Moving to USA

thecelt

Has anyone here packed up and started new in the USA with a family? My wife and kids have us citizenship, which means I can apply for a visa. Just hoping to get feedback from anyone who might have left to start over!

I would love to move to the USA myself, what is required? Obviously a required skill, education/trade and money.

jme2010

Deleted User wrote: »

I would love to move to the USA myself, what is required? Obviously a required skill, education/trade and money.

There are a good few contributors to the forum that have moved there from Ireland and sounds like they made the right decision.

Go for it o.p You'll regret the chances you don't take.

él statutorio

I did it, what would you like to know?

él statutorio

él statutorio wrote: »

I did it, what would you like to know?

How did you go about it? What field of work are you in that got you there? Im wondering if there might be a possibility with my field of work.

él statutorio

él statutorio wrote: »

I did it, what would you like to know?

I read through your posts that you married an American girl? I am already married so that isn't an option for me :pac:

I am just wondering is it feasible to try move to America these days?

circular flexing

Deleted User wrote: »

I read through your posts that you married an American girl? I am already married so that isn't an option for me :pac:

I am just wondering is it feasible to try move to America these days?

It's always feasible to try.

By far the easiest way is to get a job with an American MNC in Ireland and then ask for a transfer after a year (L-1 visa).

There's also the possibility of being hired directly to work in the US but that's subject to a lottery, unless the position is in a non-profit or educational body. (H1-B visa). Note that this visa does not allow spouses to work (L-1 does though).

There's other visas around if you have exceptional talents (O-1) or have money to invest in a business (EB-2 or EB-5).

él statutorio

Moving to the US was never on my radar, I was never one of those people who had a desire to see America or do the J1 thing or any of that.

Even when I met my now wife, our plan was to remain in Ireland. We got married in the US in 2011, went back to Ireland where we were living, very quickly had our first child (a welcome surprise!) and to be honest we were happy out living in Dublin.

We discussed it and my wife realised that she wanted to give living in the US a shot. Our daughter was young enough at the time (2) that she wouldn't notice and we were both confident of getting work. I'm in I.T. she's an Accountant. In January of 2014 we applied for my green card (having been told that it would only take 3-4 months) with the intention of moving to the US in September.

Plan were made, notices were handed in etc. My wife was very excited and I guess I was very apprehensive. I was leaving a very good, nice safe pensionable job in Dublin and honestly that was terrifying to give up given that the Irish economy was still more or less in the toilet at the time. We made the move out, started jobs (despite my green card not getting sorted until November).

Workwise, for me it was a much much easier transition than I imagined, that made the move easier to handle. My wife surprisingly struggled with the move more than I did. We moved to her home town and we have her parents here but we both struggled to make friends.

It took some time and that first year was tough as neither one of us had much in the way of friends outside of each other. We had a few visitors from home that year which helped a lot. It was about 18 months in before we started to settle and build up our own network of friends. That was the hardest part. For anyone planning a move, that's the part you don't really think about. It's tough to break into a new social circle and you don't want to seem desperate either so you have to play a long game.

I'm over here for a bit over two years now and at this point we've added a second child to the mix and honestly we probably will stay put here. We're looking at buying a house later this year and that will tie us to here for the next 10-15 years at least.

Overall, the move was good for us. The lifestyle is better over here (at least for us) and we both enjoy it. Being so far from home is the hardest part but, we do have direct flights from LAX with Aer Lingus and Ethiopian. As my parents and grandparents get older it's comforting (to me at least) that I can be back home within 24 hours if (god forbid) there was a sudden death or family emergency.

él statutorio

Whoops

Fr Tod Umptious

Hi OP
Because America is so big there is no single narrative that describes the place.

It can vary greatly from place to place.

What is your life like in Ireland and what do you want it to be like in America ?

When picking a place to live in America first look at the big picture

What sort of a city is it ?

Does its have a big Irish population ?, it's much easier to break into a social circle of other Irish people and expand for there if that is what you wish.

What are the job options

What are the accommodation options, remember like in all places the most desirable places are the most expensive.

And depending on where you will live and work what will the commute be like ?

Then look at what the schools will be like in the area you live in, school quality varies greatly from town to town.

How close is it to Ireland, as the other poster said it's handy to be a direct flight away from Ireland in case you have to travel at short notice, it much handier for folks coming over too.

The one piece of advice I would give is to go for it, it's a great country and well worth a try.

Dave1442397

I came over when I was single, so not your situation. I have friends who were here for a few years and decided to move back to Ireland to start a family. That was fifteen years ago, and looking back, they say it was the biggest mistake of their lives. They really wish they had stayed here in the US, but now they have four kids in school, careers, etc.

Aprilmay

We moved in 2011 my husband and I with a 10 & 13 year old. It was a hard decision. We won the DV lottery. It was a hard decision to make.We don't regret it. It was hard on the kids at first but they adapt. We live in NC my husband kept his job with his Irish company so he had a job when we moved here. I'm a REALTOR totally fell into the line of work. There really are a lot of opportunities. We have met lots of Irish/English/Europeans who have started over in late 30s -40s with kids.I think if it's an option for you take it lots of people would love to have that option.

Roloken

Hi All, I am also thinking of moving the family to the US, probably NC, my husband and kids all have US citizenship. We are going to submit the I130 and I130a in the next few weeks, has anyone else done this? How long did it take?

Aprilmay

We moved to Charlotte NC 7 years ago on a green card. We got our citizenship this year. We haven’t looked back. It took 2 years for the green card process before we moved not sure how long it takes for a I130.

HDMI

Roloken wrote: »

Hi All, I am also thinking of moving the family to the US, probably NC, my husband and kids all have US citizenship. We are going to submit the I130 and I130a in the next few weeks, has anyone else done this? How long did it take?

My wife is from the US and we sent off our I-130 in March 2017 and got approved around the end of April 2018. We made the physical move 5 weeks ago to New Bern NC.

The longest part of the process we found was waiting for the case to be referred to the NVC, after you send off your initial I-130 you have nothing to do until it reaches the NVC and for me time seemed to drag. After your case reaches the NVC you become a bit more involved in the process and because your active it seems to go quicker.

Because your husband has been living in Ireland he will need to show intent to domicile and he will also need a financial co-sponsor for you unless he is transferring with his same job and his income is continuing.

Don't waste your money on lawyers do your own paperwork it's very straight forward, an invaluable resource was the visajourney website.