JJ5

Hi all,

I've seen this forum seems super helpful for prospective post docs so I thought I'd ask some questions that I've been going over and over again for the past week in the hope that someone has some extra info that'd benefit me.

I was offered a post doc last week at NC state in Raleigh, NC. Fit seems perfect. My main questions are:

1) I have a long term girlfriend (10 yrs). Marriage has never been the priority (its a lot of money & not much would change day-to-day). We've lived together since 2014, and we've had a joint bank account since 2016. I think my visa would be a J-1, and I know J-2's have to be married. If we got married before christmas (somehow) would my girlfriends application for J-2 be accepted? I mean this as in do you have to be married for a set amount of time for the J-2 application to be successful?

2) If we didn't get married, is there anything I could do to aid my girlfriend in getting a job prior to arrival in the states? Like a website for foreigners to get jobs? She won't be a post doc like me, but does have a BA, works in a management role in her field (PR) currently, and is generally employable in the UK. Do they issue working visas to people already in the states on the 90 day waivers? (Granted she doesn't go for interviews whilst she's in the states).

3) If she came on a J-2 without a job prior, would my salary ($50K) be enough to get us by? I've been reading you can take tax relief whereby you don't pay any tax (as long as you leave within 24 months) which could supplement our income. Does the UK-USA treaty mean that you pay no tax at all?

4) I told the PI my ideal start date is January (current funding ends in December). Is this a pipe dream start date? Is this too soon to get the paperwork through? Especially with the C word changing a lot of things?

Sorry if this info can be found elsewhere, it was more asking opinions of people who have been through similar processes.

Thanks in advance.

MrShine

Hi, this is a good one for me to answer - I came to the US as a postdoc on a J1 visa just up the road from you at Wake Forest. NC is a wonderful and beautiful state, it's really grown on me and I hope you'll be happy here. To answer your questions:

1 and 2 - Effectively you need to get married. Your gf almost certainly won't be allowed to get a job unless she comes in as a J2. I don't think she'd even be allowed to work remotely for a UK company. I know it's not ideal but a quickie wedding for the J2 would be ideal. You don't need to be married long. I think she'll also have to apply for employment authorization (EAD) which takes time, effort, and money.

​​​​​​​3) $50k will be enough for two people but it'll be tight. She also can't stay for long if she isn't on a J2. She can visit for 90 days with the visa Waiver, or should can visit for a bit longer with a B2 visa (costly and time consuming) but she can't live with you. She would always be 'on holiday'. Cost of living depends on rent in the RTP area - its probably more than what I pay. Moving to a different country is VERY expensive. Rebuying all your things adds up. Your gf will probably be pretty bored too. The tax treaty means you only pay tax in the US not the US and UK. For the first two years you don't pay FICA taxes (national insurance) then you pay in the third year. You'll definitely be paying taxes - I would expect you to take home around $3000 per month after tax and health insurance.

4) My J1 was sorted in a month but this was October 2018. I'm not sure what the processing times are now.

Good luck and stay in touch. Check my thread from 2018 for tips on what to do when you arrive. It's a fantastic experience.

Nutmegger

Welcome to BE!

Re your item 1, just do it! Getting married costs as much as you want it to -- the license and you're done. As you say, nothing will change -- except that life in the US will be much simpler for both of you.

Re item 2; that's a non-starter. She needs to have a visa for a specific job before arriving in the US -- and that isn't going to happen in your timeframe.

The other good folks of BE will be along to answer your other queries.

tht

nothing will change, except that
- she will be eligible to move with you.
- she should be eligible to get coverage on your employer paid health Insurnace - confirm this before moving as it could be expensive if not.
- even if she is not working you can file married with the IRS meaning you have double the “tax free allowance” before taxes are owed on your combined income.

S Folinsky

FWIW, many employers provide health and other benefits for domestic partners.

scrubbedexpat099

Is she OK not working for a long time?

S Folinsky

You ask fair questions. That said, the answers may not be clear and can depend upon particular facts. In this day of increased remote employment, there has been a lot of discussion among immigration
lawyers and I can’t say if there is a real consensus. The popular vernacular might refer to “loopholes.”

Back in the day I had several clients in a status prohibiting employment but they had a hobby which was quite remunerative. This was not “unauthorized employment.”

There are questions of what constitutes “employment” and if so, what is the “situs” of that employment. This can be quite fact dependent.

It should be pointed out that the “B” visitor classification allows for unmarried domestic partners, but “employment” is not authorized.

Assuming UK nationality and a UK employer, there may be possibilities in “E” classification. See Matter of Walsh &Pollard.

The answers in this thread are not wrong, but they may not be entirely right.

Good luck.

JJ5

Thank you all for your informative replies and kind words. It’s becoming apparent that marriage is the likely option. We’ve discussed this and I think it would likely be a marriage on paper and we can have a wedding at a later date to celebrate. I’m meeting with the PI again this week and will ask if there’s any further advice I could get from the university.

Will keep this thread updated to aid any others in a similar situation and for posterity.

JJ5

Is this to say that my girlfriend would find it difficult to find employment whilst we’re there?She would most definitely struggle 1-2 years without working, that was not our plan at all and I absolutely would not want that for her.

Additionally, we’re kinda comfy right now with our joint income so it’d be nice to continue to have a good household income, especially whilst on another continent (it’d be nice to travel a little!)

SanDiegogirl

A most difficult questions to answer..... she has a management role now in PR, but who knows what the job market is or will be like in her field? She can only apply for jobs and take her chances. All trailing spouses go through this 'what if' period ......

Is this going to be a long term posting?

scrubbedexpat099

Friend recently got his Employment Authorization Document, took 8 months from filing, now quite how long your will take I do not know. But plenty of time to job hunt.

retzie

Congratulations on the job!

As everyone else has already said, you will be much better off getting married. Visa aside, if you are moving to a new country together, it will definitely be helpful to have a spouse's legal standing (e.g., in case of emergency).

Beware the tax treaty! Stay a day over your 2 years and you will have to pay back all the tax you avoided. Only if you know for absolute sure that you will be leaving would I take the tax treaty. Given the academic job market is nothing if not unpredictable, I would recommend just stumping up and paying the taxes to keep all options on the table (or setting them aside in savings). You do NOT want to be in a situation where you are turning down a future job because of this.

On the question of salary: that amount would probably be just fine if you were both fresh out of grad school. However, if she has been earning a serious professional salary, it would likely involve a major downward adjustment of lifestyle. Keep in mind that trailing spouses can often have a rough time settling in, and adding tight finances will only make it harder. (At a guess, the pandemic is only making their lives harder again.)

One thing to check with your employer is whether that salary will be paid out over 9 months or 12 months. (In the US, an academic salary typically covers the 9-month teaching year only. You can either find grant money to pay yourself a summer salary, or have them divvy up your 9-month salary into 12 payments over the course of the calendar year.) If it's a 9-month salary paid out over 9 months, you will need to budget for 3 months of no pay over the summer...

This isn't the question you asked, but here are my 2c anyway: I wouldn't rush this. If you arrived at the start of the academic year, you would have a variety of resources at your disposal to help you settle in (new faculty orientation, etc.). The academic year also marks the usual comings and goings, which mean you can take advantage of things like departing postdocs/grad students selling off their furniture/car/etc. Arriving in the winter, it may be a bit tougher to meet people and you may also have reduced rental options in a college area, as many leases run summer-to-summer. If you don't want to wait until the Fall, the start of the summer may be a decent in-between option. Although, timing obviously depends on how restrictive your research set-up will be.

JJ5

Initial contract is 12 months, with a view of it to be extended up to 2-3 years. NC state caps post docs at 5 years. In my head 24 months would be a nice amount of time, but I guess you can't predict the future. Right now, I don't see us gaining residency or emigrating.

The overarching appeal of this is it being a good career move (for me) due to the groups expertise, my expertise and the value of an American post doc on your CV (plus the publishing that could come with that) to gain a permanent role in academia in the long term (in the UK or EU). I also would hope it would be a fun experience, expanding both of our horizons and opening up the world to us a little. I appreciate this is a lot of sacrifice on my girlfriend's part and I know that without work and a "life" whilst there we won't be able to enjoy the experience that may come along with it.

Ironically I was looking at fellowships in Japan before this, moving there would obviously come with more of a culture shock, language barrier as well as expense (I would be able to get money for relocation however) but based on senior colleagues who have worked in Japan on the same fellowships (who took their long term girlfriends whom they married afterwards) it seems like the visa situation and partners finding work is much simpler (albeit the work was mostly teaching English to adults and children, or lecturing at the same university).

JJ5

Wow, that is quite a bit of time. Is job hunting legally off the cards until the EAD comes through?

JJ5

Thanks for your reply. It's a good point about the tax treaty and definitely something to think about. I guess it could be shooting yourself in the foot slightly. In regard to the 9 mo vs. 12 mo, is that still common for post docs in the US? I thought they were generally trying to move away from this sort of setup. If it were like that, I could just save for those months right?

In terms of start date, surely timing it with the academic year isn't necessary? Maybe it's very different from the UK system where non-students generally show up throughout the year?