Moving US from Dubai

ASALAM ALAIKUM AND HELLO,

I have a couple of questions I hope you can help

  1. Visa requirements - how is this obtained, and is this difficult to obtain? (for someone in the banking field/ forex market) What are employments opportunities?

  2. Living - how is one to go about arranging accommodation, is it expensive? Are there any additional fees to pay?

  3. How expensive is the lifestyle in US - Things like shopping, travel, food,Water electricity bills?

  4. Pakistani community - is there a big Pakistani community in US ? How easy is it for an ‘outsider’ to integrate in to an already established community?

  5. Healthcare - how does this work out? Do you need private healthcare?

Is there a particular dislike of Pakistanis?

6-I work in a bank as a credit analyst can I get this kind of a job there or something related to my filed .. ON THE OTHER HAND I am planning to enter in a medical field as a radiologist technian / sonographer) bz I heard there is good medical scope out there… Salaries are high… ?

My fiancé works in a forex market as a trader. (What would be the job opportunities for him) he is thinking to change his profession too due to financial crisis forex market s totally crashed…

Guyz please suggest something.. I am really WORRIED about him about OUR FUTURE

Due to financial crisi uae is becoming bad day by day every year they bring new policies new laws (hell) ..HIGH RENTS EDUCATION EXPENSES INCREASIN DAY BY DAY

I JUS WANT TO GO OUT FROM DUBAI ANYWHERE.. WHERE WE CAN BUILD OUR STRONG FUTURE
i dont understan

Re: Moving US from Dubai

no1 is replyin me

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Farah, I would think the North American section would be a better place for your questions. I'm sure people living in the USA are better placed to offer you advice on the lifestyle there. Good luck though! And why doesn't he move to another Gulf state for now? I suggest looking at Saudi Arabia, Qatar or even Abu Dhabi if he's unhappy in Dubai. There's definitely lots of opportunity in the banking sector in the Middle East! Perhaps he should think about diversifying into another branch of the financial industry.

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Moving to USA for good is not as easy. They do not offer any kind of immigration opportunities anymore. The only way to settle permanently is to get sponsored by your Parents , siblings etc . That also takes many many years for grown up people like you and your fiancé.
They do offer H1B visa to come and work in USA which is called work visa. But that is available to IT folks only and that too is becoming difficult to economic bust in the USA.
If you come as a student you will not be allowed to work.
There are some other options available to Pakistanis They are known as E-1 and E-2 and EB-5 Visas
The Treaty Trader (E-1) or Treaty Investor (E-2) visa is for a national of a country with which the United States (U.S.) maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation who is coming to the U.S. to carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or technology, principally between the U.S. and the treaty country, or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the national has invested, or is in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital, under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. For a list of participating countries, select Treaty Countries.

You and your immediate family can now obtain green cards and permanent US residency with an EB5 visa by investing $500,000 into a government designated Regional Center. It will give each of you the security of permanent US residency without repeated visa applications. Citizenship may be obtained after five years.
http://www.eb5-visa.net/

Everything other question of your irrelevant that is why I am not answering them. More important is to evaluate your options to come legally to US and then liver here legally happily ever after.
If you think you can qualify for any of those options to move permanently then please PM me , I will be happy to answer your other questions.

Re: Moving US from Dubai

thanks alot mirch ... i need more suggestions plzz

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Hi there, Farah.

I’m in Dubai too and have been here for 34 years now and I’m 34 so you do the math :slight_smile: and agree with you this place has gone down the dumps and really does not have a future so planning to move from now is a good idea

Anyways moving to the US is almost impossible specially after 9/11 and I have many friends from school days ( many now US citizens ) who are there and things are not that great there either.

Look a little north of the border at Canada which has a very decent and flexible immigration program and also Australia and New Zealand have a bit stricter but not impossible programs.

Here is the Canadian govt immigration website

And Australian

http://www.immi.gov.au/

Everything you need to know is listed there, but do as much research as possible on deciding where to go. Both are not hugely expensive even for a middle class average joe.

But look into exactly what each has to offer. After almost about a years worth of research I have decided to apply for Australian immigration instead of Canadian, although my initial choice was Canada.

UK and netherlands also have immigration programs but personaly I am not keen on either so didn’t look into them into much detail. But you can have a look into them aswell and maybe they will suit your needs.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Almost all big citieds of the US has Pakistanis living there. We are in a mid sized Metropolitan city and there are haala stores, resturants and lots of pakistani families. The best way to meet new people is at the local mosque where ladies go as well and the Indian/pakistani store and then you invite them to dinner/lunch at your placeand they invite you back and there you meet more people. At least that's how I met people and I was accpeted as a newcomer.

Food is not as expensiveas compared to pakistan (as percentage of yoursalaray) and living arrangments are cheaper thanm Dubai. You or your fiance may want to try for a Student visa (F1) to get to USA andthen after that get a job after qualifying. That's teh period people do oddjobs and its a little tough but then usually a good fortune awaits them. I didn't find any particulardislike of Muslims toward me or my family so far and I have been here for almost 11 years now.

Banking etc. you can get a job but due to the economy that particular sector is a little down though.

regarding health insurance, you get it through employement (if its a proper comaony) but you still ahveto bear some expenses in form ofco-pay and self employed people can get private insurance which is expensive. The medical expense can be one bad part here if you don't have proper insurance. Though, pregnant women get full care even if they are illegal immigrants through the WICprogram and children too.

Radiologists etc. have to do proper courses to get into these fields. Though the scope is there.

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Yes there is another path to immigration , you can come as a student to study, nursing , Physicians Assistant, Anesthetist etc .These trainings/courses offer a chance to get a green card if you can find a job. These professions are high in demand still , but it is still a long way to get legalized in USA , if it works out .These professions provide decent salary to live comfortably in US. These courses/Training take 2 to 4 years to complete after you complete your Bachelor' degree. By the way a Bachelor's degree 4 years to complete in US. So if it took you two years to get your Bachelor's degree from Pakistan or ME then you will have to go back to College or University to get a Bachelor's degree from US.
You can google any of these professions to get more information .

Re: Moving US from Dubai

In all honesty and out of my own personal experience (Traveling around the world and seeking good and stable place to call it "HOME")

One country that impressed me the most is "Canada".
USA did not impress me in terms of living comfortability or how many Steps & Years you have to wait and then achieve 'Citizen status with right to vote.

Farah, with your versatile experience and your fiancé work category is something that tells me that you have an excellent opportunity to obtain immigrations to Canada.
Your Jobs categories are in 'Demand' category, and are well paid here. Roughly 40-50K + for you and 45-60K++ for your fiancée if he stays with Money market/Finance/Stock Trader.

All communities in Canada have the most important security asset covered through the constitutional "Charter of Rights" and "Equal Opportunity Bill Mandate" Hence we all have more rights and respect than your own country by birth gives you !

Roughly, with good jobs ^ your monthly bill with all utilities and living expenses including food and recreation should be around $3500+ a month which also includes your monthly house mortgage of $375.000 House being the major expense.
Lease or buy a Car/Suv add another $450.00 a month expense to the above.
Over all it should be ok and stable around $4200.00 a month outgoing expense.

However, you can quite easily work out a good workable budget at around $3500 a month all inclusive.

Please do visit online Canadian Living & Immigration web sites which tell you a great deal more than I can.

PS: You DON'T need an Agent or Lawyer to go through immigration process, in fact Canadian Immigration authority discourages any use of Lawyer or an Agent. Hence save your money!
Good Luck!

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Farah! Could you please elaborate what you mean by difficulties in Dubai. I would appreciate a detailed reply in terms of 'Rent & Living expenses' in Dubai.
I'm lined up to take a job with EK for UAD 15000+ a month.

Re: Moving US from Dubai

thank you much eastern,unfortunately paki,mirch,raindance

Like you(up) my father has been here for almost 36 years and there is no future here its true ..thats y i am PLANING to move somewhere either canada,america,australia or southafrica anywhere ..i know ITS VERY HARD SPECIALLY AFTER 9/11 thats y i need a clear picture so that we can make up our mind…

**raindance **
One country that impressed me the most is “Canada”.
USA did not impress me in terms of living comfortability or how many Steps & Years you have to wait and then achieve 'Citizen status with right to vote.

About canada .. my khala lives there she is a citizen her husband is working as a manager in some company but i often hear her saying that living in canada is expensive as compared to america eg:appartment rents are very high +alot of taxes + to get a citizenship it takes ALOT OF YRS ( my khala got citizenship after 5 yrs)… apart from this my mamoo and my fiance’s sister lives in america.. my mamoo says america is more cheaper ( eg rents,food items etc etc) than canada ( my mamo got citizenship i guess after 4yrs “he is running a business and he pays taxes regulary” ) on the other hand my fiance’s sis got citizenship after 3 yrs (her hubby works as a nurse)

we r really tensed these days .. unfortunately paki how did u apply for an australian immigration? can u share some details everything? if ur not comfortable to discuss here just pm me.. I have heard that living in *australia is expensive *as well i dont know its true or not…

few questions:
Is it easy to appy for a canadian / australian immigration?
can any1 of them ( my relatives) sponsor us?
how can we apply for a student visa?how long will it take?
what are the eduaction expenses out there?
if we come on student visa what are the chances of job?will it b illegal to work on student visa?
can i easily get a job if i complete a 2yrs programme in (radiology or sonography) whats the average salary of these 2 professions?
YES money plays an important role in all this process…so my last Q is how much MONEY do we need in order to achieve this target
..i know strong bank statement counts alot so how much do we need to put in our banks to hold a good bank statment

Hope to hear more from you guyz

Re: Moving US from Dubai

Economy in US is may be worst compared to UAE. Abu Dhabi is booming and companies are hiring. Not really sure about your work field. Yes Canada and Aus are prolly better options. Moving to US is more of wasting your time :nahi:

Re: Moving US from Dubai

"Farah! Could you please elaborate what you mean by difficulties in Dubai. I would appreciate a detailed reply in terms of 'Rent & Living expenses' in Dubai.
I'm lined up to take a job with EK for UAD 15000+ a month"

expenses in dubai are increasing day by day and **salaries are decreasing* ,there r no good jobs (they r jus offering peanuts) every yr they bring new policies new laws i feel like govt is creating difficulties for midclas ppl.we can survive here but the thing is at the end you get "NOTHING" like unfortunatelypk she has spent 34yrs my father spent 36 yrs*
*In UK/US if u spend 6-10 yrs atleast u get a citizenship which counts alot.. i have seen ppl here who holds a UK/US nationality they are offered MORE .. tripple salary in same field same work and MORE BENEFITS *
*we as a pk national are jus NOTHIN infront of them *

Re: Moving US from Dubai

REALLY!!!

Re: Moving US from Dubai

^ thats true about Nationality thing :frowning: Passport counts :hinna:

Re: Moving US from Dubai

VERY TRUE

Re: Moving US from Dubai

You know what, Try for Visit visa first and see what happens. Attach all supporting documents, savings, financial and family ties outside US, hotel bookings in US etc attach everything. See if they let you go for visit. If they do, that would be good coz you can go by urself and see the situation there.

I once applied for Business Visa when my firm (American) was sending me for some training, they didnt give me even that visa :grumpy: Reason was may be coz i was single and below 30 :emmy: and holding a Pakistani pp :hehe:

Re: Moving US from Dubai

yes i remember i read ur whole story :slight_smile:

Re: Moving US from Dubai

--------------------------cvabn-------------------------

Farah, I'l keep it short and simple;

Step 1 - Visit your nearest Canadian High Commission and Obtain an "Immigration to Canada Kit"

Step 2 - Read the enclosures very well and refer to them for any thing/questions in completing your forms
Step 3 - Get a "Police Clearance Certificate" from Pakistan + Both "Birth Certificates" or "Affidavits of Birth date and town"
Step 4 - Submit all forms and documents with Fees in USD $ as required to the "Canadian High Commission in UAE

Replies if subsequent, would be within 6 to 8 weeks of submission and if all steps are followed properly as outlined in the KIT it would take 5 months to an year in getting your Interviews/medicals/landing done.
You have to score 75 Points to be successful for the whole process.

It is very easy and straight forward procedure in applying. Like I said before your "Skills and Job fields are perfect for applying" You both stand a very good chance.

I'm not too sure about student visa systems, but I do know there are NO RESTRICTIONS in obtaining jobs or working while under student visas.
Rest later,,, Rgds

Re: Moving US from Dubai

hmmm thanks alot raindance you all have helped alot :)