Zenabuster

So OH has been offered a move with his company over to Seattle, which will probably mean Jan we are uprooting and moving across the pond, but as he and hopefully me will be working for a uk company think the visas we are getting are only valid for three months so we will have to make regular trips back.
Any help or suggestions on things that we need to be doing before hand would be great, I have been looking through the info but you may know something I have missed. We are bringing our two dogs over, after reading things no furniture so just clothes and personal bits.
Thanks for reading.

Mr Weeze

I'll jump in now on the visa question.

Your company will need to get you a visa in order for you to be able to move here to work. You can't do 3 month (90 day actually) trips to get around the system - that will end up with you being banned from coming into the USA pretty quickly.

If your other half has been offered a move with his existing company, it is likely that his company is getting him an L visa.

I suggest looking at the wiki on this site:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:USA_Immigration

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

If you have a look at these it will help answer a lot of questions and also help you understand what you need to know from an immigration standpoint.

Once you can get here legally, then all the other questions make sense.

Pulaski

+1. .... Except his company almost certainly should be getting him an L visa (exceptionally I hear E2 visas are used). Abusing the VWP hurts the individual a lot more than the company, and can lead to difficulty accessing the US for years to come, and can make a big mess for taxes too. .... Which brings me to another question: is he going on the US payroll, so that US taxes and social security deductions can be made? Because if he is working in the US and not paying US taxes that is another matter that will bite the individual a lot harder then their employer. :insure:

Zenabuster

Thanks for that, I will get him to see what they are doing.

And he is still being paid by uk, so I'm guessing that wont interfer with the us taxes

Pulaski

No! If he is being paid through the UK payroll with UK taxes and deductions, that will be a huge problem, and he will likely be personally liable for US taxes after working in the US for 183 days.

Mr Weeze

It can all be dealt with. Taxes are filed in both countries. I suggest you search for typical expat packages. This generally includes tax preparation and can include tax equalization (i.e. they cover your us tax liability). Both countries will want some level of taxes from you.

Is it a big company which does these type of moves all the time?

AmerLisa

And as always the sticky wicket of health insurance....

Zenabuster

Arghh crickey looks like this could be interesting. They are a big company I know the md has lived in china for the company previously, and they have said they will sort everything so guess they know what they doing.
They have said they will pay for insurances inc health

Hotscot

Start getting things in writing before you make plans.
I've seen people burned with "intentions" and "promises" before.

Mr Weeze

1) Don't panic. This has all been done before and we can explain.
2) Get your (I'm going to assume) husband to confirm the visa. If it is an intracompany transfer it will either be L1A (manager) or L1B (specialist).
3) get your husband to ask if there is a relocation guidance document.
4) Get an AmEx if you don't have one
5) Read up on this site. Use the finance guide, the bringing your pets guide, and search for relocation questions. These pop up every so often - along the lines of what should I be asking my company for.

Lbjen

Don't blindly trust the company to take care of it all for you. Get details, in writing, and make sure you have everything covered.

Bob

Don't trust the company, plenty of HR in massive companies don't have a clue and leave you in it.

Visa is n important, if worked for over a year, L1 is likely.

Tax is complicated, especially if on UK payroll.

There is more to medical insurance than the premium paid.

The wiki here will help with the visa, relocation package, medical, credit issues, driving and plenty of other questions. Suggest a lot of reading and understanding things that affect you before agreeing to anything.

ian-mstm

Unless you and OH are married, it'll be impossible for you to move to the US. Unless you are married, you won't ever be allowed to work in the US.


There are no "three month" visas. They don't exist. If you're talking about the 90-day Visa Waiver Program (VWP), that is not the appropriate course of action to move/live/work in the US. You can't move/live/work in the US if you enter on the VWP.

Before anything else - find out exactly (not maybe, or perhaps... but exactly) what visa the company will be pursuing. Make sure there's a relocation package in his contract; and if you want to remain in the US, make sure there's a definite date in his contract that states specifically when they will start that process. As others have said, don't trust the company - and, especially, don't trust the company's lawyers... they work for the company, they don't work for you! Make sure everything is spelled out clearly!


Don't move the dogs unless you're going to stay in the US for a year or more. You won't be able to take them back and forth on the VWP.

Ian

penguinsix

No one wants to scare you before this exciting new adventure, but you've pretty much "checked the box" on all the things NOT to say prior to an expat move. Let me speak generally and then try to address some individual points.

Basically, everything is your problem, not the company's. Screw up on taxes--you have to pay, not the company. Screw up the visas--you get punished, not the company. Screw up on health care--you get the bills. All of these things, though often 'handled' by the company, remain your personal responsibility to get through. As such, you really have to hold their feet to the fire and read the fine print.

As for some of the specifics, no, you cannot come over for 90 days and "work" and then go home on day 89 to "top up" and come back. This is illegal and will cause problems with taxes and huge problems at the border, where you will likely be dinged on re-entry. The general rule for the Visa Waiver (i.e. 90 day entry) is "spend at least as much time outside the USA as inside" so 90 days in, 90 days out. Regardless, the issue of working while on the VWP is illegal. You are only allowed to attend business meetings, set up new offices, look for new customers, but not the same "day-to-day" kind of work that you do overseas or would be doing in the USA. I believe these rules are similar to the B2 temporary visa for business purposes as well.

Second, regardless of where you get paid, you are "working" in the United States. The definition used by the USA and nearly every other country in the world is "where your bum is while you are doing the work" (well, not legally those specific terms but practically). Think of it in the extreme to realise the problems involved: what if everyone in the world moved to the UK but was "getting paid back in their home country" so they wouldn't pay any taxes in the UK. You'd have millions of people on the NHS rolls and collecting benefits, using public services, etc without paying a pence in taxes. The system would collapse.

There are very rare, isolated cases of where "getting paid in the home office" is allowed (think journalists, or visiting academic professors, for example). But as you'll be in the USA when the work is being performed, you will be liable for USA taxes on all income.

This includes withholding and what is known as the "employer's share" of the taxes. Say you make $100,000 a year. Your employer's cost for you is actually $112,000 a year as they have to pay things like "the employer's share" of unemployment insurance, health and pensions contributions, etc direct to the government. If you are getting a check in the UK for $100,000 a year and nothing more, guess who gets to pay the "employer's share"? YOU! You are considered self-employed in the eyes of the US tax authorities and will have to pay that extra $12,000 yourself, meaning you now only get $88,000 a year instead of $100,000. Many many many overseas companies would love to avoid this responsibility for their US employees (it's a paperwork pain in the ass for them) so they frequently try to scrimp and avoid it by "paying you in the home country". But when push comes to shove with the US taxation folks, you pay the price.

Finally as for health care, please note that there are several different types of health insurance and you really need to get into the details of the policy to understand your liability. Most companies "offer" a health care option, but how much the company pays and what is your monthly "premium" varies. Some companies pay 100% of the health insurance premium, but then you discover when you visit the hospital you have a "co-pay" amount you have to pay each time you use the service, or a "co-insurance" amount, say 10% of the costs that you have to pay, or even a "deductible", which is the amount you have to pay out of your own pocket before insurance even starts. 100% paid by the employer is not common, but even if it is the case you need to check up on these other bits.

Like I said, we really don't want to scare you. It's just many of the things you've said we've seen said before and people have paid a very dear price when things go belly up.

Good luck with this exciting opportunity.

Pulaski

When the company tells everything is in place, visa, salary arrangements, you should seriously consider a short consultation with an immigration attorney of your choosing to review the documents and ensure that you are appropriately protected from immigration related risks.