Hello from England!!!

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Hello USA! First off let me introduce myself, my name is Ross, i'm 29 and I'm a coded pipe welder in the oil and gas industry.The reason why I've joined this forum is because my wife and I are currently looking into moving to California. The problem I've come across is that I can't find many pipe welding jobs in California and the ones that I do see are low pay(around $15-$20) I was just wondering if people could tell me if there is much work out there and if so where to look for it? Also it would be a great help if you could let me know how much the wages are for a welder working in California. I currently get around £45-50000 a year which I think is about $70000. Is that figure achievable? I've noticed there seems to be quite a few refineries in the state do you get much work from those? I'm coded for pipe using TIG,SMAW,FCAW, submerged arc welding and also MIG(although not used much on pipe in the uk). All tests have been past on pipe in the 6G position on pipe from 1"-36" Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and any help or advice is greatly appreciated.Many thanks Ross
Reply:Hi there, welcome.   Hows the queen doing?   Do you live near the Jaggers?   Why did you pick Calif.  ?  What part of Calif ?    Be a lil more specific on type of jobs your aiming at.    If your what you say you are, you can beat 20 an hour.    Whats your wife intending on doing when you get here?
Reply:Thanks 123weld. I haven't seen the Queen for a while but I'll say hi for you next time I'm over for tea! Well my wife picked California because she is sick of the climate over here. We are open to any part of California but if there is a hot spot in the oil and gas industry that would be good to know. I think at first I would need a job that I know so in the oil/gas industry either on a refinery or in a fab shop. So what do you think the wages will be like? My wife is a nanny so her job won't be a problem she has found loads of jobs. Also it would be great to get some advice on the good areas to live and the bad areas to avoid! Many thanks
Reply:You will feel at at home any where north of LA. The climate in San Francisco is not too different from what you are used to.So if you like it cold, foggy, with high taxes, you will be ok.Southern California is what most people think of when they think California weather. It is nice, but comes with a price tag.My son is a PhD, has tenure at a university, and can barely afford to live there.Texas has a much better economy, the cost of living is probably half of what it is in So Cal....and refineries line the gulf coast.Winters in Houston are tough though, we recently had a week where it actually got down into the 30's!!By the time I found my jacket, the weather was back in the 70's.Best of luck.Last edited by geezerbill; 01-31-2015 at 06:24 PM.Hobart Beta-Mig 2511972 Miller AEAD-200LEMiller 250 TwinNorthern Ind. Hybrid 200Longevity Stick 140Longevity Migweld 200SThermal Arc Pak 3XR
Reply:I'm outdated on what goes on in so. cal, but you mentioned climate, and it dont get any better than so. cal. if you can deal w/ hoards of people and kaos.     The weather isn't bad around SF Bay, rent is high, but just east of sf, theres some refineries.   I'm not real up on that sort of thing, its out of my league.    Richmond and Martinez are the first to come to my mind.    You can live east of there deal w/ traffic and call yourself a commuter, rent is cheaper, and your wife can babysit the rest of the commuter kids that live on your block.     If you run into prince andrew at the grocery store or somewhere, tell him to try to cool it w/ the teens for a while, theres some rumors flying around here.
Reply:I agree with the Texas economy ... things are really on a roll there.Located In SE OklahomaLincoln Mig 135Hobart Ironman 230 Mig5x10 CNC Table with DTHC & FTHypertherm PM65 on the tableMiller Bobcatwww.caneyagequipment.com
Reply:I grew up in California, and started my working career there. Have been back several times to work. California is a hard core union state. The UA is very hard to get into anywhere, but California is really tough. In the Bay Area there are several refineries. But the cost of rent is very high. And to buy a house in the Bay Area is very costly. Just this week my wife sold her child hood home. 1,200 sf. And in horrible shape! $366,000.00 in south Hayward California. Work in the Bay Area live in the valley.Don’t pay any attention to meI’m just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:out of curiosity, whats the criteria for you coming over here from both countries.     I mean the paper work, visa, citizenship, for how long, etc.    ??
Reply:Welcome UKTIG. There is a lot of good information on here and I hope you find what you are looking for.'contaminating tungstens like there's no tomorrow'
Reply:Welcome!
Reply:Thanks for all the replies guys. I know Texas is probably a better state for welding but I'm not sure about living there. California seems so nice and the scenery is unbelievable.So a few people have said San Francisco, is that the area for pipe welding in California? Ideally so. Cal would be better because of the weather, anyone know of any places in that area? Visa wise I would guess we would get a temp visa first and depending on how we settle we can go from there. If anyone knows of any job sites I could look at that would be great. But as I said before the normal job sites (indeed ect) have been low paid jobs. Thanks again Ross.
Reply:I'm not as familiar with California welding jobs as Houston, but I suspect there are more pipe welding jobs in Houston metro than in all of California.  Seems like a certified guy makes $27~32 or so, and the cost of living seems to be way less.  Weather sucks like no other as far as hot and humid, but them's the breaksExperience is something you get right after you need it
Reply:California is a tough economy to break into.  Housing cost and taxes are extremely high.  You might find something affordable if you like dodging bullets and gangs.    Expect to pay north of $400,000 dollars for a livable home in a nice neighborhood.  Consider changing your game and look into marine services (ship yards).    Also, there are a number of oil and chemical refiners in bay area of Los Angles and Long Beach.    http://www.gowelding.org/welding-job...rd/california/http://www.valero.com/ourbusiness/ou...ilmington.aspxhttp://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/c...tates/torrancehttp://elsegundo.chevron.com/home.aspxhttp://tsocorp.com/refining/los-angelescalif/Welcome to the forum….
Reply:You will need a work visa.   Going through LA immigration and naturalization office is the worst idea of all. You are liking at 3-5 years to get the initial via and you need to already have a company that will is going to hire you and declare that they could not find a qualified US worker for the job.  Moved here as a kid with my family so I know the process from over 30yrs ago and I'm sure it got worse.  Move to a state that doesn't have millions of Mexicans applying for residency.    You probably need enough savings to support yourselves for a couple years without jobs if you move to the US.    The grass definitely isn't greener here.   It would be much easier to look at moving to a better climate elsewhere in Europe.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Just a thought....Why don't you look into moving to Australia???   I believe Australia has a skills shortage in welding....($hittty ship building skills)https://www.migrationexpert.com.au/work_visa/
Reply:Originally Posted by soutthpawYou will need a work visa.   Going through LA immigration and naturalization office is the worst idea of all. You are liking at 3-5 years to get the initial via and you need to already have a company that will is going to hire you and declare that they could not find a qualified US worker for the job.  Moved here as a kid with my family so I know the process from over 30yrs ago and I'm sure it got worse.  Move to a state that doesn't have millions of Mexicans applying for residency.    You probably need enough savings to support yourselves for a couple years without jobs if you move to the US.    The grass definitely isn't greener here.   It would be much easier to look at moving to a better climate elsewhere in Europe.
Reply:Originally Posted by CEPReally?! That's very interesting to know. I grew up in a Mexican district in California. About 20 or 25 years ago I asked my best friend since the 4th grade if it helped being Mexican on construction jobs. He laughed at me, and replied, "what do you mean there is more of us than you"!
Reply:BTW.  This is nothing against the OP.  I wish him all the best.   Just trying to give him some honest info from a fellow limey who has been through the process.  It took about 2 years to get the initial work visa before we were even able to move to the USA  3-4 years here to get green card.  3 more to become citizenTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250