It's tough everywhere at the moment..... (Orlando, Davenport: health insurance, house, find a job)

[ukbloke]

But is it really as tough as I'm reading here to find work around Orlando? A bit of background as I'm a noobie, but have been lurking for a while. We're currently in England but have been to Orlando virtually every year for the past ten years, and owned a house for a short while in Davenport. We both love the area and the lifestyle, but didn't have any impetus to move until now. We both had really good jobs here until I was laid off from the job I'd held for 14 years in January.

My wife is American and we've been together over here for 12 years now. She's a RN and I'm a Telecoms Tech. Would there be any market for us to find work there? My wife is licensed to work in both SC and FL and obviously her job would be the main wage earner. I'd be happy to try my hand at anything (within reason)! if I couldn't find a telecoms post.

We're really looking to kind of 'semi-retire' but would like to be able to work for at least another five to ten years if we could. I should point out that I'm 51 and my wife is 56. Is age a big barrier there?

We probably have enough assets to live comfortably for about three years if we rented rather than bought a property, but we'd rather hang on to them and find a job! Any advice gratefully received and TIA.

Steve

[annerk]

Your wife should have no problem finding work right away. You on the otherhand are going to ahve a hard time. No one is going to sponsor you, and getting a visa where you can work with your wife as a sponsor could take years.

Telecommunications is a very hard hit industry in this area right now.

I know people who have been out of work for a year or more in this area, and generally speaking employers are going to hire "locals" first.

[ukbloke]

Originally Posted by annerk

No one is going to sponsor you, and getting a visa where you can work with your wife as a sponsor could take years.

Many thanks for the fast response, but do I need a sponsor if I'm married to an American citizen? Reading the USCIS website a spouse can be admitted in a timeframe of 3 to 6 months, or am I reading wrong?

[annerk]

Originally Posted by ukbloke

Many thanks for the fast response, but do I need a sponsor if I'm married to an American citizen? Reading the USCIS website a spouse can be admitted in a timeframe of 3 to 6 months, or am I reading wrong?

Admitted. Not admitted to work.

[salmanalk]

Go for it it is slow like everywhere but once things pick up Orlando will do good, it is after all a global tourist destination The only thing I would think/worry about is the health insurance...which can be very expensive! if that is sorted I believe you will be fine. Go and live the Florida dream

[ukbloke]

Originally Posted by annerk

Admitted. Not admitted to work.

I deliberately didn't respond to this post initially, because you know, as well as I do that it was misinformation. My wife was allowed to work here in the UK without restriction as soon as we were married, and it's exactly the same in the States. Provided we can meet the medical and financial requirements, then there's nothing to stop us both living and working there immediately. I do agree with your earlier points about the lack of work and it's the same all over the world right now, but reading a lot of your other posts, you seem to be dedicated to keeping any kind of investment, in both skills and cash out of Orlando. I do appreciate your concerns for the people posting here, but maybe you could promote the area, instead of knocking it down.
Kind regards,
Steve

[ukbloke]

Originally Posted by salmanalk

Go for it it is slow like everywhere but once things pick up Orlando will do good, it is after all a global tourist destination The only thing I would think/worry about is the health insurance...which can be very expensive! if that is sorted I believe you will be fine. Go and live the Florida dream

Hey Salmanalk Many thanks for the positive response! I'm not sure there is a Florida dream any more, but there's no UK dream either! You are completely right about the medical thing and I'm not sure we're doing this in the right order....... Medical is free here and we're getting older by the minute.... Providing JoAnn could find a job immediately, it would provide cover for both of us and we could enjoy our 2 week vacation walking on a sunny beach somewhere without worry. (We get 5 weeks here). No positive decisions made yet but I'm sure I'll be told at some point

[annerk]

Originally Posted by ukbloke

I deliberately didn't respond to this post initially, because you know, as well as I do that it was misinformation. My wife was allowed to work here in the UK without restriction as soon as we were married, and it's exactly the same in the States. Provided we can meet the medical and financial requirements, then there's nothing to stop us both living and working there immediately. I do agree with your earlier points about the lack of work and it's the same all over the world right now, but reading a lot of your other posts, you seem to be dedicated to keeping any kind of investment, in both skills and cash out of Orlando. I do appreciate your concerns for the people posting here, but maybe you could promote the area, instead of knocking it down.
Kind regards,
Steve

Just because you are married to a US citizen, it does not give you the automatic right to come to the United States and work here. You still need to go through a process to either get a work permit or a Green Card. This process can take up to two years, depending on your particular circumstance and what you are applying for.

You can't just walk into the US and begin working for any employer based on being married to a US citizen.

I'm just trying to give people a realistic view of the situation here right now. Jobs are beyond scarce, and coming here without work lined up is a foolhardy plan. The field you are in continues to have massive layoffs, and in this area you would not likely find employment anytime soon in your field.

I wholeheartedly want investment in the Orlando area--by companies bringing real jobs and paying real living wages and hiring the people in this area who need those jobs.

[christina82]

Originally Posted by ukbloke

Many thanks for the fast response, but do I need a sponsor if I'm married to an American citizen? Reading the USCIS website a spouse can be admitted in a timeframe of 3 to 6 months, or am I reading wrong?

My husband is British. You have several forms you need to file and it's good if someone else in her family with a good paying job will agree to sponsor you (basically that's just saying on paper that they take financial responsibility for you also, but it's not necessary if your wife is so far above the poverty line herself, i think it's 150% but I'm not sure). Be prepared to spend a lot of money filing the forms. One by itself was $495. One of those forms is for employment authorization, that will go through with the rest of your forms if approved. They give you a hard time when you meet with an officer so be prepared for that, if that happens go get a lawyer, he'll contact the officer and that will pretty much get them off your back.
You'll most likely get a conditional permanent residency for two years and a social security number. A year before your conditional residency expires you'll need to drop another $580 to have the conditional status removed. When you do that you'll have to send in a bunch of supporting documents with the application proving your relationship (marriage documents, bills, joint accounts, letters from people that know you, etc.) It's a huge hassle but you can do it.
My husband came over on a visa waiver, then we went to Vegas, filed for an adjustment of status and he's still here and just had the conditional status removed from his permanent residency, all that's left from now on is citizenship if he wants it.

[salmanalk]

Whats an RN??