JOK1

Yes had quotes between 300 and 550 dollars.

JOK1

Your right the US Aviation business is larger but so is the completion, we do already have items supplied to us from US companies but that's not the worry it would be like anyone in the UK trying to start-up in the business, without any contacts or leads for customers your already in a no win position.

Pulaski

In the US you would be looking at around $600-$800/person/mth for the cheapest stand-alone health insurance, and that would still leave you, at a minimum facing paying the first $3,000-$10,000 (depending on whether one or all of you have medical needs) of medical expenses each year, before the insurance kicks in. If you're seeing quotes for less then the deductible (bit you pay first) may be even higher.

Typically employers subsidize health insurance for their employees, so we pay a lot less than that, but you should budget a minimum of $30,000 a year for heath expenses for you and your family, and consider yourself lucky if none of you need treatment and it only costs you $20,000.

That said if you structure your insurance the right way you can take a tax deduction for part of the cost and might save $1,500-$3,000, depending on whether your wife works and where. ..... If she gets work outside your business then she might be able to get coverage for the while family through her employment, in which case the budget numbers I mentioned above might fall by as much as half.

Surely you're better off in a business that you already have knowledge and experience of?

Jerseygirl

Per person I presume? On top of that you will have deductibles, co-pays and meds to pay for.

petitefrancaise

With your current plan.... of E2
I assume your 19 year old will be over 21 when they finish university in the UK? in which case, they will have to sort out their own employment based visa and that is going to be hard going on impossible at that age.

Your 17 year old will also have to leave once their university course is finished. Have you seen how much a US degree costs? Even if you managed to qualify for in-state tuition ( much lower and usually requires at least 1 year of residency in the state) you have to pay everything up-front. Not like the UK where you pay for your degree once you start earning above a certain amount. They won't be able to apply for jobs in the USA afterwards either.

Ian's plan is a good one if you think you can do it. If what you want is to be able to live in the USA with your family here as well then it's the way forward for you.

There was a poster on here recently that did this L1 visa setting up a subsidiary for his company. I'll try to find the thread.

JOK1

OK thanks for the heads up.

scrubbedexpat099

Exactly.

JPROPS72

OK, this perfectly demonstrates my point. Your health insurance will probably look more like $1200 a month (just for the policy) and then you'll have a deductible, co pays etc. So your first $3000 or so (depending on the policy) will be out of your pocket for your deductible. Each time you go to the doctor, you'll be paying $50 as soon as you walk in the door. If you are on any regular medication, you'll be paying a co pay on that.

Here is another snippet on health coverage... a friend of mine recently had to have their Appendix out. Something that can happen to anyone. They have good insurance. The total cost of the ER, surgery and stay in hospital was close to $90,000. Their insurance covered most of it but it was still $4000 out of their pocket.

Electric will naturally depend on the size of your house, whether or not you have a pool etc. but I have a small house, no pool, 3 of us living in it and my current electricity bill is $238. Water in the UK, I think I paid around £120-140 a year, here, $100+ a month. Car insurance again will depend on the car you have but we have a Nissan Versa and Nissan Sentra (small cheap to insure cars) but FL is a no fault State and insurance is $1000 twice a year.

These are things you need know.

ian-mstm

The I-765 isn't a visa. It's an application to get employment authorization - an EAD... the same EAD I was referring to earlier.

Ian

ian-mstm

I'm sorry, but I just sussed what you're contemplating doing. By selling up the business, you're effectively going to put everyone who currently works for you out of a job for no other reason than you want to relocate to the US.

I'm sorry... but that just doesn't sit well with me - so I'm out of this thread.

Ian

Pulaski

If you could insure a family of four on a stand-alone policy (i.e. not employment linked) I don't think there'd be half the hoo-ha about the cost of Healthcare in the US. If you can get a policy at the price it'll likely be a catastrophic policy which leaves you paying for pretty much everything yourself short of an injury requiring in-patient treatment, a heart attack, or stroke.
To be clear, from a visa/immigration perspective attending a US university counts for almost nothing on it's own (unless the course results in a master's degree), other than a maximum of 12 months post graduation "practical experience". Then they need a visa, which are already in short supply, and there is a fair likelihood that they may be about to get a whole lot harder to obtain. Your best hope might be that he meets a nice marriage-inclined American girl an university.

Twinkle0927

You see what I mean about not knowing much about 'the lifestyle'. This is the reality of the lifestyle.

It's not all nice weather and cheap jeans.

petitefrancaise

to be fair Ian, if he manages to sell the business then it will presumably carry on as a business employing people.

Rete

The reality of that is once here you can expand on the contact list you already have of US suppliers and still draw a salary from the UK mother company. Your wife would have the ability to work and if lucky enough, can find employment at a good salary and with healthcare benefits for the three of you (none needed for the kid left behind in the UK going to uni) so you will have incoming earnings and savings with her employment. You can travel back and forth to the UK to continue doing what needs to be done to keep the business viable and profitable. Once you all have green cards you can then disband the US company and sell off the UK branch and find another business to start in the US without fear of losing your US right to residency on an E2.

Truly, if you need the money from the sale of the UK business to float you here in the US for an E2 then you don't have enough savings to make this a viable option for you and the family. That's my take on it. You will be living hand to mouth on an E2 and I'm sure that is not how you are use to living.

Nutmegger

No.

And by the way, if you do decide to go the E-2 route, you will be better off having just you, or your wife, on the application, so that the other person can apply for an EAD so as to be permitted to work in another field and hope against hope that the employer finds you/her so valuable that they are willing to go to bat and sponsor for a green card. It's a long shot, but probably the best (though it would exclude the adult children).