know where PP shops, but I can get organic apples for $7.49 for a 5 pound bag.

www.bjs.com/product/wellsley-farms-organic-gala-apples-5-lbs/3000000000000145283

I'd be happy to answer any questions about NY you have.

@IncorrigibleTitmouse why have you found that living there? This is interesting because I haven’t heard that negative perspective just people saying how great they found living in the uS. Presumably under trump things have deteriorated?

I find New York horribly claustrophobic, lacking green spaces and polluted. Plus there are many mentally ill people on the streets who need help but presumably can't get it.

There is zero immigration currently and I don't know when that will change. I agree with Britwife that L1s are going to be low priority, this year at least. Especially in the current climate, it's going to be harder than ever to prove a local couldn't do the job. I genuinely wouldn't expect this move to be happening in 2020.

On a personal side, I live outside of NYC and absolutely love it, even in the midst of a pandemic and knowing we live in a Hot Spot. We couldn't be happier here. $8 for 4 apples though?! Where do you people shop?!!

Quizacabusi We (husband self and two children) lived in USA Allentown, Pennsylvania from 1996 - 2013 when we came back to UK. We have not regretted a single moment in our decision to return, so I understand your desire to come back home.

I really cannot see international travel happening this year

BA, alone, is still flying to 9 US destinations out of Heathrow. There were 35 BA flights in to Heathrow and the same number out yesterday, so travel goes on, without any checks at all on incoming passengers. A friend who works for BA said some flight are full.

@Jamandbreadd There are some good things, like petrol/running a car is very cheap, domestic travel is cheap and you will likely be in a much larger house than in the UK.

For me (and in the interests of full disclosure I mostly associate with the political left) I find the highly individualistic “I’m alright, Jack” mentality here very hard to assimilate to. I miss the community spirit of the UK. Seeing you all out clapping for the NHS made me very homesick!

Health insurance is tied to your employment, so if you lose your job there goes your healthcare. My DH started a new job and has to wait 90 days for his insurance to kick in so we are in a very precarious position right now.

You get very little (if any) paid annual leave—usually 10 or 12 days max—which makes travel difficult and there’s much less emphasis on work/life balance. Neither I nor DH have ever been able to go on holiday—even just a long weekend—without one or both of our jobs contacting us with an “I know you’re out of town, but can you just...” request.

I don’t feel quite as safe here, even though we have firearms. People are viewed with much more suspicion, but that might just be where we are because we’ve moved from a major city to a more rural location about 30 miles outside.

I think getting the visa will be your most difficult piece of the puzzle. As your company has to prove that no American can do the job with 26 million unemployed, that might be challenging unless you/him do a very specific job that is in high demand.

Dh has specialist knowledge in a niche area of tech and his company were pretty assured of him getting the L1 visa. However with the unemployment etc this may have changed.

Trump has banned immigration for 60 days, though possibly that might change. Does your husband's firm have access to good lawyers who have access to politicians who can have a useful word with authorities? (That was done for someone a few years back at my small university.) I love living in the US, generally speaking, but I'm nowhere near New York and live in a smallish very liberal city in the south. And yes, the poster who says your UK credit means nothing in the US is absolutely right.

So what does that mean re credit? No phone contract, etc? Can anyone share more on this... I wouldn’t be working at first because of dd plus unemployment there could mean I’ll be out of work longer than anticipated and I wouldn’t want it to have a ruinous effect on our finances.

No, I couldn’t get a phone. My husband had to get it in his name. It was a bloody nightmare. I had to get a pre-paid credit card (you pay a $100 deposit and they give you a $250 credit line) and run that for 2 years before I could get anything in my own name. You literally start over from nothing.

I think that if you do it you'll find things you like about it and things that you miss about the UK.

If you have a credit card in your name it should be perfectly usable here. My mobile contract, car insurance and all sorts of other bills get charged to my credit card every month.

You can upgrade your bank account to a Premier account and that helps in transferring credit scores. Leasing a car will too. I also had a crappy Capital One credit card with a $500 limit for a while too and just used it to then pay it off the next day.