Thinking of Moving To U.S.A With my Hubby... Should i Go?Follow

Hydrogen guns?

Depends what you prefer.

Canada = High taxes but,
free education, medical better social programs.

U.S.A = Lower taxes but,
expensive all stated above. Lose an arm go bankrupt...lol

Canada = Record all cd's you want off internet, sharing is not deemed illegal by superior court

U.S.A = The 20$ you just saved recording a cd off Kazaa might cost you thousands of dollars in lawsuit or out of court settlement (oops, here goes College kids moving to Canada for "studies" lolll)

All in all you'll have positive and negative in both. Remember Canada is cold in the winter but is less plagued by more devastating nature hickups like the USA is.

Your choice !

I reckon that the USA is the last place to move to at the moment. Havn't you been paying attention to the goings on in that part of the world recently? Guns, drugs, atrocious genetically screwed up food supply, the incredible diving dollar, an environmental policy that just sucks, a foreign policy that just makes the rest of the world shudder, Jerry Springer, that weird little b@$ch with the iraqi on a leash, Rumsfeld, Bush, Rice, Hollywood, Crack, budweiser, dagwood dogs, etc, etc, etc........
Why would yoy wanna go there even?
I lived in the USA for a bit a few years ago, and I might add met a few damn good folk, but believe me, there are MUCH MUCH better places to live....

I have lived in Southern California my whole life and I've lived at least a year (or more) in four different counties and six different cities. Obviously you have to look for a job in your field and look at housing costs, which are pretty insane so unless you are going to move here and make substantially more money you're probably not going to have housing equivelant to what you could get in virtually anywhere else in the world.

Further, to get care equivelant to what you can get in Canada, you should ensure you can afford a PPO (not HMO) health care. I don't know what field you are in, but for most jobs no health care of any kind will be paid for. For most white color jobs you have to pay for a PPO and HMO is either free, or a very small copay.

Quality of schools varies widely. Public education is free and in most places I've lived I'd have no problem putting my children into public school. Many people pay for private education which is expensive. If you are religious there are religious private schools, some of which are cheaper. My personal experience talking to people who have attended religious schools here in Southern Cal is all negative, but I am sure there are some good ones.

Expect to drive everywhere. Nowhere I have lived has decent public transit, and I have taken it as daily transportation.

Individuality. People all pretty much do their own thing here. People don't know their neighbors well. Again, I've only lived here so it is difficult to look at it from the outside, but from what I have heard this is how we are compared to the norm.

Crime - statistically it is very bad. I've never had issue with it. You may want to be a little more careful then you are used to.
Earthquakes - statistically, not very life threatening. You will probably feel a minor one if you live here over a year. If you buy a home you should get insurance against Earthquakes, which is available through the state of California. It's about $50-$100 (US) per month, very very dependant on exactly where you live, but this is minor compared with the expense of buying a home here. Lived here 30 years, always near major faultlines, never had a dime of property damage from an Earthquake.
Air Conditioning - unless you live in the mountains you'll need it and want it at home, work and in your car.
Driving - people drive fast. You have to keep up with traffic. This will mean going above the posted speed limit.
Entertainment - aside from the famous things, there is not so much "culture" here in the form of the arts as you might expect, for example live theatre, however there are just loads of different cultures living side by side. You can find major communities in the region from virtually anywhere on Earth.

Personally, I'd live in Los Alamos, New Mexico but for my family.

Best wishes,

-yoyo
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Im am staying... and im not lesbian:)

I'm sure Canada also has cheaper gas prices...


I'm sure the rest of the world has cheaper gas prices..

>>Canada = High taxes but,
>>free education, medical better social programs.

When I stop choking from laughing so hard, you can revive me.
The 'free' education isn't free - it's financied by our higher taxes. Someone *IS* paying for it. Sure, universal healthcare is nice, but do you like waiting months to get a medical procedure done? Don't get me started on the social programs.. /evil grin

/shrug

My wife and I moved from Edmonton to Longmont, CO for three and a half years (I worked in Boulder for a tech company). She was unable to work because of the work visa I was on (TN - NAFTA trade visa) which had to get renewed every year (dependents cannot work - she could have got her own TN as she is a teacher, but she wanted a bit of a break!). Was fun living down there (and we had our daughter in the States, so our little girl has dual citizenship), and if I would have been offered permanent residency I would have taken it in a second. My wife wouldn't have, though. :(

Moved back to Canada to be near family, got another job (with the Canadian section of the company I was working for in the States), and redid all the homesy stuff (bought a house, etc. etc.)

Depending what work visa you get (not if you're moving permanently), you may be required to divest yourself of any interest in Canada (meaning if you own a house, you'll probably want to sell it, remove RRSP's, close bank/credit accounts, etc.), otherwise you'll be taxed by Canada on your WORLD income - and believe me, you don't want to pay Canadian taxes on U.S. earnings. Go to the International Tax Services Office (ITSO) on the web for Revenue Canada, and fill out an NR-4 and send it in - do this right after you move (if you do). It will change your status for residency to a citizen/non-resident as Canadian taxes based on residency, not citizenship.

There's more documentation about this, but check the Revenue Canada site (they have a good .pdf about moving to the States) as well as the US INS site (www.ins.gov) for requirements.