British families that have moved to Florida (Orlando, Kissimmee: attorney, health insurance)

[Jon D]

Hi all,

We are just about to get the ball rolling with the visa process after 2 years waiting and researching. I would love to hear from any British families that have made the move with children. We are looking around the Lake Mary area and have 3 boys aged 15, 11 and 7. In particular life style related, such as how you settled in, being away from family and friends, cultures, making a living, fitting in etc etc.
Thank you in advance
Jon

[cfIfan]

Well i moved here by myself and met my wife here. All my family are back in the UK, i would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have. In short, do i miss the UK? No. Do i miss my family and friends? No most of them visit regulalry as its a free holiday for them in the sun and my parents visit alot aswell.

Would i recommend the move to others? absolutly, but one thing i would say especially on these forums is beware of the negativity. Everybody realizes no-where is perfect. However, some people post really negative threads and posts which are completely inaccurate and biased.

With regards to Lake Mary, if you have a business or work there, then some areas there are good. Otherwise for me, its too far north of Orlando and quite a bit out of the way unless you have a specific reason for being there.

Good luck

[diddy02]

Hi Jon,
Firstly what visa are you applying for? This will make a difference with kids as an E2 will mean your children will age out at 21. This means that they will have to return to the UK. Please think very carefully if you are thinking of using this visa with children of any age.
What business are you thinking of ? Have you ever run a business before? Most Brits buy some kind of business revolving round the tourist industry. Management Co's , Pool / lawn care. Think about it carefully. Have you ever done a physically demanding job in extreme temperatures. Its not easy and the pay is c**p.
My advise is rent for a year and keep your house in the UK. Bring over a sum of money and give yourself a year to see if you make any money. You will be surprised how expensive it can be here in Florida to live when you are earning in dollars.lThis is what we did.
Join some forums expatsvoice.org or britishexpats.com is a very good one for information on visas etc.
What kind of lifestyle do you imagine? Florida is the same as anywhere if you are running away from something.
Florida is a boom or bust state. If you have the money you can have a great life here. Personally I would not want to live here if I was scraping a living.
Good luck but please be careful there are alot of people here who will willing sell you a dream

[cfIfan]

Im curious diddy, what you meant by renting out here first and see how you like it. I assume you mean buy a business so they then can go ahead and apply for an E2 and try it out, because if they dont have the visa to begin with, then they cant work. I hope your last cheeky remark wasnt aimed at me...;-) my point is that there are alot of people who give extremely biased views, and alot of them are americans who seem to think living in the UK is fantastic, have never been there, and have nothing to compare it to. My point is, if you do your homework, and the 2 situations match, you can have a great life here.

[diddy02]

No the remarks were not aimed at you. I do not know you therefore cannot comment on you! But being a realtor I am sure you have met the kind of people I am taking about or at least heard about them.
What I meant is for them not to purchase a home here until there are sure they will like it and indeed where they want to live. In this market it is just not necessary to make a rash decision and ending up regretting an expensive purchase.
I agree life here can be great but I have a US and UK passport and you I presume have a greencard. Slightly different for us than those struggling on
E2 visas. We also have an established business and were used to running a business in the UK.
The problem is people dont do their homework, they come here on holiday and presume life living here will be like that. Getting up for work on a Monday is the same here as in the UK. It still sucks! We do have sunshine yes, but we do not get 4 weeks holiday a year min either to enjoy it.
Also when people come here on holiday they compare prices to the UK, halving everything they see. The cost of living comes as a shock to everyone.
I am not negative about Florida far from it, we enjoy it but I have many friends who regret the move. Many of those with children on E2 visa who did not have the choices a greencard gives us.

[cfIfan]

You are right, the sunshine doesnt make everything automatically better, but it does help. I perhaps should give you a little bit of background on myself really. I had a business in the UK which was doing well, i had always wanted to live here, owned property here, and decided to set up the same business i had in the UK up here. This allowed me to get an L1 visa. After having been here a couple of years i met my wife and married and now have a green card. To be honest, i have never worked for another company, so i am not used to the 4 weeks paid vacation. I work hard and play hard. I take what ever time off i like, but i also work late most of the time. I am also a realtor which i do on the side and have done so for a couple of years now. If you are motivated, and know what you want to do, it is very easy to get into the mindset to do it, and you can achieve alot. These people who say its difficult to get this visa or that visa. If you want to do it and are motivated, then it is easy. For alot of people who want to buy a business or start one up and have never done so before, should realie that is the hardent part, actually doing the work. It is hard work and tiring and you cant think of the 9-5 scenario where you go home at 5 and you get your 4 weeks paid vacation a year. It doesnt happen like that. After a number of years now, i am fortunate that i can take it easy. I am only 30, but if i wanted to retire, i could, i would have to be careful with money, but i could. Will i? no way because im addicted to it. And you have to be that type of personality to go for it. It wont be handed to you on a plate, but if you have the drive, then absolutly. I wouldnt change anything in the world for my experience. I like the majority love living here. It is different to being here on vacation, and thats why i advice the customers i have to take all their vacation at once and come out for 4 weeks, dont do Disney or anything like that, and dont stany in those areas, and it gives you a good idea of what life is like.

This lifestyle isnt suitable for everyone, yoru right, but they can only determine that themselves.

And yes as a realtor you hear alot of nonsense. I do have a bar in Kissimmee for sale at the moment which would enable someone to get a visa. But what people dont realize is it is hard work. You dont stand at the end of the bar drinking all night enjoying living in Florida. Its an early rise and a late to bed to make sure everything runs well and you make the most money out of it as possible. Yes it is a great lifestyle here, but you only get to play hard if you work hard.

[tonrob]

Originally Posted by cfIfan

These people who say its difficult to get this visa or that visa. If you want to do it and are motivated, then it is easy. For alot of people who want to buy a business or start one up and have never done so before, should realie that is the hardent part, actually doing the work.

Sorry to snip so much of your post, and that I haven't misquoted you in the process. I wanted to challenge your position though of all that is required is simply hard work. I think it's a lot more than that. Business acumen, in addition to large amount of capital, is required in addition to all the hard work - and this is no small thing.

I forget the actual statistic, but something like 7 out of 10 new business start-ups in the UK fail within their first year. These are British people setting up businesses typically in their own locale, in an area whose culture they understand and in a market that they have a reasonable chance of knowing already.

When you add in the complexities of moving to an entirely new country, strange laws and regulations to understand, new cultural norms to learn and with a family to support then all of this means that you need a whole lot more than a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard in order to succeed.

[diddy02]

I am glad you have been so sucessful but lets not forget this is not about us its about the guy who posted asking for information.
He has a young family and I just wanted to point out the negatives as well as the positives. Visas ARE hard to get, they generally cost quite alot of money and many people buy businesses that are not all they claim to be.
With a young family who he obviously wants to spend time with a new business is going to keep him away. His wife will be in a new country with no friends and by herself. This is the reality of starting a new business in a strange country. As you said throw 9-5 out of the window it will not happen.

[cfIfan]

You are both absolutly right, it is hard work. But what i am saying is that for the average joe who wants to come out here, they realize it is going to be hard work, and if they are motivated to come out here then it makes it alot easier than for someone who comes out here thinking it is all peaches and cream and very easy. The original poster, who i have spoken to privately is under no illusion how difficult it is, but the fact that they are asking these questions about Health Insurance shows that they have done the research and are looking for answers from people like us who have done it on the costs we incurred for these things. He is well aware of the Visa situation, but you should also understand, that yes it is a big move, which is why when you look at the questions they are asking, they have done the research. I have seen some threads of couples who have just woken up one day and decided to come here, and have no idea you have to have a business which meets the visa requirements, or close family who are citizens who have no idea and havent done any research. And you generally find because moving your whole family over here this far away from the UK, more people do research it far greater because it is a big move.

The point i am making is if you have decided to make this move and are motivated, that is a big hurdle gone, because you will do whatever it takes within you power to accomplish this and wont stop at the first sign of defeat. Whilst this may not be the best thing for them because of the health issue and i have agreed with this, The visa issue i dont agree is as difficult as alot of people say, simply because, when i went about it, and i was in a similar position to everyone else, i didnt try to do it myself and shoot myself in the foot, i hired an excellent attorney here in the USA to navigate this area, and made some smart decisions along the way. But ultimately ,the realization that it isnt easy and will require alot of work to be successful.

I agree with needing to speak to specialists about visa's but i wouldnt do it in the UK because there are alot of fakes and someone posted a good thread on that here. I would use an attorney, here in the US.

As to the comment about 7 out of 10 business's failing in the UK. Your right, but also consider, if someone isnt prepared to start a business in the UK, what makes them think it is any easier in the USA. I come across this alot, but to own your own business you have to be a type A personality. You have to be a leader, not a follower and you need to be a go getter. In many cases people who just sit to the side in life wouldnt even consider a move like this, and thats why they are suited to working for others. This all feeds into the being motivated and succeeding. Im not saying it isnt hard because it is, but what i am saying is painting a scenario of doom and gloom isnt correct either, because alot of people have done it and succeeded and alot of people will continue to do it

[tonrob]

Originally Posted by cfIfan

You are both absolutly right, it is hard work.

That was your argument, not mine. I said that it was the business acumen that was required, in addition to a lot of capital. Anyone can work hard if they want to - that isn't the issue.

Originally Posted by cfIfan

The point i am making is if you have decided to make this move and are motivated, that is a big hurdle gone, because you will do whatever it takes within you power to accomplish this and wont stop at the first sign of defeat.

If they do their research in the right order - and many who post here don't - then the barrier to obtaining a visa would usually be the first sign of defeat, and it is a biggie.

Originally Posted by cfIfan

The visa issue i dont agree is as difficult as alot of people say, simply because, when i went about it, and i was in a similar position to everyone else, i didnt try to do it myself and shoot myself in the foot, i hired an excellent attorney here in the USA to navigate this area,

You can't base your advice to strangers simply on your own experience, or even the experience of those who you know who already made it. By definition, you are the successful ones - and not the ones who found they simply couldn't come. And as someone who came under an L1 based on their own business in the UK, you are rarer still.

My best advice to any potential newcomer would be to spend some time browsing the Visa section on britishexpats.com - there is a lot of discussion there about what it takes from a visa perspective now , and then come to this forum to discuss the nice details about where to live and what life is like in general and all the other local info you want to know.

I know you've called people on the fact that their posts are "negative", and to be honest they probably find yours overly-optimistic. I think that both kinds are essential in order to provide a good mix of feedback to those who ask questions. I do wish, however, that people would stick to providing feedback on issues about which they possess current knowledge.