Moving to the US?

[MayandGeorge]

Hi all,
This may be out of most peoples knowledge (since this is a British site) but I was wondering wether anyone had any thoughts, opinions or knowledge on it. Me and my husband are trying to start a family. We have been looking around it Britain but last week I had an idea to maybe consider looking at immigrating to the states.
It would be easy to get a visa as my husband is a consultant anethatist and works for a company who operates in America. We like the look of Sugar Land, Katy, in Texas. If anyone had anything on these subjects we would greatly appreciate it. Also has anyone been to Sugar Land as it would be useful to know about It a little more. I have been to the states before with my husband as we are both major disney fans! We even went there for our honeymoon- I know right! Classy!

Thanks for all your help,
May xx

[Beaverfeaver2]

Few family members live in Austin which is an amazingly fun place to be.
San Antonio just down the road too.

I would live there but not in summer, far too hot for me and no one leaves their houses or cars because all they want is air conditioning.

[butterfliesinmytummy]

We live in houston, been here a year. A lot depends on exactly where your dh would be working. The Texas medical centre is located in houston and is the largest medical centre in the world, employs more than 106 000 people. If he's going to be working there, sugarland and Katy would be an hours commute each way during rush hour, maybe more. Nice areas (a bit cookie cutter in terms of housing) but traffic is a huge thing in houston. If I didn't have kids, and worked at TMC, I would look at up and coming funky areas such as the heights or montrose. There's a great website and app called HAR, most of houston, Katy, sugarland etc real estate is on there, will give you an idea of prices and styles.

If your dh is granted an L1 visa (intra company transfer), you will be able to apply for an employment permit so can work without restrictions.

We love houston, it's developing fast, employment is on the up, 200 jobs a day are being created, lots of companies moving in and expanding, nice atmosphere of possibility and optimism and we have a great community around us. Great arts and museum scene, festivals, loads to do. We have driven to Austin and Florida for holidays and went to New York a few weeks ago - less than 4 hours away. I recommend you consider it!

[wentshopping]

(Waves to Butterflies)
Another Houston resident here. Are you sure your husband can work in the US? Many professions are required to re-register in the United States, before they can begin working - such as doctors and nurses - which involves sitting exams to "qualify" in these professions. (Some friends of mine have come across this). Apologies if this does not apply to your DH but better to check it out.
Also you mention starting a family… get your medical insurance in place first :)

[Blackeyez09]

Thanks for letting me know! Will watch from here as I've no helpful suggestions unfortunately!

[MayandGeorge]

Hello to all you lovely people!
I'm just going to do 1 big message to answer everyone's questions!

butterfliesinmytummy, I am a 'freelance' primary (Or elementary) school subsitute teacher, and I have heard countless times by my best friend from school (she lives in austin) that the schools are fantastic around there. We considered the move becase my husband is in one of the top job positions at his work and was offered the financial support to move there if we wanted too. He had been offered a couple of places to work in hospitals.

wentshopping, Thank-you for letting me know We went to check for both of our jobs and my DH has enough qualifications to be an exception to this! Yay! As far as my job goes, I plan on only going back to work after we've had kids and they are at school. I wan't to be a stay at home mom! But thank-you, I wouldn't of known if it wasn't for you.

As for Texas itself, I really like it, a lot actually! We have booked a trip to stay with the above friend for a couple of weeks to just have a snoop around! There's just a few things I have questions about.

1: This may not be an issue to people, but I'm quite parinoid sometimes about hurricanes, etc. I will be fine with them once I know about them, but no-one seems to know much about them LOL! Do you get them very often, How bad are they, Do you need a hurricane shelter?

2: ....... Dang, I forgot, They'll come to me later!

Thanks guys!

Mayxx

[butterfliesinmytummy]

Hi May

There are some amazing schools in Texas. My kids are at the British School in Houston - they are expanding and recruit new (British only) teachers every year. Might be an option for you in the future.

We hear a lot about hurricanes but I'm not really the one to answer as I only arrived last summer and it was fairly quiet. We have a hurricane pack in our garage ready to go (clothes, water, snacks, torch, batteries etc) and I don't let the petrol gauge dip below 1/2 a tank during hurricane season. We don't have a shelter and basements are rare in Houston, I think everyone just hits the road to avoid the path of the hurricane.

[expatinscotland]

I am from Houston. I second butterfly's advice.

My close friend lives in Midtown, which is very chic BUT it's not exactly cheap. She has no children, though.

Traffic is MAJOR.

Am spending summer there with the kids, though and looking forward to it!

Plenty of people know about visas on here. I am clueless about that as have dual nationality.

[MayandGeorge]

I was also wondering about tornado's, do they affect things much?

Thanks xx

[butterfliesinmytummy]

We don't really get tornadoes in houston but we do egret hurricanes. It's heading towards hurricane season right now so bag is in the garage with water, clothes, insurance policy for house, muesli bars, flashlight, etc. tbh it's been there since last summer unused. I don't let my fuel gauge drop below half during the season as I know there were fuel shortages a couple of years ago when people tried to leave the city. There's loads of guidance about hurricanes but they are well tracked so not exactly a surprise when they arrive. I live close to the city with loads of old (60+ year old) houses nearby and mine is built of bricks so not too worried....