
Ask HN: Has Anyone Immigrated to USA from UK as a Software Engineer? - aogl
I&#x27;m a software engineer with over 15 years experience currently based in London, UK and am planning a move to either west coast USA or east coast Australia.
I would be taking a wife and two small children with me.<p>1. Which location would you recommend and why?<p>2. How quickly can immigration to these locations take?<p>3. Which has the best quality of life, both now and over time?<p>4. Is the work ethic similar to that of London, more intense, unknown?<p>5. Any tid-bits of advise?
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rpiguy
UK, US, and Australia have similar work ethics. The Aussies, based on my
anecdotal experiences, seem better at relaxing and do so less pretentiously
than folks here in the US.

Immigrating to the US is easy if you have an employer lined up, however
getting a green card or full citizenship can take awhile (5 years?)

In the US you will absolutely need employment for health insurance. Don't get
sick while unemployed, or you will have to move to Australia anyway to avoid
the bill collectors :-)

If you plan to stay in a city, London, San Francisco/LA, Sydney, etc. all have
high costs of living.

I am from the US, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else permanently.

But if I were an immigrant, particularly from UK/Europe, I would have to have
a very specific reason to move to the US.

If I wanted to start a business, live in a suburb, own a gun, lower taxation,
etc. the US is great. Though you will only find lower taxation outside of
NYC/Boston/Chicago/San Franscisco/LA/Seattle, etc. Diverse climate and people.

Quality of life is very subjective. If you plan to live here through
retirement to death, the US is a terrible place to retire with low social
security payouts. You would need to move to low cost area, unless you can
afford a nice condo in Florida. If you plan to stay in a city unto death, make
sure you find a rent controlled place...

Australia is probably a better fit if you don't care about any of the above,
but we would welcome you here regardless.

If you are more interested in exploring the East, then Australia is the
obvious choice. If you want to be able to explore Central/South America, and
get back to London relatively quickly then the US might be better.

