uk nurses who have come to the usa

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I am in the usvi, and have been here nearly a year, maybe all the nurses who have posted their news about immigration, can now post about the differences in the us hospitals. I dont think that american doctors and nurses fully understand where we come from, and the working environment of the nhs, its only when we get here that we can understand the differences. I am sure that stateside hospitals are different even from here. and that they also vary from state to state, but maybe nurses who are waiting to come will be able to pick up some tips and know more than us what to expect.

christine....from wales to scotland to united states virgin islands, and then to the states, in january.

well matey, your unsophisticated mouth proves my point exactly. cardiff born and bred here with a sense of humour to boot. sorry OG to disappoint you. and what's with that name? :)

A cheeky and surprising repost. A bit disappointed with myself really as, along with others, I failed to detect your patently obvious and downright clever use of your 'humour'. Damn, you're good.

Never mind, matey

I only use this name when I'm not being called Charlotte Church.

Cheers

OG

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Hey OG

the welsh - we are, as i speak with my charlotte church lilt, a lovely 'race' of people. i just don't choose to live there. it's too bloody cold and wet. and can be terribly unsophisticated :) - the village where i grew up has a pub and post office/grocers. and a lot of sheep. and farmers. and very little else :) hence my jetting off to warmer climes. so why aren't you staying, OG?

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ps can't we be friends? - oh and 'good one' kay :)

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Specializes in Emergency Staff.
nearly all the americans that you meet will tell you that they are scottish or irish...of course they mean from over 200 hundred years ago, and they all yearn to visit, and even live over there

is that in reply to me? if so it doesn't apply. my great grandparents were from italy and slovenia. i loved the time i spent in the uk and have friends who live there, that's why i'm choosing to move.

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Hey OG

the welsh - we are, as i speak with my charlotte church lilt, a lovely 'race' of people. i just don't choose to live there. it's too bloody cold and wet. and can be terribly unsophisticated :) - the village where i grew up has a pub and post office/grocers. and a lot of sheep. and farmers. and very little else :) hence my jetting off to warmer climes. so why aren't you staying, OG?

Hi Rob

I, like you, was born and brought up in south Wales. 3 years post registration, I left Wales and, after 6 years out of here, never planned on coming back (spent a lot of time in SE England - world's apart). Just so happened that due to my wife's family circumstances and an Army posting, that I came back to live in south Wales.

We're off to AZ as it's a good time to go. My kids are young enough for the move not to interfere with their schooling and social lives, my job has limited scope for promotion in Wales so I'd have to move elsewhere (the SE is less appealing when you're not single!), my wife is a RN/RM and travelled so she is keen to move on, and, as someone who never wanted to come back to Wales (for various reasons - mostly along your lines of not wanting to come back!), I won't miss it that much. It's time to move on again - I'm sure we'll regret it if we don't.

We are all very much looking forward to getting out of here ASAP - Vermont aren't exactly helping our cause with their lack of speed on the immigration front :angryfire

Cheers

OG

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Well I have just emigrated to the US two weeks ago to be precise and I can tell you nothing is very easy to sort out financially but nothing is impossible. I opened a bank account with Bank One now called Chase Bank ( it just changed) but It was the Bank of America whom I have nothing but praise for and am now banking with them they managed to sort out a bank loan with them for a car, and they have bent over backwards to help up out in fact credited our bank account with $210 to cover the car rental whilst they sorted us out.

The advice re the American Express Credit card is good, they dont transfer your balance over here but they do give you another card very easily. so you have 2 cards running the UK one and the US one. The advice is buy on the US one and they pay it off straight away and you have then established your first bit of credit history.

What you all need to be worried about is car insurance that is so steep it takes your breath away we have been quotes $300 per month- so bugger the cheap petrol you need to run the car on fresh air to make it pay. I have managed to get a quote for $236 and I will change my insuarance asap. Of course most companies wont touch you with a UK licence and you cant get a US one until you have your Social Security Number.

In fact you can do little without the number because it will control your life.

But we got ours within 7 days of applying.

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Hi Kay,

I have been following your journey in the journal and the threads. It's great to hear you are getting sorted. A note on the insurance, try AIG (I think that's right) they will insure based on UK driving history.

Could I ask a question or two? You flew out quite quickly after getting your visas didn't you? How long after your arrival did you go to the SS office to apply for your number?

Thankyou and keep posting, it helps me with the waiting. (packet 4 due next week, we hope)

K

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
Hi Kay,

I have been following your journey in the journal and the threads. It's great to hear you are getting sorted. A note on the insurance, try AIG (I think that's right) they will insure based on UK driving history.

Could I ask a question or two? You flew out quite quickly after getting your visas didn't you? How long after your arrival did you go to the SS office to apply for your number?

Thankyou and keep posting, it helps me with the waiting. (packet 4 due next week, we hope)

K

Hi we applied more or less immediatly, we arrived thursday eve but didnt apply til monday but we could have done it on the friday. It is a long wait but we noticed if you got to the office around 3.30 pm you would have less of a wait as it closes at 4.30pm and they want to go home lol. But phone and check what time the last person is let in because they are strict.

Also go to a Walmart and buy a cheap mobile phone around $40 dollars with $15 free calls on it and it will be a life saver. Buy the top up cards for $100 and you will be set for ages because it will take a week to get home phone and believe me you need a phone.

Everybody has been very helpful even when they cant if you know what I mean.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Oh yes got car insurance for less from a company called Safeways.

I can't tell you how long it takes to buy a car but it is a slow slow process even if you pick the first car you see. We spent all day friday in the car show room thought it was all sorted. went to pick up the car yesterday and spent a further 6 hours waiting for this and that and signed loads of documentation, and we arranged our own finance. It appears to be the normal here.

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Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.
Well I have just emigrated to the US two weeks ago to be precise and I can tell you nothing is very easy to sort out financially but nothing is impossible. I opened a bank account with Bank One now called Chase Bank ( it just changed) but It was the Bank of America whom I have nothing but praise for and am now banking with them they managed to sort out a bank loan with them for a car, and they have bent over backwards to help up out in fact credited our bank account with $210 to cover the car rental whilst they sorted us out.

The advice re the American Express Credit card is good, they dont transfer your balance over here but they do give you another card very easily. so you have 2 cards running the UK one and the US one. The advice is buy on the US one and they pay it off straight away and you have then established your first bit of credit history.

What you all need to be worried about is car insurance that is so steep it takes your breath away we have been quotes $300 per month- so bugger the cheap petrol you need to run the car on fresh air to make it pay. I have managed to get a quote for $236 and I will change my insuarance asap. Of course most companies wont touch you with a UK licence and you cant get a US one until you have your Social Security Number.

In fact you can do little without the number because it will control your life.

But we got ours within 7 days of applying.

hi Kay glad to hear you landed safely

can i just ask a couple of questions...? did bank of america take your uk credit history into consideration when they gave you the loan,? or did ogp help you out there i know its hard to start a credit history off, just wondered if ogp helped you out with that too

car insurance sounds a real pain, very expensive, but remember it should get cheaper (hopefully!)

good luck

claire

ooo p.s. what car did you buy???

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
hi Kay glad to hear you landed safely

can i just ask a couple of questions...? did bank of america take your uk credit history into consideration when they gave you the loan,? or did ogp help you out there i know its hard to start a credit history off, just wondered if ogp helped you out with that too

car insurance sounds a real pain, very expensive, but remember it should get cheaper (hopefully!)

good luck

claire

ooo p.s. what car did you buy???

No they couldnt care less re our credit history back in the UK. Yes in a way OGP helped out they gave us a letter recommending us ( a general one) but the Bank Manager at Bank of America, did all the hard work and really helped us, it took days. OGP did nothing else. There is a scheme I believe you can sign up to from UK. We did put down over $8000 in our money.

We bought a year old Dodge Caravan it is a MPV. We wanted room and comfort and affordable for us. Other people were buying big Nissans but they cost over $30000 and we couldnt commit to that as Dave hasnt got a job yet. The payments on the big nissan were over $500 even with our large deposit for 5 years!!! Our payments are only $220 per month. We do have to pay high interest rate of 9.5% but hey we our credit history going with any luck.

The price in the car window does not reflect taxes and admin costs which can increase payments by thousands.

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hi kay and claire, we just bought a 2 door vauxhall chevrolet sport....1997, cost us $5000 cash, and the insurance payment for 3d party fire and theft is $350 total, and $25 for the sticker on the windscreen which is the equivelant of uk road tax, no other admin costs or taxes for us so we were lucky,

have to sell it now and hopefully we wont lose too much on it, it hasnt really cost us much in maintenance apart from a couple of new tyres, we re-gas the air conditioning ourselves with a gadget that we bought here, only costs the price of the aerosol can now.

a typical island car, and it has served us well.

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