Work out your budget. You will have to decide if it’s a holiday home which brings you rental income, or if it’s a complete move to the US. You need to make sure you have the capital or the funding for the house you want, and check the purchase costs to understand the total cost. 

Then you’ll need to look at the running costs, all the utilities , taxes and services. Will your income cover these? If you are relying on rental, make sure your projections are reasonable, and represent a fair reflection of what will happen. It’s a good idea to remember that you could have one bad year, so a little rainy day money kept by is worth while. 

We have shown most of the costs on “The Value” page, so use these to establish what your monthly outgoings will be. Once you are happy that it looks sound – go take a look !

In brief,  a client who buys a new build property here in Florida finds a model and plot that they like they will need to pay a good faith deposit while here which would range depending on developer from $1000 to $5000 dollars. On return to the U.K they will need to wire over 10% of the total purchase price minus any amount already paid. No further payments are made to the developer until the property closes.

While here a client can  meet with a mortgage adviser who will discuss the pros and cons of American and U.K mortgages relative to the clients needs. At present to be able to give clients a rule of thumb guide on repayments
you can work on repayments being approx $7pm per $1000 of loan, this will of course vary depending on what product a client were to choose.

During the visit a client will also meet with the builders pool designer who will design the pool around the clients requirements.

Having arranged all this the only thing left is to meet with one of the Furniture companies who will discuss the different types of furniture package available, for your file I have attached a copy of what the average
company will include within a furniture package.

This and all the other aspects of mortgages are explained on “The Value” page, including costs, interest rates, types of mortgage and so on.

The first step is to select your broker and work with him/her to find a suitable business, once you have found what you want you will enter into negotiations to discuss price, terms, real estate, lease conditions or relocation of the business. Many owners will help you to finance the business if you have a sizeable deposit, we suggest you look for these owners. If the owner is willing to provide you with a loan on his existing business it is a sign of his confidence that the business is good and that you are the person to operate it. Commercial finance is not available to NON US citizens, greencard holders or if you have not resided there long enough to build up credit. Again your broker can help with this process.

There are hundreds of businesses for you to choose from with prices ranging from $40,000 to $millions, not all of these businesses will be suitable for you and not all of them will enable you to qualify for a visa. You may wish to continue in the line of work for which you have been trained, or you may want a complete change. Whatever you wish to do there is a business waiting for you in Florida and a licensed business broker will help and protect you.

Many Brits have successfully moved to Florida to enjoy a fantastic lifestyle which can only be found in this beautiful state. Follow our guidelines and make your own dream come true!

All Travel after the 1^st Oct 2003 means new documentation requirements exist for entry into the United States.All passengers to the USA need an MRP -  machine readable passport (Red UK issue) Full 10 year or 5 year for children, and children CANNOT be named on the parents passport, and they must have their own or apply for Visa’s which is a very lengthy process. All passports issued by the UK Passport Service are machine readable and can be read by any country that has the equipment to do so (as long as they have not been badly treated).

Any person who is a citizen of a VWP eligible country eg: UK and whose passport is not machine readable will need to obtain a U.S. non-immigrant visa prior to arrival. This applies to all persons including infants and children. Children who have been added to a parent’s passport will also be required to have a MRP issued in their own name or have a U.S. visa issued to them affixed into the passport in which their name appears.

Passengers will be refused entry if documentation is not correct. If you are unsure of what documents you require to gain entry to the U.S., you should contact the U.S. consulate:

      Operator Assisted Visa Information Service: Call 09055-444-546
      Monday through Friday, between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm, Saturday, between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.
      The service is not available on British public holidays. Calls are charged at £1.30/min.

Visitors to Florida from Britain, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland traveling on valid national or EC passports do not need a visa for holiday or business travel of 90 days or less. However, all visitors must hold round-trip or return tickets especially if they enter the US on an airline or cruise line that participates in the no-visa travel program. For longer stays, all international visitors should obtain a B-2 (non-immigrant, pleasure tourist) visa, which is valid for six months.

Citizens of visa exempt countries may visit Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, as well as the Caribbean islands and then re-enter the US by any mode of transportation without needing a visa. Citizens of countries other than those listed above will require a US visa, which can be applied for through the nearest US embassy or consulate.

In the case of loss of documents, report the loss promptly to your national embassy or consulate in the US, and local police. It is advisable to make photocopies of your passport and other documents, leaving one copy with someone at home, and carrying the other. Replacement of original documents is generally quicker if you can supply photocopy data of the originals.

Types of Visa  

We have specialised in four categories of immigrant and non-immigrant visas, these are :

L-1A & L-1B Non - Immigrant - intra company transferees
E -2 Treaty Investment Visa
Green Card Alien Registration Card - permanent residency
H-1 & H-2 Non - Immigrant - Specialised and seasonal visas

Each category listed above is explained in more detail below.

Definitions
The beneficiary of a visa is defined as the individual person who will receive the visa.
The petitioner for a visa is defined as the company in the United States for whom the beneficiary will work.

L-1A and L-1B Non-immigrant visa - Intra company transferee.
The L-1A visa is intended to accomodate the intra company transfer of a managerial/executive employee from an overseas company to a United States affiliated company.
The L1-B visa is intended to accomodate the intra company transfer of an employee possessing specialised knowledge from an overseas company to a United States affiliated company.

E-2 Treaty investor non-immigrant visa.
The E-2 treaty investor visa is made available for persons wishing to invest in business in the United States and thus live and work in the United States in order to develop and direct the business operation established by their investments.

Green Card Permanent residency
The Alien registration card also known as “the green card” is the symbol of permanent resident status. Permanent resident status is available to beneficiaries who have demonstrated significant contributions to the economy of the United States.

H-1 & H-2 Non-immigrant specialized / seasonal visa.
The H -1B non-immigrant visa is available to professionals in specialty occupations who are coming to the United States to work in their fields of expertise. Eligibility requires at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in the specific field in which the beneficiary will operate. The H-2B visa is avalible to foreign, seasonal or temporary workers needed to fill positions for which there are insufficient numbers of avalible, qualified american workers.

Qualifying for a visa depends on the answer to any of the following questions – if yes you may qualify for a visa.

Do you own a business or have a share in a business?
Has that business been in existence for more than a year?
Are you working in a managerial / executive posistion for a company, and have been continuosly employed for 12 months in the last three years?
Do you have in excess of $100,000 to invest in a existing business or a start up business?
Do you have any secondary income e.g. pension / rental property etc.?

The cost of a typical visa application is between $4,000 and $5,000 (£2,667 and £3,334) for a L, E and H application. The reason for the band is that the basic fee of $4,000 does not include incorporation of a US company which is usually an extra $400 (£267). INS (Immigration & Naturalization Service) fees are also not included as they are not refundable under our money back guarantee, these fees are subject to change but as of October 1999 are $110 (£74)

The cost of a Permanent Residency (Green Card) is $5,000 (£3,334) and also does not include INS (Immigration & Naturalization Service) fees which are subject to change but as of October 1999 are $225 (£150)

Latest 

The US requires at least a facial image to be included. The UK is carrying out tests to include fingerprints and eye recognition data.