Reply to: $500k US Green Card

[AtW]

Atw - you love the Septics' spellings, fondness for being armed to the teeth etc - what made you stop off here on the way?

A chance really, some from my family went to US California in late 80s, if I was with them I'd be running Google now too busy bothering to post on here

[Peoplesoft bloke]

So, is US medical insurance cheaper than around 26% NI tax in UK?

Atw - you love the Septics' spellings, fondness for being armed to the teeth etc - what made you stop off here on the way?

[AtW]

You forgot the UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa...

You have access to not less than £200,000

or

You have access to not less than £50,000 from:

1 or more registered venture capital firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority;
1 or more UK entrepreneurial seed funding competitions listed as endorsed on the UK Trade and Investment website, or
1 or more UK government departments, which have made the funds available for the specific purpose of establishing or expanding a UK business.

Ah yes, this must be new - doubt very much many such visas were issued.

It would be hard to settle under it - "This is available to anyone who can either create 10 jobs or turn over more than £5 million in a three-year period."

[stek]

UK has got the same -

"Tier 1 (Investor) Visa Requirements

You must have at least £1million at your disposal;
You must be willing to invest £750,000 of that money in either unit trusts or private companies (not bank accounts, property developing or offshore companies);
You may not be employed in any capacity other than managing your investment;
You must be prepared to spend at least 50% of your time in the UK;
You may invest the remaining £250,000 however you wish;
You must meet the English language ability requirements (see below); AND
You must have sufficient funds, as specified by the UK Government at the time of application."

£1 mln - 3 times more than US asks for.

You forgot the UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa...

You have access to not less than £200,000

or

You have access to not less than £50,000 from:

1 or more registered venture capital firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority;
1 or more UK entrepreneurial seed funding competitions listed as endorsed on the UK Trade and Investment website, or
1 or more UK government departments, which have made the funds available for the specific purpose of establishing or expanding a UK business.

[BigTime]

So what you are saying is that inexperienced immigrant students can do as good job as you only cheaper and without attitude problems?

Agreed. The take no tulip contractor has no place over there.

[AtW]

This steady stream of compliant labour keeps the costs down which means it's crap for contracting.

So what you are saying is that inexperienced immigrant students can do as good job as you only cheaper and without attitude problems?

[BigTime]

The US gets lots of young immigrants in on university courses who then have something like 6 months to get a job afterwards and they're then owned by that company for a while. This steady stream of compliant labour keeps the costs down which means it's crap for contracting.

[DimPrawn]

So, is US medical insurance cheaper than around 26% NI tax in UK?

NI has nothing to do with funding the NHS.

NI and income tax go into the same pot and are spent on paying for gold plated public sector pensions. The NHS is paid for by borrowing and printing money.

[AtW]

So, is US medical insurance cheaper than around 26% NI tax in UK?

[BlasterBates]

Always have medical insurance in the US

don’t try your luck by going to the U.S. without adequate hospital insurance. If you don’t have insurance and suddenly need treatment, be prepared for a very bad experience.

[fullyautomatix]

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

The way it works is, if you have insurance, the hospital sends the bill to the insurance company. The insurance company have well trained operatives who will eventually get the bill down to 20% of the original bill.

If you have no insurance and if you dont query the bill you will get fleeced. I have heard stories of someone admitted for one day for a minor operation and billed 150K. The bill had lots of items for doctor visits that never happened. Upon querying all the items the bill got reduced to 25K ( which in itself is pretty big but that is another matter )

[SimonMac]

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

And so they should

[BlasterBates]

Hence my asking. As I understand as a single person you may indeed be better off by skipping on insurance etc
Also opens up the whole US market which isn't tiny.

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

[yasockie]

is the US contractor friendly ? from an overall money making perspective i thought that it was better to have a job over there due to healthcare costs, 401k pensions etc

i would be interested to know if this wasnt the case

Hence my asking. As I understand as a single person you may indeed be better off by skipping on insurance etc
Also opens up the whole US market which isn't tiny.

[AtW]

How did you get in then?

FTV work permit of course - no recruitment agents involved!