Telic

Hi all,

I have an opportunity to move from the Uk to NJ, and have been told the best places to rent for a family is ridgewood but a quick web search is not showing much available.
What kind of proces should I expect to pay for renting a family home in a family friendly area with good school for 8 year old?

It's a permenant job, and initial rental is covered for a few months while last we search.

Appreciate any advice and help!

Englishmum

First of all, is it a new job with a new employer or a new job for your current employer?

You can't relocate until you have your visa sorted....how is this being arranged? The best visa for an expat family is the L1-A intra-company transfer with dependents on L2 visas: this would allow for your spouse to apply for permission to work too, unlike the H visas.

Where is the job located? There are hundreds of towns in NJ!

I live in NJ where there are great family towns with wonderful schools...check out Maplewood, Millburn/Short Hills, South Orange, Summit, Chatham, Madison, Westfield....if you will need to go to New York City.

Telic

Hi
Thanks for the quick reply, the job is in NJ around hobokken area inbeleive and with Anne's company to me. The new employer will be helping sponsor visas / green card as well as the relocation, including a trip over before we move to help tour potential live no areas.

In the uk we live in an idol I small village with a local school so the move will be a significant culture shock. Hence we really want to try and find an area that has a good surburban community and good schools.

Pulaski

So this is a new job for you, not a transfer?

Is your prospective employer an educational or research establishment?

If your job is not a transfer and is with a "for profit" corporation/ business, I fear that you and your prospective employer are in for an ugly shock. ..... Getting a visa, which sounds like it would need you be an H-1B, and being available for work, will take a minimum of 12 months and 5 days (as at today), before you would be able to start work, and that assumes that you are successful in the lottery next spring, when you will likely only have around a 25%-30% chance of getting a visa.

Unfortunately we see several cases like this each year here on BE - people who come here having been "offered a job" in the US, but there is no path for them to get a visa.

JosiesJourney

Hi hun! We are in very similar boats although we are slightly ahead. My husband had the opportunity of opening a new business for his company based here in the UK and they wanted him to set up the new business in Manhattan and also work for a client half of the time who are based in Parsippany (NJ - western county). So we needed somewhere in between and I have done lots of research on areas as we like you are currently in a nice town and our 3 children in a lovely village school with the littlest one in a gorgeous nursery. We have spent 8 months going through the visa process. OP was right that it is not easy to gain a visa but you have to be super thorough and be willing to spend some blood, sweat and tears ( and late nights) providing all the evidence - you would probably have less to provide though as you are being sponsored whereas he had to prove the new business concept and economic worth. We had one request for more evidence and a re-submission with approval and embassy interview end of August. We have found a rental in Summit where the schools are very similar in size and rating but the rent is enormous compared to what we pay in the Uk for our mortgage. We had a tour of Bergen county back in April and found Ridgewood was lovely as was Paramus, Fairlawn (although less ideal due to having no train station), Glenrock and englewood also lovely but there wasn't much available in the right location near transport links and good schools that suited our big family! good luck it's definitely worth it but nothing worth it is ever easy! We will be shopping at the cheap stores until I can get a job!!

Rete

Not to burst your bubble, the employment is not permanent although as long as the visa is maintained you and the family will have the ability to live and work in the US. Your stay in the US might become permanent if your husband is lucky enough to have his employer consent to applying for green cards for himself and the family. Once you have a permanent residency (green card), then you can consider your stay in the US 'permanent.'

Ecto17

The towns mentioned already are all lovely and you could commute from them. We are new to NJ and the rental prices are very high. A budget of 4.5k - 5.5k is not unreasonable amount to have in mind for a family home, it unbelievably doesn't get you a large house in those towns either! You can certainly get more for your money in towns not on the train line.
Your property taxes are included in your rent which is one of the reasons they are so high (as NJ taxes are some of the highest in the country).
On the plus side, the schools are great generally in NJ.
Please be aware that you will be expected to pay a months rent for brokerage fees here. Not sure why NJ puts it on the renter and not the landlord but worth knowing as took us by surprise!
Hope everything works out with the visa.

Telic

Thank you for all your info guys ,really helps!
Expect a few more coming soon ;-)

MarylandNed

You need to proofread your posts before submitting them. I have no idea what the bolded bits mean.

Telic

Damn iPhone....

Telic

Hi all, apologies corrected typos... was difficult to see them in action on my phone...


Thanks for the quick reply, the job is in NJ around hobokken area i believe, and with a new company to me. The new employer will be helping sponsor visas / green card as well as the relocation, including a trip over before we move to help tour potential areas to live in.
In the uk we live in an idilic small village with a local school so the move will be a significant culture shock. Hence we really want to try and find an area that has a good surburban community and good schools.

Pulaski

Please see post #4 above. It appears unlikely, based on what you have posted, that you will be getting a visa to start work before 1/10/18, and there is only a 25%-30% chance of that. Until you know you can get a visa, everything else is moot!

Telic

I'm not too worried about that as the company is part of an international group which is accustomed to moving new hires from the Uk. Hence I had no visa / green card questions just the housing and tax side of things so far.

Pulaski

Is it a British-based company?

Google, Amazon and the other big tech companies are "accustomed to moving new hires to the US", but they are still stuck with the same visa process and restrictions as all other employers.

Telic

No, US that also owns companies across the globe, including the U.K.
I'm actually following other people over who have moved me, only they have resided in other parts of the US rather than NJ.