Brits investingating emigrating to U.S.?

August 19, 2005 7:01 AM

A family from Leeds, England just spent 2-1/2 weeks vacation with our family (in Nebraska). Apparently they enjoyed the visit because now they are investigating MOVING here. I really don't know the complexities of such a thing and while I don't want to discourage him, I also don't want to encourage a rash decision without all the facts (they just flew home this past Monday). Any Brits that have investigated emigration or emigrated to the U.S. wish to share some knowledge?

Practical suggestions (such as waiting a while and seeing if they still feel this way) to seeking employment as a Brit (with a thick Manchester accent that many here could not understand), etc. (Frankly, I think he'd miss his footie far too much over here.)

posted by spock to grab bag (17 comments total)

Unless have visas or employment lined up that is willing to go through the visa process, they can forget about it.
posted by bonaldi at 7:24 AM on August 19, 2005

I was under the impression that DirecTV had a soccer sport package you could buy, if it's that big of a deal.

If you don't mind me asking, and totally off-topic, why do they want to move here so bad?
posted by geoff. at 7:54 AM on August 19, 2005

perhaps because they live in Leeds</noise>
posted by grouse at 8:06 AM on August 19, 2005

Damn that Tommy Lee for making Nebraska look so cool.
posted by etc. at 8:38 AM on August 19, 2005

Firstly, as someone from Leeds now living (legally) in the US, let me say that either you are mixing up a Manchester accent wth a Leeds accent, which is a heinous crime or they are Mancunians who have moved to Leeds, in which case they can ******

Having said that, they cannot move legally to the US unless a) they marry a US national or b) have a job that a US employer will certify that a US national cannot/will not do (usually a skilled job such as hi-tech or medicine).

As for footie, you can get some premiership games (depending where you live) on cable or DirectTV but, sadly, Leeds (albeit temporarily) are not in the premiership. Of course, if they are from Manchester, they will be able to see Scum games but why anyone would want to watch/support the about-to-be asset-stripped Scum is beyond me.
posted by TheRaven at 9:01 AM on August 19, 2005

Well, they ought to hire an immegration lawyer.
posted by delmoi at 9:22 AM on August 19, 2005

Every single time my parents/friends/myself/whoever has gone to America, they've come back raving about how they want to move there. Six months later they're totally off the idea. The grass is always greener, etc..

(with a thick Manchester accent that many here could not understand)

Northern English accents are actually, in the main, more understandable by Americans than Southern English accents are. The vowel sounds are very similar, whereas Southern accents are very forced (compare pronunciation of grass, class, etc).

Lastly, unless they either a) have $250,000 to invest (to get an investor visa), b) are savvy business people who could start and run a business in the US (to get an L-1A/B), c) have degree(s) in a specialized field and can find an employer (to get an H1-B), or d) are extremely famous in their field (to get an O).. they can forget it. The UK is one of the few countries which is/was exempt from the "Green Card Lottery" so they can forget that too.
posted by wackybrit at 9:23 AM on August 19, 2005

If you don't mind me asking, and totally off-topic, why do they want to move here so bad?

This is my opinion. YMMV.

The UK is overcrowded, with a very high cost of living (compared with the US), many ordinary working people feel disenfranchised, without a voice, disenchanted, without much hope for change. The gap between the rich and those who work damned hard for a living is getting larger, and the number of people who live off the taxes of the ones who work damned hard for a living is growing too.

I have close friends who live in rural Ohio and visit as often as I can, at least three times a year. It's small-town America, life revolves around high school & church activities, the local arts centre, farming, fishing, hiking ...

If spock's friends have gone from Leeds to the mid-West, they've probably experienced similar feelings to mine, that people are generally very friendly and welcoming, there's a sense of community that we seem to have lost in England, the level of service in stores and restaurants is way above the (low) standards you would generally find in England and that it's just a much nicer way to live ...

At any rate, this is my experience of the area where my friends live. I'd move there tomorrow if I could.
posted by essexjan at 9:47 AM on August 19, 2005

That's very interesting, I never knew there existed a small town American wunderlust. This is pretty much the opposite of how how we Americans view the small towns (which probably reaffirms wackybrit's 6-month hypothesis). There's been a lot of articles recently in American papers about how small towns are turning into ghost towns due to a lot of factors (poor economic conditions, not a lot of opportunity), if you had a creative lawyer and really wanted to live in a small town and not the US in general -- I bet you could find your magic job niche.
posted by geoff. at 10:00 AM on August 19, 2005

The UK is one of the few countries which is/was exempt from the "Green Card Lottery" so they can forget that too

To be clear, that's because the UK sends a lot of immigrants through the normal family, employment, and business channels. The diversity visa lottery is for countries that don't.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:03 AM on August 19, 2005

That's very interesting, I never knew there existed a small town American wunderlust.

I'm not sure the wanderlust is specifically for the US, but talk to many Brits and they will tell you that they'd love to emigrate.

Australia, Canada and New Zealand are the most popular dream destinations amongst my co-workers, three of whom are leaving the UK within the next month.
posted by essexjan at 12:19 PM on August 19, 2005

Not sure what is behind their desire to move. Our town is around 25,000 population (so radically different than Leeds). Their first full day here we took them to the Burwell Nebraska Rodeo, just to give them a taste of Americana they wouldn't normally get to see. Then we took them to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. (The dad, two of my daughters and I hiked Flattop and and summitted Hallet.) They did comment about how friendly people were here (just greeting/acknowledging other's existence is apparently a shock to some). They also noted that the first question people seem to ask (in Rocky Mountain) is "Where you from?". He noted that this isn't asked much in England because it isn't a big place, but since the U.S. is so large it is the first thing we often want to know.

Frankly, I think that given a little time the desire would fade. At any rate I would give it time to see if it does before doing anything rash (even if it were immediately possible).
posted by spock at 12:26 PM on August 19, 2005

I hate to state the obvious, but a lot of people live in the US illegally.

About 20 million I think.
posted by joseppi7 at 3:06 PM on August 19, 2005

spock, what sort of work do you have there? What might your English friends find themselves doing, if they manage to secure a job there?

Lot of places in the U.S., that would be enough to discourage people. Except for our Mexican friends, who have made it their life's mission to supply 200 million U.S. residents with boneless skinless chicken breasts for $5.25 an hour and no health insurance.
posted by sacre_bleu at 3:19 PM on August 19, 2005

Invite them to come back for a while in January. They may not know about great plains winters.
posted by Ken McE at 3:41 PM on August 19, 2005

Ken McE beat me to it. Thirty mph winds, snow, and 10 degrees above zero can distract from a summer view of a golden field of wheat, rolling off to the horizon like an ocean of sorts.
Send them a copy of the movie "Fargo" and see if it helps them to solidify their choice.
posted by buzzman at 4:36 PM on August 19, 2005

I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

I tried that. Lived in New England for most of my life, travelled all over the world, but never gave the mid-section of America much of a chance. The opportunity arose, and I moved to Nebraska.

I would advise them to check it out for a year to see if they really like it. All that cutesy "small-town charm" wears thin after a while. You can forget about privacy, forget about meeting foriegners--hell, people from Chicago are foriegners. Most of the people who live in the Great Plains have always lived there, and haven't even seen what else is out there. 9/10 people you ask on the streets have never seen the ocean.

"So what?" you say. Well, their world view can be a bit... narrow. I don't know if that would be a hindrance or an asset for someone coming from the UK, but you can probably tell what my guess would be.

These are gross generalizations, but they're what I started to feel after living there for a couple of years. The friendliness wears off, or rather, you discover that it's just "how people act" and not necessarily "how they feel." Just because someone waves to you, or says "Hi" with a big smile, doesn't necessarily mean they're friendly, but that they're accustomed to actions that are percieved as friendly.

Their first full day here we took them to the Burwell Nebraska Rodeo

You damned fool! :) Did they have that black guy doing his rodeo-clown schtick? I went last year, and the guy got big laughs with his Hillary Clinton jokes. Seriously, those folks will never forgive Bill for having such an uppity wife. My GF and I were floored to see his Uncle Tom routine with the announcer.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:38 PM on August 19, 2005