Brit wanting to move to Los Angeles (Chester, London: fit in, crimes)

[Hank_Hill]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could offer me some advice?

I am 24 M, I have a degree in Business and Economics as well as Law qualifications (altho I am not a qualified Attorney at present - I work in a paralegal role; I might be UK Qualified in a couple of years) and really want to move to California, LA in particular for complete change of lifestyle. Having visited America I feel the UK lifestyle isnt for me anymore.

I have friends who are interested in making the move too, which is great if all goes ahead

I just don't know where to start, how to find out the immigration requirements, find a suitable job, if any of my skills, qualifications and experience will be of value, place to live etc. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Also how welcoming is Los Angeles/California to British people who have relocated? my experience meeting and interacting with Americans as been brilliant so far, friendly, open and chatty - like myself.

[Cyanna]

Hi Hank. I'm a native of California currently living in Newcastle upon Tyne with my British hubby. We are now in the process of immigrating back to California. The first place to start is the American Embassy in London:

Visa Services U.S. Embassy London

This will help you decide which type of Visa you would like to apply for to live in the USA.

California is very welcoming to British people and your accent could be a great benefit in a number of professions. A very upper class Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona wanted to hire my husband because his accent would give an added touch of class to the place, LOL!

[Hank_Hill]

Thanks Cyanna,

That's funny about your husband's accent, I hope that mine could be used to an advantage somehow!

[Cyanna]

I'm sure your accent will help you out. My husband is a Geordie and it helped him! LOL! Which part of the UK are you from? Cockney and Geordie are the most easily understood by Americans, but if you are a Brummie or from Manchester or Yorkshire you might need to practice some propa' BBC English first However, no matter which regional dialect you have the women and gay men will love it. I'm preparing for battling off the women when I take hubby to the beach, LOL!

[Hank_Hill]

Hahaha Im from Chester but live/work in Manchester; I have no regional accent at all so I should be fine!

[CESpeed]

There are other places to live in the US besides LA that offer a completely different lifestyle than England. There's a website called Find Your Spot.com. I have several British friends who moved to LA and decided to move to other parts of the country or flat out returned to England.

Why do you want to leave England? I've always considered it to be the place I wanted to live if I decided I couldn't stand American crap anymore. And why you do you LA will be better than England?

[FloridaandOhio]

When I was in the military and stationed in the U.K. I made a ton of British friends. Occasionally we would get in conversations about where they'd like to live in the U.S.... 99% would choose NYC or LA. And the other 1% would choose some off the wall place you'd never expect like Iowa or Kansas.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by CESpeed

Why do you want to leave England? I've always considered it to be the place I wanted to live if I decided I couldn't stand American crap anymore. And why you do you LA will be better than England?

Hmmmm...how many times have you visited the UK? The best way for an American to get the full flavor of British society is to live here for at least a year. I think after a year you would be more than happy to go back to dealing with "American crap." The UK pays some of the highest taxes in the world, not to mention that the cost of nearly everything is double what you would pay in the USA or Europe. Don't make the silly mistake of assuming that British criminals and youths are "soft" and quaint. Some of the crimes being committed in this country every day would make the Crips and the Bloods cringe.

Hank, for the record, a lot of Americans have the misconception that England and the UK are full of oh so polite and civilized people Me thinks they have been watching too many "Catherine Cookson" or "All Animals Great & Small" videosr. What a shock they get when they step out onto a London (or any British) street and realize that women no longer traipse through the fields wearing crinolines and the men don't go around wearing Tweed and a cap

[Hank_Hill]

Thanks for your comments. I do think its great the Anglo-American bond is strong.

Its not that I think LA/California will be much better than the UK, it is more that it will be different/something new and exciting. I imagine both have pros and cons.

To be honest I am just bored with the UK, I've reached a point in my life that if i dont move within the next few years I never will. I just feel that its a big wide world out there and you have to sometimes follow theses feelings up. Ive visted America and really enjoyed the culture and differences from the UK that come with it. It is simply something I have been considering for a couple of years now.

I personally am attracted to LA because of the music scene/history of the city. I plan to visit LA next summer to get a better feel before making any final decision.

Also, due to the nature of my career path the only two states I could move to, if I wished to continue in law (without having to go to a US law school), are California or New York (UK Qualified Attorney + Bar exam), obviously thats a big issue to iron out, failing that I could quite happily have a change of career..its not exactly exciting!

[Hank_Hill]

I agree Cyanna,

That is a major problem in Britian, which I am sure it is in the USA too, there is a widening gap between the middle classes and the very poor. Its causing allsorts of problems esp with knives at the moment. I find a chunk of the British public to be rude and generally quite rough, not what Britian is portrayed like in the global media! Dont get me wrong some parts of Britian is really nice and friendly but its a long way from the cup of tea and scone image that us brits have (altho I do drink tea - ha).

Yep Tax here is awful we get taxed on absolutely everything! I am sure the Labour Government would tax air consumption if it could be quantified.