Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Mar 2nd 2014, 6:11 pm
#16
Wolf In Sheeps Clothing
Joined: Sep 2008
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 947
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
As an ex-Brightonian I'd include Charleston, SC as one of your options. Ok it does get hot and humid but by the sea, reasonable cost of living (as long as you don't want a character Charleston house) and was recently voted as 'the' place to live in the US by Conde Nast.
http://www.abcnews4.com/story/19833128/charleston
http://www.abcnews4.com/story/19833128/charleston
Mar 3rd 2014, 1:42 am
#17
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Maine
Posts: 2,043
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
We calculated it cost us about $15k to move, that was with three kids. We were on wayyy less than $120k at the time, so it did help to have the company paying the $15k. If you can afford it and you really do want to live in the US then this sounds like a rare opportunity and I would jump at it.
I would think hard about living near good schools when you're making the decision where to live. It's great to have such freedom of choice. On $160k I wouldn't be going for anywhere expensive like NY or SF, but there are plenty of places you can live comfortably on that.
I would think hard about living near good schools when you're making the decision where to live. It's great to have such freedom of choice. On $160k I wouldn't be going for anywhere expensive like NY or SF, but there are plenty of places you can live comfortably on that.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:03 am
#18
BE Irregular
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Tampa Bay Florida
Posts: 4,849
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Hi all,
After my postings last year on a potential job in San Francisco I never gave up despite that one going the way of the dodo. After all the changes within the company I kept making noise about wanting to move to the US (after all the planning and thinking and talking with my wife we had it stuck in our head) and I was told some nice things and that it would probably be an option this year.
So round and round I went not knowing what was going to happen. Finally last week I was told that there would be no budget approval for international relocation this year. Again a nice kick in the plums especially as this is a huge global company. I can understand as I have had massive budget issues lately and getting anything approved is difficult at times. So I had some conversations where I have been told that I can move to the US on my own dime. They will sort the visa's and there would be a very very limited relocation package (no flights, no money for furniture etc) which would include accommodation for when we get there and help from their relocation department. Essentially they will get the visa's and thats it. I would be getting the same package a US citizen would get if they moved from New York to LA. I am a bit annoyed as I thought I was good enough to get moved and get a good package but whatever. I am Sr. Manager right now and I would be going on the L1A visa as a manager transfer.
This gives me a few options now as I can go for the original job in San Francisco (which is still available in a way) or I can actually choose to live in a few other places - Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix near a major office or I could pick anywhere and work remotely (My wife mentioned Boston).
We want to move to the US and I suppose the option is still there but paying for almost all of it out of my own pocket is something I hadn't considered. If we were to go with this option I would still try negotiate a very good salary to try make up the money (My UK salary will convert at around $140k at the moment - I would want at least another $20k on top of that). Also where to live is the new one. Do I still go for San Fran seeing as that's where we have been focusing or pick somewhere else?
Not getting offered a relocation package is worrying me. Has anyone else had to pay for themselves to get to the US to get a job?
After my postings last year on a potential job in San Francisco I never gave up despite that one going the way of the dodo. After all the changes within the company I kept making noise about wanting to move to the US (after all the planning and thinking and talking with my wife we had it stuck in our head) and I was told some nice things and that it would probably be an option this year.
So round and round I went not knowing what was going to happen. Finally last week I was told that there would be no budget approval for international relocation this year. Again a nice kick in the plums especially as this is a huge global company. I can understand as I have had massive budget issues lately and getting anything approved is difficult at times. So I had some conversations where I have been told that I can move to the US on my own dime. They will sort the visa's and there would be a very very limited relocation package (no flights, no money for furniture etc) which would include accommodation for when we get there and help from their relocation department. Essentially they will get the visa's and thats it. I would be getting the same package a US citizen would get if they moved from New York to LA. I am a bit annoyed as I thought I was good enough to get moved and get a good package but whatever. I am Sr. Manager right now and I would be going on the L1A visa as a manager transfer.
This gives me a few options now as I can go for the original job in San Francisco (which is still available in a way) or I can actually choose to live in a few other places - Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix near a major office or I could pick anywhere and work remotely (My wife mentioned Boston).
We want to move to the US and I suppose the option is still there but paying for almost all of it out of my own pocket is something I hadn't considered. If we were to go with this option I would still try negotiate a very good salary to try make up the money (My UK salary will convert at around $140k at the moment - I would want at least another $20k on top of that). Also where to live is the new one. Do I still go for San Fran seeing as that's where we have been focusing or pick somewhere else?
Not getting offered a relocation package is worrying me. Has anyone else had to pay for themselves to get to the US to get a job?
It is doable.
Mar 3rd 2014, 6:04 am
#20
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,006
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
I have to say I find it wryly amusing when I read grumbly threads about the "low" relocation allowances some expats get from their employers (not referring to the OP). Some of them are more than my annual salary.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:07 pm
#21
Mouthy Yank
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,229
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Not to be a wet blanket, but if something happens to the company or your job or, god forbid, you, and you need to move back to the UK, repatriation needs to be part of the package, and unless you have a lot in the stocking, it needs to be funded by the company. You'll likely not need it but it mustn't be overlooked.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:27 pm
#22
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
This gives me a few options now as I can go for the original job in San Francisco (which is still available in a way) or I can actually choose to live in a few other places - Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix near a major office or I could pick anywhere and work remotely (My wife mentioned Boston).
Doable on $140K...be quite a lot better in the burbs though.
All depends on what you're looking for and what you want to do there.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:35 pm
#23
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Not to be a wet blanket, but if something happens to the company or your job or, god forbid, you, and you need to move back to the UK, repatriation needs to be part of the package, and unless you have a lot in the stocking, it needs to be funded by the company. You'll likely not need it but it mustn't be overlooked.
Try and get emergency flight home covered. Go for one annual family flight home, then for the first year to sort out affairs to give you wiggle room to get them down to emergency flights. It's a benefit they will likely never have to pay out for either, but if you need it, it's a massive weight off your shoulders.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:48 pm
#24
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,446
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Not to be a wet blanket, but if something happens to the company or your job or, god forbid, you, and you need to move back to the UK, repatriation needs to be part of the package, and unless you have a lot in the stocking, it needs to be funded by the company. You'll likely not need it but it mustn't be overlooked.
Aye, last minute flights because your mum got hit by a bus and you need to catch the next! flight home to be with her and that'll be thousands of dollars.
Try and get emergency flight home covered. Go for one annual family flight home, then for the first year to sort out affairs to give you wiggle room to get them down to emergency flights. It's a benefit they will likely never have to pay out for either, but if you need it, it's a massive weight off your shoulders.
Try and get emergency flight home covered. Go for one annual family flight home, then for the first year to sort out affairs to give you wiggle room to get them down to emergency flights. It's a benefit they will likely never have to pay out for either, but if you need it, it's a massive weight off your shoulders.
Last edited by Pulaski; Mar 3rd 2014 at 2:51 pm.
Mar 3rd 2014, 2:56 pm
#25
Mouthy Yank
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2,229
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
If you don't ask, you certainly won't get. They may bend so far as that. It's for a future benefit that they will likely be in a position to provide at that time and that they don't have to pay for now... what does it say about them if they think it is unlikely they could afford it in a year or two?
Mar 3rd 2014, 3:57 pm
#26
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 6,159
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
When I moved over the company couldn't provide a relocation package, instead they bumped up my salary a bit, which was more beneficial in the long run.
At the end of the day I only brought stuff that flew with me as baggage,
At the end of the day I only brought stuff that flew with me as baggage,
Mar 3rd 2014, 4:01 pm
#27
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 766
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
we also paid our own way, used my miles to get 2 UC seats as we wanted to celebrate our move in style, plus it got the MRS extra baggage allowance (and boy did she use it !!)
Biggest cost was the dog.
think we laid down around £3500-4000 in all
Biggest cost was the dog.
think we laid down around £3500-4000 in all
Mar 3rd 2014, 9:07 pm
#28
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
If they're considering him for the relocation, they obviously think he's worth the visa hassle and just trying to short some change on the cost, but this might not seem so bad as a sweatener as they aren't spending any money on it up front.
Mar 4th 2014, 12:08 am
#29
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2011
Location: West Sussex - did 3 years in the US...
Posts: 577
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
+1. If you can find anywhere with the same vibe as Brighton & Crystal Palace, please let me know! We're in NJ, the only places out here with a similar feel would be Brooklyn, Hoboken, TriBeCa, Soho. We're living in the equivalent of Weybridge in Surrey. I'm from SW London (Wandsworth) originally and have spent that last 15 years in NW London. Brighton is about the only coastal area we would ever consider moving to.
Forget the west coast on $140k - forget the coast on $1.4m ! You won't get anywhere near it. In the Bay Area, the going rent for a middle-of-the-range 3-bed is $3400/month for 1600sq ft, no gardens (they sell for about $900k - you won't get a mortgage either, because most people coming in bring "family" money to buy outright).
In terms of salary, $140k is roughly the starting salary for a developer at Google. In other words, not that much....
The closest you'll get to Brighton is Santa Cruz and it really needs a lick-of-paint... Compared to the south-coast seaside towns you and I are used to, really very, very basic. San Francisco is nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to bring up kids there. And as others have said, at $140k/year, you really are a long way down the line in terms of housing.
You need to be paying a lot of money for a house because that's where the good schools are - alternatively, expect to pay $36k/child/year (Harker in San Jose) for private Elementary/Middle just for tuition.
It was when we went back to the UK a few months ago and thought that Staines high street was "lovely" that we realised we were living in the wrong country....
Mar 4th 2014, 1:01 am
#30
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2013
Location: Currently Cheshire in UK but soon to be an Expat....
Posts: 98
Re: Get here on your own dime! Advice required.
Just moved to the US with wife and two kids. The relocation was for my wives work and her company did cover all the costs etc.
Moved in January and all I can say is that the US is not what its made out to be.
We put our house back in England up for sale so we could buy outright over here.
That strategy changed, our home in England is now up for rent, there to move back to if and when we want to. (and as far as I am concerned it is when).
Wife is on a two year minimum contract (e.g. if we stayed less than two years we would have to pay back some of the costs). The company will sponsor a green card but at the moment i don't think about that. So although in this first couple of months I am unsettled and have to take that into account I can't see me wanting to see my kids grow up here. Just the stories about affording college give me the willies!
AND... its expensive. Ok so I can fill up a ford fiesta for about £25 in petrol but thats it, everything else I have found to be more expensive and insurance... well allow 3-4 times what you paid in the UK.
And just another one, the culture is very different, I had a motorbike licence in England, I still had to go to school here to get a florida endorsement (by the way in Tampa florida). So I am in a class of twelve students, in the afternoon, we are talking about safety gear, our coach tells us about gloves, "you need a good pair of gloves, don't scrimp on quality get a leather pair" to give an example of buying quality he says, "how many of you own guns?" 11 hands go up!
he then asks "and how many of you have a licence to carry a concealed weapon".
8 hands go down, 4 stay up, one of them a quiet middle aged lady!
"well" the coach says, "you wouldn't put your $600 dollar pistol in a cheap holster would you?" They talked about guns like we in England talk about the weather.
The weather is hot and sunny, we are living in a community with a swimming pool, but there is something about England and Europe that is different and something I know I will want to go back to one day.
Moved in January and all I can say is that the US is not what its made out to be.
We put our house back in England up for sale so we could buy outright over here.
That strategy changed, our home in England is now up for rent, there to move back to if and when we want to. (and as far as I am concerned it is when).
Wife is on a two year minimum contract (e.g. if we stayed less than two years we would have to pay back some of the costs). The company will sponsor a green card but at the moment i don't think about that. So although in this first couple of months I am unsettled and have to take that into account I can't see me wanting to see my kids grow up here. Just the stories about affording college give me the willies!
AND... its expensive. Ok so I can fill up a ford fiesta for about £25 in petrol but thats it, everything else I have found to be more expensive and insurance... well allow 3-4 times what you paid in the UK.
And just another one, the culture is very different, I had a motorbike licence in England, I still had to go to school here to get a florida endorsement (by the way in Tampa florida). So I am in a class of twelve students, in the afternoon, we are talking about safety gear, our coach tells us about gloves, "you need a good pair of gloves, don't scrimp on quality get a leather pair" to give an example of buying quality he says, "how many of you own guns?" 11 hands go up!
he then asks "and how many of you have a licence to carry a concealed weapon".
8 hands go down, 4 stay up, one of them a quiet middle aged lady!
"well" the coach says, "you wouldn't put your $600 dollar pistol in a cheap holster would you?" They talked about guns like we in England talk about the weather.
The weather is hot and sunny, we are living in a community with a swimming pool, but there is something about England and Europe that is different and something I know I will want to go back to one day.