The US is the kind of place where if you're fucked, you're extra fucked, and they'll throw some salt in there for good measure.
There really are no social services, you need a car to go anywhere, even living in one of the cheapest parts of the country its very expensive.
Do not bother. Got stuck in the US for the worst two years of my life. It is literally worse than you can imagine.
There are few to no benefit structures and as an immigrant you are eligible for literally none of them, there will never be reimbursement for relocation unless you're taking an upper management position like CEO or Vice President (if they say there is, it's because they're lying.) Unemployment rate is on average the same as Ireland, and the larger size and population actually makes it worse because you're competing with 100x as many people for every position. Wages are about 10% less than in Ireland, but everything other than electronics will cost at least 20% more. Food is more than double the price, rent is about 25% higher, healthcare is 10 times the price. Homelessness is almost guaranteed if you can't hold a job. Finding a job is deeply difficult. Try to get a job offer before you think about going there, seriously try applying online.
Ireland seems like the biggest dumpster fire that speaks English, but the garbage dump fire is so much worse the second you leave Europe.
Wages are about 10% less than in Ireland
For my job the wages are 3x what I make in Germany, which is already a bit more than I could ever get in Ireland, and Ireland doesn't even have any job openings, and jobs from outside of my "expertise" don't even give me an interview at all, so I'll be jobless and homeless.
Where did you emigrate to US from and where did you move to, if I may ask? Did you need a visa for those moves?
Honestly, good luck in even getting an interview. Do not move to the US without already having a confirmed job offer letter in writing and a guaranteed backup plan for if they back out of that job offer, as you have zero legal recourse if they do. I moved to the US for a tenure track position at a university which they rescinded days before I was supposed to start, leaving me stranded. I tried nine different states during the nearly 2 years I was stuck in the US through Covid restrictions and despite having a PhD, I couldn't actually find a single job other than low wage service work like retail and telemarketing. I basically had to spend the entire time couch surfing.
I came from Canada, and ended up returning here as soon as I could. You absolutely need a visa, and it's damn near impossible to find a sponsor to have a work visa. Most in recruiting and HR in the US are lying through their teeth. Most positions in the US right now are not actually hiring despite being on job sites, those listings are just there for companies to juice their numbers.
Yeah, i'm a life long usian. I know many white citizens with college degrees who have been unable to find work for months or years, often not even getting interviews.
Do not move to the US without already having a confirmed job
That's normal.
if they back out of that job offer, as you have zero legal recourse if they do
My company in Germany did the same to so many people, they also had zero legal standing. I don't know of places where you'd have legal standing.
You absolutely need a visa
My post states I may get a visa lottery, and it's the sole reason I am able to consider US.
Coming here without a confirmed job offer and enough savings on hand to flee with zero notice is a slow way to destroy yourself. Us companies routinely lure people here with H1-b visas and then use the threat of firing them to exploit them. You get fired? No visa, no right to stay, now you're an illegal immigrant. There are firms that will hold that over you, then discard you when they're done with you.
If you come here you should keep enough cash on hand to get you and all our dependents on a plane, out of the country, and in to housing within a week. Also god help you if you're injure or sick. As an immigrant you'll have to pay cash and it is unbelievably expensive, like people from other parts of the world literally will not believe you when you show them a medical bill from the us.
None of the media about the us even remotely reflects what life is like in the us.
I live in an extremely wealthy, progressive city. There are dozens of homeless people in my neighborhood. Rent prices for even small shitty units are 1800 us dollars per month or more. No one is really hiring. Like, when I say homeless, I mean people pushing shopping carts with their stuff in them, sleeping on the streets in a different place each night to keep the cops off them. It's been below freezing most nights for months. The city government is passing new laws making it a crime to be homeless all the time. The just closed about half the city's pathetic shelters here.
If you come here you need to have thousands and thousands of dollars cash in an emergency fund so you can drive directly to the closest international airport, by a ticket somewhere you don't need a visa, and run.
Any time. It's important to understand what you're getting in to if you come here. It's your choice, I just want you to have all the tools and weapons you can get.
I’m sorry you’re going through a rough time, but as someone in the US who’s been looking at trying to move to Ireland, I can tell you that Ireland looks like a paradise compared to the US right now. There’s also Canada to consider, which at least has affordable healthcare and is a little friendlier to immigrants.
I'm not from the US, but I would personally have to rule out all of Europe before I'd consider moving to the US without a big financial safety net
I was forced to come to the US from Guatemala in 2000 because my family dragged me there and spent the entire decade there before moving back. The rest of my family came back not too long after I did.
How open are employers to hiring foreigners? Depends on where you’re from. You said europe so you should be fine. Even better if you have an accent they’ll find exotic. Also you’d better swallow being annoyed by Lemmy’s ethno-centric view of the world because Americans do that shit all the time.
Do they reimburse location? Yeah but it’s not that common.
Do people feel accepting/friendly? LMAO I sure as hell didn’t being visibly nonwhite. The amount of illegal immigrant jokes I heard were unbearable and asking “where are you really from” was how every other conversation started. If you’re pale white then you won’t experience that as much
“where are you really from”
This is my lifelong experience wherever I go in Europe (I'm just mixed white European ethnicities, with mixed names and accent, and background - I cannot categorize myself as from one place, and this triggers me a lot, because it's obviously a way for people to both stereotype you and categorize as "other", and it's not useful to anyone but xenophobes as a tool of dehumanization. I am very sorry you had to live through that. :( ) I assume your life in Guatemala is better and I'm happy you had the option.
background - I cannot categorize myself as from one place
In the US you could just lie to the randos that ask you and no one would know
Seconding JuryNullifications point. Never give this answer in person in the US. Give a different answer each time with more elaborate details. Its an american tradition.
If all else fails, fall back on this sure method; Your family immigrated from Kerry 200 years ago and you're proud of your Irish American heritage! We're all Irish here in America, especially when it annoys the Irish. ; )
I work with many immigrants from India. It's hell here as an immigrant, especially a legal one; don't fucking do it. If you're reliant on a green card your employer will treat you like a fucking slave because work is so hard to find here. Why do you think that the majority of people still working at Twitter during the transition were greencards, it's because treating immigrants in skilled labor here like slaves is normal. Don't fucking do it; and especially don't fucking do it unless you can move to a major city with lots o queers.
I read most poeple in Nordic countries speak English fluently. Maybe try that? EU passport is such a privilege.
why the fuck are you moving to hell, ireland is way better. shit, i flirt with moving back to fucking czechia
the homeless encampment in LA has like 2k people in it and 6 murders a day.
Have you considered getting a remote position at a US based company? Seems like the easiest route to me if you know how to touch a computer. Easier to move to the US after you've already collected several paychecks from your US job. Or get the big bucks, stay in Ireland and don't worry about getting shot or a hospital bill.
Just come out to my town on an H1 visa like all the european kids i see fill this town every summer then go full illegal worker, staying thru the winter working construction for cash like some of the mexican guys up here do. You can crash wit me and my wife until you get something better (as long as you don't steal me from her you rascal).
Said in jest (cuz its a terrible idea) but if you actually make it here ill put you up foreal
Are employers to hiring Euros/non-USAyans?
Yes, this shouldn't be a problem, especially if you're Irish.
Do they ever reimburse relocation?
Sometimes, though it depends on the job. It's more likely if your particular skills are in demand
Did people locally feel accepting / genuinely friendly?
Overall, yes, although there's some regional variation
More than anything I'd say it really depends on where. There are cool parts of the US, and then vast landscapes of absolute dog shit
Be sure to invest in Kevlar. If you hear gunfire after stepping off the plane it’s 50/50 if it’s “Irish”- Americans trying to give a ceremonial welcome to their long lost 5th cousin or just an active shooting.
More seriously, I had a couple Irish expats in my extended social circle growing up and they did fine (tech sector, so grain of salt needed).
You don't actually need kevlar. Plus, ceramic plates are much more effective at stopping the most popular calibers for workplace and urban shootings! /s I've only been shot at four or five times my whole life (not sarcasm, unfortunately)
I agree with what others have said, if you look and sound European people will be pretty friendly and accepting. If you're queer you should definitely move to a blue state tho. Can you drive? Will you be able the afford a car? Driving is absolutely necessary to hold a job in the majority of the country.
I haven't personally relocated to the US, but I do know people who have. Unless you already have a well-paying job lined up, don't bother.
