Going to USA for 2/3 months

[Davlee46]

Hi first time using this and I wanted some help, ideas on me and my family going to USA for 2/3 months.
my son is year 7, i have a daughter in year 1 currently and a 3 month old.
was going to take a holiday to Disney world for 2/3 weeks and then just thought about staying there for a bit longer. Maybe home schooling for a bit and just try a different country out for a bit. I didn’t know if schools would look at this as holiday time and fine me or if I say we are home schooling for the time we are away. Or how any of it even works to be honest.
I wondered if there would be schools there they could go into for a short time?
Probably stuff I’ve missed out but I’ll do my best to update.
looking to go October to December this year.
thanks in advance

I think you’d probably have to take your children off roll and home educate them. Then apply for school places if you return to this country and the same area.

You would need to deregister your children for that length of time off - which means when they come back they may have lost their school places.
I can't imagine they could attend an American school unless they have a fixed address. Presumably you would be on a tourist visa so wouldn't have a fixed address.
Doesn't sound very practical to be honest.

Also, have you researched living costs and can you afford them?

Can you afford 2 / 3 months' health insurance in the US for all of you?

What will happen about work / jobs / business, whatever you do to earn a living in the UK?

I don't know about the US side of it, but in England you would need to deregister the kids.
On your return you would need to apply for places for them, and would be offered schools with places. There may not be spaces in the schools you left.

Missing a couple of months of year 8 for very vague reasons is a very bad idea.

Also two or three weeks in Disney world!! What a waste of money and in no way more beneficial to your kids than a normal length visit!
I can understand missing a week of school for visiting relatives of something culturally enriching but not a theme park!!

“just try a different country out for a bit”
This seems very vague and unpurposeful. If it was specifically connected to a work opportunity or family reason I’d say maybe but it doesn’t look like it is?
school will take a dim view and as pp have said you might end up having to off roll them which could meal losing their place

and it sounds extremely expensive. Assume you haven’t been to the us recently?

Cost this up.
How much does 60 days/90 days travel insurance cost for your family.
Confo rental costs( will need short term let so more $$)
Food costs- cost of living is high in the US
Car rental - you will need a car.

At home - you may lose you places in school and need to re- register.
Home insurance - will have a clause for how long house can be empty. You will need to manage this.

Why would the US school system provide education for a non-tax payer and non citizen - and especially someone there on a tourist visa? That’s a non-starter.

What skills do you have to homeschool a Y8?
It sounds disruptive to them for little benefit. The fact you talk about an American school suggests you have no thoughts of travelling around to create an enriching trip.

Plus everything others have said about de-registering.

Could you back a step and explain why you want to do this? I can’t see anything that the kids are going to get out of an extended stay. Except more sunshine 🤷🏻‍♀️

You need more a plan op. Then figure out if it's workable.

Why would you (even if you could) put them in an American school if you want to travel?

What would you do for work / how would you fund it?

So many questions.

You would not be eligible for a school in the USA.

That said for two or three months you wouldn't need one, it is only an extended summer holiday break.

Homeschooling is common in the USA and there are also a lot of traveling families on SM that you could follow for ideas.

Do you have the finances for this? You would need to think about who would look after your UK housing while you were away.

You need to talk it through with your dc's school, you might need to formally unroll them. Would there be space for them to go back?

So many replies in such a short time
thank you very much for your insights
some good helpful thoughts

holiday to Disney world for 2/3 weeks

Seriously, that long there? Madness

You can only consider private schools in US.
Your idea is for rich people with independent finance and I assume that you are. Otherwise, forget the idea.

Unless you have a visa to work/study in the U.S. it’s not legal to send your kids to school there (even private school!). Schools won’t ask you about your immigration status but if you are caught you can be banned from ever returning to the U.S.

(even private school!)

Nonsense .

Private - of course it is allowed

State schools - yes, its allowed at a high school level.

This all refers to a student visa (F) which the Op does not have.

If you are traveling on an ESTA visa waiver you are subject to the same rules as a B tourist visa and must not enrol in any kind of study.

I used to live in the U.S. but moved back to the UK earlier this year, we all had to leave in April for DH to start a new job in the UK, and we all had to leave at the same time to keep our immigration status legal. I returned to the U.S. a week later with the kids to finish packing up the house on an ESTA and our lawyer advised us that the kids must de-register from school before we left for the first time, even my 3 year old who attended a private nursery had to stay at home with me.

The other visa that would allow it is the exchange visa (J) — again, the op does not have this and you would need to apply and have an interview at the embassy etc

If a child is enrolled at school then goes to American consulate and gets F1 visa. I spent 5 years of my life on F1. Simple process.

What she needs is funds to show that she will support that child

Why talk about exchange if a child is not going for any exchange?

Because that would be the other route to allow them to study in the US.

I think you need to be very careful about giving advice that could get op in hot water if someone who isn’t familiar with the U.S. visa system misinterprets your advice.

I seriously doubt Op is going to apply at the London embassy for an F visa for their child, pay the >$500 fee for the visa per child, and then wait at least a month for their application to be processed and an interview slot to come up when they are going to the U.S. for a maximum of 3 months because they are on an ESTA….

I think you need to be very careful about giving advice that could get op in hot water if someone who isn’t familiar with the U.S. visa system misinterprets your advice.

Well, I personally believe that your advice about J visa and pulling suddenly an exchange program from the sleeve is less realistic than F 1

I seriously doubt Op is going to apply at the London embassy for an F visa for their child, pay the >$500 fee for the visa per child

What strikes you that OP is a poor person who cannot afford 500 dollars for a visa? Or wait 3 weeks for it? I was in US between 2000-2005 and I wasn't a millionaire yet manage to get F1 with no probs.

Her whole idea suggests that she has a lot of money. Who else would afford 3 weeks in Disneyland and 3 months in US?

When my son went from Middle School up to the local High School, we had to provide proof that he had had Hepatitis B vaccinations. Every State has its own regulations and I don’t know about Florida or California.

TBH any family in the USA as tourists aren’t going to be able to enroll their kids at public schools in any case.

That is why I mentioned the private school route if any. State high school is possible of F1 but only for the entire year.

I just wanted to make Op aware that this isn’t a simple thing and they would need visas - F isn’t the only route but ESTA certainly isn’t an option… I really think it’s quite unlikely they would get an F visa approved for the child of someone with no right to live in the U.S. for a 2-3 month period. The purpose of their trip should be tourism.

@Roaminginthegloaming the state I lived in required all the vaccinations for private schools too (CT).

It looks like Florida also requires vaccines to be up to date for non-public schools. Including 3 doses of hep b and multiple doses of chicken pox which ops children are unlikely to have. Although if they’ve have chicken pox they could get a test for that.

www.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/immunization/children-and-adolescents/school-immunization-requirements/index.html

Sorry I was mixing up the vaccines. They would likely have hep b.

My kids had issues because their vaccines were given slightly too early to count for the CT schedule so it’s not necessarily as simple as just having them.