- Joined
- Apr 29, 2014
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A rather.... nice opportunity has popped up. Because I applied for residency outside the United States three months ago, I just found out yesterday that I qualify to have my wife's immigration paperwork processed at the embassy in three months. Normally that process takes over a year, with the embassy it's as little as three months. She would enter the US with her green card in hand.
She just finished the last of the preparation for her thesis and was approved to finish writing it and present it in a few months. (This was one of the reasons we were here in CR.)
Anyway, she has a standing job offer from the director of one of the independent school districts in Texas. ($50,000 a year.)
I also found out that Texas signed a law into place allowing veterans to be given in state tuition rates while they use the GI Bill or Voc Rehab.
From what I gather it takes almost two years to go through the FPGEE process and volunteer your intern hours to get your foreign license recognized, so from a time perspective it's a wash. The extra credits I'd have to take after I transferred in my science and math credits would only add a year or so to my studies. I'd be licensed in the same amount of time. As a veteran using the GI Bill and Voc Rehab at a public institution I will have pretty much no tuition to pay either way.
The biggest differences are these:
If we take the job after she presents her thesis:
If we don't take it:
I'm a bit torn. I've still got 6-8 months before all the paperwork is in order, the thesis is presented, and we can take the opportunity or let it pass. That's enough time to get two more semesters worth of classes to transfer over.
What would you do?
She just finished the last of the preparation for her thesis and was approved to finish writing it and present it in a few months. (This was one of the reasons we were here in CR.)
Anyway, she has a standing job offer from the director of one of the independent school districts in Texas. ($50,000 a year.)
I also found out that Texas signed a law into place allowing veterans to be given in state tuition rates while they use the GI Bill or Voc Rehab.
From what I gather it takes almost two years to go through the FPGEE process and volunteer your intern hours to get your foreign license recognized, so from a time perspective it's a wash. The extra credits I'd have to take after I transferred in my science and math credits would only add a year or so to my studies. I'd be licensed in the same amount of time. As a veteran using the GI Bill and Voc Rehab at a public institution I will have pretty much no tuition to pay either way.
The biggest differences are these:
If we take the job after she presents her thesis:
- Rent goes up $300-400 a month
- Have to hire a nanny for when I'm in classes at US prices, yuk.
- Wife makes $50,000 extra a year, pays very little taxes since I have two kids to claim as exemptions.
- Closer to my other children, closer to my parents.
- Further from my wife's family (negative.)
- Tuition is essentially free.
- Wife has a good stable income while I'm in school, and we would have enough saved money to open our own pharmacy when I graduate.
- Texas weather is not too bad. I have more pain from my disabilities, but it's not unbearable.
If we don't take it:
- Get to keep living here in CR near her family, rent is rock bottom.
- Can afford a full time nanny for $300-400 a month.
- I finish school in three more years, but am stuck waiting almost two years to get the right to practice in the US.
- I don't have to put up with arrogant gringos.
j/k - Tuition is essentially free.
- *Might* have enough money saved up when I graduate to start a pharmacy.
- I keep living in tropical paradise and have almost no pain from my injuries.
I'm a bit torn. I've still got 6-8 months before all the paperwork is in order, the thesis is presented, and we can take the opportunity or let it pass. That's enough time to get two more semesters worth of classes to transfer over.
What would you do?
