I have lived in the US for almost 3 years now, and although I like it here, I much prefer the UK, for all its faults. As a result of this we are currently in the process of moving back, of course thats if I can sell my house.

Re mortgages etc, I an on a HI B visa, and I had no problem getting a mortgage, although it helped to have my last 3 years bank statements to hand and also a large down payment,

Once you have your social security number, getting a driving licence etc is easy, once you have a DL, this is pretty much all you need for ID.

America is a land of have and have nots, with some abject poverty, and also some very rich people, I am somewhere in the middle bracket. It is well worth giving it a go if you can, but do not burn your bridges back in Blightly, and of course cultivate your accent, as for some reason the septics love it.

If there is anything you think I might be able to help you with send me a PM.

California_Tanker I believe has a job in the field you are looking to enter, though he may have got it after getting his US citizenship.

Sorry, I cheated. I was born here. Visa issues weren't a problem for me. (Though they did mean I couldn't bring my girlfriend of the time with me, who isn't a yank).

Unfortunately, in recent years, OPM has pretty much mandated that in order to gain a security clearance, you must be a US citizen. To do anything juicy in the military engineering field, you probably need a security clearance. You can see the circular problem.

NTM

Originally Posted by Goldbricker

Don't forget Aborigne child hunting.

We're not all racist thugs. Just last week I fostered an Aboriginal child.......all four cans hit the little cunt in the head.

To prove that you're not racist, could you do the same to littlejim? His tinfoil hat will offer no protection. Should make a good target though. To avoid wasting beer-like fluid, drink the contents first, then fill the cans with cement.

Mate, fosters is piss, but it's stiil too good to waste on a cunt from Perth.

True, even Brisbane isn't quite far enough away.

Originally Posted by littlejim

Four hundred and thirty eight vacancies for engineers were advertised in Perth in the last seven days. We've got more sunshine, better looking girls and better prospects than the septics can imagine. Forgot those losers and hit the big time in the state that could use Texas as a doormat.

I agree, don't go to America!

According to lower jumper, on another thread, you have to carry a gatt on a trip to Tescos!

I started dating a Danish national a couple weeks ago, she's been living in the US for years; two PhD's and is a college professor. Unfortunately she's out of the country til early August, in Australia and NZ for academic conferences; when she returns I suppose I could ask her how she got her residency. Our conversations while she was here mainly touched on the fact that she's got her Green Card, and can't be arsed to apply for citizenship, she couldn't give a damn less about voting. Given that Europeans don't see any difference between Repubs and Dems for the most part, that's pretty understandable. My Swedish friend from college is married to a woman who recently served a term in the State Legislature...and he can't be bothered to get his citizenship either.

I'd say it might be a little easier for an academic go be granted a green card because almost by definition their research is likely to be so specialised that their employer- the university- will have a fairly easy time demonstrating that they would have had difficulty finding someone else (i.e. an American citizen) who would able to do that specific kind of work. If the professor had gone through the tenure process there would also be a significant paper trail to demonstrate that person's unique abilities.

Roadster280 pretty much nailed the various ways on post 3....the US is certainly one of the hardest places to emigrate to. I came across the easiest way....married to a 'merican, greencard for 3 years, then US citizenship after that; been here in the US since the back-end of 2004.

All in all I would say I generally do like it here, but I find its less of a close society than the UK....no-one pops round for a cup of tea anywhere, everything has to be planned ahead of time. Maybe that's just my impression though, being brought up a country bumpkin used to village life before joining the army, which is generally an extension of the same close knit community especially on foreign postings.

My observation here in the US is that everyone is generally very busy working hard and tend to be a bit more self absorbed than in Europe....its definitely a more competitive culture. While a little of that mentality can be good, a lot of it leads to some bad aspects such as an inherent selfishness in the society. Definitely a big gap (and widening) between the haves and have nots....but isn't that the case everywhere these days, certainly seems to ring true for the UK also.

If you don't have any useful family ties etc, I think the best way to come over would be the L1 visa route; get yourself a good job in London with a US based multinational and come across as a transfer. The other hint'n'tip I'd give about the US is if you don't have one, a degree is almost a must - if you don't have at least a Bachelors, you'll be really fighting an uphill battle here, even if you don't have any immigration issues. I luckily was able to remedy that situation for myself by making good use of my early learning credits and doing an online Masters via the University of Leicester (loaded on through qualifying experience)....it killed 2 birds (Bachelors and Masters) with one stone.

Good luck with it!

EDIT - reread your post and see you do have a degree....good stuff, that's got you an immediate leg up, in my opinion; if I were you I'd work on getting a good relevant job in the UK with possibilities of the L1 route somewhere down the track. Regarding the military industrial employment....security clearances being what they are here (and requiring US citizenship), I'll say now you will have basically zero chance of that by trying to find a job here direct. The only possibility would be via internal transfer (BAE systems or someone might fit the bill).