retirement to florida
 

Hi, I am new to the forum and would like some help/advice. My Wife and I and two children aged 6 and 8 want to move permanently to Florida. We are very fortunate that our investments/savings means we do not have to work in the USA but would want to live there permanently, therefore at some point requiring green cards. We have looked at the $500000 EB5 investment visa however you are at risk not only to lose your investment but also your green cards as if the investment goes bust you have not indirectly employed the 10 Americans for 2 years as the stipulations require. Eb2 visas require a minimum 51% investment in a US business but as I have recently retired here in the UK, I ideally would not want to operate on a daily basis another business in Florida. Also I believe it does not lead to a green card . What is the quickest, easiest and of course legal way to get out there. Has anyone got any suggestions ????

Aside from the legal and financial questions, have you spent any considerable amount of time in Florida, including during the summer time? We lived for three eternal years in Houston, and we found the heat and humidity to be very disagreeable.

You are unlikely to get answers to your very specific questions here--what you will get instead is lots of people telling their stories of retirement, and/or questioning your choice of Florida. So enjoy those, but in the meantime, I think you really need to find an immigration lawyer to consult. Good luck! (I live in Florida, and it's pretty great!)

You need to go to an Immigration attorney to get all the details of what you want to do. While people here know something about tourist and student visas - we really aren;t expert on immigration - and this is something it's easy to get wrong. Spring for the money for an expert.

Also - agree that unless you have spent a whole summer in Florida there is no way I would consider moving there. I had 2 sets of uncles/aunts who retired there and neither one - from NYC or Boston - could deal with the summers. One set came and spent June through Sept with their kids in NY every year - until they entered assisted living and gave up going outdoors for 4/5 months a year. The others would visit different kids in other parts of the country on a rotating basis each summer - and after about 5years sold out and moved to VA. Now VA can also be hellishly hot in the summer - but summers are shorter and you do get 4 seasons - which is one of the things they missed most in FL (as well as not being able to go outdoors 4 months a year).

I do agree that if you consider the weather in Florida so heinous as to literally not be able to go outdoors for 4 months out of the year (!!), it is not the place for you.

Give this guy a call

http://www.jaypeakresort.com/eb5-visa/about/

FWIW, my in-laws have had a place in Florida for the past 22 years. We have been there once, our youngest children(19), never.

Mark

I imagine the idea of not being able to go outside for 4 months was not meant strictly literally, but that you would limit your time outdoors to essentials (ie going to the store), and some activities could only be done at night or very early morning. I have a friend who lives in Gainesville which is in the north central area, certainly not the worst at all, and even she told me that one summer a few years ago, it was over 90 or 95 for 3 months in a row, every day! Something like that, and she also says she really limits her time outdoors in the summer (she loves to garden and says she just has to get it done by 10 am or something in the summer). It's not like being in a more moderate area where you may want to do some outdoor activities during the day. And that's not even that hot an area.

But I think the OP knows exactly what he wants, seems very sure of it so must have spent time in Florida. Lots of people with lots of money do live in Florida, although I think many of them leave in the summer as they have multiple homes (celebrities, for example).

Maybe an attorney who specialized would know some way of getting that investment visa easily, if you have $500K to invest. I sure wouldn't do it, but you never know. It does sound dicey by any measure as it is provisional, can be revoked, and there are only 10K of those given out each year, anyway. I think that's what the above link is for.

YOu could become an informant to US law enforcement/govt, that might do it (don't suppose you know any secrets or criminals hiding in UK , and you are not a spy). If you have no family or possible job ties, then I agree it is tough. I know people who have done it but it was always through job offers. They were nothing extraordinary that no American could do their job, either, but somehow they got one (one was Danish and one was Canadian), I think businesses have a way of smoothing that if they really want to hire someone.

I'm actually surprised it's that hard for someone who is self-supporting and has a big bank account and is retired, so clearly wouldn't be taking jobs or needing govt benefits. I suppose some of those reasons can be fudged, though.

I HAVE spent "a whole summer" not only IN Florida (I live here) but in SOUTH Florida. I can tell you this much: yes, it is humid here just as it is humid in a lot of places in the US. Yes, it gets hot here in the summer. Since I live right on the beach we usually have high 80 degree and low ninety degree summer days.

When I lived in Virginia we got 90 degree days there, too, and it felt just as hot. If you do not like humidity, etc., you might wish to reconsider. Otherwise, many of us feel the climate is ideal, especially in the winter. Tax situation, other than property tax, is better than many other parts of the US including the lack of state income tax and inheritance taxes.

I agree you need an attorney to advise you as to your other issues.

While I have no ideas, another post supporting my immigration plan - open the borders to anyone who is self-supporting, not a drain on US economy or benefits, has a sponsor, etc. It is ridiculous that someone with situation as described in OP could not move here to live.

Thanks Everyone, for the avoidance of doubt, Florida IS where we want to move too, so it is just a case of how/when we can get there as a family.

You might want to contact the relocation specialists at The Villages

www.thevillages.com

A substantial number of full-time retirees there are British, so they probably have staff people on hand who can give you some good advice, even if it's not official.

As you have young children (and I'm guessing that you're both under 55, but who knows these days), you can't retire there even if you wanted to but nonetheless, I'd still give them a call or drop them an email.

Have you thought of contacting the people from the British TV show, A Place in the Sun? http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/usa.aspx

What do you mean you can't go outside in the summer? We love it in the summer. I miss the beach right now.
Not the Villages! That is for old people without kids. You know the villages have the highest rate of STDs in the state?

People also keep getting caught having sex in public at the Villages. I don't know why, but best to stay away :-)

The Villages is apparently some sort of right-wing political enclave, at least that is what we keep hearing down here in commie/gay/more Jewish South Florida.

Well, you know how those rock-ribbed Republicans like to get down!

Oh dear lord, NOT the Villages! North Central Florida is absolutely awful. Far from the beach (and its breezes), zero culture, a horrifying mixture of un-quaint rural America and the worst of suburban sprawl. I can think of few places that would be more horrific than that!

Did any of you actually READ my post or just see "The Villages" and jump into snark mode? I did NOT recommend moving to the villages (the OP has young kids and are probably too young themselves anyway). I DID say that there are many British retirees living there full-time (the OP is British) and their relocation specialists might have some good advice to pass on about relocating to the state from the UK. End of.

We once spoke with their relocation specialists about something related to my parents living situation (actually my mother's, it was right after my father suffered sudden cardiac death) and even though we made it clear none of us were moving to The Villages or even planning to, they were still helpful and kind and gave us useful advice.

And friends of my parents living there (a Fodorite has lived there as well) so apparently even non-right wing, non-promiscuous people can thrive there despite the Fodorite snobbery and sniggering.

Weisser tee, so sorry but the villages are the butt of so many jokes in central Fl. The most recent was the drunk driving on golf carts. They all drive carts everywhere and they had to install cross arms at stops to make them stop. They put cameras on them and they still plowed through the arms. As far as the sex goes it is a huge problem as the older crowd does not seem to think they need protection. I DO see where you said they could not retire there but they would find a way if they could sell you a home. I would do the coast for the cooler temps and beautiful beaches.

<As far as the sex goes it is a huge problem as the older crowd does not seem to think they need protection. >
Of any kind, including shelter.

Yep, nobody in The Villages is screwing around...what a BIGOT.

I live in NYC but I'd love to retire to the U.K. Perhaps our governments could arrange a swap.

Fra, I will swap with them also.


The Villages have recently added an infectious disease ward to treat syphilis, gonorrhea and a host of other diseases they trade back and forth to each other. Doctors say that the number of herpes cases reported at The Villages dwarf that of Miami and are among the highest in the nation. We always get these facts at cpr classes. The firemen/emts are the best at telling the stats. The highest amount of HIV is now among heterosexual seniors and college students who use unprotected sex.

This is really about relocating and we are probably scaring the op. I would look at New Smyrna Beach area. Really a nice mix of people, low crime and close to major airports and lovely beaches.