5 ms·

I left the UK for the US in 2019. My I-485 was approved this week. I haven't been able to travel back to the UK since 2019 first because of Covid and then becau

by bsnnkv 4y ago

I left the UK for the US in 2019. My I-485 was approved this week. I haven't been able to travel back to the UK since 2019 first because of Covid and then because of the pending I-485 petition. I'll be going back for the first time once my card is delivered. Reading about what has been happening over the past years in the UK while sitting in the US is really strange. Sometimes it feels like reading about a cartoonish banana republic in a novel aimed at young teenagers.

Aachen 4y ago
Not sure everyone here speaks UK form numbers. An I-what?
- rwmj 4y ago
  It's a US permanent residence form.
- vel0city 4y ago
  Not a UK form, US form. USCIS I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status https://www.uscis.gov/i-485 https://www.uscis.gov/i-485
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- nova22033 4y ago
  It's a green card.
themihai 4y ago
Media always exaggerates. UK will be fine even if it has lost its shine.
- dazc 4y ago
  This likely applies to most countries - there are two versions of the UK, a media-controlled whiny, everything is terrible version and another version where most people go out in the morning and just get on with it. I have lived in countries that are so corrupt and incompetent where I wonder how anything ever works at all and yet I never read how terrible these places are in the media?
- monk_e_boy 4y ago
  As someone who works in education, we education nurses, the public services (think police, fire, army etc) IT, coding, space tech, brickies, chefs, etc etc etc .... so many lecturers have an exit plan, or are already gone. The very foundadtions of the country are being removed. How do you run an economy when there's no one educated enough to do it? Even if we drop 1% of the future leaders, business owners, start up founders, and whatever .... what is the UK then? I don't think we'll be fine, we're slowly sinking and everyone is banging pots for the NHS and saying 'keep calm!' and selling their houses to AirBNB lettting agents and NOT VOTING and we still have the most stupid voting system on planet earth so nothing can change.
  - themihai 4y ago
    Italy has been a "mess" for decades and it's still fine. Of course it's no longer a world leader but life is not that bad in Italy.
Proven 4y ago
gw98 4y ago
So you traded our bananas republic for a gun toting corporatocracy with low employment protection and comedy healthcare and no food standards. I'm not sure who's worse off.
- FpUser 4y ago
  Personally they might still be doing way better in the US and that is all that really matters.
  - gw98 4y ago
    For now. I know someone who was "doing waaay better in the US", took 3 weeks of leave and came back to a huge series of lay offs, market saturation, unemployment with no healthcare then his visa renewal was declined. So he had to spend his last wedge of cash getting back to the UK... Took a position with 2/3 of the US salary but actual tangible security.
    - FpUser 4y ago
      It is all individual. One can find good and bad examples in either country. But one can't make generalization based on "I know someone".
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  I'm personally better off. Not sure that would be the case for you or others. Re: food- Fresh produce in the PNW is incomparable imo. Never had anything like it in the world. In the UK I was largely limited to Sainsbury's etc., which have pretty poor quality food and produce. Here in the PNW the variety (and quality) far exceeds what was available to me in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Greater London (not sure about other parts of the country). It's a very pleasant luxury to not be limited to supermarkets.
- extasia 4y ago
  I don't love the US system but our NHS isn't anything to shout about, I got quoted a 4 year waiting period just to see an ADHD specialist.
blibble 4y ago
> Reading about what has been happening over the past years in the UK while sitting in the US is really strange. Sometimes it feels like reading about a cartoonish banana republic in a novel aimed at young teenagers. that's funny as that's exactly what we think about the US (especially its political system) this was particularly terrifying to watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-63417249 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-63417249
- nova22033 4y ago
  The preview on that video has Dr. Oz with a shotgun. Dr. Oz lost.
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  I think as a Brit I'm still technically in the "We". ;) What I have realized since living in the US is that every state is wildly different. Even regions within states are wildly different. Of course, I knew this before moving here, but it's a different thing entirely to experience it. There are definitely big issues in US politics, at the federal level, at the state level and at the city/regional level. But if you don't like somewhere, you can move. I live in Seattle, for example, where a significant number of LGBTQ+ young adults move from all over the country. The UK in comparison feels incredibly homogeneous, diversity of regional accents aside. London dominates the entire country both politically and economically. The impacts of poor governance at the country level are felt everywhere and cannot really be offset by regional authorities.
  - ClumsyPilot 4y ago
    > The impacts of poor governance at the country level are felt everywhere and cannot really be offset by regional authorities Reguonal authorities seem to have just enough power so that central government can blame them when something goes wrong, but nothing of substance. The pinnacle of their day seems to be a pay dispute with the bin collectors or blocking someone from converting their loft because they submitted the request on the wrong kind of paper. The only chance for UK to turn around is constitutional change, for example federalisation
- 4y ago
frereubu 4y ago
The FT journalist Stephen Bush had a great tweet along these lines, although his point was more about how we write about other countries: 'Analysts believe that the return of 'Bambo' Johnson, the controversial strongman whose protectionist policies have been criticised for the country's sluggish growth rates, will bring little respite to the troubled country.' https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1583375789630054400 https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1583375789630054400
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  This is great!
LMYahooTFY 4y ago
Can you tell me about your experience with I-485 adjustment? What visa did you adjust from? Did you decide not to apply for advanced parole? About to go through the process, any tips would be greatly appreciated.
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  I initially entered the US on an L1 visa. Somewhere along the way I met my wife and we got married, so my I-485 was a family-based petition. I used the same lawyer (privately) that my company used for the L1 petition to file I-485, I-130, I-765 and I-131 concurrently. I-765 was approved for me after 32 days, the day after I went to give my biometrics. This was important for me because the new legal team at my company were dropping the ball quite a lot with my L1 extension at the time (it was later approved with 1 day to spare...) Although I got the I-765 card, the I-131 petition has not even been looked at yet, so although I applied for Advanced Parole, in practice the petition will just be cancelled/voided because the green card will have been issued before the I-131 has a chance to be adjudicated. This seems to be in line with a recent change in USCIS policy to prefer producing individual I-765 and I-131 cards vs. the previous preference to issue combo cards (which took longer). The I-485 and I-130 petitions were approved on the same day after 154 days of processing time, and surprisingly my wife and I were not called for an interview. Hope this helps!
satysin 4y ago
Being in a similar boat to you (having left the UK in 2018) you won’t really find much is different on a visit except prices are a bit higher than you might remember. All these things in the news are very real but you only really feel them when you live there and your bills are higher than last month, etc It’s quite strange feeling like a “foreigner” in your home country but I suspect you will feel it just as I did when I visited last year.
- jemmyw 4y ago
  > It’s quite strange feeling like a “foreigner” in your home country It's a bizarre feeling. I visited the UK in 2014 after being away since 2007. I felt so odd and displaced there, I couldn't wait to leave again. Not a reflection on the place, although I was disappointed by how unfriendly people were - almost like all the friendly Brits have left and are the ones I meet overseas.
  - bsnnkv 4y ago
    Mirrors my experience. Despite living in a city known for being quite "cold" (the "Seattle Freeze"), I have found it far easier to make friends here than I ever did in the UK. Even in one of the supposedly most unfriendly cities in the US, I find the vibe far more friendly than in the UK on average.
    - jemmyw 4y ago
      I have a feeling it's just the effect of being an expat. The reason I think that is I recall an Irish friend who went to the UK (from NZ where we both lived at the time) and commented his surprise that the English were the friendliest people he'd ever met.

by bsnnkv 4y ago

Aachen 4y ago

Not sure everyone here speaks UK form numbers. An I-what?

rwmj 4y ago
It's a US permanent residence form.
vel0city 4y ago
Not a UK form, US form. USCIS I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status https://www.uscis.gov/i-485 https://www.uscis.gov/i-485
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nova22033 4y ago
It's a green card.

themihai 4y ago

Media always exaggerates. UK will be fine even if it has lost its shine.

dazc 4y ago
This likely applies to most countries - there are two versions of the UK, a media-controlled whiny, everything is terrible version and another version where most people go out in the morning and just get on with it. I have lived in countries that are so corrupt and incompetent where I wonder how anything ever works at all and yet I never read how terrible these places are in the media?
monk_e_boy 4y ago
As someone who works in education, we education nurses, the public services (think police, fire, army etc) IT, coding, space tech, brickies, chefs, etc etc etc .... so many lecturers have an exit plan, or are already gone. The very foundadtions of the country are being removed. How do you run an economy when there's no one educated enough to do it? Even if we drop 1% of the future leaders, business owners, start up founders, and whatever .... what is the UK then? I don't think we'll be fine, we're slowly sinking and everyone is banging pots for the NHS and saying 'keep calm!' and selling their houses to AirBNB lettting agents and NOT VOTING and we still have the most stupid voting system on planet earth so nothing can change.
- themihai 4y ago
  Italy has been a "mess" for decades and it's still fine. Of course it's no longer a world leader but life is not that bad in Italy.

Proven 4y ago

gw98 4y ago

So you traded our bananas republic for a gun toting corporatocracy with low employment protection and comedy healthcare and no food standards. I'm not sure who's worse off.

FpUser 4y ago
Personally they might still be doing way better in the US and that is all that really matters.
- gw98 4y ago
  For now. I know someone who was "doing waaay better in the US", took 3 weeks of leave and came back to a huge series of lay offs, market saturation, unemployment with no healthcare then his visa renewal was declined. So he had to spend his last wedge of cash getting back to the UK... Took a position with 2/3 of the US salary but actual tangible security.
  - FpUser 4y ago
    It is all individual. One can find good and bad examples in either country. But one can't make generalization based on "I know someone".
bsnnkv 4y ago
I'm personally better off. Not sure that would be the case for you or others. Re: food- Fresh produce in the PNW is incomparable imo. Never had anything like it in the world. In the UK I was largely limited to Sainsbury's etc., which have pretty poor quality food and produce. Here in the PNW the variety (and quality) far exceeds what was available to me in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Greater London (not sure about other parts of the country). It's a very pleasant luxury to not be limited to supermarkets.
extasia 4y ago
I don't love the US system but our NHS isn't anything to shout about, I got quoted a 4 year waiting period just to see an ADHD specialist.

blibble 4y ago

> Reading about what has been happening over the past years in the UK while sitting in the US is really strange. Sometimes it feels like reading about a cartoonish banana republic in a novel aimed at young teenagers. that's funny as that's exactly what we think about the US (especially its political system) this was particularly terrifying to watch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-63417249 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-63417249

nova22033 4y ago
The preview on that video has Dr. Oz with a shotgun. Dr. Oz lost.
bsnnkv 4y ago
I think as a Brit I'm still technically in the "We". ;) What I have realized since living in the US is that every state is wildly different. Even regions within states are wildly different. Of course, I knew this before moving here, but it's a different thing entirely to experience it. There are definitely big issues in US politics, at the federal level, at the state level and at the city/regional level. But if you don't like somewhere, you can move. I live in Seattle, for example, where a significant number of LGBTQ+ young adults move from all over the country. The UK in comparison feels incredibly homogeneous, diversity of regional accents aside. London dominates the entire country both politically and economically. The impacts of poor governance at the country level are felt everywhere and cannot really be offset by regional authorities.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > The impacts of poor governance at the country level are felt everywhere and cannot really be offset by regional authorities Reguonal authorities seem to have just enough power so that central government can blame them when something goes wrong, but nothing of substance. The pinnacle of their day seems to be a pay dispute with the bin collectors or blocking someone from converting their loft because they submitted the request on the wrong kind of paper. The only chance for UK to turn around is constitutional change, for example federalisation
4y ago

frereubu 4y ago

The FT journalist Stephen Bush had a great tweet along these lines, although his point was more about how we write about other countries: 'Analysts believe that the return of 'Bambo' Johnson, the controversial strongman whose protectionist policies have been criticised for the country's sluggish growth rates, will bring little respite to the troubled country.' https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1583375789630054400 https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1583375789630054400

bsnnkv 4y ago
This is great!

LMYahooTFY 4y ago

Can you tell me about your experience with I-485 adjustment? What visa did you adjust from? Did you decide not to apply for advanced parole? About to go through the process, any tips would be greatly appreciated.

bsnnkv 4y ago
I initially entered the US on an L1 visa. Somewhere along the way I met my wife and we got married, so my I-485 was a family-based petition. I used the same lawyer (privately) that my company used for the L1 petition to file I-485, I-130, I-765 and I-131 concurrently. I-765 was approved for me after 32 days, the day after I went to give my biometrics. This was important for me because the new legal team at my company were dropping the ball quite a lot with my L1 extension at the time (it was later approved with 1 day to spare...) Although I got the I-765 card, the I-131 petition has not even been looked at yet, so although I applied for Advanced Parole, in practice the petition will just be cancelled/voided because the green card will have been issued before the I-131 has a chance to be adjudicated. This seems to be in line with a recent change in USCIS policy to prefer producing individual I-765 and I-131 cards vs. the previous preference to issue combo cards (which took longer). The I-485 and I-130 petitions were approved on the same day after 154 days of processing time, and surprisingly my wife and I were not called for an interview. Hope this helps!

satysin 4y ago

Being in a similar boat to you (having left the UK in 2018) you won’t really find much is different on a visit except prices are a bit higher than you might remember. All these things in the news are very real but you only really feel them when you live there and your bills are higher than last month, etc It’s quite strange feeling like a “foreigner” in your home country but I suspect you will feel it just as I did when I visited last year.

jemmyw 4y ago
> It’s quite strange feeling like a “foreigner” in your home country It's a bizarre feeling. I visited the UK in 2014 after being away since 2007. I felt so odd and displaced there, I couldn't wait to leave again. Not a reflection on the place, although I was disappointed by how unfriendly people were - almost like all the friendly Brits have left and are the ones I meet overseas.
- bsnnkv 4y ago
  Mirrors my experience. Despite living in a city known for being quite "cold" (the "Seattle Freeze"), I have found it far easier to make friends here than I ever did in the UK. Even in one of the supposedly most unfriendly cities in the US, I find the vibe far more friendly than in the UK on average.
  - jemmyw 4y ago
    I have a feeling it's just the effect of being an expat. The reason I think that is I recall an Irish friend who went to the UK (from NZ where we both lived at the time) and commented his surprise that the English were the friendliest people he'd ever met.