SmallShinyAnt

Ok, a few weeks later and the RFE response has been put together and dispatched yesterday. What feels like a whole world of more information has been put together about my experience and the training I give and receive along with some endorsements from inside and out the company.

Many fingers crossed i will get a positive response within 15days.

Hawkini

Back when my L-1B was submitted (2011) I also had a RFE to "prove" my role was specialist - my company and I worked together to provide a forests worth of documentation, training materials, 15 page job description etc and within 72 hours of them receiving I had an approval.

This appears to be very standard now, I know this is a case by case basis but don't worry - as long as you have been thorough and answered the RFE exactly how they wanted you should be good.

gazzer82

As Hawkini stated, i think RFE's are pretty much the norm at the moment. My L-1A got RFE and they basically asked for a load of things we already submitted, we just "repackaged" things and sent them back. According to my lawyer that is happening on nearly every case for them at the moment.

An update from us:

We are now in Pasadena, we have a nice Townhouse in the Old Town, Bank account with Bank of America (who where incredibly helpful) and as of yesterday i passed my California state driving license, wife has hers on Friday. We also have cars sorted (thanks to Ford and VW) and the wifes EAD application went in this week.

We are still waiting on our stuff from the uk, boat is currently in the Panama Canal and is due to dock in La at the end of the week, then we need to wait for customs clearance.

Went to a baseball game on Monday (Labor Day) was good fun!

Overall settling in ok and things are staring to make sense, slowly getting to the bottom of the to-do list and working out supermarkets e.t.c

Just need to find some fellow brits in La area now to catch up with and discuss the americans with and watch the Rugby, if anyone fancies a pint in the LA area at any point, hit me up

Cheers

Gareth

SmallShinyAnt

Thanks for the reassurance. It is much appreciated. The attorney thinks it is a great case with clear Specialised skill, but i have trouble of not thinking of him as Saul for breaking bad whenever we talk.

SmallShinyAnt

Sounds like you are settling in really well. Must be a pain waiting for your stuff to arrive, but going to be a hell of great day when it turns up.

How is the working life over there? They looking after you?

WhyteBoar

I hope you are a fortunate as we were, we had everything delivered just a week after it arrived in the country.

gazzer82

Yeah life here's pretty good, the guys in work are great and the office is nice and chilled.

I've also now mastered the surface streets to work now so i can avoid the freeway when it gets all snarled up (like this morning) . . .

Fingers crossed that we are as fortunate with the delivery of our stuff, i absolutely cannot wait for it to arrive, i really miss my bed, my sofa and my Kitchen stuff, cooking with so few utensils is a real challenge!

The tracking on the boat has gone offline now so it looks like it is out of the Canal and on it's way up the coast.

Will let you all know when it arrives!

Cheers

Gareth

SmallShinyAnt

Just got the news from the company attorney. My L1-B visa has been approved! woop woop! Now the work starts.

Hawkini

Congrats! The most important thing is once you step off the plane have a car, roof over your head, access to money - and get your credit score started ASAP if you don't have any way of transferring it (Amex?) from the UK. The rest is meh!

Oh our 2nd stop after we arrived was Walmart to get a GPS - invaluable.

gazzer82

Congratulations!

Partially agree with Wakini, getting somewhere to live is No1 priority, but the other you can just leave till you get here.

Bank account is easy (Bank of American or Chase)

Car, personally i would leave it till you get here so you can see what's available as the cars are very different to home. As long as you go with one of the Expat friendly companies (Ford, VW, Audi, BMW, Mazda) you can pretty much drive off with a car as soon as you get your SSN.

I would suggest the following, assuming you plan to drive and want to lease a vehicle:

Day 1 - Upon arrival (day of if you like) go and open a bank account.
Day 2 - Make an appointment online for your local DMV, this needs to be 11 Days into the future as you can't do anything without your SSN.

Buy a PAYG sim card for you phone, AT&T is a safe bet as it will almost 100% work with the frequency of your phone, though they are not the cheapest. Another option (who also use the same network as AT&T) is NET10, cheaper and worked for us when we got here.

You do however need to make sure you get your phone unlocked before you leave the UK by your network, this varies from company to company and they may charge you for it.

Go and look at cars, see what you like.
Have Dinner, acclimatise, visit supermarkets e.t.c
Revise for DMV theory test.
Generally go a little stir crazy as you can'r really do anything . . . .

Day 10 - Go to SS Office and apply for SSN (do not do it before 10 days as this can cause delays in issuing the number).
Day 11 - Return to SS office and get them to write the number down for you.
Day 12 - Visit DMV with your SSN and apply for your learns permit, and take your theory test, if you pass book your driven test.
Day 13 - Go to see a couple of dealers for the car you have chosen, and see who will give you the best offer. Be aware that any prices may not include TAX and other "Extras" so insist they give you a total monthly cost including all taxes and fees, for the mileage you need.

You will also need to sort insurance, i went with State Farm as they where really helpful and much cheaper than everyone else i contacted. I sent them copies of my old no-claims, i also got a copy of mine and my wife driving record from the DVLA, this saved us quite a chunk on what we where originally quoted!

Day 14 - Drive off in your new Car

Day 20 is - SSN card will come in the post, you will likely need to send a copy to the car lease finance people.

Onwards and enjoy this crazy new place you live

Congrats again, i really hope you enjoy you're new home!

Cheers

Gareth

Hawkini

While Zaggers provides invaluable information - mine was solely concentrating on Day One - I was not advocating only dealing with transport, a roof and money and the rest of it leave to chance!!

gazzer82

Indeed, not read that way! Just putting in my two cents that getting a Car and Bank account sorted before arriving is not super critical.

Plus i found it really hard to find decent information on timing for what to do when so though that might help also!

Cheers

Gareth

SmallShinyAnt

Hi All,
Thank for all the advice and tips. I have gone for a car via International Auto source, so i should get that a couple of weeks after landing. We are planning on booking an AirBnB and a hire car for a month(My company has a contract with National car hire so that does not work out to expensive). That should hopefully give us enough time to find a condo that will get us through our first year. Bank account, we are going to open with HSBC, but will get something more local once we are out there.

Stage 4: ?????
Stage 5: Profit!

smarty156

I'm currently in discussion with International Autosource to supply a new car when we go out in November and they said that they can now provide short term rental cars to cover the period from arrival to picking up the new car. Did you ask them about prices? Just curious how they compare to the usual rental companies.

Gazzer82 - you have Day 12 book driving test and then Day 14 pick up new car. Was there no wait for a driving test? Where was this? I thought you needed a full licence to be able to pick up and register a new car? Were you financing a car? What rates did you get quoted? Sorry for all the questions.

SmallShinyAnt

I found Autosources rental prices to be competitive but not as good as the offer i get from National rental, that includes all the insurance's. It is also worth emailing local car garages from the area your are looking to move to and ask them about there expat deals. This is what i did and autosource was then able to match the best offer that i was getting. I imagine i could of got bit a better from local garages in the end but wanted to reduce the amount of hassle.

Make sure you ask for the everything price.. To include taxes and delivery costs.

According to the paperwork for the car i need to be able to prove who i am and where i live, to receive the vehicle but no problem with the UK license.