Alizoo

We're moving to Houston (husband has been offered and accepted a great job there) and I was wondering, what makes a good to great expat package from the company you will be working for? We are kind of babes in the wood when it comes to this. I've got some ideas from reading other threads on this board but thought I would throw the question out there to those who have done/are doing it. So would this about cover it? Or are my expectations off the scale?

1. Flights - in/out and 2 returns each during the first year, then 1 return each per year

2. Accommodation paid for 3 months until we find new home

3. Accommodation - rent paid for one year or for the whole duration of the posting (likely to be 3-5 years)?

4. Shipping costs in/out (one container)

5. UK storage costs?

6. Tax and Visa assistance

7. Fully comp health insurance for both of us

8. Spanish lessons paid for both of us

9. UK or US contract? Would a UK contract be best?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Alizoo

HartleyHare

Hi,

We have just moved over. What you get offered really depends on the size of the company. Some would include all those elements and others a lot less. However, I think most would agree that if you got offered everything above it would be a very generous package

My OH company is quite small, so we didn't get a huge amount of help. However, they did pay for:

Flights over & back at end of contract (x 3)
Flights for our dog there and back at end of contract

Lump sum to cover moving etc.. It is up to us how we spend this. We have put our furniture into storage in the UK and will buy new over here.

Medical insurance - this comes with my OH employment. We have a $500 deductible, then 100% coverage. We do have to contribute around $400 a month for the 3 of us.

Temp accomodation for up to 3 months.

All other expenses are down to us (no rent paid, flights home etc.)

Have you thought if you will need a car? I have seen people ask for a rental car for the first month. You can also ask for the cost of preparing your first/last US tax return.

You don't say if you have children - some companies will pay for private education.

Finally, we are renting out our UK home which has tax implications. I would recommend getting some tax advice before you come over in relation to pensions, savings etc.. as there are quite stringent reporting rules. There are many threads on this subject.

Good luck, there is a lot to take in!

Alizoo

Thank you HartleyHare! We are childless so this is one less complexity...thanks for the month care hire tip. Fingers crossed the company will be generous! Best of luck to you settling in. Whereabouts are you? Alizoo

PalmTrees

Hi,
We've done several expat postings and are currently in the US, we get as standard:

1. Return flights and accomadtion for an initial visit to find school / home, then return flights home once a year plus flights for family bereavement if necessary.

2. Accomadtion paid for the entirety for the posting, also a relocation agent provided to find houses, set up utilities, help apply for SS numbers etc.

3. Shipping costs (1 container) and lump sum to pay for additional furniture needed here.

4. Storage costs in UK covered for length of posting.

5. Accountancy firm provided to do tax returns for length of assignment.

6. Immigration lawyer to sort out visas, all costs covered by employer.

7. Full health insurance, no co-pays or deductables. Employer covers any health expenses that insurer does not.

8. No language lessons in English speaking countries unfortunately!

9. Private school fees covered plus reimbursement for any compulsory supplies (text books, iPads etc)

10. 2 company cars and free petrol for 1 car.

Hope this helps and good luck with the move!

Alizoo

Wow that's a great package, fingers crossed ours will be as good. Hope you are enjoying Nashville!

Bink

Will your husband be paid as an expat or are you being relocated and therefore being paid locally?
This will affect the answer. You're very unlikely to get accommodation paid for a prolonged period if you're being relocated, plus it's taxable.

To put this in perspective it sounds to me like out of the postings above HartleyHare was relocated and PalmTrees is on an expat package.

HartleyHare

You are correct OH is on a "local" contract, but has kept his UK holiday allowance.

PalmTrees

Bink is also correct about our situation. My husband has a UK contract and we are here for a set period of time before we move back to the UK or somewhere else in the world equally as exotic as Nashville!

Bink

That's good (and what I have but don't tell my employees that).

HartelyHare's is a good example of a 'relocation'/'local' package and PalmTrees is a good example of an 'expat' package.

I was relocated and got the following:

- Flight/yr for first 3 years
- Accom for 6 months (though it actually ended up being 9 months)
- Company car
- CPA for first 3 years
- Lump sum amount for expenses
- Shipping paid for
- Medical/health insurance

I work for a small company and set up an office for them here.

Bob

There's a thing in the wiki that has lots of info...

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Compan...on_Packages_US

Alizoo

Thanks everyone for their replies and Bob for the wiki link!

Giantaxe

That wiki should be updated to indicate that some of a relocation package will be taxable to the recipient. As I've said before in this forum, having your employer "gross up" your package such that they are effectively paying any taxes you incur is a pretty important feature of a relocation package.

nun

Wow these packages are very generous. I would insist on tax help, accomodation for a couple of months and obviously visa help. The other stuff sounds a bit extravagant to me. When I moved from UK to US my employer got the US consulate in Edinburgh to stamp my passport with an H1B visa and that was it, no relocation or other help. I just got on a plane and started working.

Sally Redux

I know some people over here who get the amazing expat packages, very different from coming on H1-B, unfortunately

nun

Yeah I suppose the big expat packages come with L1 type visas.