Moving to the US at very short notice - help!

[Spuddybean]

Hi All

I started a thread in Chat about this and the good ladies pointed me in your direction. DP's work is moving to Washington DC and we must go over. The catch is i am 22 wks pg so we will have to go within the next 10 wks.

I don't really know where to start with organising stuff. Also we are looking at renting in Arlington as DP's office is in Reston but he says it's not very nice there.

I am worried abot health ins too. I have recently been diagnosed with MS. So on top of the labour/baby i may need doctors for that.

I've always just had NHS so i've got no idea what i need to look for in the company policy (we are all covered apparently - but i want to read it myself!).

Any advice/support would be most welcome! :)

There is a good website you can have a look at when it comes to property for sale and rent: www.trulia.com

I am currently thinking of moving back to the US (Birmingham, Alabama) after 22 years in England and I have all the same worries that you have about insurance. It is great that you are covered by DH's company policy, which is the usual way Americans have health insurance. His human resources department will probably have a person dedicated to dealing with health insurance and should be able to answer all your questions.

Good luck with the move.

Be aware they don't always cover pre existing conditions that is what your MS will be classed as.
I think the medical will be the biggest obstacle of all, especially already being pregnant and having MS. Make sure they policy will cover the pregnancy right away.

Nope - No policy as yet. Verbally the company has said pre -existing conditions are covered but we have said until we see the policy - we aint going!

I know it's normal for americans, but honestly how do families afford $1000 or so dollars a month? Is everything else very cheap or are wages very high? We just couldn't afford it and i thought we were quite affluent!

so it's $1500 per month!!! holy sheeeeeeiiiiitt. Do you mind me asking how many people is that for and what does it cover?

Is that including dental/eye care?

I can't help with the medical info I'm afraid but I was going to suggest looking at Alexandria, VA if you can't find anything suitable in Arlington. I haven't been to Arlington but I have been to Alexandria and thought it was lovely. Lots of main streets for walking rather than strip malls I've seen in other parts of the US.

we have just come back from a year in the states. (we have two ds under 3) It was awesome. There were two other expat families with us and one was 32 weeks pregnant when she arrived in michigan and the other got pregnant out there and had the baby a week before flying back to the uk. (the job was for one year). Every state has slightly different rules but your pregnancy wil be covered by health insurance. it is normal to pay monthly towards your health dental and optician plan. Both my friends had great experiences having their babies in the states.

Washington is a lovely place to live i hope you have a great time there.

I lived in Annadale/Fairfax for 1 yr. Had my 3rd child in Fairfax Hospital ( baby factory ) My oldest boy went to Kindergarten there.
We rented. Arlington is nice, as is Reston. All these areas have nice and not so nice parts of them. Srtip malls not so nice - but that is everywhere in the states. Of course, Alexandria is lovely - but then the prices go up. We also looked at alot of schools in all the areas mentioned. Oh Vienna is nice. I would love to tell you more - let me know if you have any questions.You will love it, so close to DC. Depends what your monthly budget is for rent?

When you say DP, do you mean that you are not married?

If so, you will not be eligible for a derivative visa. US immigration law does not recognise partners and common-law spouses. You have to be legally married.

You would have to qualify for a visa in your own right, but the easiest thing to do would be to get married ASAP.

If you aren't married you may not get some benefits (life, medical etc).

Hello Spuddy,

If you haven't already I would definitely recommend joining Britishexpats.com and having a look around on their discussion forums about the States - there's lots of really useful information in there about healthcare, visas, moving etc etc...