Looking for advice/information on being an English-resident in the US

[Steway]

Hi there :waving:,

I have just come across this forum on the off-chance and wondered if I could ask your opinions on the above topic. I am English currently living in the English Midlands, and I am 20 years old. I have for some time been looking into the possibility, at a later date, of moving to the US but need some more information before I can consider it seriously. I really do hope you can help.

Firstly, I would like to know if any of you have ever had an English ex-pat in a school that you have taught in, how they have settled in and whether there were any problems with possible discrimination (not judging the US, there are these sorts of problems in the UK)?

Secondly, I'd appreciate your opinions on how English ex-pats are treated in the US, whether it could cause problems or how they are treated in general? Again, I have no idea of the general feeling amongst Americans towards the British and ask for your opinions. Have you experienced a situation in which an English ex-pat has resided in your area and how were they perceived?

Also, could you please let me know how much British history is integrated into the American syllabus. In the UK, a fair amount of US history is taught in high school, from ages 11-16 and onwards. I'd like to know that my possible future children would have some sort of education based on their roots, whilst also embracing the American culture and history.

Finally, and I'm sure I will have missed something out, I would like to know how difficult it may be to find employment at a reasonable pay rate, and what sort of options may be open to me. I'm a qualified UK mortgage adviser (unfortunately, not the best area to be qualified in at present) and appreciate that I would have to take US qualifications, but what rates of pay, only roughly, would I expect to earn and what would that represent in terms of affordability of US house prices and goods and services.

Sorry to drop this on you all, I really would appreciate it if you could give me some idea of what to expect. Please be as honest/ruthless as possible. I truly admire the US culture and history, and how unified you seem as a nation, which is the main reason I would like myself and future generations of my family to be part of it.

Thank you,

Steway

[Clix]

1. Nope - but I can't imagine it'd be a problem. British accents are "intriguingly odd" if you're in a non-diverse area.

2. Again, so long as you're not all "America sux! things are way better in Europe!" you should be fine.

3. Not a lot - but we have libraries! yay! And you can homeschool your kids if you're really disappointed in your district's history curriculum.

4. Can't help you at all. Cost of living varies GREATLY based on location. You might be able to look online for companies & see who's hiring? dunno.

[Steway]

Thank you for your reply Clix. Picking up on your points:

1. Thanks for the "intriguingly odd" accent point! Not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not! I'll go with the former though!

2. Definitely not. I appreciate that moving to the US would mean a cultural and lifestyle change, and I'm pretty sure the US is a better place to be than the UK. For a start, it's a lot warmer (I hope!). As I said before, I like the American way of life. A well known English television personality and author, Stephen Fry, whose parents are actually American, said there is only one key difference between American's and the English. American's are optimistic, the English are pessimistic!

3. What sort of English history is taught in high school? I take it WW1 and WW2 would be a key feature, but is there anything else? I wouldn't be too disappointed if there wasn't anything taught in depth. Just a background.

4. Do you have any contact details of local employment services or advisors to people seeking immigration? Also, do you have any links to websites for English immigrants within the US at the moment? I can't seem to find anything on the internet. Again, your help is greatly appreciated.

If anybody else has any advice or information, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Ebeth]

I teach 5th grade and we do the American Revolution quite thouroughly, we talk about the English colonizing the Americas and the only downside that we teach against the British is how the colonists did not want to follow the King because they wanted to make their own laws and have freedom of speech and religion. We also teach the War of 1812. Of course we do WWI and WWII and go up to present day. We discuss the United Nations and how Britain is and has been our ally for a long time. I have never met anybody who felt ill towards British people and as far as the accent goes, I would say that Americans find it fascinating. We love anything that is outside the norm!

[Maoman1]

Ok. I am a junior in high schoo. Almost all the people I know fall over at the sound of a true English accent. As for the history part, I wish that they taught more of it in Colorado. I have learned a bit of it, and we do have an class called European History, but I haven't taken it yet. Living costs here are pretty ok. Nothing costs too much but gas and thats even incredibly low. Last I checked, it was $1.50 per gallon. If you do decide that you want to move here, make sure you ask people in the area you are moving if there are any ares you should avoid. There is a lot of gang-related activity across the U.S. The jobs here can range from a to z. All you have to do is have the expirience and maybe college to get a job. I'm not going to lie. College isn't cheap. A site I found had this to say: " 2008-09 College Prices
Keep Increases in Perspective
There's no escaping the fact that college prices are rising. According to recently released reports from the College Board, most students and their families can expect to pay, on average, from $108 to $1,398 more than last year for this year's tuition and fees, depending on the type of college.

But there is good news. There is more than $143 billion in financial aid available. And, despite all of these college price increases, a college education remains an affordable choice for most families.

Sticker Price vs. Affordability
Although some of the college price tags you hear about can be quite daunting—$35,000 or more for yearly tuition and fees—most colleges are more affordable than you might think. For example, did you know that about 56 percent of students attend four-year schools with annual tuition and fees below $9,000? After grants are taken into consideration, the net price the average undergraduate pays for a college education is significantly lower than the published tuition and fees. And remember, other forms of financial aid will further reduce the amount your family will actually pay.

Average College Prices 2008-09 But Did You Know That...
Private four-year $25,143 (up 5.9 percent from last year)

Public four-year $6,585 (up 6.4 percent from last year) About 56 percent of students enrolled at four-year colleges or universities attend institutions that charge tuition and fees of less than $9,000 per year.
38 percent of full-time students enrolled in public four-year colleges and universities attend institutions that charge tuition and fees between $3,000 and $6,000.
While private four-year institutions have a much wider range of tuition and fee charges, only about 9 percent of all students attend colleges with tuition and fees totaling $33,000 or higher per year.

Public two-year $2,402 (up 4.7 percent from last year) 32 percent of all full-time students attend public two-year colleges.

Students will pay, on average, from $381 to $408 more than last year for this year's room and board, depending on the type of college.

The average surcharge for full-time out-of-state students at public four-year institutions is $10,867. More than $143 billion in financial aid is available to students and their families.
About two-thirds of all full-time undergraduate students receive grant aid. In 2008-09, estimated aid in the form of grants and tax benefits averaged about $2,300 per student at public two-year colleges, about $3,700 at public four-year colleges, and about $10,200 per student at private four-year colleges.


Consider College an Investment
Did you know that, according to a 2007 College Board Study, Education Pays, people with a bachelor's degree earn over 60 percent more than those with only a high school diploma? Over a lifetime, the gap in earning potential between a high school diploma and a B.A. is more than $800,000. In other words, whatever sacrifices you make for your college education in the short term are more than repaid in the long term."
If you have any questions about Colorado, just let me know. If you have any other state in mind, just post the state name and ask for help there. :gabby: :D

[lynn bambusch]

I think Americans got over being mad at England shortly after 1776. Because we are a land of immigrants, most Americans find foreigners interesting. I am certified to teach high school history (but I don't teach that any more) and to be honest, it is pretty American based. We teach World War II, but it is often taught as if it started in Pearl Harbor. So it really depends on the teacher. The economy is in bad shape here and the mortgage industry is particularly rough. But I live in Michigan, which is really trying to dig it's way out. Many of your questions depend on where you want to live. Our country is huge, with many sub-cultures. Check out the different areas, each state has its own regulations.
But I am sure you will be welcomed and helped no matter where you go, Americans are like that.

[AtoZ]

Oh my. I wrote a SUUUUUUUPERRRRRRR LONG post and got logged out in the meantime and LOST ALL OF THE WRITING. :shootme::shootme::shootme:

I'll post later today or tomorrow hopefully as I wrote quite a bit about visas.

[Steway]

Thanks for your help everyone, I've only just managed to read all your posts as the weather here in the UK has been awful over the last week or so (severe snow and freezing temperatures!) and our internet service went down!

I'm really glad to hear that being a foreigner in the US wouldn't cause a problem. I know the US is very welcoming and didn't for a second assume otherwise. Maybe my accent may even be an advantage!

I'd ideally like to be somewhere near the coast, but not a tourist area and with a decent year-round climate. I want to get away from the rain and the cold! Also, I wondered if there were any main areas for financial services, such as banks/building societies, mortgage brokers and financial advisers. If anyone knows anything about this, I'd be really grateful if you could suggest an area or any information you have on this.

Glad you brought that up actually AtoZ, does anybody have any information on immigration laws and processes? Any particular criteria that applies etc?

Thank you all so much for being so helpful!

Steway

[AtoZ]

Here comes that super long post I mentioned! :eek:

[AtoZ]

Here’s another attempt at posting (a bit later than I thought…) I know a bit about moving from continent to continent…

Enough has been said about the social aspects of moving here…my experience and perceptions are about the same, so I’ll shorten that part of my post. I think the main thing to remember is the size of this country—it’s very tough to talk about America and Americans in general terms…this goes for almost all of your questions.

I find that native English speaking transplants to America fare slightly better than others, but all non-American accents are considered intriguing. As long as you don’t glorify your country of origin while putting down America, you’ll be fine. The people from the U.K. that I have met have adjusted quite well… but in one place I lived, many complained of lack of access to cultural events. If you move to a big city, this is not a problem.

In terms of what is taught in schools—I wouldn’t rely on the curriculum to help your future children learn and appreciate their heritage. Many have mentioned that history classes really don’t cover that much, but the good news for you is that English classes are still very Euro-centric, which means that teachers have to teach the context/history.

Employment: your salary and cost of living vary from place to place…I’m not talking about a few dollars—they range wildly. Sometimes, it doesn’t make sense: generally, cost of living is higher in big cities and so are the salaries; however, in some places with high costs of living, the salaries are ridiculously low. For example, I recently moved to a big city with very decent cost of food and housing. A beginning teacher makes 46000/yr here. At the same time, the big city where my sister lives (paying crazy money for housing and daycare), that same teacher would be earning 27000/yr. So again, a lot of this depends on where you move. I mentioned cost of housing: overall, housing is still more affordable in the U.S. than in much of Europe; This is true for gas as well—as much as we’ve complained about the rise in gas prices in 2008, we were still paying less than Europeans. If you don’t rely on your own transportation right now, maybe this doesn’t mean much to you…but considering that driving is a necessity, not a luxury, in most of America, it is something that will be relevant to you.
I don’t know how much mortgage advisors earn..so I can’t help you there…but as you know the market’s really tough right now, and a reliable source tells me that we won’t see an improvement in the real estate sector for at least 2 years.

Now the most important part:
Do you have an idea of how you’d enter the U.S.? What kind of visa did you have in mind (I’m not sure if you thought that far about this)? Truth is, your justification to enter the country legally cannot be simply your wish to relocate.

Your options:

H1 visa (actually H1B and H2B)—this visa is for skilled, highly educated workers that America needs. Your occupation is not very likely to put you in the category of needed workers …but I don’t know anything about your education. Aside from some exceptions (e.g., models) H1 recipients have at least the first degree (three or four-year, depending on whether you completed it before or after the Bologna process). I can make assumptions based on your age…but I’m not sure.
There is a limited number of H1 visas yearly, and this is how it works: you don’t apply for it; your employer does. They’re given on a first-come, first-served basis, and for a given year, you have to have your application in by April I believe. The visa is then issued by October of the same year. Preference is given to people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.. they set aside a certain number of visas just for people in those fields..you’ll see how being in these fields is beneficial in the next visa as well.
About a quarter of all H1 holders are from Europe.

F1 visa—this is a student visa. In my opinion, this would be your best bet, if you can afford it. Someone before me has mentioned the benefits of higher education—I’m going to have to correct some parts of that…the cost of tuition and other expenses for an American citizen or resident is significantly lower than the cost for an international student. Also, you are not eligible for financial aid; you are, however, eligible for scholarships. So the main concern with this visa is the cost. You have to be able to show that you have your first year’s (in some cases first semester’s) tuition in your account in order to be considered for admission. In addition, you have to show proof of insurance in a certain amount or you have to purchase that insurance here. Once you’re here as an international student, you’re not allowed to work off campus (and you can’t work full time during school) thus being limited to low wage, on campus jobs. If you can bear the cost, this visa is relatively easy to get (it starts with applying to the university you want to attend). Also, the benefit of this visa is that you get 4 years of creating relationships—people who will recommend you once you’re done. Going from F1 to H1 is much easier than getting an H1 from outside of the states. Again, if this is an option you’d consider, going into STEM fields pays off… normally, all international students get a bit of time after completing their degree to find employment that would offer an H1. STEM students get three times more time for that. And hey, the pay in those fields isn’t shabby either :)

K1 visa …please note that I am not suggesting you do this as a way of tricking the government….let’s assume you meet an American citizen whom you want to marry. The K1 is a fiancé visa (upon coming to the U.S., you have to marry within 90 days). Let’s say you come to the states with the F1 visa and while you’re here, you meet someone whom you want to marry—same deal.

I’ll assume that you don’t need political asylum, so I won’t discuss those options. There’s also a visa for relatives, but I don’t know if you have any relatives here…Also, for all visas: if you come here using one visa and apply for another (let's say F1 to H1)..you'll have to exit and reenter the country upon being granted the new visa.

Green card lottery—this is a thing by the U.S. government…it’s exactly what it sounds like: a certain number of green cards is given yearly to randomly drawn entries. The downside is that you can’t bring adult members of your family with you (unless it’s a spouse). I was skeptical about this before I found out that a family I have been friends with got their green cards through this lottery. Whatever you choose, I think that submitting an entry can’t hurt you. Beware of scams, however. There are companies that may contact you (or that you’ll find online) claiming they can improve your chances of getting it for a fee. The U.S. gov’t website even had a warning about these scams—these companies cannot help you in any way, it’s all luck (assuming that you are an eligible participant).

One last thing I’d add about choosing where to move: think about how often you’d like to visit family/friends/whomever in Europe… the difference in prices is significant between the east coast and west coast; small cities and big cities… just something to consider.

This is quite a reading task for you…sorry, but I hope that this can help you at least a little bit :) You can contact me if anything is unclear and I’ll let you know if I know the answer.

Good luck! :)

[silvana]

I don't know if this will help but I am a teacher and I have worked with American coleagues in St Paul MINN and New York city and I find them lovely and if I were not so old I would be looking to relocate...... I love America and Americans =)