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I think if you want to consider the NY area, there are some 'burbs that aren't too horrendous a commute and have transportation to the city. Rockland County NY and Bergen County NJ are two places that come to mind. They both have express buses into the city. Westchester might also be good. Long Island is expensive and crowded. (around here, when we say 'the city' we mean Manhattan)
NY: better and more diverse job opportunities... certainly wall street is the place to go. Taxes and cost of living are higher here. It is more congested, but then you also have more cultural things - more sports, museums, concerts, opera, shows etc. You can find a house in the burbs with some greenery around it, but not as easily as in Colorado. The atmosphere is more humid here - so winters and summers seem more extreme in how they 'feel', but Colorado has some crazy weather sometimes.
Colorado: lower cost of living and taxes, less congested. Much more outdoorsy stuff to do - hiking, skiing, hunting etc. Probably less diversity than NY. Much more beautiful scenery (for NY scenery to be beautiful you have to drive a bit) Weather can be crazy - they can have very early and very late season blizzards. Much less 'cultural' things to do - yes they do have concerts and museums but nowhere near the level of London and NY. Also, Denver is very high altitude and your body will need to adjust to the altitude and you will have to learn how to prepare foods with high altitude recipes.
Philadelphia might be an area you might want to consider too... both the NJ and Pennsylvania side of Philly have many lovely suburbs, lots of farms, lots of greenery, and philadelphia has more culture and activities than Denver. The climate is also a bit less extreme than NY (NY can get REALLY muggy in the summers and REALLY cold in the winters) I don't know what job opportunities would exist for your husband.
Just for fun, I looked to see if the Texas Bar Association has a reciprocity agreement with New York, so your husband wouldn't have to take the bar. They don't, BUT they would allow him to apply to be exempt from taking the bar if he's practiced law in another state for at least 5 of the last seven years. Here's the link:
Even though I am a democrat, and love California, I have always loved Texas. I've made great friends with Texans who are very staunch republicans. The culture is very live and let live, and they will always take time out for a barbecue with friends. If I ever move to another state again, it will be Texas - even though I don't like humidity. I just love the culture there.
I don't recommend CA just because of the cost of living and population density anywhere with a decent job for your husband. In other words, to get to the great outdoors, you would be stuck in traffic. Gack.
Thanks for the interesting feedback but you are very mistaken - we are British and thus there is no reason we would know about the US situation - hence the nickname 'BritishEscapee' - sadly, can't help where one is born but we are looking for a more meritocratic society - sadly there will always be twerps everywhere, of course, that is clear, but I would have hoped that you like other kinder respondents would be pleased we think of your country as a good bet for a better future for our son especially.
Importantly, we are not looking for jobs through this site in the slightest (!) and not sure where you got that idea from. My husband works for a UK top 100 firm, is just below board level and is not just a qualified lawyer in the UK but also has the NY bar and many many financial qualifications - just a few rude assumptions you make which are totally wrong. We're not in the slightest trying to 'hide' but tired of boring people who think the size of their car or house is any indication of the size of their wit or interest.
Rather I'm casually looking for tips on areas - though clearly before we move we would do some harder research.
Interestingly there have been wonderful and generous replies on the New Jersey forum and some lovely ones on here, but some very odd aggressive and disparaging responses on here this particular forum, so I'll probably not bother continuing to check this one out - sorry (and thanks) to all those nice respondents though - your generous contributions have been wonderful, but I just can't bear the nasties!
Well, we took a poll, and, sorry....but no.....
(Just kidding).
Seriously, there are just parts of your story which don't make any sense. I guess I am always looking for the holes in peoples presentation. Just my nature, for which I apologize. But you say you don't have any vacation time left, but then you say vacations are too expensive and travel to the US to sort out your career and life is unaffordable.. So you did use your vacation time and burned up some money? Then you say the hubby is very well qualified, but you can't afford more than a $500,000 house? Then you say hubby loves the folks in his firm who work in New York , but don't seem to want to make a transfer to New York without considering Colorado, Texas, and wherever?
It just all seems odd to me. Can't afford $10,000 to come look around. Senior Exec but can't afford anything more than a starter home in the NY area. Don't have any rapport in the current firm so that they will transfer you. (People talk in the industry (Wall Street is a tiny place, worldwide), you know. We NY'ers are going to want to know why your current colleagues (our friends) didn't want to work with you in NY, and that is going to make it very difficult to find a senior job in the US)
Let me give you some advice.....it's free, so you can disregard it if you like.
America is not the panacea which you somehow perceive it to be. New York is especially a rough town. If you think they stab you in the back in London and surrounds, well, in New York they do it to your face. And you usually are so excited you don't know it is even happening until everyone else is a partner and you are still a Vice President. Especially in finance, we play for keeps. Big keeps.
The best way for you to relocate to America, where you have to have a job or a sponsor to get in, is to transfer with the existing company. It is not like you move to Houston and then say I want to work for Goldman Sachs. You work for Goldman Sachs and then, as part of your move up the ladder, you engineer a move to Houston. Why don't you set the wheels in motion with your existing firm? I sense there is a problem there.
My best advice to you is to find employment and then the living decision is made for you. Trying to do it the other way around in the middle of an economic recession is not a very easy task to accomplish. You might find that however uncomfortable your current community is, try thinking about living in it without a job. That is pretty distasteful.
We're celebrating independence from you lot tomorrow. Sorry if we are pretty careful about who we let in...especially from England. (Just kidding--and i'm generally known as a pretty friendly and outgoing Wall Street guy ; - ) Not everyone you and your hubby meet here will be so accommodating).
BritishEscape, if you and your husband are British, did you check the Immigration requirements prior to searching for jobs here? I am an immigrant myself, and for all I know, the only way your husband can legally be hired here is if his immigration work visa request is sponsored by his employer.
In other words, your husband cannot just move here and look for a job. If a company here wants your husband, they will request the immigration visa for him, and as part of this process, your visa and you child's would be processed as well.
After your family's legal immigration process is sorted out, as soon as you get your visa, then you should immediately apply to get you SSN (Social Security Number), as this document is absolutely necessary to obtain drivers license, open bank accounts, obtain a mortgage, etc.
If you want more information, I suggest you post your situation on the Legal Immigration forum, there are many posters there with knowledge of the US Immigration laws and they can help you. Good luck!
I concur. From the information given, the likely visas would be either an H1B or an L1. OP's husband would need to find a job with an employer willing to pay the $$$ for the H1B. On this visa the spouse gets the H4, but would be ineligible to work. The other route is a transfer though his existing company (L1) and on this visa the spouse can work, but would require authorisation (EAD) which takes around 3 months. There is plenty of information on the USCIS website regarding the requirements of these visas.
An SSN number is not required to open a non-interest bearing bank account, but will need to be supplied to the bank once available (takes around 15 days from arrival in the US).
I recently attended my niece's wedding in Denver. Our friends recently moved there and bought a 3700 s.f. house for $415K. Lovely place in Littleton. The weather, cost, people, and schools would be much better in Denver than NY imo. However, the fact that you already have the law license in NY is a key.
As someone else mentioned, the key is going to be the job you get. My recommendation is to be more flexible about potential locations. D.C. has a great job market for attorneys so that may be an area to look at. Dallas & Houston Texas also have strong job markets, are lower cost, and attorney pay is quite good.
You could look for housing outside NYC, in the country, and hubby could take the train in.
Or you could look around the greater Seattle area. Mountains, hiking, skiing, boating, and in the suburbs-- housing within your budget.
Another option would be to get a townhouse in the Bay Area. You could find a 3-br. unit in your price range in a good area w/good schools, easy commute to the city.
BritishEscape, if you and your husband are British, did you check the Immigration requirements prior to searching for jobs here? I am an immigrant myself, and for all I know, the only way your husband can legally be hired here is if his immigration work visa request is sponsored by his employer.
In other words, your husband cannot just move here and look for a job. If a company here wants your husband, they will request the immigration visa for him, and as part of this process, your visa and you child's would be processed as well.
After your family's legal immigration process is sorted out, as soon as you get your visa, then you should immediately apply to get you SSN (Social Security Number), as this document is absolutely necessary to obtain drivers license, open bank accounts, obtain a mortgage, etc.
If you want more information, I suggest you post your situation on the Legal Immigration forum, there are many posters there with knowledge of the US Immigration laws and they can help you. Good luck!
Exactly. You figure out where you want to live. You network your way into a US job while at the same time learning the immigration rules. When you get a job contract in the mail, you and the company initiate the immigration process for a B-1 visa. It also works the same way to get into any country in the EU. It is a long, bumpy process, but doable. My son went through it to get into the UK. I did it to get into Denmark.
It just occurred to me that it might be easier for you to move to Canada, as far as immigration issues are concerned. Perhaps you could go to Canada first, get out of the UK, and work on your visas for the US from there.
I think if you want to consider the NY area, there are some 'burbs that aren't too horrendous a commute and have transportation to the city. Rockland County NY and Bergen County NJ are two places that come to mind. They both have express buses into the city. Westchester might also be good. Long Island is expensive and crowded. (around here, when we say 'the city' we mean Manhattan)
NY: better and more diverse job opportunities... certainly wall street is the place to go. Taxes and cost of living are higher here. It is more congested, but then you also have more cultural things - more sports, museums, concerts, opera, shows etc. You can find a house in the burbs with some greenery around it, but not as easily as in Colorado. The atmosphere is more humid here - so winters and summers seem more extreme in how they 'feel', but Colorado has some crazy weather sometimes.
Colorado: lower cost of living and taxes, less congested. Much more outdoorsy stuff to do - hiking, skiing, hunting etc. Probably less diversity than NY. Much more beautiful scenery (for NY scenery to be beautiful you have to drive a bit) Weather can be crazy - they can have very early and very late season blizzards. Much less 'cultural' things to do - yes they do have concerts and museums but nowhere near the level of London and NY. Also, Denver is very high altitude and your body will need to adjust to the altitude and you will have to learn how to prepare foods with high altitude recipes.
Philadelphia might be an area you might want to consider too... both the NJ and Pennsylvania side of Philly have many lovely suburbs, lots of farms, lots of greenery, and philadelphia has more culture and activities than Denver. The climate is also a bit less extreme than NY (NY can get REALLY muggy in the summers and REALLY cold in the winters) I don't know what job opportunities would exist for your husband.
Thanks that sounds interesting - will look into it!
Seriously, there are just parts of your story which don't make any sense. I guess I am always looking for the holes in peoples presentation. Just my nature, for which I apologize. But you say you don't have any vacation time left, but then you say vacations are too expensive and travel to the US to sort out your career and life is unaffordable.. So you did use your vacation time and burned up some money? Then you say the hubby is very well qualified, but you can't afford more than a $500,000 house? Then you say hubby loves the folks in his firm who work in New York , but don't seem to want to make a transfer to New York without considering Colorado, Texas, and wherever?
It just all seems odd to me. Can't afford $10,000 to come look around. Senior Exec but can't afford anything more than a starter home in the NY area. Don't have any rapport in the current firm so that they will transfer you. (People talk in the industry (Wall Street is a tiny place, worldwide), you know. We NY'ers are going to want to know why your current colleagues (our friends) didn't want to work with you in NY, and that is going to make it very difficult to find a senior job in the US)
Let me give you some advice.....it's free, so you can disregard it if you like.
America is not the panacea which you somehow perceive it to be. New York is especially a rough town. If you think they stab you in the back in London and surrounds, well, in New York they do it to your face. And you usually are so excited you don't know it is even happening until everyone else is a partner and you are still a Vice President. Especially in finance, we play for keeps. Big keeps.
The best way for you to relocate to America, where you have to have a job or a sponsor to get in, is to transfer with the existing company. It is not like you move to Houston and then say I want to work for Goldman Sachs. You work for Goldman Sachs and then, as part of your move up the ladder, you engineer a move to Houston. Why don't you set the wheels in motion with your existing firm? I sense there is a problem there.
My best advice to you is to find employment and then the living decision is made for you. Trying to do it the other way around in the middle of an economic recession is not a very easy task to accomplish. You might find that however uncomfortable your current community is, try thinking about living in it without a job. That is pretty distasteful.
We're celebrating independence from you lot tomorrow. Sorry if we are pretty careful about who we let in...especially from England. (Just kidding--and i'm generally known as a pretty friendly and outgoing Wall Street guy ; - ) Not everyone you and your hubby meet here will be so accommodating).
Thanks for the kind of apology - again though, lots of odd aggressive assumptions I'd like to lay to rest - I didn't realise I would be tested on this forum and as it's a casual look-see rather than a critical appraisal, I didn't go to too much trouble to think our budget through but converted our lowest UK house price £450k straight into dollars - in fact his current pay is around $200k p/a so prob. budget is c. $600k, though I thought houses were cheaper in the US and don't see why we should get into that much debt in the midst of a recession really. We are indeed first time buyers, as hubby is 37 and just starting to earn better and I haven't worked for last 10 years being a mum and also being quite ill with a tumour which has required lots of surgery and treatment, so husband has had to not take jobs that work weekends and millions of hours as he's needed to help at home - plus we quite like one another and like to see one another! Hence the taking things easy and not killing ourselves just to hop on the property ladder and prove anything to people like you thing. Probably he's due a pay rise and one would hope that would come with territory of job move. One of our three current Wall st options are for him indeed to move with current firm but as it's not the head office and he's very useful back here it's something to negotiate on if we decide to bother with the move - the point of this fact seeking mission is to see if we want to bother actually, as why go to interviews and set stuff in motion if it's not going to be what we want! And yes, we are always broke - the high taxation, school fees and cost of living. It is a recession and were it not for it he would I'm sure be doing a lot better but why do I need to explain that to you - I think $200k is a nice amount to earn a year and we're not so greedy we think we deserve hundreds of holidays etc - we're ok, but I don't see the harm in looking for a better environment for our son (In fact - give us a hint as to where you reside and we'll give it a wide berth - that should solve our snob concerns!). Two other options currently in the pipeline would see him take a bigger role in-house at a fund or with a consultancy.
Obviously we know about needing a job before moving, ditto sponsors etc - and have friends who've moved to Connecticut recently so they are telling us the low-down on the legal, but we still have different needs to them and are looking at NJ for those reasons - we wouldn't just turn up with a knapsack asking for handouts, and certainly not from you!
Anyway - well done on your independence - it's clearly done you a lot of good on the manners side of things.
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