Taking your Brit to the US

Or are the US immigration officers more relaxed than the UK ones?

Heck no!  Hope he's not coming through Philadelphia.  Every time DH come that way, they give him a really hard time -- and he has the visa waiver.  He gets all kinds of stuff, like weren't you just here a month ago?  Why are you here so often? So he goes into the whole routine: American wife living here, etc. etc.  One IO had the gall to ask him why his wife doesn't move to the UK!! Well yeah, but, excuse me, I am an American citizen and have every right to live here.  And its none of his business anyway!
What helps though is getting them chatting about local sports teams (Red Sox, in our case)  Seems to soften them up.

He's flying straight in to Tampa. Now I'm getting really, really nervous. He has to come to the US so we can qualify for our unmarried partner visa!

I have done this too.  My Wife came over to the US to visit her brother, at that time we started dating, long story (seriously) short, we got married and she lived in SW Florida with me.  We moved in to a wonderful little house in a vacation area.  For the first couple of months that she lived in the US it was fine, we lived in an area that had a lot of Brits come on holiday and that meant that stores carried all the things that she would have missed otherwise.  It was a holiday spot so her friends and family flew over every few months, so I am sure that it felt like a holiday.  I was the only one working, as we were waiting for all her paperwork to get processed.  So when people came by it was easy for her to spend the time that she wanted to, going to the beach and just having fun.  I think it was easier for her then.  We lived in Florida for 2 ½ years before moving up to Iowa to be closer to my family.  We had our first child and wanted a little more support.  If any of you have been to Iowa in the winter, you will know that it is not a place that anyone will fly for a holiday, and the weather is just so bad that you never get out of the house.  She is a warm weather kind of girl.  She is miserable up here and it is hard to see her have to go through it.  I know that it isn't only the weather; it is the lack of anything “old” the places are lifeless and gray.  There is no real colour around; it is either Green or White.  It has been a very hard adjustment for her.  There is no culture and there very few people who have actually traveled outside of the US. She doesn't relate to anyone here and it is hard for her. She has put up with it for almost 2 years now.  We are planning our move back to the UK in less then a year now.  We are still waiting for her Citizenship papers to be done.  When that is sussed then we will move back the UK.  I think it is her time to be comfortable for a while.  I don't think that once we move to the UK she is going to want to come back in any hurry.  At least not to the Midwest, maybe Florida again, if the housing market fixes itself and we can find a place we can afford.

Hey Chad.  I remember Iowa winters well, and I feel for your wife.  I'm sorry she's had such a hard time in the US.  I hope you'll find it easier in the UK.

She is a Brit so I am sure that she will be loving it.  I am happy to tell you that we have talked about everything that has to happen before and after and both she and I are not walking into this with rose coloured glasses. She has been gone for 6 years now and knows that everything has changed and that we are going to have to struggle for a little to get a job and house and all that.
It is well enough time for her to be in some sort of comfort zone, and I will be the one adjusting.  I am looking forward to the experience and know that it will be as hard for me as it is for her.  But I am up for a challenge. 
Tin, I will relay your sympathy.  She likes to hear that other people don't think that the winters are just normal and just something to get used to.  -36 F on our coldest day this year, No one gets used to that.

She likes to hear that other people don't think that the winters are just normal and just something to get used to.  -36 F on our coldest day this year, No one gets used to that.

Heeee - I'm originally from Kansas, and I HATE winter!    That's why I moved to Tampa Bay back in 1997, and now wouldn't you know it - I ended up in northern England.    Still it's not as bad here as the Midwest, that's for sure!  Good luck. 

OK, so I decided to read this entire thread just to see what it's like going to "other" way.  However, I had one thing to question....

It gave him a good idea of what it's actually like in Florida though: Mostly empty, but with lots of cows and cars on cinder blocks...

I've never heard of cows being on cinder blocks.  Is this a Florida thing?

-36 F on our coldest day this year, No one gets used to that.

I grew up in Wisconsin, and I actually miss the bitter cold.  It really gives you something to complain about. 

I grew up in Wisconsin, and I actually miss the bitter cold.  It really gives you something to complain about. 

I used to think that too when I was down in Florida, and I would tell my Wife that it isn't that bad and it is good for the soul to experience it.  But then when you have to deal with it for 30 or 45 days of below zero with a 2 year old and a dog.  I guess she just gets tired.  I know I grew up with it and I do too. 
I think the thing that she gets tired of the most is people around here seem to take it personally when she complains about the weather.  They just jump all over her and say its Iowa what did you expect. 
She always tells me "I'm English we complain about the weather, it's what we do"
But soon enough we will be out of it and she will be closer to her comfort zone.

She always tells me "I'm English we complain about the weather, it's what we do"

LOL! That is definitely true! It could be a nice, mild day outside, but maybe a bit of drizzle and everyone walks around scowling about the weather. It cracks me up! I'd take it over 100F + for 4 or 5 months out of the year, but everyone here thinks they would actually enjoy living in a Texas summer. HA! DH nearly passed out in March, it was hotter then than on the hottest summer day here in the north of England. But, it gives people something to talk about, and I think it's just a way of making small talk, so I never think much of it.
Sorry to hear she is having such a hard time. I know DH would've struggled if he had been the one to move. Dallas would just be too big, too busy, too noisy, and too hot for him to handle. He loved it when I took him camping in Arkansas, though. If we ever did move to the states, it would have to be a small city or town, somewhere quiet with some nice scenery, someplace warm but with lots of air conditioning!  Tricky....  Maui, maybe?