Uk Firefighter and family hoping to emigrate to US

Hi

Im new to the site and was wondering if I could get any advice or maybe someone has been through the process my wife and I are about to begin. I appreciate this is a site for US citizens moving to the uk, maybe there is a different site for me

My wife is a US citizen and we've been married for 8 years and she has right to remain in the UK and will be applying for her full Uk passport this month. We have just had twins ! who are now 3 months old so we need to get visa's etc for them. I assume I will have to apply for a spouse visa, but have no idea how long this takes ? We are keen to make the move ASAP. My wife and I are attempting to do all paperwork etc ourselves, it seems relatively straight forward, but just wondering how long this process is likely to take us?

My wife is a registered nurse (studied here in uk) so will have to sit the NCLEX exam etc to prove competency and attain her nursing registration. So we're hoping once she has done this she will have no problems trying to find work.

I am currently a full time firefighter (7 years) its my understanding that my qualifications are not recognized. So i have been studying for my degree in sport science which i will finish this summer. Im hoping that this will make me more employable and possibly give me more options when i arrive in the US. I have some coaching experience and would like to work with young people in some shape or form.

My wife is from the new england area and she has family in the vermont area. We are hoping to relocate to this area.

Im just a little concerned I will be unable to find work, can anyone recommend any agency's or places of work where I can forward a resume ?

Apologies if I have wasted anyones time but would appreciate any help or advice offered.


Vermonta

Hiya! Just wanted to say that your children are US citizens through their mom so they won't need visas....you need a CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) you can find the info here
http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/acs/passports/robirth4.html


Also, because your wife has been living here for 8 years, you can apply for your visa through DCF...direct consular filing. I believe they say to plan for it to take UP TO 10 months...but I'm not sure of the timeline anymore.

The DCF info for the London Embassy is here http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

Well, if you still want to continue with firefighting in some aspects, very few areas in the US have paid firefighters, most are volunteer.

You might have to retrain, but it will keep you in touch. 

Im just a little concerned I will be unable to find work, can anyone recommend any agency's or places of work where I can forward a resume ?

It would be a good start to narrow down where it is you are going to be relocating to and do more specific research that way. Vermont is a pretty rural place and its cities are quite small, so you may not get the same agencies that a larger city would have. 

That being said, when in doubt: monster.com and similar websites might help. I'd advise doing a search for the type of place you'd want to work in the area you plan on living: school? charities? local governments? Maybe they have job listings. And since getting your green card can take a bunch of months you have plenty of time to send out enquiries.

Best of luck!

Well, if you still want to continue with firefighting in some aspects, very few areas in the US have paid firefighters, most are volunteer.

You might have to retrain, but it will keep you in touch. 

Only rural areas and small towns operate with volunteer fire departments.

There are only 45000 people in the "greater" area of my US city, and we have a fire department with several stations. 

Well, as a former firefighter, and as usual with the US, it depends on your state. 

http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/census/summary.cfm 

Hi

There is a forum that might help you a bit.  It's for British Expats living in the USA.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57

As for being a firefighter, generally most departments will have a US citizenship requirement. There are some states that will allow a Green Card holder to apply however.

http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=955&itemID=23688&cookie%5Ftest=1

About 30% of American firefighters are career firefighters, and the rest are volunteers.  However, that majority of cities > 25,000 are protected by career firefighters, with the volunteers being far more popular in rural areas.

"Most of the career firefighters (73%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people.

Most of the volunteer firefighters (94%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 people, and more than half are located in small, rural departments protecting fewer than 2,500 people."