Considering LA...

[LAwonder]

Anyone here in LA?? I need you! Fill me in!

We - me, DH and 2 DC 8 and 5 - moved from the UK to Europe 3 years ago. We are happy here, kids are in the local school, learning the local language. DH is a SAHD (planned to begin with but now the kids are a bit older he wants to work again but this is proving tricky). I work FT.

Work situation here is looking shaky so considering other options and there’s a role in LA I’m interested in with a new employer.

DH is apprehensive (Trump, guns, General unpheaval of moving) and I guess I am too (loss of second language for the kids, health care, no annual leave, long school holidays, stories of poor worklife balance...) but overall we figure nothing to lose by applying. The job is based in Hollywood. DH would have more work opportunities there in his line of work - either employed or freelance (immigration permitting I guess).

We have a super lifestyle here, it’s clean and safe, we ski all winter and summers are great too. In all honesty we’re not quite ready to leave here but work stuff may make that unavoidable (nothing else here locally).

Could LA be great too? Could we have a great outdoorsy lifestyle? Would our standard of living be decent? It’s a senior role so I assume a salary to match. The company is modern and flexible (famous for an unlimited annual policy) and career-wise would be super interesting.

Totally subjective I know but I’m keen to hear what other people think.

And of course, all the normal questions - what areas are best to live in? Schools? Weekend travel options?

I have visited LA and I hated it. Hot, busy and unattractive. I am sure it has nice parts but it is not a US city I would want to live in.

I live in the East coast (US). I was born in Europe so I am very aware of the differences between both countries and continents
CA has in general a super high cost of living. Traffic is one of the worst in the country and commutes can be brutal (2+ hours each way)
Check that the salary is going to give you a lifestyle you would like to have. LA, San Diego and San Fran are notoriously expensive.
I can tell you a $160k salary in East coast equals a $250k salary in San Fran area.
As for shootings, Trump, guns, .... nothing ha happened to me in the 20 years I have spent in the US.

I am raising my kids as bilingual without any issues here. More than half of the kids in my daycare are bilingual.

You should start looking for your possible future residence based on school ratings and commute to work.
Some schools do have agreements with European countries to convalidate the education automatically.

Weather is great if you like the heat.

Shall you do it? It depends on your family's personalities and goals.

You can always try and if you don't like it, go back to Europe.

LA is also the capital of plastic surgery.
Very fake, materialistic and based on how you look.

I loved living in the US when DH was on a secondment there but would be very wary of moving there on a local contract. It isn’t just holidays, it’s that you are employed “at will” and they can sack you with no notice/reason and that sucks if you’ve just moved your entire family halfway around the world (also it can lead to some very aggressive workplace politics).

Where we are now is super high cost of living (though salaries match that). 10 min commute is a bonus and we love the four distinct seasons and the various activities they bring.

We are all native English speakers and kids are better in the second language than us so it would be very difficult to keep it up if we moved.

We have no plans to return to the uk and are happier abroad tbh.

And yes aware of the constraints of a local contract.

I guess I was coming from the angle of lifestyle more than anything? And which areas would be good for families + a commute to Hollywood?

I moved to LA from NYC last year and was apprehensive but love it. It is expensive but the quality of life is so much better, depending on where you live the weather is really quite amazing (never that hot, never that cold) and you can do stuff outdoors all year. We ski all winter, its a bit of a drive (we go to Mammoth) but worth it. You just have to be careful where you live in LA because of the commute, people base everything on that. If the job is in Hollywood that means living by the beach is out unless the commute is at weird/off hours. I'd look at Larchmont Village, Los Feliz and Silverlake although schools can be an issue past elementary age. Beverly Hills has good schools but I could never live there (and it is very expensive). Despite the reputation as plastic surgery central and being very superficial this hasn't been the experience I've had since moving here, people just seem to enjoy life more here (especially compared to the UK, I had a hard time visiting there this summer). Let me know if you have more questions

Also I want to add that work/life balance in LA is great, people work to live and even if they have a high powered career and work hard seem to be able to get out of work and have time to do things (unlike NYC where there is zero work/life balance). The whole vacation time thing is also a bit of a myth these days, employers are far more flexible than in the past as a result of pushback from employees. Would you be willing to do private schools? That opens up a lot more opportunities housing wise but comes at a price (30-40k per kid!)

Biggest issue to consider first is - are you eligible to work in the US?

Have you looked into what type of visa you would be able to get?

Dude, especially Hithere2, how ignorant. I have lived here all my life and Los Angeles/Southern California is not all people in the industry. Millions of normal people live normal lives in beautiful weather with all kinds of cultural advantages. We would love to have you!

I would check what visa you are likely to get, the company will need to sponsor it and that can cost thousands .. and it may mean your husband can't work anyway, even freelance .. it also takes months to get a US visa, just been through the process, so the company would need to be willing to wait a long time for you to start.

Thanks @britinnyc I’ll check those areas out.

It’s VERY early days but I like to be prepared and to do my research first. I would be heartbroken to leave where we are now - culturally, socially and financially it’s really great here, so LA would need to measure up.

All your questions are moot unless the employer is prepared to sponsor your visa, and the role satisfies the requirements for a visa. Being offered a job here is one thing (and I see that all the time). Having a valid path to a visa AND the employer being prepared to go through it all is a whole other issue.

They will sponsor.

@LAwonder for which visa? H-1B is a lottery. Only 1 in 4 will get through, approximately. Spouse would get an H-4 which means he/she can never work. For H-1B the application period opens on April 1 each year) and usually closes a few days later because it’s already oversubscribed by then) for an October start. Also no guarantee of permanent residency - depends on whether the employer is prepared to sponsor green cards later down the line.

EB-1 or EB-2 would be better for you - it’s an immigrant visa so gives you permanent residency immediately. You need an advanced degree for these and many years of experience. They are for highly-skilled workers and high level managers. There is more of a backlog for EB-2 than EB-1. Only a few thousand are issued each year.

L-1 doesn’t apply to you. That’s the easiest work visa to get but it can’t be for a new hire, only for existing employees being transferred from their home country to the US by the company.

What’s the job?

Not to rain on your parade, but I’m on a few ex-pat forums and FB groups and if i had a dollar for every post I’ve read that says “I’ve applied for/been offered a job in the US” I could probably retire tomorrow. If I had a dollar for every one that actually had a valid path to a visa and the employer was willing to shell out the thousands necessary and go through all the paperwork to prove that no American can do the job, I’ll be working till I drop dead.

Despite its reputation of being a nation of immigrants, the US remains one of the hardest countries in the world to move to. Around 90% of immigrants come here the way I did, through marriage and family. For everyone else, there are millions fighting for a handful of visas.

I have a friend with H4B that has been working for more than a year.

She had to apply for a yearly working permit and she has to renew yearly.

She is also very worried with the threats of changing the law for H4B being able to work.

I agree visas are way harder to get than it used to be. I hope the prospective employer is putting all in paper vs verbal commitment.

@Hithere2 I think you mean H-4 as a spouse of H-1B. There is no H-4B. Only certain H-4 visa holders are eligible to work. The overwhelming majority aren’t. Those that are have to go through the clusterfuck that is the EAD application and the ridiculous waits that come with that. Kudos to her for perseverance! I’m so glad that I came here on an IR-1 (spouse of US citizen) and got my unconditional green card the moment I arrived, no EAD required and no ROC circus. I’m doing citizenship now so that I can kiss goodbye to USCIS forever.

Also agree that @LAwonder should not believe anything verbal from the employer, and should demand everything in writing.

Yes, I meant H4.