Well i want to move to America but i dont know what ill need to be able to live there! So can anyone help? I want to be living there by the time im 20! And im going there when im 19 just to see what plces i like!

You`ll need a Green Card to be able to work there.

You won`t get a green card unless you are:

a) a millionaire

b) A university Graduate.

c) Can afford to buy your own business and be able to employ a certain amuount of people (I think it`s 7, but I`m not too sure).

d) A Professional Person (Lawyer, Accountant etc etc)

e) any prospective employer must be able to prove that no american person can do the job that you are applyng for.


For further information, your best bet is to keep an eye open in the local and national newspapers for seminar thingys on emigration to other countries. Such events will be able to give out advice on getting green cards (or their equivilant for any other country), finding a job, finding somewhere to live, and physically moving yourself and your belongings to your chosen destination.

PS..... entry to the USA is VERY difficult. Don`t hold your breath about being able to move to the States at all, let alone by the time you are 20!!

c)

ok thanks! If you go to a university there does it help you more? My moms friends daughter goes to university there and she said she was going to tell me what she done to get in!

There`s nothing stopping anyone going to an American University to study..........as long as you can afford it.

I don`t think that student loans that students get here are available to you if you are studying abroad. Without a green card, I don`t think that you would be able to get a job to help pay for your university fees. Which means that you would have to be solely supported by your parents. However, your mum`s friend would be able to give you advice on whether being a student would allow you to work part time while you studied.

I never investiagted the student aspect of working out there. I was just investigating the possibility of my family and I emigrating to, and working in Florida.

Let us know what you find out with reference to studying, and funding studying from your source.

You should think carefully as we in the UK get a specific image of what life is like in te US.
Most of the television shows never show ordinary americans on ordinary wages which are compareably less than ours in the UK by the way and everything we take for granted here costs money over there. You also have to bear in mind that whilst the US supposedly has no class system people are treated and given status very much based on how much money they have. If you are not reasonably comfortable financially then then your life style will be poor and the type of people who will want to know you will also be.
Also many americans do not have a positive image of UK citizens and some can be down right xenaphobic.
America also has one the worlds largest prison population per capita and love nothing better than to lock up poor people.

So think long and hard about wanting to move there and how you would fit in and the kind of friends and lifestyle you would want, and most of all how your gonna pay for it.

Anyway if you still decide to go ahead best of luck, and there's a green card lottery that means you apply and if your one of the luck 50,000 winners they will give you a green card.

I think also if spend more than $280,000 on property in what they consider investment areas they will automatically give you a green card, but you'l have to check on which areas and the exact level may vary from place to place.

You now have the whole of Europe as your play ground, why on earth would a youngster want to leave it without first seeing it all.
The quality of life for all ages in Europe far surpasses that of the USA. Enjoy today whereever you are cos one day it won't be wishing you were 20 and could do something, you'll be looking forward to picking up your pensioner's bus pass at 60 and your life will have slipped by you whilst you were feeling sorry for yourself and dreaming the minutes away as the years rolled past you.
Find a job that lets you travel and then decide what and where you want to be. Be a little irresponsible before you have to become a parent and a full blown adult. Get a good education and make yourself marketable.
America doesn't want you or need you it has millions of dissatisfied dreamers of its own.

You don't need a green card to work in the US, just a working visa. To get a working visa, you need an employer who will sponsor you.

I suggest you take the student route, study in the US, then after college, look for an employer who can sponsor you for your green card. That's how most immigrants from India and China do it. Or, if you find a US citizen to marry, that's like the fastest way to a green card. Of course, it has to be a legitimate marriage.

The USA is a huge place and the attitude of people varies from place to place. Stick to the major metros in California, New York, Florida, that's where all the action is. There's a reason why these places have the highest immigrant populations. What chrisgorlitz said about the USA is all perception. Don't believe that one minute. Americans do not have a negative attitude towards Brits and are not out to lock up poor people.

A few questions:
Is it true that many americans refer to brits as "Limey's", and that certain english tv programs actually have subtitles in the US.
When was the Last time you saw a us movie with a brit as a good guy?
Now I'm not saying it's all like this but you got to think on.
And please tell me what the US prison population is and what percentage is from poor backgrouds?
What is life like for the millions us unemployed there or even the millions earning minimun wage?

Also please tell us what are the average property prices for New York, California and florida?
New York? Please! try well over a million dollars for a small New York apartment in a neighbourhood you'd actually wanna live.

Bye the way how much does health care cost again?

quote:

Originally posted by mocorro:
You don't need a green card to work in the US, just a working visa. To get a working visa, you need an employer who will sponsor you.

And that employer HAS to prove that no american citizen can do the job. Disney is able to employ large amounts of foreigners because it has places like Epcot where there are "countries" which are staffed by nationals of those "countries".

quote:

I suggest you take the student route, study in the US, then after college, look for an employer who can sponsor you for your green card. That's how most immigrants from India and China do it..

But we are not talking about Indians or Chinese. We are talking about Brits.

quote:

Or, if you find a US citizen to marry, that's like the fastest way to a green card. Of course, it has to be a legitimate marriage.

As I said in an earlier post, my American Pen Pal married a Canadian, and he couldn`t get a Green Card. Which meant he couldn`t stay in the country longer than 3 months before having to go back to Canada, where he had to wait another 3 months before entering the States again. He certainly was not allowed to work while he was in the US.

quote:

The USA is a huge place and the attitude of people varies from place to place. Stick to the major metros in California, New York, Florida, that's where all the action is. There's a reason why these places have the highest immigrant populations. What chrisgorlitz said about the USA is all perception. Don't believe that one minute. Americans do not have a negative attitude towards Brits and are not out to lock up poor people.

Unfortunatly, the US does not have a welfare state like the Uk has. Therefore people who are living below the breadline do not receive state handouts. So many turn to crime, and are caught. So yes, a LOT of poor people are in jail. They may not be jailed simply for being poor, but being poor has led to them commiting crimes, and it`s for those crimes that they are jailed.

quote:

Originally posted by Chrisgorlitz:
A few questions:
Is it true that many americans refer to brits as "Limey's", ?

Just as we refer to all americans as "yanks". Which is actually insulting those americans from the south.

Do you know where the nick name "limey" comes from? Because if you do, you`d realise that it`s not actually an insult.

quote:

and that certain english tv programs actually have subtitles in the US.?

Sometimes I wish that Icould have some Brit TV shows with subtitles. Especailly those based in Glasgow, and Newcastle where the accents are incredibly difficult to understand ( to a southerner like me). And I would imagine that those same people would have difficulty in understanding southern inner city accents.

I have seen an American documentary on Jamaica subtitled when a Jamaican woman was being interviewed. It was only reading the subtitles as she was speaking that I realised she was actually speaking english.

quote:

When was the Last time you saw a us movie with a brit as a good guy??

Lord of The Rings - Gandalf, Merry, and the other Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. The Dwarf. Orlando Bloom.

Star Wars 1, 2, 3, - Obi Wan Kenobi (probably more, but I don`t like the second three films, so Ive not watched them fully). Oh and Liam Neeson - although being Irish, I`m not sure he`d count as a Brit.

quote:

Now I'm not saying it's all like this but you got to think on.
And please tell me what the US prison population is and what percentage is from poor backgrouds? ?

Probably all the black inmates, which make up over three quarters of the prison population in the states (% was given in a doumentary I watched a couple of years ago)



What is life like for the millions us unemployed there or even the millions earning minimun wage??[/QUOTE]

Probably the same as the millions of unemployed or earning minimum wage in this country, or any other country in the world.

quote:

Also please tell us what are the average property prices for New York, California and florida?
New York? Please! try well over a million dollars for a small New York apartment in a neighbourhood you'd actually wanna live.?

Dunno about New York or California, but Florida has some huge properties (by Brit standards) for around 100K. And in other US States, the properties are bigger and cheaper.

quote:

Bye the way how much does health care cost again?

If the NHS continues as it is, then we are going to end up having to pay for health insurance. And it will be a lot more than the americans pay because we will be having to pay for the huge deficits that the NHS has racked up.

hey, fair enough maybe I've sterotyped a bit and you raise some valid points, florida is far more reasonably priced, the prison population is prodominently black, but they still treat the less well off like dirt in my opinion and the term 'limey' comes from the limes that used to be given to british sailors to pevent scurvy, however this has always been used as an insult.

Most tv shows portray us lifestyles as really good, but every marjor survey highlights the realities and I just wanted to show that it's not all a bed of roses over there unless you are rich.

Like I said earlier, America is a huge place. You can drive for a couple of miles from one place and all of a sudden, the attitude of people changes so much you'd think you're in a different country. Life in New York is very fast-paced, in Florida it's very slow and laid-back, in California it's moderate. If you live in Los Angeles, the Hollywood culture pervades. San Francisco people tend to be liberal and progressive. When you say America or Americans are like this, or like that, it's really very hard to make that kind of generalization.

I don't know where Chris got this idea that the poor in America are treated like dirt. First of all, America isn't known for being the land of opportunity for nothing. That's why thousands of illegal immigrants are crossing over from Mexico every year at the risk of dehydration and loss of life for the chance at a better life. If they were treated like dirt in America, they would probably prefer to stay in Mexico.

The US does have a welfare program for poor people but no free money doleouts unless you are a US citizen and only if you are over 65 years old. If you're under 65, what's the point of being in welfare? If you're healthy enough, you should get a job. As for healtcare, non-US citizens who are legal immigrants are eligible to get healthcare coverage from the state if one can prove that one's income does not exceed the requirements plus other requirements I don't know from the top of my head. This of course varies from state to state. Bottomline is, one shouldn't come to the US expecting to be in welfare.

Angelus.... Indians, Chinese, Brits, Africans, Aussies, etc. It doesn't matter. Employers don't care. As long as you have the right fit, there's no reason you can't get employed. Once you're employed, you then hire a lawyer and he'll take care of getting you that green card.

As for your American penpal's Canadian husband, it takes about a year to process one's conditional greencard through marriage. Unfortunately, that is the fastest it can get. Employer sponsored green cards can run up to 5 years. What your American penpal should have done is she should have petitioned her Canadian husband for a fiance visa. Having a fiance visa will allow him to stay in the US until he gets his greencard.

If you just feel like giving the good old U.S. a try, why don't you look into the Disney International Program, they accept youngsters about your age for a years work experience. One year of working in the heat and dealing with Americans day in day out might make you think twice about staying fulltime, but I hear its a great opportunity. It is only for a year though.

quote:

Originally posted by vacationvenue:
If you just feel like giving the good old U.S. a try, why don't you look into the Disney International Program, they accept youngsters about your age for a years work experience. One year of working in the heat and dealing with Americans day in day out might make you think twice about staying fulltime, but I hear its a great opportunity. It is only for a year though.

Equally, dealng with Brit holidaymakers can make you ashamed to be british.

quote:

Originally posted by vacationvenue:
If you just feel like giving the good old U.S. a try, why don't you look into the Disney International Program, they accept youngsters about your age for a years work experience. One year of working in the heat and dealing with Americans day in day out might make you think twice about staying fulltime, but I hear its a great opportunity. It is only for a year though.

ok i had a look at that and i think if i did go there i would be doing this

Summer Work Program:
Students in this program will work at the Walt Disney World® Resort on a J-1 training visa during their summer break from school. Participants must be enrolled in a college or university at the time of their application and must return to school for at least one term following this program. The Summer/Work Program is, at maximum, a 90-day program. Participants in this program will work in operational roles at the Walt Disney World® Resort in one of the Disney resort hotels or theme parks. Possible roles include: Quick Service Restaurant, Custodial, Merchandise, Operations, and Entertainment.

so basically i could aplpy to go there next year and stay on at my college for one more year!

I just found this website about The Green Card Lottery and there was this form to fill out to see if you were eligible to enter it, and it said people from the UK aren't!

if you have parents/grandparents for Ireland you can apply

i dont! Were all boring English people lol!