Foreigners retiring to the USA for fulltime RVing: has anyone here done it?

VallAndMo said:

Hello folks,

Just keeping everyone posted, the latest numbers from USCIS (the US government visa-processing service) indicate that our visa should be processed at or before August 2017, and then we would have 6 months to move to the US. So it definitely looks like late next year, or early 2018 at most!

Cheers,
--
  Vall.

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Hi, you guys have had to put in a lot of effort to get to the US.  When we went to see a lawyer about how to stay for longer than the 3 month ESTA he gave us the info on the process you are following.  We did not have the money, nor the desire to take such a huge risk even if we had.  He did say that a lot of these companies were unreliable so it is good to see that you have put in your homework.  I think I saw an advert in one of the British Airways magazines for a company looking for people to put money in, I think it may have been the Hilton Group. 

We decided to take the 6 month visa over 10 years.  We have purchased a truck and travel trailer and will store it when we are back in the UK.  I believe you can apply for an extension of up to 18 months which we will consider at some point I think.

I do hope your application goes smoothly.  I think you will love touring the States, I am looking forward to it immensely.

Keep in touch with the forum members as no doubt you will be able to give us an update on your progress and on your trip when it becomes a reality!

Good luck!  8)

Hi Jackie and Mac,

Your lawyer is correct, most EB-5 Regional Centers (the last count I saw was there were more than 700!) and projects are real money traps, and some are outright scams... see the recent debacle on  Vermont's Jay Peak, which was one of the most praised at the time we started looking (when we got really deep in our analysis, we suspected their fundamentals but not their honesty... so we were half-wrong in not suspecting both, but ended up discarding them from our short list and so escaped that trap anyway).

Thanks for sharing your story. We considered doing something similar (much less risk) at the start, but other matters intervened (Vall is going to start a company in the US) and therefore the path you are taking was not viable for us.

PS: congrats on the truck and TT, they certainly look sweet! We plan on buying a Dodge RAM ourselves, and very possibly a Heartland trailer (but a 5thWheel and not a TT). When are you planning to start your touring? We've done some 2-4 weeks tours already (in rental RVs) and can't wait to start doing it with our own rig!

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.

Hi, it's Jackie and Steve, my last name is MacKenzie  ;D

We started in Las Vegas in May, buying our trailer from Johnnie Walker RV in Vegas, they sell the Sundance 5th wheel too, I was inside one a few weeks ago, very nice!
I would thoroughly recommend them. We had a very positive experience with them and I cannot recommend them highly enough. If you are interested I can send you details.

We bought our tuck from Dennis Dillon in Idaho at around $5000 cheaper than Vegas. We had to prove we weren't going to take it out of the country before they would sell us a new one (some Vegas dealers were the same  - worried we were exporting back to UK).

We stayed in the dealers lot testing everything and getting minor things fixed. We were lucky and they had space for us to stay 10 nights! We then drove down to Palm Springs to meet friends (Happy Travels RV Park) and then on to Mission Bay San Diego. Palm Springs was 118F San Diego 69F! We were there for a few days visiting a Joshua Tree then headed up into the mountains for some heat! We stayed at Pass Picasso State Park which was nice and visited Julian, a lovely town and fished in Lake Cuyamaca. We then headed into Borrego Springs ( The Springs at Borrego RV Park) which was also lovely and warm. We went round the Galetta Meadows sculptures and visited Fonts View where we saw the badlands of Anza Borrego. We then headed back to Vegas.

We left our trailer and truck at the dealer as we are home for 2 weeks. They were happy to let us do that as it was a short time. They have been so so nice.

I am back out in a few weeks and really looking forward to seeing more of the country.

Photos of Borrego Springs and sunset at Joshua

Hi Jackie and Steve,

jackiemac said:

Hi, it's Jackie and Steve, my last name is MacKenzie  ;D

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OK, thanks for setting us straight ;-)

We started in Las Vegas (...)

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We will PM you the rest of our response. We were writing a long one and realized we were getting somewhat off the original topic...

To anyone else is reading this, please PM us if you are interested  andI will either PM you a summary or post it in a new topic. 

Thanks,
--
  Vall & Mo.

Ok look forward to receiving it!

Hello everybody,

VallAndMo said:

Just keeping everyone posted, the latest numbers from USCIS (the US government visa-processing service) indicate that our visa should be processed at or before August 2017, and then we would have 6 months to move to the US. So it definitely looks like late next year, or early 2018 at most!.

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The USCIS-published numbers kept pointing to August 2017 (ie, this month) and in fact they just  published numbers that showed they should have gone through our petition about 2 months ago. Unfortunately, we haven't received anything yet from them, and our petition still shows as untouched in their web site. To cover the possibility that our petition has just "fell through a crack" and been forgotten somewhere along their processing, our attorney had been inquiring about it but so far has only got standard, "boilerplate" responses.

We're in contact with a number of other folks who filed their petitions at the same date or very near as ours, and almost half of them are in the same situation as us, so there's a distinct possibility that the USCIS numbers are overly "optimistic" and that in reality they are simply more backlogged than they care to admit.

Well, time will tell. Meanwhile we're on the final stages of getting ready here (settling business affairs, selling real estate, downsizing, etc), we just hope our visas get a move on, so we don't end up all ready but with nowhere to go.

Will keep everyone informed. Thank you all for your encouragements and best wishes!

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.

Thanks for the update, that must be very frustrating. Keeping our fingers crossed for you.

Hi Vall & Mo

Any update on your Visa yet? 

Hey Vall & Mo,

Any updates on your Visas? Did you two finally decide on a truck camper? Hubby & I are still trying to decide what is going to be the best fit for us. We're renting another Class C this summer and will tour Colorado, Wyoming & Montana. Last year, we rented a 29 ft model. This year, we're trying a 24 ft model. He's still not sure about having to get a dually required for the truck camper we really like. All it takes is money, right? LOL

Happy travels if you're already in the U.S.

--Kris & Rich

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for not replying to your posts until now -- it's been a long time since we logged into the forum, and for some reason we didn't get the forum emails warning us there were messages waiting for us.

Anyway, we finally have good news, or rather GREAT NEWS: our visas have FINALLY been approved! YAY! 

We are now getting our affairs settled here in Brazil and getting ready for the move -- despite all the preparation we've already done (last year we downsized out of our 4-bedroom house in order to place it for sale and into a single-bedroom condo with all our stuff fitting into just 6 travel bags) there's still an awful lot of things that must be done so we can finally make the move.

We are also reviewing/updating our US plans -- where should we land, how to proceed on establishing domicile, getting our US driver's licenses, buying and registering our pickup truck and 5thWheel, and finally getting on the road. The idea is to have it all planned by the time we make the move. Will post separate messages in the appropriate forum boards for the questions we will inevitably have.

One way or the other, we hope to be arriving in the US to start our fulltime dream in the next few months. Will keep everyone posted, and hope to meet y'all in a rally before too long.

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.

So so happy for you both, it's been a long wait for you.

Hope to see you on the road. Keep in touch...  ;D

I don't intend this offend anyone, but I never realized how hard it is to come here legally.

I don't understand why our government makes it so hard for good, law abiding people wanting to immigrate to our country .....and on the other hand they don't do anything about the millions of people here illegally.

Thank you for doing it right but,  if I was in your position I think I would have just come here on a tourist visa and stayed .. ???


We truly need a total overhaul of our immigration laws.

Vall & Mo, that is indeed great news.  Bet you thought it would NEVER happen!  I hope all your planning goes smoothly and you can start getting on the road.

ArdraF

Hello Jackie & Steve, SightSeers, and Ardra & Jerry,

jackiemac said:

So so happy for you both, it's been a long wait for you.
Hope to see you on the road. Keep in touch...  ;D

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Ditto here! Will keep you posted, here's to our journeys crossing before long!

sightseers said:

Thank you for doing it right but,  if I was in your position I think I would have just come here on a tourist visa and stayed .. ???

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We would not start our USA journey by soiling its very ideal of being a Country of Laws that make it a unique place. And despite what you said, we don't think that you (as the quality person you must be, being a member of this forum) would do it unlawfully either...  That said, we thank the Heavens for having blessed us with enough time and money -- for it surely is taking a *lot* of both to do it the right way.

ArdraF said:

Vall & Mo, that is indeed great news.  Bet you thought it would NEVER happen!  I hope all your planning goes smoothly and you can start getting on the road.

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Thank you, Ardra. Can't wait to meet you and Jerry again!

Cheers,
--
  Vall & Mo.

I can sincerely say, "Welcome to your new home!".  I wish you many years of joyful bliss.  Let us know how the move goes.