notacrime

I work for a company based out of San Francisco. I worked for them on-site in San Francisco for about a year, until 2007. I now work for them from home here in Edinburgh. They currently pay me out of their London office, in GBP. My salary was set based on my US salary in Jan 2008. My wife and I now have a bunch of savings in GBP, more than enough to see us through August when we will move back to the US, and to pay for the UK side of moving costs etc.

When we get back to the US I will be returning to work on-site at the same company.

Is there any reason I couldn't take up employment out of the US office sooner than August, with the understanding that I am working remotely until then? (Assuming my boss is OK with that plan of course.) The main reason for this is that we have expenses in USD, and our USD savings are almost all gone, so we are now faced with having to transfer savings from GBP to USD. Also, I believe my boss will reinstate my USD salary, so I'll be earning about 40% more than I do currently.

I am conditional LPR and have just filed I-751 to remove conditions.

AdobePinon

Don't see a problem - as long as your LPR status is still valid.

meauxna

You're work authorized the moment you step back into the US.
The US doesn't care* who you're working for or what & where you are doing it as long as you're not on our glorious shores(tm).



*As long as you report your income and pay the taxes!

chartreuse

And there's the rub. Your problem, if you have one, will be with HMRC who will view your work as duties performed in the UK and will want to tax you. You will argue that they're performed for a foreign employer, HMRC will say "but they've got a UK office" etc.

Might be worth talking to a good UK accountant.

Dan B

You do know the exchange rate now right?

1.00GBP = 1.40USD

notacrime

Yes, and I have the choice to be paid £60k or $120k.

meauxna

Need an assistant?

Dan B

$120k on the West Coast is probably what you'll need for the same quality of life! Besides, I was referring to your savings.

notacrime

Right, which is why I want to start earning in dollars. I'd rather start saving dollars than pounds, and start spending my pound savings.

Thanks everyone for their input. I think I will consult an accountant.

pabby

If you earned 20K GBP would you have mentioned that in this discussion? Didn't think so.

notacrime

Bit of a hypothetical question there.

chartreuse

"hypothetical" is one way of putting it

Steerpike

Does your wife's ability to work (or lack thereof) factor in at all?

Just curious - in your opinion, and completely independent of exchange rates, what would be the 'going rate' of that job in the UK today, in pounds? My question is, really - for a job that would typically earn $120k in the bay area, in IT (I think you said you were in IT, somewhere), what would the pay be in the UK in pounds. When I skipped over the pond many years ago, IT jobs in UK paid dismally compared to the bay area; I'm just wondering how things have changed.

notacrime

No not really. She works currently, but is out on maternity leave for the next 6 months. She'll be returning to work for a month or so before we move back to the US. She works for a company that is headquartered in San Francisco, so is hoping to get a transfer.

It's hard to answer this without going over some other facts of my salary history that I don't mind sharing with you, but I'm wary of pissing others off. So I'll PM you with that.

As a ballpark I'd say that in Edinburgh a salary of around £40k would be about equivalent to a $120k senior developer role in San Francisco. In London it would be £60k.

Steerpike

That's good enough info; no need for personal details! That jives with what I thought, roughly, and suggests things have improved in the UK for IT folks over the years. When I left, I was making 9,000 pounds in North London, and started in the Bay Area at $28,000 - then got a 35+% raise to about $38k after one year (I worked my ass off!). Exchange rate back then (83) was about 1.5 $ = 1 pound.