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Moving to San Francisco

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  • 27-06-2012 2:41pm
    #1
    cormach
    Registered Users Posts: 9 ✭


    Hi All,

    My girlfriend & I are planning to relocate to San Francisco next year and we would really appreciate any advice or tips.
    My GF is a US citizen and I am wondering how I can get citizenship? She was born in the US and her Irish family moved back home from San Fran when she was four. We do plan to get married in the next few years but are not that keen on having to get married within 30 days of entering US. We both have level 9 qualifications and wonder is there a skilled migrant visa like oz? I will be 31 and my GF will be 25.

    For my salary I am looking at around the €85K mark, the cost of living seems high so I guess that’s not considered a very high salary?
    The San Fran % unemployment seems to be dropping form a 2009 -2011 high so that seems good..

    We are thinking of buying a house if all works out and from looking online we think it would cost approx €600k for a nice three bed house in a decent area? I know it will depend on area. The house etc but we would appreciate any feedback on what we might face.

    Thanks,


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    #2
    silja
    Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭silja


    Not sure on the SF specific questions, but visas are difficult to get (for you). What qualifications do you hold specifically, and what experience do you have? Your best options are to either get a H1B work visa if you are highly skilled, a F1 student visa (cannot work on that, and college fees in the US are expensive) if you wish to further your education, or bring your wedding plans forward. If you wish to immigrate via your girlfriend, you can either get married now, then she applies for a CR-1 spousal visa (cheaper, and leads to an immediate greencard upon entry, so you can work, travel etc immediately) or a K1 fiance visa (more expensive, cannot work for up to 6 months after entering the USA, must get married within 90 days of entering the US).


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    #3
    InTheTrees
    Registered Users Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    The dollar has been weak against the euro for years. You will find things in the US very cheap. Which means I'm afraid you have it back to front and 85k euros translates into almost $110,000, which is high upper average(?).

    What is it that you do? The basic rule (before the recession) was a month of job hunting for every $10k of salary required but thats obviously a lot harder now.

    And yes, three quarters of a million dollars should get you somewhere nice to live, although maybe not much of a house in San Fransisco. A nice apartment anyway. www.zillow.com


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    #4
    InTheTrees
    Registered Users Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    Your best bet on visas is to get married right away.

    That's the easiest and simplest way.

    Otherwise you'd have to find a job, and then convince your employer to apply for a visa for you which is quite a hassle for them so you'd need to be skilled in an area thats in short supply in the USA.

    An experienced programmer looking in the Bay Area most likely could do it, although thats the South bay and you wouldnt want to commute there from SF. there's nice areas to live down there though.


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