The V

My theory, aside from the reflexive privacy of "it's none of your business!", is that money is tied up very much into 'worth' and accomplishment in our culture.  So how much you make (or don't) is an implicit indicator of one's status and value.  And unlike more traditionally class-bound societies, with ours it's a direct statement about YOU - not your family, where you came from or any of that.  It's a much more directly personal mirror (or so it's viewed).

One assumes it's a relic of Puritan cultural norms, where being rich meant you were going to heaven.

--Alex

Puritan or Calvinist?

Despite it being the one iconic American city I never really wanted to visit (unlike, say, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, etc), I might be moving to LA this summer.

My girlfriend's pushed her music career about as far as it will go in Dubai (almost nowhere, basically) and while she's making decent money recording ad jingles and the like, she really wants to get out of here. The biggest thing is being able to perform her own music;. She's not even bothered about a big contract - a good thing, given the parlous state of the music industry right now - so long as she can build enough of a fanbase to get regular bookings at clubs and the like. We're looking at a three-to-four-month stay to see how things go, with the possibility of extending it if it all takes off.

We're okay for accommodation - our friend, a producer, says he can help us with that - and we've got some savings. But I'm not quite sure what I'll do to bring in the money. After two-and-a-quarter years on a weekly entertainment magazine I'd probably be quite happy with a nice, undemanding job in a video store or something. But that seems like a bit of a waste. What's the situation out there for jobs - full-time, part time or freelance - for a writer? Subbing, copy writing, PR work, ad work, whatever.

I'm English and can play up the flappy, adorable Hugh-Grant-circa-1995 thing if that helps.

Also, what should I be thinking about for a move like this? Health insurance? Learning to drive? Mailing over a big batch of non-corn-syrup products?

Your Work Visa should be the first concern, I'm not sure US Border Security is that keen on having people come across without having a firm job at the other end. (And this will help in getting an apartment as well, unless you have a big wodge of cash to shove in front of someone's face).

Health insurance is a must, and you might need to get dental insurance as well if it's not covered. The one time I went through LA it didn't seem pedestian friendly so learn how to drive.

Be prepared to have people not understand what you are saying simply because you have a unfamiliar accent.

Oh! And enjoy.

Your tourist visa for the US will not permit you to work (we don't do 'working holidays') so you're either going to have to work illegally, under-the-board, or get a better visa in you want to work in the US.  Since you can freelance and theoretically be working for anyone from anywhere, you might be able to fuzz things up a little.  If it's a US-based employer gig, though, they could report out your earnings and create a headache for you.  I dunno.

Not driving/having a car in LA is a problem if you don't have the friend taxi service.  There is public transit, but using it exclusively to get around will be less than satisfying.

Health insurance... um, yeah.  It's essentially employer-based here, so that brings you back to the work visa thing.  That, and you'd need/want to get a job that provides it (not all do).

The limit on the Visa Waiver Program (which lets tourists and the like enter the US) is 90 days. You cannot work under this non-visa legally.

Getting a visa to the US that lets you work is extremely difficult. You need two things - a job, and a degree (or 12 years experience in your field). They don't give visas to people who want to work in video stores, they're for skilled workers only. You also need to get on the waiting list way in advance because these visas run out fairly early in the year because many, many people want to work in the US. Your prospective employer also needs to shell out about a grand and a half for the Homeland Security screening process. It is NOT an easy process and I thank the heavens I didn't need to go through it because I'm technically Australian as well as British. If you happen to be Australian, you are sorted regarding waiting lists and fees and such.

You should not be thinking about health insurance on a 3-4 month stay, you should be getting travel insurance, which will be a fuck-ton cheaper. Don't think about investing any serious kind of money until you know you can get a visa sorted out.

Wait - is your girlfriend American? If so, marry her, and all the problems go away.

Not driving/having a car in LA is a problem if you don't have the friend taxi service

Locking's doing fine without a car, isn't he?

a grand and a half for the Homeland Security screening process

That is insane.

If you happen to be Australian, you are sorted regarding waiting lists and fees and such.

I thought getting an Aussie passport/working visa was even more difficult than the US

>>people who want to work in video stores, they're for skilled workers only<<

I used to work in a video store, you son of a bitch.

My visa cost the company $11,000 in processing fees alone.

<-Locking's doing fine without a car, isn't he?->

a) Nick works from home.

b) Nick has the Dan Evans taxi service.

c) Nick is getting a car.

<-Wait - is your girlfriend American? If so, marry her, and all the problems go away.->

Well, a lot of them.  He'll still have hoops to jump through to get his spousal visa all sorted.

Man, I'm so glad I have US citizenship - it'd be such a headache to get here otherwise.

If you're rich, there's always the EB-5 visa :)

As Jason says, I work from home and people give me rides occasionally. I still need to cab places sometimes. LA is not doable long-term without a car - I wish it was but it just isn't.

Yeah, I'm still amazed that Han lasted as long as he did.  Clearly, it was enabled by his living proximity to his job.  But still, it was an impressive car-less run he had.

>>Man, I'm so glad I have US citizenship<<

If you didn't, it would mean you were a foreigner, and you'd get plenty of satisfaction talking about how shit the US is.

<<I thought getting an Aussie passport/working visa was even more difficult than the US>>

Oh, it is. But my parents were hellbent on it. This was around 1989. What they did was, had a look at what jobs Australia was looking at favourably for immigration purposes, and completely changed both of their careers to do it. My mother became a computer programmer, my dad became a nurse for the mentally handicapped.

Then we went to Australia, and they said "No.", which kind of sucked for my parents. So we went to New Zealand instead, and got citizenship there, which is easier than Australia. Then, using the NZ citizenship, we all got Australian citizenship, because Australia and New Zealand have a special relationship, being very close to each other.

Took until 1995! So yeah, Australia is not easy. But now I have three citizenships, and the Australian one let me get into the US - not super-easily, because it was still fucking difficult, but a lot more doable than under my UK citizenship.

Any children I have with a theoretical American woman would have four citizenships and be able to work and live pretty much anywhere in the world - privileged little fuckers, I hate them already.

<<Well, a lot of them.  He'll still have hoops to jump through to get his spousal visa all sorted.>>

Yeah, but these hoops are nothing compared to H-1B. Also, if you are legitimately with the person you claim to be married to, it all comes together fairly easily, just means going to some meetings and such.

Your mother was a programmer and your father was a nurse? What a twisted funhouse mirror of a childhood you must have had!

And they were both hippies. And most of my childhood was in South-East Asia or travelling to various other places.

Any children I have with a theoretical American woman would have four citizenships

did you just said children?

YOU?

If you need me I'll be in the nuclear shelter, stockpiling cans and weaponry, ta.

it's amazing you're not on some kind of watch list.

"the Australian one let me get into the US - not super-easily, because it was still fucking difficult, but a lot more doable than under my UK citizenship."

That's interesting, why is that?

Every nationality in the world that is not somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan or whatever gets into the US for the most part under the H-1B visa, which is a working visa that requires an employer to sponsor you. There's about 10,000 of these available per year (or some other fairly small limit) so they run out fucking fast, and if you don't get one in time, you're fucked. There are a few other visa options, but this is the main one.

Bush and Howard (the Australian version of Bush) signed a trade agreement in 2004 that created the E-3 visa, which made it a lot easier for Australians to work in the US and Americans to work in Australia. Essentially, there's 10,000 of these each year, and they've never run out because there aren't that many Australians. There's also no need to go through the Homeland Security screening process, so all you need to do is have an employer and a degree (12 years experience in your field equivalent to a degree, which my visa application has, even though if you think about it that means I started professional computer programming when I was 14).

So basically I am the luckiest fucker in the world. I've received two of these visas now, one I didn't end up using and one that I'm here under now that expires next June. They're renewable indefinitely, though, so I'm pretty much sorted.

The only complication is that the H-1B is a dual intent visa - that means you can use it and also apply for a green card while you're using it. The E-3 visa is NOT a dual intent visa, so you aren't supposed to apply for citizenship while you're using it. People have applied for green cards while here under E-3 and been told not just 'No' but also to 'get the fuck out' for gaming the system in a way it's not meant to be. Trouble is, it's a very vaguely defined matter and there are reports of people getting away with it just fine because it's such a new piece of immigration legislation. I'm really not going to risk it, and will just keep doing the E-3.

"Howard (the Australian version of Bush) signed a trade agreement in 2004 that created the E-3 visa"

What do you know, we did get something out joining the War on Terror after all. Sorry about that lake of sewage in downtown Baghdad dudes, but I get to live in Flint, Michigan if I want to so it's all worthwhile. (Actually I would just get a spouse visa for Canada and visit occasionally, but still.)

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I pretty much danced my way into my current non-UK job, so I guess that's left me with a fairly naive attitude towards these things.

My girlfriend's Indian, and marrying her would probably cause more problems than it would solve. Ta for the advice, though. Looks like a 90-day holiday visa and some long-distance freelancing might be the way forward.

90 days are not extendable but you can get a second and maybe even a third if you take a week out in say Canada or Mexico. Just don't do it on day 89, try for day 70 or something. Though be aware that if you fuck it up or get stuck with a dickhead behind the desk, you might not be allowed back in. Smile and be very very very polite to the nice officer.

Or you can actually cross the border at Mexico if you take a Mexican bus and simply a) have a valid passport (don't even need to get an entry stamp) and most importantly b) aren't Mexican!

Well a friend of mine who lives in SF wants to do a Mexico trip with us anyway, so that could be a plan.