Why not become a septic?

[p3t3]

What's the most practical way to spend a few years working in the US? I hear they've ramped up their entry requirements big time, even for Brits. A limited number of work permits etc.

[AtW]

Extraordinary rendition still works... free flight transfers!

[MarillionFan]

What's the most practical way to spend a few years working in the US? I hear they've ramped up their entry requirements big time, even for Brits. A limited number of work permits etc.

Why? It's fooking expensive, it's long hours and you get less holiday.

[Jubber]

What's the most practical way to spend a few years working in the US? I hear they've ramped up their entry requirements big time, even for Brits. A limited number of work permits etc.

Have you worked with any?

[centurian]

Plus there is the danger you could bump into MF. Very small possibility, I know.... but why take the chance.

[Spacecadet]

Once a US tax payer, always a US tax payer

[bobspud]

The obvious way to do it is to go permie over here then hop across on an ICT visa. Some parents from our kids school did it this way last year. The wife works for one of the big four accountancy firms. The firm have a dedicated legal crew that practically kicked the embassy door down for her.

But as MarillionFan can attest, it's not much fun and the hours are just stupid compared to here.

[DimPrawn]

Once a US tax payer, always a US tax payer

WHS.

Hence why the global elite buy property in London and not New York.

[CoolCat]

"But as MarillionFan can attest, it's not much fun and the hours are just stupid compared to here."

Bulltulip I am afraid. I worked in Chicago for a few years, and did about 6 months in Pittsburgh. The life on a big IT programme is little different to here, certainly in terms of the hours. Sure they "officially" get less days holiday but then they are given allsorts of weird special dispensations to disappear from the office, for instance when someone won the lottery to get a hunting permit they were allowed to go shoot bambi for a few days no questions asked. When you totted all this up it was just about the same as the UK.

There are other differences, their average programmer can speed type using the correct finger on the correct key! They are apparently taught this as part of their education system, here I have never seen a decent programmer touch type! So that was one big difference between the Americans and Brits.

Chicago is a melting pot a bit like London, so many weird and wonderful accents and backgrounds that its easy to fit in and I was certainly more integrated into their social life than I have ever been able to in a new city in the UK.

There a many positives, they dont understand accents or care which school or college you went to, so as someone producing the results with many years experience you would never suffer versus the public school and/or Oxbridge bias like you do here.

Still got lots of friends out there.

I was the only one refusing to drink to the toast at the independence day celebrations, something along the lines of "here one for all the British soldiers we killed"... they had completely forgetten I was a Brit but I took the mickey on that one rather a lot.

My visas were organised by big multi nationals with lots of expensive lawyers sorting it, so was never a personal issue for me to resolve.

[amcdonald]

Why? It's fooking expensive, it's long hours and you get less holiday.

And it's full of relgious fundies