Hello! Our family of 5 is moving to London!

I am SO EXCITED to find someone who has even heard what a genetic counsellor is!  I have been looking into regulations in the UK and figuring out what it would take for me to get a work visa (I think I am able to get one because my spouse will have one?), so I will definitely be exploring that option once we've transitioned.

There are a few of us on the board with experience in living with rare (or not so rare in my case) genetic conditions. I'm struggling to get the info they want for the EDS patient registry because of how difficult the UK makes it to get your own test results. Really hoping they make progress on the disease in the near future, I'm tired of living with no real treatment options and only symptom management. But I also had counselling to help decide if I should have children. The counsellor provided so much more information than the geneticist so I have a lot of respect for your work!

London will have lots of opportunities, and many charities have counsellors as well.  Do you specialize in a specific disease or group of diseases?  Specific population? 

...If you haven't already, check out the Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellers (AGNC) and definitely the Genetic Counsellor Registration Board (GCRB). 

... And to echo KFdancer, if you're looking at this as (hopefully) permanent, make sure you guys have a Tier 2 visa, and not a Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) visa.  The latter (Tier 2 ICT) does NOT to permanent residence and you'll have to leave the UK at the end of it.

I have always worked in adult oncology.  I was aware of the registry but I am very appreciative of the additional information!  I am hoping the degree transfers relatively easier, although I will cross that bridge once we are settled.  I will need to connect with some fellow GCs that I have met through Twitter, LinkedIn, and professional interactions when the time comes.

Thank you, Aquila!

And since DH was recruited directly by a UK company, I assume his visa will be straight Tier 2, but I will check on that!

The counsellor provided so much more information than the geneticist so I have a lot of respect for your work!

It  is always nice to hear that someone found a visit with one of us helpful.  Good luck putting together your EDS information!  I thought privacy laws were strict in the US.  It will be interesting to explore in the UK!

Thanks, Margo!

I assume it’ll be a Tier 2 General but you know what they say about assuming.

Everything Aquila has said is true.  Please don’t let the UK make you feel as though your education is subpar.  It isn’t.  I promise.  But the UK LOVES bureaucracy and they love “UK qualifications” even more.  I say this as it can be a tough transition for the trailing spouse.  You may watch your husbands career flourish and feel as though you are back at the bottom rung of the ladder.  Hopefully this is not the case but better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.   

Thank God IT is not like that.  You can BS your way into anything.

Thank God IT is not like that.  You can BS your way into anything.

I’m just soooooo grateful I came for work and had the magical “UK experience”.  Thankfully my experience has set me up well with networking.

Thank God IT is not like that.  You can BS your way into anything.

Oh this is good to hear. 

Thank God IT is not like that.  You can BS your way into anything.

Television & film production, too. Nobody cares about qualifications in the US or the UK.

We did briefly consider renting our house, but the reality is that we will likely not move back to our current area, even if our time in the UK ends up being just a few years. But we are also hopeful that this will be a long term move.

We currently live in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  I won't lie, we have a great house, excellent schools, and a social net we have built up over 10 years.  But we have also started getting the "itch" to try new opportunities.  Staying here would be safe and easy.  But having the opportunity to experience another country and travel in our down time?  It's a terrifying adventure, but we are up for the challenge!

Hello from the resident NW London Evangelist and former resident of your current area!

Where in the Philly burbs? I came from one of those very walkable towns outside Philly, with a great high street, restaurants etc. Have found that NW6/NW2/NW3/NW10 in London is very similar. You sound more like the young families/restaurants/bookshops of West Hampstead and Hampstead are your vibe. (I'm trash, so it's Kilburn all the way for me.) Willesden Green offers much of the same, and you'll probably get a bit more space for your money. But don't discount South Kilburn, Belsize Park (Overground to Kings X, change to Victoria line to Oxford Circus), Swiss Cottage, Finchley Road-ish, and Kilburn Park/Queens Park (Bakerloo to Ox Circus). All those offer roughly the same lifestyle benefits plus cracking commute options.

Hello from the resident NW London Evangelist and former resident of your current area!

Where in the Philly burbs?

You are my new favorite person (although you have some competition with some of the other fine folks on this forum)!

We are from Jenkintown and have always coveted the neighborhoods of Chestnut Hill and even Doylestown. Definitely hoping to find something like that in our new area!

Thank you for the suggestions! A few were on the list, and you gave us some new ideas!  We do seem to be focused on 8-12 of the clock dial around the city and I’m starting to feel like we’re getting the lay of the land a bit. DH will be there for 2 weeks once his visa goes through and that will give us a chance to see things in person and really start narrowing options down.

Thank you, hms_seahorse!

We are from Jenkintown and have always coveted the neighborhoods of Chestnut Hill and even Doylestown. Definitely hoping to find something like that in our new area!

Then you'll love it here. It's a mix of leafy and urban. In West Hampstead, there's a wine shop where you can drink in with snacks (SUCH a change from PA's state stores), an indie bookshop that is an institution and social hub, a great butcher, always-packed greengrocer, and excellent restaurants galore. There's a top-notch farmer's market every Saturday. You can walk over to Finchley Road to go to one of the big cinemas (not America-big, but one has an IMAX auditorium, and the other has like 12 screens). You're walking distance to too many park spaces to count, including the one that hosts the local weekend ParkRun. You want all those hard-to-get ingredients? Head over to the Kilburn High Road, where you can source pretty much anything, plus the little Tesco and Sainsbury's have American sections, if that's your bag. Also over at Finchley Road: big Sainsbury's and Waitrose, both of which have US stuff and strong Kosher sections (v important for pickles), and a Virgin Active with all sorts of programmes for kids. There's a local cinema and theatre on the KHR that has all the indies, Monday films for £6, and theatre productions that regularly end up transferring to the West End. There's even a vegan-hippy shop that proves vegan hippy sorts are the same wherever you go (also they sell the best rocket aka arugula and I am obsessed with it???).

I can walk to work, and sometimes, unless I have specific plans, I don't actually leave a 2-mile radius from our flat for weeks on end. I've got culture, food, entertainment, nature, exercise and booooze all on my doorstep. And that's honestly the lifestyle I was angling for when I lived in downtown Phoenixville in PA. Except I still needed a car there, and now I have public transport. The area is very well connected for tube, overground, busses and Thameslink -- if you want to hit the beach, you can literally get on the Thameslink in Whamp and be in Brighton an hour later. Not the same as the Jersey Shore, but you're not moving here for the same!

Another bonus for you and the family: you'll live in the catchment area for the Royal Free Hospital, which is world-class. It's a six-minute Overground ride, in case they have an opening in your field. But UCLH is 20 minutes by tube, Middlesex Hospital like 20 by bus. So it would give you options as well.

DH will be there for 2 weeks once his visa goes through and that will give us a chance to see things in person and really start narrowing options down.

Thank you, hms_seahorse!

If you need any tips at all or a neighbourhood guide or someone to lead you directly to the dill pickle buckets, do not hesitate to shout. I genuinely believe one of the reasons my transition to/experience in the UK has been so happy is that we chose this area (husband was previously in Camden Town, and that would have driven me up the wall). You can be London-anonymous if you want to, or you can be a real part of the community (I will not reveal how well-known I am in the wine shop shhhhh). Also, I'm not a kids-person, but I know people with them, and the schools are generally good-plus, from what I understand.

Anyway, yeah, definitely don't discount other options, but I'm obviously a big fan of this area from that ex-Philly burbs perspective!

That's a great advertisement for London, HMS_Seahorse! 

That's a great advertisement for London, HMS_Seahorse! 

Wasn't it?  I was ready to give up my castle to move to London!

That's a great advertisement for London, HMS_Seahorse! 

Seriously!  And I'm always ragging on London on the odd occasion I brave the crowds (so.  many.  tourists.)

That's a great advertisement for London, HMS_Seahorse! 

I adore this neighbourhood!! For balance, I should say that it's still London -- there are a lot more people than in the Philly suburbs, it's sometimes dirty and noisy, and it's £££££ compared to outside-London. But I love it so much.

DH and I are actually looking at moving to the NW/W London area.    We used to live in Ealing and then we moved to Lewisham when our flat in Ealing started having big problems and the landlord wasn't particularly keen to address them.  We miss the more suburb/leafy feeling of the NW/W area... but suspect most flats are out of our price range nowadays.