Any advice or suggestions?

(mods......please move this topic if I've put it in the wrong section)

My husband and I are still in the planning stages for our move but still go back and forth on a few points.  We're kind of lost as to what to do.  

A bit of background.  I'm American and he's English.  He came to the States when we got married.  We want to move back to England in sept. or oct. 2004.  This is where our dilema begins.

We're not sure if he should go over several months before me and try and find work and housing.  We're not sure if anyone would hire him knowing that shortly he would need a week or 2 off to come get me.  He says that me flying over by myself isn't an option this time because I will be leaving my country and I'll have the worry of our 2 cats as well.  I tend to agree and really would want him with me for support.

Are there any others here who just left one country for another without housing or a job?  We would have brief housing with his parents so we wouldn't be totally homeless (we could live them as long as we needed but they have 2 dogs who don't like cats so we would have the expense of boarding the cats).  Is it possible to get housing from the States over in England?  Will anyone trust us to rent us a flat since we don't have a rental history in England?

We've thought about making a brief trip over in May to look at different areas to settle in and where the best job market is.  We really want to settle within a 2 hr radius of his family, preferrably less than 2 hrs though.  They live in the north in the Lincolnshire area.

I know my post is kind of rambling but I don't know where to turn for advice or help.  We know moving to England is the right move but we just don't know exactly how to go about it.  We plan to have plenty of savings to live on until a job comes about but the less we have the spend of that, the better.

Any suggestions?  Words of advice?  A shoulder to cry on?  Anything would be of help .

Thanks in advance,
Cleacia
Texas

Hi Cleacia,

If you're worried about having to have immediate housing for visa purposes, your in-laws place will be proof enough of housing for that.  You just have to get a letter from them and a copy of their mortgage papers showing they own the place.  (And if they are renting, you just need a letter from the landlord saying it's okay for you to live there and a copy of the rental agreement.)

It would be different if you weren't married because he would have to have fund to support you for a while, but as you are married and presumably both able to work, you really don't need to have a job first before moving over.  Unless of course you just wanna!  

Hope that helps a bit and good luck with your move!

Thanks and it does help .

My in laws own their home and would have no problem getting us copies of their mortgage, thankfully.  If they had more room, then we could stay with them for a long time but we don't want to become a burden to them.  We're hoping to be able to find housing there within a couple of weeks.

It's all kind of scary giving up all that is a familiar to go to the unfamiliar.  We just want to be organized and get all our eggs in a basket.....lol.

Cleacia
Texas

Best of luck to you cleacia...my hubby and i live in england but someday we mite move to the US...it takes a while to feel at home in a place that wasnt your home but you learn to appreciate some of the differences and to cope with issues that come up...let us know how it goes and when you move...again best of luck...  we live in the southeast and the area is beautiful...but most of the jobs are in the bigger cities not here in eastbourne....