Emigrating to the United States

Rented Mule

I've been following this thread for four pages now. Let me throw in the opinion of an American who will turn 50 on Saturday (thinly veiled "It's my Birthday reply). I lived in Dublin through the naughties (Irish wife and Irish born children).

It's insanely expensive here. A Euro goes a hell of a lot farther than a dollar ever will.

1) Healthcare - you are young enough to where you can get away without having it for now. If you get sick/hurt, you're going to be paying it off for a very long time. My wife had an MRI last year and we were billed $15,000 for it. Thankfully, when they realized that we did in fact have insurance, it was a little over $1000.

2) Taxes on everything - I don't expect you to be purchasing any property when you arrive, but I have to throw this into the mix. My Real Estate taxes are $15,000 per year. That's on top of a mortgage. You never really own your home in the United States.

The new Trump Tax Giveaway will cost me over $4700 (that I previously would be refunded each year). This does not count the State Income taxes that I pay along the way as well.

VAT is much less in the States, but the cost/quality of the food is much different.

3) Petrol is cheap (thankfully) but I spend anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours per day in the car (round trip) for work. Public transportation is not an option for me to get to work everyday (I live in a Chicago suburb). I also pay @$80 per month in tolls along the motorway.

One advantage that I have (at my age) is that Car Insurance is reasonable. Depending on where you live (major cities) , your age and type of car, you'll probably be paying in the area of $2000 per year for full coverage.. Good luck finding a cheap place to park it in any cities though. That's an entirely different conversation.

4) Rent - this is all going to come down to living in a place that you can afford vs living in a place that you want to survive. There are plenty of very cheap rents, but the murder rate sort of changes my opinion on those places. You're looking in the are of @$1000 per month (not including utilities) for a one bedroom that is an average/safe neighborhood.

5) The Minimum wage is a slave wage in the US. The number of people working MULTIPLE jobs to try and make rent is insane.

This question keeps coming up and continues to be dismissed.

A) How do you plan on entering the US and staying?

What are your qualifications? What work can you do? What connections do you have in order to survive while getting started.

I'm not trying to turn you off to the idea of emigrating. It's just that it's not as rosy over here as you might imagine.

My family and I will be returning to Ireland in the next few years, because we've decided that it's what is right for us. I love it here and have friends and family, but we've realized that we can have a better life in Ireland (as we get older). We won't be returning to Dublin, but there's a whole lot more to Ireland than Dublin.

BorneTobyWilde

UK is just a short flight, I find it so hilarious when a person in Ireland can't get work so they end up in Australia, Canada, or the USA. It explains to me why they can't get a job, a bit slow.
You can get all the work you want in UK and still be home for Sunday dinner, if you wanted, GEEZ.

Wanderer78

BorneTobyWilde wrote:

UK is just a short flight, I find it so hilarious when a person in Ireland can't get work so they end up in Australia, Canada, or the USA. It explains to me why they can't get a job, a bit slow. You can get all the work you want in UK and still be home for Sunday dinner, if you wanted, GEEZ.

Maybe they want to go to those countries!

nungesser

Have you ever been to the States?
which state are you planning to go to which town or city?
I'm a yank and can tell you some of the most grumpy mean people you will ever run across in your life live there and you will encounter them on a daily basis

BorneTobyWilde

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Maybe they want to go to those countries!

For a trip yes, would someone willingly abandon family and friends just because they want to live in a country. If it's about work then UK will give anyone all the work they want. Why on earth would a plumber need to go to Australia to fix leaky tap.

Wanderer78

BorneTobyWilde wrote:

For a trip yes, would someone willingly abandon family and friends just because they want to live in a country. If it's about work then UK will give anyone all the work they want. Why on earth would a plumber need to go to Australia to fix leaky tap.

Yup, some would, and happy enough to do it, I actually know a plumber that was seriously thinking of doing it a few years ago, tis a lovely country, but I hear it's extremely expensive nowadays. I know plenty of Irish that went to the UK as well

Calhoun

mrhoppy wrote: »

LC finished last year jus sayin

The Irish have got such a casual outlook on life that they seem to have stopped expecting things to be done well, or in some cases, at all. Yes, the Irish are very relaxed. But they don’t excel at anything, or care about doing so. That’s more what I mean.

You just did your LC have you any other qualifications? If not then your no better than the Irish people you talk about.

I work with many foreign folk based in the US and most have a master's and they are finding it difficult to get permanent residence, not sure how you think you have a chance.

FurBabyMomma

So you did your Leaving Cert last year and dropped out of college this year? The way things sound it seems like you're dissatisfied with the choices you made and instead of taking accountability for how you should move forward, you make lazy, sweeping generalisations about the Irish population as a whole in order to deflect any responsibility away from yourself, and think moving to another country as an unskilled person will magically afford you more opportunities.

To make a lazy generalisation of my own, all I can think right now is, ugh, millennials ...

mrhoppy

Anita Blow wrote: »

Having lived in the States and spent a couple months in Canada I really can only say that your perspective of life abroad sounds like it's from someone who has never actually spent time abroad.
Ireland is a fantastic country which certainly has many faults like most other countries.

If you're to move, do it because you have a skillset and a career/life plan and reason for going.

I have been abroad, many times. In each case I have never wanted to return back home.

In what way is Ireland “fantastic”?

Wanderer78

mrhoppy wrote:

In what way is Ireland “fantastic�

Spend some time in developing countries and you ll soon realise, Ireland really isn't that bad

Rented Mule

OP - how much money do you currently have to start your new life in the USA?

mrhoppy

Rented Mule wrote: »

I've been following this thread for four pages now. Let me throw in the opinion of an American who will turn 50 on Saturday (thinly veiled "It's my Birthday reply). I lived in Dublin through the naughties (Irish wife and Irish born children).

It's insanely expensive here. A Euro goes a hell of a lot farther than a dollar ever will.

1) Healthcare - you are young enough to where you can get away without having it for now. If you get sick/hurt, you're going to be paying it off for a very long time. My wife had an MRI last year and we were billed $15,000 for it. Thankfully, when they realized that we did in fact have insurance, it was a little over $1000.

2) Taxes on everything - I don't expect you to be purchasing any property when you arrive, but I have to throw this into the mix. My Real Estate taxes are $15,000 per year. That's on top of a mortgage. You never really own your home in the United States.

The new Trump Tax Giveaway will cost me over $4700 (that I previously would be refunded each year). This does not count the State Income taxes that I pay along the way as well.

VAT is much less in the States, but the cost/quality of the food is much different.

3) Petrol is cheap (thankfully) but I spend anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours per day in the car (round trip) for work. Public transportation is not an option for me to get to work everyday (I live in a Chicago suburb). I also pay @$80 per month in tolls along the motorway.

One advantage that I have (at my age) is that Car Insurance is reasonable. Depending on where you live (major cities) , your age and type of car, you'll probably be paying in the area of $2000 per year for full coverage.. Good luck finding a cheap place to park it in any cities though. That's an entirely different conversation.

4) Rent - this is all going to come down to living in a place that you can afford vs living in a place that you want to survive. There are plenty of very cheap rents, but the murder rate sort of changes my opinion on those places. You're looking in the are of @$1000 per month (not including utilities) for a one bedroom that is an average/safe neighborhood.

5) The Minimum wage is a slave wage in the US. The number of people working MULTIPLE jobs to try and make rent is insane.

This question keeps coming up and continues to be dismissed.

A) How do you plan on entering the US and staying?

What are your qualifications? What work can you do? What connections do you have in order to survive while getting started.

I'm not trying to turn you off to the idea of emigrating. It's just that it's not as rosy over here as you might imagine.

My family and I will be returning to Ireland in the next few years, because we've decided that it's what is right for us. I love it here and have friends and family, but we've realized that we can have a better life in Ireland (as we get older). We won't be returning to Dublin, but there's a whole lot more to Ireland than Dublin.

1) this is the same healthcare system that has half a million people on hospital waiting lists and caused 18 women to die of cervical cancer after they we’re told they were clear, and several hundred others could be at risk.

2) housing/accommodation I would have to sort out in some way, but you never own your own home here either.

3) same situation here, and awful public transport here to match. No different

4) Dublin just became more expensive to live in than Abu Dhabi and Silicon Valley. There’s no merit for this whatsoever but there you go. No different here.

5) you can’t surivive on €10/hr here either.

All this stuff you’re mentioning is no different in Ireland, or at least very similar.

I addressed the how I will enter and stay in the US in a previous comment

I am unfortunately going to have to stay here while I finish education and work up enough to get there but another option is to try and get a J1 visa for my education. I have relatives in Boston who I know would be more than willing to help. Once that’s finished I can at least try to get an I-551 and be resident in the US for 5 years to become a citizen.

What is it about Ireland you like so much? I don’t get it.

mrhoppy

nungesser wrote: »

Have you ever been to the States?
which state are you planning to go to which town or city?
I'm a yank and can tell you some of the most grumpy mean people you will ever run across in your life live there and you will encounter them on a daily basis

In my experience those “grumpy mean people” are just as bad over here

nungesser

mrhoppy wrote: »

In my experience those “grumpy mean people” are just as bad over here

I'm not try to change your mind or anything just letting you know how it is, people here are polite they may not be overly nice but they are polite, not so much in America. Now there is plenty of nice people there as well, but on a whole you run across down right mean folks. The kind of people that will call you nasty names just cause you said hello to them or bumped into them while standing in line somewhere

If you don't like it in Ireland I get that. I think what the gang are trying to let you know is the states is not the big money tree its made out to be. It's a struggle to get by over there and easy to fall through the cracks. If you have friends and family there you'll have some support which is good a Boston winter with two feet of snow is quite different to a windy rainy Irish winter that's for sure

mrhoppy

nungesser wrote: »

I'm not try to change your mind or anything just letting you know how it is, people here are polite they may not be overly nice but they are polite, not so much in America. Now there is plenty of nice people there as well, but on a whole you run across down right mean folks. The kind of people that will call you nasty names just cause you said hello to them or bumped into them while standing in line somewhere

If you don't like it in Ireland I get that. I think what the gang are trying to let you know is the states is not the big money tree its made out to be. It's a struggle to get by over there and easy to fall through the cracks. If you have friends and family there you'll have some support which is good a Boston winter with two feet of snow is quite different to a windy rainy Irish winter that's for sure

Huh. In my experience I find Americans to be far more friendly, open to listening and helpful than Irish people ever were, but maybe that’s just me

nungesser

mrhoppy wrote: »

Huh. In my experience I find Americans to be far more friendly, open to listening and helpful than Irish people ever were, but maybe that’s just me

perhaps..
I think being someplace on holiday and actually living there can present some different realities.
There are plenty of opportunities everywhere and you can by all means do well in America as well as any where else. It's true that there may not be as many in Ireland in regards to some given careers. I can see how you would have a larger choice in the states. I have certainly found it challenging working here that's for sure.

the14thwarrior

dear op
do us all a favour and go.
just go and don't come back.
you are getting boring at this stage.


I hope you move to Chicago or New York and get a flat in the middle of winter. on a highway. and backchat to a state trooper while you are at it.
good luck with getting a drink before the age of 21 but try anyhow
find an apartment with at least one crazy neighbour and see how well furnished apartments come . lol.
work in a job and look for decent holidays
please please get sick and don't have insurance, or decent insurance. try it
work hard and get loads of money because thats what its about? idiot

please stay over there, and you get to make an impact on the global stage . if thats what you believe who are we to say otherwise.
god just go

Rented Mule

mrhoppy wrote: »

1) this is the same healthcare system that has half a million people on hospital waiting lists and caused 18 women to die of cervical cancer after they we’re told they were clear, and several hundred others could be at risk.

2) housing/accommodation I would have to sort out in some way, but you never own your own home here either.

3) same situation here, and awful public transport here to match. No different

4) Dublin just became more expensive to live in than Abu Dhabi and Silicon Valley. There’s no merit for this whatsoever but there you go. No different here.

5) you can’t surivive on €10/hr here either.

All this stuff you’re mentioning is no different in Ireland, or at least very similar.

I addressed the how I will enter and stay in the US in a previous comment

I am unfortunately going to have to stay here while I finish education and work up enough to get there but another option is to try and get a J1 visa for my education. I have relatives in Boston who I know would be more than willing to help. Once that’s finished I can at least try to get an I-551 and be resident in the US for 5 years to become a citizen.

What is it about Ireland you like so much? I don’t get it.

1) My mother was killed in American hospital and they spent years trying to cover it up. Hits a little closer to home than reading about it in the paper.

2) what you pay in Real Estate tax is a pittance compared to what you would pay in most of the US.

3) Public transportation in Dublin is SO much better than what we have here. I'm not kidding. With the exception of not having a train that goes to the airport (WTF?), I could not believe that the Dubs complained so much about it.

4) €10 per hour goes a hell of a lot further than $8.25. You're young. You have no overhead. Save every cent that you can now while you can.

I'm glad that you're going to go back and further your education. You can do it in Ireland without being $250k in debt when you get out. That's a debt that you either pay off or take to your grave with you in the US.

OK - you have family in Boston. That is a huge help and advantage moving forward. At least you'd have a roof over your head and food in your belly while you figured it out.

What is it that I like about Ireland? Well, it certainly not the weather.

I'm obviously much older than you. Hell, my step-son is older than you. I may be foreign to Ireland, but Ireland has never been foreign to me. I am another American with Irish grannies. We were brought over to Ireland in the 70s and 80s to see family (you should have seen the state of the place back then).

I've watched Ireland grow from a Third World nation to what it is today. The benefits of joining the EU can never be understated (yes, and the drawbacks due to political spinelessness cannot be overlooked).

I understand what forced emigration has done to Ireland and appreciate what Immigration has done for it. I've made friends from all over the world while living and working in Ireland. Something that I didn't really get to do while growing up on the Southside of Chicago (It was incredibly segregated and homogenized). Hell, it still is. The murder rate is down a bit too (just a bit).

I've worked in IT for different multinationals for years. The ability to find work in Ireland in my field is rather easy. While. I'm not a fan of the cost of living in Dublin, there is enough work outside of Dublin in my field.

I love the people, the culture, the landscape, being one RyanAir flight away from the Continent and everything that goes with that.

(I used to love listening to drunken friends sing Rebel Songs on a Friday night and pull on an EPL kit on a Saturday morning - and never get the irony).

I love 28 paid holidays per year.

My children will be able to go to University and not be crippled in debt when they graduate. They have dual American/EU citizenship. They can choose to stay or go where ever they like when they finish.

Ireland has it flaws, but there is the chance/ability to work to change them. I cannot begin to tell you how much my country has changed in my lifetime and not for the better. The lunatics are truly running the asylum.

You don't have to feel the same way I do. You have your entire life ahead of you. If you feel that Ireland isn't for you, then only you can make that choice.

I will say this. When you do finish with University, take a year and travel the world and see everything that you can. The education that goes along with that is priceless. You never know where you might end up.

Ireland isn't the worst place in the World. It has a lot to offer. Use it for everything that you can while you're still here.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Anita Blow

mrhoppy wrote: »

I have been abroad, many times. In each case I have never wanted to return back home.

In what way is Ireland “fantastic”?

I mean I'm not going to spell out all the different ways Ireland is a good country. You perceive it not to be but that doesn't make it fact. If it's not right for you then that's alright. You speak of Ireland on the global stage- the Good Country Index is a measure which ranks countries by their global contribution in several different areas. Ireland measures 7th (and in 2014 measured 1st) overall. We still measure 1st in our global contribution to prosperity and equality.

We have lower personal tax rate than the US despite significantly greater public spending and more comprehensive social services.

In terms of Income inequality we have a GINI of 0.3 which places us among the top.


Our growth in disposable income is twice that of the US and 9th in the OECD


We have among the lowest infant mortality rates in the world


We rank 6th for the quality of our Diabetes care


We rank 11th in the OECD for our coronary care (which the OECD uses as a wider measure of the quality of the acute medical system as a whole)

mrhoppy wrote: »

4) Dublin just became more expensive to live in than Abu Dhabi and Silicon Valley. There’s no merit for this whatsoever but there you go. No different here.

Dublin is not more expensive than Silicon Valley or Abu Dhabi. We jumped into the top 100 because the Euro strengthened against the Dollar. See here-
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/calm-down-silicon-valley-is-far-more-expensive-than-dublin-1.3529416

Jamsiek

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

UK is just a short flight, I find it so hilarious when a person in Ireland can't get work so they end up in Australia, Canada, or the USA. It explains to me why they can't get a job, a bit slow.
You can get all the work you want in UK and still be home for Sunday dinner, if you wanted, GEEZ.

Judgmental much?
Maybe he just doesn't want to work in the UK and wants to get experience further afield.
Why are on the US forum if you're knocking people for going there?

Jamsiek

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

For a trip yes, would someone willingly abandon family and friends just because they want to live in a country

Yes many do, and find many more friends in the places they move to.

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

If it's about work then UK will give anyone all the work they want.

I wouldn't bet on that. The UK has a lot of uncertain times ahead especially with brexit. It wasn't long ago that it was in a recession too.

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Why on earth would a plumber need to go to Australia to fix leaky tap.

He/she might not "need" to go but could want to go.

Not everyone thinks the way you do. Live and let live.

KevinCavan

What American cities have you visited OP? These American friends you speak of, can you tell us why they are here in Ireland?

the_syco

mrhoppy wrote: »

LC finished last year jus sayin

So you have no qualifications? LC doesn't count as a qualification. It counts as finishing school. There's a few million people currently in the USA with just that.

J Mysterio

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

UK is just a short flight, I find it so hilarious when a person in Ireland can't get work so they end up in Australia, Canada, or the USA. It explains to me why they can't get a job, a bit slow.
You can get all the work you want in UK and still be home for Sunday dinner, if you wanted, GEEZ.

Not anymore. The UK is going off the proverbial cliff edge. Ireland is actually going well. It's Dublin-centric unfortunately, but there are jobs available.

This kid is clearly depressed and is talking shıt. As he has already dropped out of college - bad move - he can't do a J1, but I'd recommend travelling anyway to give some perspective (and hopefully sort out his rotten attitude).

mrhoppy

KevinCavan wrote: »

What American cities have you visited OP? These American friends you speak of, can you tell us why they are here in Ireland?

I was in Salt Lake City, Columbus, Milwaukee and Orlando. They never came here, nor do they wish to. One is going into the US navy.

someyoke

OP does dropping out of your college course not automatically scupper chances of a j1 and any viable long term visa (green card)?

mrhoppy

someyoke wrote: »

OP does dropping out of your college course not automatically scupper chances of a j1 and any viable long term visa (green card)?

My plan is to re-enroll in a different one and go on a J1 when available

Fr Tod Umptious

Whether Ireland or the US is a better place to live is totally subjective.

I lived in the US and found the city I lived in far less expensive than the Dublin I left.

When you are young and single, when you don't have to worry too much about healthcare, home ownership, college fund for kids etc etc, then the US can be great, but as the above become more important to you then Ireland may be more attractive.

TheAbstracter

Anita Blow wrote: »

We have lower personal tax rate than the US despite significantly greater public spending and more comprehensive social services.

That chart shows taxation as a percentage of GDP/total taxation, not the personal tax rate.

J.pilkington

mrhoppy wrote: »

My plan is to re-enroll in a different one and go on a J1 when available

I don’t see you being capable / motivated at following through on plans.

You will be back here complaining in a few months no further down the road than you are now.