hi nlders,
didnt know the best place to post this so i chose here.

we currently live in the uk but my husband is planning to move to altanta usa.

thing are not perfect here but am ok wit my life and dnt mind living here.
his best friend moved last year and now he is planning to follow.
we ve talked about it a few years ago and i said NO, but now that his friend has moved and finding difficult to
desuade him.

just need help from pple that live there dat we can compare conditions in both countries.

my hubby is not a professional and doesnt work for anyone, he is self employed.
he owns a small security firm supplying door men and security officers to pubs, clubs and even centres.

am not doing much, concentrating more on the kids though i have a diploma in social work and degree in public service, i do currency exchange as my little pet bizness

jus want know wat the tax system is like, housing settling down period etc.

if u want me to clarify anything pls let me know.
tnks

Atlanta will really surprise you in many ways. It's almost completely black owned, so you see all tiers of success and failure which is rare in American cities as most blacks are poor and the rich/middle class are among the whites.

American in general is hard to explain, you'll end up loving it or hating it, and even if you hate it you probably will find little reason to leave.

tax is based on state. Each state set its own standards but US tax rates are significantly lower than European ones.
In atlanta people pay 8.00% sales tax on items, which is almost double the national average, and 6% income tax (6% of your paycheck)

idk about property taxes.


US cities are all about sprawl and are all on a grid. That means the further you live from the center of the city the better your standard of living (crime, property value, etc), though the business district will have expensive high end condos. You'll find a LOT of work in social work in atlanta as it's poverty rate is slightly higher than the national average. The US shouldn't be too different than europe, and atlanta is an international cosmopolitan city. If you were going somewhere else less 'connected' it would be different but not atlanta

The US is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession so thing are still far from peachy, but living in the UK, I am sure you already are atuned to living in such an environment.
The one thing I can tell you though, is even with all the problems, the US is still an enterpreneur's paradise. From what you said about your husband, he seems the kind best suited for the US so I will advise you to go for it. The tax rates are generally lower than Europe, and if you run your own business, you literally dont even get to pay any taxes. Besides, there is a lot of cheap real estate and the credit to acquire them for the person that comes looking for opportunities for themselves.
Atlanta is a big cosmopolitan city. The weather is a lot more pleasant than London or NY (where I work) and there is a large Nigerian population there. You might not have a lot of well paying jobs waiting for you, but your family doesnt strike me as one to wait for jobs to land on their laps.
The American dream is made for people like your husband, you would do well to encourage him. Goodluck

As far as housing, I dare say you will find Atlanta way better and more spacious than anything you have seen in UK and very cheap too.
You may read about the gun violence and all that, but except you settle in real run down neighborhoods, you will find the US (and that includes much of metropolitan Atlanta) a really great place to raise your kids.
Of course, you will find the fact that there is no free health care chalenging at first but I can guarantee you that your kids will certainly not die for lack of health care.

You are better off in the UK with your family. You will regret it if you do,unless your man is sought after medical doctor.

Instead of looking to America,you should be looking toward wherever you call home originally

redsun: You are better off in the UK with your family. You will regret it if you do,unless your man is sought after medical doctor.

Instead of looking to America,you should be looking toward wherever you call home originally

You think your "advise" might be more helpful if you told her why you think she'd regret it? Maybe there is something in your own or someone you know experience that might give her more information to make an informed judgement.
She is seriously looking for advise on a matter that is hugely important to her family. There is no need to trivialize it.

Tnks all,

Hmm wit wat am hearing of atlanta I might have to go touch up my sewing skills. I learnt sewing while I was waiting for my my jamb results in those days

bebe2: Tnks all,

Hmm wit wat am hearing of atlanta I might have to go touch up my sewing skills. I learnt sewing while I was waiting for my my jamb results in those days

If you knew sewing, bone up on it. Get very good with all the Naija wears.
If you can learn braiding, go for it.
If you sabi make meatpie, or isiewu or any naija food, get your condiments ready.
If you are the kind that would see opportunities even in a trash can and not wait on government handouts, the US is certainly for you. It is still a hustler's paradise!

First of all which visa would you guys be coming here with?

is your Husband a citizen and legal to work in the US?

Cos wthout that Life would be hell for you no two ways. You wont even be able to get a job or a drivers license.

If the paper stuff is straight, have you asked your husband what he plans to do in US?

Why not him going first for like 4 months and Not stay with his friend so that he can see if its still worth it and later you follow

If you are coming to America to be an entrepreneur, Does he have the money for it?

How many kids/dependants are you coming with and what are their ages.

dayokanu: First of all which visa would you guys be coming here with?

is your Husband a citizen and legal to work in the US?

Cos wthout that Life would be hell for you no two ways. You wont even be able to get a job or a drivers license.

I think we have 6mths

If the paper stuff is straight, have you asked your husband what he plans to do in US?

Why not him going first for like 4 months and Not stay with his friend so that he can see if its still worth it and later you follow

If you are coming to America to be an entrepreneur, Does he have the money for it?

How many kids/dependants are you coming with and what are their ages.

We r all british citizens, 4 kid, 9,7,5,8. I think we wud have six mths to stay because we british, after that dnt know wat happens.

bebe2:

We r all british citizens, 4 kid, 9,7,5,8.

Aside from 3 months free entry into US, i dont think Brtish citizens have any work right in America.

So how does your husband intend to get a job or drivers license.

How much do you have saved up

4 kids are involved, i would be against throwing 4 kids into the deep in a strange environment where both parents would even be illegal citizens

dayokanu:

Aside from 3 months free entry into US, i dont think Brtish citizens have any work right in America.

So how does your husband intend to get a job or drivers license.

How much do you have saved up

4 kids are involved, i would be against throwing 4 kids into the deep in a strange environment where both parents would even be illegal citizens

Lol, totally agree with u, I wud neva leave the uk to be illegal in another country.

I think its the 'grass greener on the the other side mentality' we have a home here and are doing relatively well but my hubby thinks the kids have a brighter in the US than uk.

He want to do business there, service contracts, supplying staff to organisation e.g security which is wat he has now. He thinks he wud do better becos the population is bigger hence more demand.


We ve a few family there, my brother is in los angeles and has wanted me to come over being the baby of the family but am a big girl and don't want to be under anybody's wing.

I didn't take my hubby serious before, but after a 2hr conversation he had wit his friend who lives in atlanta, I had to start my own research.

Hi Op
First and foremost, I have an issue with your topic,even people who are not America based can offer you very valuable advise, and I wonder how many people with these valuable advises have turned away becauase of the way your topic is captioned.
Anyways, down to the koko of the matter, I am not America based but will offer my two cents.
- You and your husband can't all go to a new country with four little kids all at once, a poster asked something very important, which I will think should be the most pertinent issue right now. What visa are you people going on? you said you all have British Citizenship, well as a Brit, you can only stay in America as a visitor for a maximum of three months with no means to work or recourse to public funds (As English people dey talk am). You yourself said, you don't know what will happen after this initial stay.
So my point is, why not hubby go to America, try out the life there and see if he can get a work permit which will cover all of you and then you and the kids go later if all works out well.
- Please just because you are the baby of the house and your brother wants you to go to America doesn't mean he will be willing to feed, house and give financial support to you, hubby and 4 kids for more than a month o.
My dear this is not a decision to be made hastily, if one of you even had a job offer in America already then it would have been a different ball game.
You and hubby need to plan and strategise properly. Don't take all your life's saving and squander it in a bit to relocate. Go slow and easy and in stages, if it comes to that.
And like someone rightly pointed, polish up whatever skills you can do with your hands, hair, sewing, cooking etc, I wonder why you ain't even doing any of those already, even in the UK these things are money spinners especially if you are in a multicultural town/city.

Talk, discuss, talk, discuss, talk, discuss with your hubby and you guys weigh your options, there are 4 little kids involved, please don't throw them into uncertainty.

Cheers.

bebe2:

Lol, totally agree with u, I wud neva leave the uk to be illegal in another country.

I think its the 'grass greener on the the other side mentality' we have a home here and are doing relatively well but my hubby thinks the kids have a brighter in the US than uk.

He want to do business there, service contracts, supplying staff to organisation e.g security which is wat he has now. He thinks he wud do better becos the population is bigger hence more demand.


We ve a few family there, my brother is in los angeles and has wanted me to come over being the baby of the family but am a big girl and don't want to be under anybody's wing.

I didn't take my hubby serious before, but after a 2hr conversation he had wit his friend who lives in atlanta, I had to start my own research.

I had assume you would have "right to work" status in the US since you didnt ask about that in your original post. It would definitely not make sense to leave where you are now and come over here with everyone in your becuase it is going to be heavy lifting getting to regularize your stay. The one visa that could avail your husband would have been the Immigrant Investor visa, but the dollar requirement is too high (at least $500,000 invested).
But again, there are over 12 million illegal immigrants in the US, and if you follow American politics then you can see how another amnesty program could be in place in the not too distant future.
Whatever happens, be sure to weigh all the pros and cons with your husband

nat138: Hi Op
First and foremost, I have an issue with your topic,even people who are not America based can offer you very valuable advise, and I wonder how many people with these valuable advises have turned away becauase of the way your topic is captioned.
Anyways, down to the koko of the matter, I am not America based but will offer my two cents.
- You and your husband can't all go to a new country with four little kids all at once, a poster asked something very important, which I will think should be the most pertinent issue right now. What visa are you people going on? you said you all have British Citizenship, well as a Brit, you can only stay in America as a visitor for a maximum of three months with no means to work or recourse to public funds (As English people dey talk am). You yourself said, you don't know what will happen after this initial stay.
So my point is, why not hubby go to America, try out the life there and see if he can get a work permit which will cover all of you and then you and the kids go later if all works out well.
- Please just because you are the baby of the house and your brother wants you to go to America doesn't mean he will be willing to feed, house and give financial support to you, hubby and 4 kids for more than a month o.
My dear this is not a decision to be made hastily, if one of you even had a job offer in America already then it would have been a different ball game.
You and hubby need to plan and strategise properly. Don't take all your life's saving and squander it in a bit to relocate. Go slow and easy and in stages, if it comes to that.
And like someone rightly pointed, polish up whatever skills you can do with your hands, hair, sewing, cooking etc, I wonder why you ain't even doing any of those already, even in the UK these things are money spinners especially if you are in a multicultural town/city.

Talk, discuss, talk, discuss, talk, discuss with your hubby and you guys weigh your options, there are 4 little kids involved, please don't throw them into uncertainty.

Cheers.

am sorry if the subject of my post seemed rude, just didnt want anybody coming and giving false info.

its something we talked about, its a long term plan if we r going to do it.

am well settled here and it wud take something really appealing to uproot from this spot

we r going on a visit next year march.

wit dat we can get the feel for it.
tnks for ur input

ikenga67:

I had assume you would have "right to work" status in the US since you didnt ask about that in your original post. It would definitely not make sense to leave where you are now and come over here with everyone in your becuase it is going to be heavy lifting getting to regularize your stay. The one visa that could avail your husband would have been the Immigrant Investor visa, but the dollar requirement is too high (at least $500,000 invested).
But again, there are over 12 million illegal immigrants in the US, and if you follow American politics then you can see how another amnesty program could be in place in the not too distant future.
Whatever happens, be sure to weigh all the pros and cons with your husband

no, we wont have d right to work,

$500,000 if i get that one david cameron go personlly kneel down beg me make we stay

tnks jare, we will see how we feel about it in a year or two.

Just read your last post and edited mine.

If he is dead set on moving ,you probably cannot stop him so Let him move first and you join him later after he settles
That would be my advice and that is what my family has done when we moved
He goes to make a way
Even when we attempted a move back to Nigeria,Oga went first and ran back after a short while

With 4 kids ,self employed and a visiting permit,the road ahead will not be easy

I am not based in the USA but I lived in Berkeley, California for three months. So I think I can give small piece of a general advice.

Since your husband is looking for greener pastures, I will suggest that there is no point killing off the business in the UK to go start afresh in the US. He can keep the business in the UK going and first visit the US for few weeks/months to assess possibility of having a branch of his company there.

Tell him to go and do feasibility study of the requirements needed to set up a branch of his company in the USA. If successful, he can start his worldwide network of branches from there. It doesn't make sense to completely shut off the UK company where he is already gaining ground.

It is well with your family

Tnk u my pple, we had a long talk last night. Made my point clear. I dnt want to move at least not now let's make it a five yrs plan thing, after much we decided we will still go for our vacation in march then he wud stay back for 3mths and survey d place.

He wud manage most of his biz while he his there, and I will do my best to keep things together here.
Tnks all x

d

I think you should advise your husband to first come down to Atlanta to check out things himself while keep his business in UK moving and appoint you to also help to overlook this business in Uk.
Atlanta is good because it is a good place for blacks like some other states in the South. It will not be easy for him to just kick start a business of his own in Atlanta, unless he has enough fund to get that started.
Remember, that it will take him time to source for connection in the US in his area of his present business in the UK.
If he got enough money with him ok, but I think it's not good just to run down to the US without proper arrangement. Most times, some friends deceive others to come down and by the time he gets there, it becomes a problem.
Many Nigerians are doing well but at the same time, many are into some kind of of crime just like other countries.
For me, ask him to just come around and check out things and the possibility of his settling down and taking your family into consideration at the same time. America is not the way you see it from the outside world.

when you visit maybe your husband can use the opportunity to make it a business trip too and put out feelers for the market. I live in Georgia, although not in Atlanta. He may want to try smaller areas on the outskirts of Atlanta (I.e. Marietta, Henry County, Gwinnett, and even further south to Macon). Sometimes it's easier to get your foot in the door in a smaller city. Plus it's usually cheaper. And Nigerians are all over Georgia - - so networking shouldn't be hard. Also, if you do a feasibility study and find it may work, maybe you can look at getting a small business loan in the UK to expand your business in the US...besides you'd get way more money converting pound to dollar.