HarvardHopeful

Hi All,

I would be grateful for your advice. I have had a look over the FAQs, but I have a few more questions. Broadly, I am wondering if there is a consultant that you would advise that I contact to discuss my situation:

I am a Brit and UK passport holder taking up a fellowship in Boston in August 2022 for 10 months. It is a J-1 Visa, sponsored by the University.
There is a small stipend associated with the fellowship ($5k a month). It is based mainly at longwood medical area.

Part of the course will probably be WFH, and I would like to invite friends from the UK to spend a night or two as part of their holiday plans - so I will need a 1 bed furnished flat minimum. This looks like it will cost approx $3,000 per month. I think that I can probably do without a car for the course, but ideally, I would like to have one to spend my weekends traveling/ exploring the US. I understand that this will incur additional expense in terms of parking etc.

I will be renting my home in the UK out for the duration and using this to subsidise my living costs in Boston.

The university offer a healthcare plan, which I will subscribe to (still to look into this at depth).

Specific questions:
Are there any areas that I should avoid / aim to stay around Boston, that would align well with my forecast budget and work location?
What is the civic centre of Boston? I'm thinking where people go for coffees, shop etc, and is there accommodation around there that would be recommended?
Do I need a car to get about/shop etc?
If I enjoy my time (I am sure I will from all of the great feedback), how easy is it to change my visa if I am offered a full-time job opportunity following the fellowship?
How does taxation work? I am only there part of the year, (Aug '22 - June '23) I will be subsidising my fellowship income through renting my home in the UK. Do I pay two sets of taxes?
Is there anything that you think I should think of that I haven't considered??

Thanks for the help!

GeneralPowerpoint

By how much are you able to supplement your income?

$60k is very low for Boston.

After the $3k you're expecting to pay in rent, taxes and healthcare you'll have almost nothing left of the $5k stipend.

HarvardHopeful

Thanks for the comment. It will be quite right. Probably by about $1,500 a month or so, depending how much of my savings I use during the fellowship.

christmasoompa

I think you might need to rethink your housing budget, maybe a room in a shared house would be better? Spending half your monthly budget on just your apartment wouldn't leave you much for everything else. Good for making friends too.

I also think I'd forget the car idea - likely to be a fairly big cost each month, particularly if you have to pay for parking ($400-1200pcm according to other posts I've seen). You can do things like get the train or bus to NYC from Boston, and ferries to Cape Cod, so you can still explore without one. I'd stick with hiring a Zipcar or similar for when you do want to drive somewhere.

HarvardHopeful

Thank you for the note about the car. I hadn't realised it was quite that expensive!! Is there anyone you recommend that could provide me with some advice r.e. places to stay or the visa situation? Thanks again.

S Folinsky

You indicate you will be on a medically related J-1. They are subject to a 2 year foreign residence requirement. There are waivers for the 2 year FRR but traditionally they are quite difficult to obtain. I did two in my 40 years of immigration practice, but one had heavy political pull (and would not have been granted otherwise) and the other was from the UK which had revoked his leave to remain (due to long absence from the UK) and his home country would have persecuted him.

Note that medical J-1 are treated quite differently from other J-1.

HarvardHopeful

Hi there,

Thank you for the rapid reply. I am a medical graduate but the course is not a medical course. I do not believe that I will be on a medical J1 visa. Does this change things? Thank you.

christmasoompa

I don’t know what you mean by ‘the visa situation’ as it sounds as though that’s sorted if Harvard are sponsoring your J-1?

But does the university not have accommodation they can provide, or at least a list of some they recommend? I’d check with them first.

Nutmegger

Off topic, but hope it is not one of these offers:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nyt...india.amp.html

S Folinsky

I am quite retired these days. J visa is a narrow sub specialty of immigration law. My “maven” on the subject was Bruce A Hake in Maryland. If you should contact him (or his partner inasmuch as Bruce was semi-retired last I looked) have your IAP-66 or DS-2019 available (unless they’ve changed the numbers).

Good luck.

HarvardHopeful

Thank you. That's extremely helpful.