Hi All

Firstly, thanks for all the information and knowledge that is supplied on here. I have been looking through for a while now and you are all really helpful (and honest) which is definately what is needed.

We have been told that my husbands' company are offering him a position in the US - in the Herndon VA area. They are applying for an L1 visa and adding both myself and my children to this - which is good. They are asking for him to move over asap (obviously dependant on the visa) and are currently putting together a package for us all to move over (again very good). I am trying to find out as much as possible ref schools etc (we are going to rent first) but we are obviously trying to see whether i need to get a job (am currently a Project Manager for a large global Telecoms company), or if we can hold off for some time - couldnt not work that would drive me insane, but it would be nice to have some time to settle the family in). Sooooo to cut a very long story short:

1. Where can i find out what taxes etc we would pay whilst in Virginia so we can try and work out what income we have left. To include any housing taxes or local ones if possible so i can plan ahead as thoroughly as possible

2. Any good websites for telecoms jobs - i am trying to see if i can move my position over to the USA but its not looking hopeful so want to see whats out there in this current economic climate

3. You have already provided alot of info on schools/vaccinations etc and i have sourced info on banks etc but is there anything else we need to really think about that i havent perhaps covered. What about nurseries for 2 year olds - any that can be recommended in the Herndon area

Our heads are just buzzing and we are trying to slow things down so we can keep up, and my husband my come over before we do to find a rental property if we cant find anything online etc ( have friends there who can view anything for us), but it is still going so fast. I know its the right decision for us so there is no uncertainty on that, but just through the nature of my own job, i need to plan but am also impatient so trying to get all of our ducks in line

Any help much appreciated as always, and thanks for reading through aswell.

Best regards

Hi there and welcome to BE.

If you try the search function...located in the pink bar at the top of the page...there's quite a lot of threads re relocation packages. You'll find tips on what to ask the employer ie vacation days, flights back to the UK, health insurance. Also check out the BE Wiki...the tab is also located at the top of the page. Give me a shout if you can't find the old threads.

Hi

Google 'Salary Calculator' and then input which state you'll be living in and what your expected gross income will be. It will show you what the federal and state taxes will be, along with the Social Security / Medicare payments you have to make.

As for local taxes, most local governments (i.e. cities) do not charge a tax but instead rely on property taxes from real estate, which won't be an issue while you are renting (it's factored into the cost of the rental--you don't see it). When you buy a property the realtor will have the property tax expense up front on the listing so you can compare and contrast. Some larger cities (New York, for example) will have a local income tax but most in Virginia do not.

Telcom jobs in DC. Ok, dice.com is a good one for more technical spots. You should google 'potomac tech wire' which is a daily email newsletter (you should get) cover the DC tech community and occasionally listing jobs in DC. Theladders.com has a tech section, but generally for more management positions (>$100k). startuply and indeed.com also have some listings for techies.

As for daycare for your < 2 year old, dcurbanmom messageboard is a good place to start, but you should get the house and the location settled first and then go looking for day care, given the traffic chaos of Northern Virginia. You won't be making a decision on this until you meet the people in person, see the facilities with your own eyes, so, honestly, you've got a lot on your plate right now I'd push this one off from arrival day + 7 or so.

Try city data.com for more specific info on the area you are looking to move to, hope the move goes well!

just in case you havnt picked this detail up in your research. The public school you would be sending your kids to - will be entirely determined by the address, (usually on a road by road or estate by estate basis). So unless you plan to really really restrict your rental searches to a single school catchement - you are best off going by the general school district and hoping for the best. If your going to go private and pay then obviosuly you have more choice.

Normally - renters DO NOT pay property tax.

Also be aware that the income taxes etc can change by the town you live in. (ie the zip code) Houses a street apart can be situated in different zip codes and be affected by different local taxes. The same state tax, and federal tax would apply but the local city tax might be different. Additionally - the zip code in which the employment takes place could also charge income tax on the earning. (ie we had to do 5 tax returns last year: Dederal, State, City of employment, and 2 different city of residences as we moved mid year).

Good luck!
We are in a very similar situation, we're off to New Jersey at the end of summer (visas permitting). My husband is over in the States discussing our move as we speak.
I have 101 lists of things and my head is also spinning, like you I want to be as prepared as possible seeing as the timescale is so short.
I agree with the poster who mentioned the childcare aspect, I wouldn't worry about that until you are there (I have a 2 yr old too) also I keep trying to work out what we may have left at the end of the month but it's so hard to budget when you don't even know how much a pint of milk will cost (another thing to add to my list)
Hope it all goes smoothly.

That's easy, buy it by the gallon. It keeps forever anyway.
Seriously, I wonder if you could get grocery price ideas from a store that has delivery service.

Holy cow, you can. I just looked up local prices. I may never need to go out of my house again.
ick.

As Horti has mentioned - the forums on city-data.com are worth looking at for the area you are moving to. If you search, you might find some ideas of amounts to plug into your budget. We took our UK budget and had a stab at adjusting the figures to US - mostly guestimates but at least it was a start (we moved to Dallas a year ago).

We felt we had to at least have a stab at that before we could even get an idea of what would be reasonable to consider for monthly rent on a house.

Forget DC for telecom jobs. Just search in the Northern Virginia area. No. VA is or was known as silicon valley east. The corridor is lined with dom coms and finding jobs might not be that difficult. Search careerbuilders, and other online employment agencies.

As a L2, it will take you approximately 90 days from the date you find your I-751 for an employment authorization to actually get one. So you will have time to settle in.

Families here in the US don't buy pints, they buy quarts, 1/2 gallons or gallons. Try $2.00 and up for a quart of milk.

Yep that's what I'm doing atm.

Ironic thing is ask me what a pint of milk is in the UK and I would struggle to tell you! (apparently around 45p)
Which makes it rather more expensive in the US... but it's no good crying over it

I have just bought a gallon of milk (whole milk) for $3.09. A dozen organic, free range eggs $2.99.

I live in SW PA and we find food shopping is more expensive than the UK. We have a range of supermarkets, some more expensive than others.
Before we moved over here I went onto their websites and did a virtual shop to get some idea of cost.

Utilities were more expensive than the UK when we moved four years ago but I don't know how much they have increased in the UK. They have gone up here but not hugely.

The things that caught us unawares were the "child" expenses. Lots of money is spent on sports stuff, team stuff and extra curricular activities. It all seems very expensive compared to Britain but my kids didn't do that much until we came here. They just hung around with friends back home, here it is all much more organised and costly!

Although petrol is cheaper we drive many more miles than we used to and get less miles to the gallon so we actually spend more on petrol.

Can't help for the neck of the woods, but can't imagine it being that cheap of a place.

Around where I live, childcare/pre-school and this is well in the burbs outside of Boston will run into $1500 a month and that's part time, about 2-3 days a week, usually you bringing the food yourself.

Trader Joes you can get a quart of milk for a buck, it went down loads since the winter. The eggs have gone down too, now around $1.60 for large dozen of brown eggs, that's almost a buck down too. Bread is between $2.50-5 a loaf for anything not shit.

Fruit and veg is more expensive here, but that's a very regional thing so might not be so bad for down there.

Car insurance might be a surprise because you'll be starting from scratch and with no credit history, it will be expensive for the first year. Getting utilities might be a hassle too, again no credit history, so you might be required to put down a deposit which could be anything from $200-2000 usually not to bad but if you've got to drop a lot of deposits it adds up in your settling in budget.

Is this intended to be a permanent move? If so, what's the plan for a green card ... L1 isn't enough.

If not, what's the plan for repatriation at end of contract?

Hi Jaj

Hubby has already asked company to look at green card side of things which they are willing to look at. This is a permanent move as far as we are concerned unless anything major were to happen which would require us to move back to the UK. Always up for a challenge and we have faced alot worse. We are ex military so used to up rooting every 2-3 years, nows the time to settle down but every mindful of my eldest who is only 6.

Thanks to everyone for your help so far..........its definately been good advice. We had already looked at a budget and going from your advice, we were about there i would say (infact we over inflated some things). Today is D day as hubby gets the package today so will understand more what we are dealing with financially.

Thanks again..........I am sure i will be back on with other questions

T