messychopper Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 L1s, not transferable as you say. H1s are, but you have to find a new employer willing to sponsor the transfer which cuts down your options somewhat (no problem if you work in finance, maybe in other industries with less cash to splash). Top of the list is to get your employer to apply for a green card for you as soon as you get there (and take a pay cut to fund the fees if that's what it takes). As I said, forward planning is essential....personally, I'm not sure it's worth all the grief, but it can be done if that's what you want. I work for the gov here and they have even deported some of their own staff! Maybe it's different in south Florida but I can tell you that in my field all the agents that call me for work want to know my immigration status because their clients dont or wont pay for visas because of the costs and grief, you might invest time and money to get an ace employee just to lose him or her to the visa system or they say ****** it you (the visa system) cant treat me like a crim I'm going back home. The visa system can easily work against you, my canadian friend at work lit up the tires on his interceptor mustang doing donuts outside the sheriffs office and got busted on a cruisers camera, he tried to ******** his way out of it saying his throttle cable stuck and he ended up in court with a 2k fine and a record so when it comes to applying for his green card after 5 years of residency they might deny him on the grounds of his criminal record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tbatst2000 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I work for the gov here and they have even deported some of their own staff!Maybe it's different in south Florida but I can tell you that in my field all the agents that call me for work want to know my immigration status because their clients dont or wont pay for visas because of the costs and grief, you might invest time and money to get an ace employee just to lose him or her to the visa system or they say ****** it you (the visa system) cant treat me like a crim I'm going back home. The visa system can easily work against you, my canadian friend at work lit up the tires on his interceptor mustang doing donuts outside the sheriffs office and got busted on a cruisers camera, he tried to ******** his way out of it saying his throttle cable stuck and he ended up in court with a 2k fine and a record so when it comes to applying for his green card after 5 years of residency they might deny him on the grounds of his criminal record. Yes, it's all f*cked up isn't it? The recruiting situation in NYC (which is the only US market I know really well) is a little easier since most banks are happy to handle H1 transfers. They won't touch people without a visa at all for the most part though (outside of a few big hitters in front office trading jobs). If your friend was done for a misdemeanor he'll probably be ok (I've been through that with someone and it came good after a lot of form filling), if it was a felony it'll be a lot harder. I assume he can keep working on a TN1 (or whatever the NAFTA skilled employee visa is) pretty much indefinitely though. The yanks really need to get their immigration act together - it's about the hardest place in the world to work legally and about the easiest place to work illegally from what I've seen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messychopper Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Yes, it's all f*cked up isn't it? The recruiting situation in NYC (which is the only US market I know really well) is a little easier since most banks are happy to handle H1 transfers. They won't touch people without a visa at all for the most part though (outside of a few big hitters in front office trading jobs). If your friend was done for a misdemeanor he'll probably be ok (I've been through that with someone and it came good after a lot of form filling), if it was a felony it'll be a lot harder. I assume he can keep working on a TN1 (or whatever the NAFTA skilled employee visa is) pretty much indefinitely though.The yanks really need to get their immigration act together - it's about the hardest place in the world to work legally and about the easiest place to work illegally from what I've seen! it ended up being a felony charge hence the big trouble. I agree, they seem to keep out the good guys and let in the illegals working for cash. Personally i think they should make the illegals semi legal with a right to stay and work in specific jobs but pay extra taxes for a years or so to account for the immigration paperwork and costs, all finger printed and background checked, made to learn english and spanish etc depending on what part of the country you are in and any sign of trouble ie jump a red light or trouble with police then they should be deported with no questions asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tbatst2000 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 it ended up being a felony charge hence the big trouble.I agree, they seem to keep out the good guys and let in the illegals working for cash. Personally i think they should make the illegals semi legal with a right to stay and work in specific jobs but pay extra taxes for a years or so to account for the immigration paperwork and costs, all finger printed and background checked, made to learn english and spanish etc depending on what part of the country you are in and any sign of trouble ie jump a red light or trouble with police then they should be deported with no questions asked. If it was a felony, he was lucky not to get deported too....I agree with you on the illegals, there's so many of them, the US economy would be screwed without them now (who'd drive the taxis, sell you food, do your building work etc?) - it would make sense to legalise a big chunk of them in return for paid up taxes and so on. I guess the problem they've got is that, if they do that without making it a lot harder to work illegally in future, it'll encourage more people to do the same. Damned if you do, damned if you don't really. It's just a shame that many of the politicians use the problem of illegal immigration to make the legal variety so painful and restricted. I'm not sure what the proportion of legal to illegal immigrants is but it's got to be small enough to make controlling the legal side so tightly more or less pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messychopper Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 If it was a felony, he was lucky not to get deported too....I agree with you on the illegals, there's so many of them, the US economy would be screwed without them now (who'd drive the taxis, sell you food, do your building work etc?) - it would make sense to legalise a big chunk of them in return for paid up taxes and so on. I guess the problem they've got is that, if they do that without making it a lot harder to work illegally in future, it'll encourage more people to do the same. Damned if you do, damned if you don't really. It's just a shame that many of the politicians use the problem of illegal immigration to make the legal variety so painful and restricted. I'm not sure what the proportion of legal to illegal immigrants is but it's got to be small enough to make controlling the legal side so tightly more or less pointless. Making some semi legal with no access to credit, unemployment or access back into the USA once here kinda makes sense and I think they'd be better off. Better letting them work for peanuts and taxing it than ignoring it pretending it's going to go away because they will still use the hospitals and not pay for it. I don't have a problem with the illegals but I do have a problem when they do not obey the law! My brother in the UK was rear ended by what hesaid was an illegal in a 200 quid car and the other driver fled the scene and the police didn't want to know even though he had the reg of the vehicle, vehicle was sold and not registered to new owned and had no insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroSumGame Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Ignore this. Wages are high, very high. Not if you are into IT. Why are there so many Aussies and Kiwis in IT in London then ? Great country to retire to - I'll grant you that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Not if you are into IT. Why are there so many Aussies and Kiwis in IT in London then ? Great country to retire to - I'll grant you that. By the time you reach that age they won't want you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroSumGame Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 By the time you reach that age they won't want you. DIMA may have changed things since I was there last year. But no, non-working retirees are the category most readily accepted - provided you can prove that you can support yourself. Me old aunt , god bless has just moved. In my case, as most of my large family are Aussie citizens, family sponsorship is a formality - no-one has been refused. To me , its a great place but an expensive one. I wouldn't move without a mil or two AUS$ in my back pocket. Getting into Aus is easier than getting residency in California - but that is another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieboy Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Sure, I'm not offering a detailed analysis, but I am recounting my families experience and my own more specialised knowledge in finance (I have some guys work for me out of an office in Sydney and I visit at least twice a year). Unless I'm really missing some major data, I've seen nothing to suggest that, adjusted for living costs, wages are higher than they are in the UK. In fact, the cost of living adjustment that my firm applies to people being transferred to Sydney - calculated by an independent company - would be slightly negative if we chose to apply it. A quick web search for jobs in Australia will show you that wages are not obviously higher than here. The point is: are wages in Australia low, very low? No. No they aren't. Not really interested in trading anecdotes on this relating to specific jobs - there are proper statistics out there detailing average salaries, unemployment rates etc which demonstrate that the Australian economy is very similar to the UK, particularly with the A$ at 2.26. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieboy Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Not if you are into IT. Why are there so many Aussies and Kiwis in IT in London then ? Great country to retire to - I'll grant you that. Why are there so many Brits in Australia and New Zealand in many different professions? Isn't that the point of this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroSumGame Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Why are there so many Brits in Australia and New Zealand in many different professions?Isn't that the point of this thread? Because IMHO , up to about 5 years ago there was a clear economic and lifestyle advantage in so doing. Like I said I've got plenty family and friends in both Oz and NZ. Again IMHO I think that advantage has gone. There are plenty of Aussies and Kiwis of all professions in London. There was the best ever CiF thread on The Guardian website I've seen as to why so many antipodeans have chosen to emigrate here - and stay. I'll try and dig out the link. I think the HPI in Western Australia is the worst I've seen anywhere and as some comentator in The Age ? said : they only ones winning out of that situation are the property speculators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its time to buy Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 News just in - 1 work colleague moving to Spain in March - 1 work colleague moving to Spain as well this month Pretty sudden news, I m taken aback myself, and I dont suspect they read this site, so various reasons to decision to move. Good on them - bring on two leaving dos, any excuse to have a tipple! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bretta Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 (edited) Well, I am a permanent resident of the USA who cannot await to get away from this land of right wing religious zealots. People always think the grass is greener elsewhere. Well, it is not. The USA is a frightening place. Guns, violence, right wing bigots one of whom has taken this world to the brink of extinction if not kept in check. Stop being a selfish person and think about the bigger picture. Granted there should have been an election so the British public could have chosen its next PM, but that will happen soon. UK has survived the bloated arrogance of Blair and I believe things will get better in the UK. House price inflation is a worldwide problem, not just a UK problem. My own house in New Mexico has doubled in price during the past 10 years. The dfference for me is that I am a realist. My house is a home, not an investment. I make sure I have savings, not just brick and mortar. I do not expect it to increase in value and will not be devastated when it is hurt by the current global downturn in house prices because all house prices everywhere from UK to France to Greece to the racist, violent USA are overpriced. People need to stop being so selfish and look at the global picture. Yes, you get more for your money in the USA but you do not have universal health insurance, unemployment insurance, or any other safety net especially as you get older. Edited January 2, 2008 by bretta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieboy Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Because IMHO , up to about 5 years ago there was a clear economic and lifestyle advantage in so doing. Like I said I've got plenty family and friends in both Oz and NZ. SNIP Disagree. There has never been an economic argument to relocate to Australia unless exchange rate or location of family home differentials suburb made it work. Metropolitan house prices, ex-Perth maybe, have moved lockstep with metro UK. There is a site which has this information but I won't be able to post the link to it due to HPC regs. Look at the Economist data if you wish. As I say, salaries now are comparable, as is cost of living which means that although the lifestyle advantage (ex-weather and beaches, etc) still exists only you now have to do a proper job to live the good life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Back to the OP Seriously considered relocating to Greece but my skills aren't easily transferrable and we'd be reliant on working in the tourist/retail/hospitality trade from the bottom up. It doesn't feel like a good time to commit to the tourist industry. Reasons for going are "quality of life" issues for the wife - weather, surroundings, peoples, behaviours, crime etc. Name-checked Australia (dual-nationality swmbo) but not really looked into it proper - in reality its too far for family etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedMercury Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Well, I am a permanent resident of the USA who cannot await to get away from this land of right wing religious zealots. Why not just move to a more moderate state, like CA or WA? What are you considering as an alternative? FWIW I'm enjoying the USA. The guns don't really bother me - the crims have them in the UK as well. I'd rather law abiding people also carried them. I'm not sure how long we'll stay in NoCal, but we're certainly enjoying our time here. It seems cleaner, people seem to have more respect than in the UK and it feels on the whole a lot safer. BTW, we also get that California/Arnie advert here, in California Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Mario Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck nmarks, good luck with the innovation.For me, Thailand . . . why? Because the wife lives there, won't move to the UK. Plus it's fun. Forget all this corruption stuff you hear. I spent half my life there and only ever experienced what I consider to be the most efficient government system I've ever seen. Even when it's in Police State mode, you'd never know, they don't intrude on people's lives like the UK Govt. Many will disagree I'm sure. Don't care, I love the place. Despite my earlier criticisms of Thailand - I too love the place and am going to sad to leave when I do. I would certainly recommend it as a place to live for a few years before any life-time commitment (as there are a number of annoyances that can really get on your nerves after a while). The poverty here is a big issue for me ... Mr Parry, you mentioned in another thread that you brought 100k into Thailand last year - that buys you a lot of freedom. The average salary for Thailand is under 20k baht (about 300 GBP) - I expect that if most farangs had to live like the average thai then living here wouldn't be quite so attractive. (I know this is late arriving, but I've just spent new years in Hua Hin, which is a real gem - especially compared to pattaya and phuket imo) SM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamnumerate Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 It doesn't matter. Immigrants = scum in the eyes of some on HPC. You obviously do not understand the argument very well. I think immigration at the moment is damaging the UK. However this is not the fault of legal immigrants (illegals and bogus - I know many - asylum seekers are another matter). It is the fault of the scumbags that let millions come here without thinking of the consequences. If it is legal to migrate here people can - it is not their fault that too many people come here it is Gordon's !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ayatollah Buggeri Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Part of me would very much like to leave (as the threads on the renting and off topic threads about my encounters with chav builders, neighbours etc. show, everyday life in Britain is become less pleasant by the day), but I am an only child with two parents on the verge of retirement to think of and my skills aren't that easily transferable (I'm a university lecturer with quite narrow research and teaching specialisms). Were I to think seriously about it, the obvious destinations for me would be either The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (I speak the languages fluently) or the US. I get the impression that the cost of living to earnings ratio isn't significantly better in mainland Europe, even though other standard of living factors may be (e.g. less crime and less economic disadvantage for non-OOs), but the visa requirements for the US - specifically the requirement that universities there cannot employ a non-US citizen unless no US citizen who meets even the minimum requirements applies - would make my chances of getting in close to zero. I would also be giving up the final salary pension I've now been paying into for seven years here, which is a major disincentive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Spent New Year's Eve with an old friend and his very pleasant Hungarian girlfriend. During the course of the evening he dropped the bombshell that they are emigrating to Hungary and have put down a deposit on a cottage and some land. 'It's the only chance I'll ever have of owning property' was my friend's reason, and he's a reasonably well paid university administrator. During the summer another friend announced he was emigrating to Greece with his Greek girlfriend. Now all I need to do is get me a foreign girlfriend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chichi Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 BBC are running a new series of their emigrate program. Was new zealand this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Helvetica Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Quite... and yet there are still xenophobic posts from would-be immigrants. This is common - the worst racism I've ever witnessed is that of white immigrants to Australia against the original Aboriginal inhabitants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbox Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Well, I am a permanent resident of the USA who cannot await to get away from this land of right wing religious zealots. Yes, the large proportion of people with narrow cruel mind sets is depressing. The really ironic part is that these very same people consider themselves closer to God than anyone else! Do they not stop to think thier God would surely turn away people with thier wicked, superior disposition? I think its down to so many of them being unlearned and that the original Pilgrim fathers mission was to create 'heaven on Earth' , and to this day the inhabitants think it was job done, thank you very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr Parry Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Despite my earlier criticisms of Thailand - I too love the place and am going to sad to leave when I do. I would certainly recommend it as a place to live for a few years before any life-time commitment (as there are a number of annoyances that can really get on your nerves after a while). The poverty here is a big issue for me ... Mr Parry, you mentioned in another thread that you brought 100k into Thailand last year - that buys you a lot of freedom. The average salary for Thailand is under 20k baht (about 300 GBP) - I expect that if most farangs had to live like the average thai then living here wouldn't be quite so attractive.(I know this is late arriving, but I've just spent new years in Hua Hin, which is a real gem - especially compared to pattaya and phuket imo) SM Yes. I have used the Thailand example to show how rich people in the UK are. 3 bed bungalows can be as much as £125,000. When the best salary you can get is around £6000 year and the norm is around £1200 year, put's it into perspective. To be honest, a lot of Thai's are 'poor' due to downright laziness. Most have more money then you realise. They tend to get the poor Burmese and Khumer to do the hard work. Burmese and Cambodian's, now they are poor. Agreed on Pattaya. What a bloddy awful place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr Parry Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Spent New Year's Eve with an old friend and his very pleasant Hungarian girlfriend. During the course of the evening he dropped the bombshell that they are emigrating to Hungary and have put down a deposit on a cottage and some land. 'It's the only chance I'll ever have of owning property' was my friend's reason, and he's a reasonably well paid university administrator. During the summer another friend announced he was emigrating to Greece with his Greek girlfriend. Now all I need to do is get me a foreign girlfriend!! Austin, more about the Hungarian bird please. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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