Ellem86

My fiancé is half American with an American passport and we are getting married in February 2017 and hope to start a family soon after. He has always wanted to live in the US and, after spending a week in Cape Cod at his family’s summer house, I think I’m willing to give it a go. His job in the UK would allow him to take a one year (unpaid) sabbatical and, if we timed a move with my maternity leave, we could have a one year fairly low risk trial of living in the US.

I’m particularly keen on Cape Cod as it’s a beautiful vacation destination that would tempt my UK based family to visit and I think it would be a fantastic place to raise children. My fiancé is keen on the Cape as he spent all his summers there as a child visiting his grandparents and as he has family in nearby Boston. An added bonus is that we would most likely be able to rent his family’s summer home in Dennis at a less than market rent for the trial year, but we would probably want to buy our own place if we planned to stay permanently.

I haven’t been able to find any recent boards on living on the Cape and was wondering if anyone would be able to offer any insight. Is it a good place for a young couple (we are 30 and 31 yrs old) to live and raise children? Our experience of Dennis is that it was made up of mostly retired people but are there any other parts of the Cape with a younger population? Say, Falmouth? Would we be bored outside of our minds in the winter? Can anyone recommend any towns with a good year-round population, bustling main street and close to the beach?

Thank you!

MidAtlantic

I am unable to say anything about Cape Cod but immediate comments are:

- what are your plans about health insurance

- has your husband to be been completing US tax forms

- if you are a UK citizen it will likely take you 8-10 months to get your visa, which takes you to late 2017/early 2018 before you could move

Nutmegger

The thing that stands out in your post is that it appears you are thinking of moving to the US either to give birth or with a newborn. Before you consider anything else, do look into the health insurance implications of leaving the NHS at a time when you would usually be reaping the benefits of that service -- especially as it appears that your OK does not intend to take employment in the US and obtain HI coverage through that route. Also, how do you plan to visit the US? You are eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows you 90 days here. It doesn't seem worth your OH obtaining a spouse visa for you to move to the US if you only want to "try it out."

Pulaski

I understood it to be insanely expensive to live there, even compared to the Boston area and New England in general.

After marrying, you'll need a CR-1 visa if you intend to "live" in the US (anything beyond a 90 day VWP visit) and that will take 6-8 months after you start the process. To live in the US you will need medical insurance - think around $1,000+ for the both of you, but could easily be $1,500. Then there will be out of pocket expenses, especially for a pregnancy, so I'd budget another $5,000 for medical expenses not covered by insurance (deductibles and copays).

robin1234

We are at our Brewster house just now, for a couple of weeks, so probably within a short cycle ride of your place in Dennis!

Definitely Cape Cod is a great place to live year round. It's a bit damp and rains all the time, but the definite upside is that winters are comparatively mild. It could be twenty degrees in Boston and a foot of snow on the ground, here it might be forty-five degrees and raining! In summer, it's often ten or fifteen degrees cooler than in Boston.

Being a vacation region, yes, there is an abnormally high proportion of retired residents, and July & August are hellishly crowded.

My daughter has lived and worked here for many years and they find plenty to do, Cape Cod Brewery in Hyannis is the center of lots of localism type activities, local crafts people, local farming and fisheries, loads going on in that respect.

Cycling - very good lengthy rail trails in Falmouth and from Eastham to Harwich, Chatham etc. Also trails in Dennis.

Were you planning to work while here? Short term, there is always work in retail and restaurants, bars and such, the usual.

robin1234

I'd say it is cheaper than Boston or the suburbs. But certainly, it's more expensive than many places in New England or North East in general.

You can buy a modest house or fixer upper for $250,000. Rentals would be $1,500 and up, but long term rentals are hard to find at any reasonable price because of the astronomical rents you can get in July and August. A couple of times my daughter has accommodated friends in the spare room over the summer, as they've lost a rental in the spring and can't get into anything decent priced until the fall...

Ellem86

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. We were planning on having a baby here to make the most of the NHS and then moving pretty soon after.

My fiancé was planning to sit the MA police exam next September and then try to get in to the police on the Cape. Our understanding is that he would be pretty low down the priority list for a job in the police so he was planning on getting a civilian job in the police first as a way in to cover some of our costs in the trial year. We are hoping that said job would come with health insurance but this is something we are going to have to look into.

I am an English qualified lawyer so there's not much I can do in the US without re-qualifying so our hope is that we could eventually survive on a single salary with me doing short term seasonal work if required. First year costs would be subsidised by my maternity pay. If we decide to stay, we would sell our home in the UK and hopefully have equity of £150k to put towards a home in the US (hopefully with a low mortgage).

On the visa front, I was planning on applying for a green card once we are married but will need to look into whether we can apply without my fiancé being resident. I was hoping that I would be able to visit the US on the visa waiver programme (and return every 90 days) while my application was being processed.

Mid-Atlantic - no, he hasn't been filing US tax forms as he has always lived here. Is this going to be a major issue for us?

Robin1234 - thanks for replying! It's interesting to hear your input. Does your daughter live in Brewster as well? Hope you don't mind me asking, but how old is your daughter and do you know if she found it difficult meeting people her own age?

nun

If you can get to Provincetown you will never be bored!

Noorah101

If you want an immigrant visa, you must get married first, then if filed directly to London it will take about 6 months to get your visa. You get your green card when you enter the USA using your immigrant visa.

Yes, he will have to file at least the most recent 3 years of US tax returns in order for you to get your immigrant visa.

He also needs to be your financial sponsor, although a joint sponsor can be used if he doesn't meet the financial requirements.

Rene

Rete

Yes, as a USC with dual citizenship (hate that phrase "he is 1/2 American") he has the ability to apply for your CR-1 at the US Embassy in London. Do so at least 8 months before you anticipate coming to the US.

Has he ever lived in the US? In order to pass on US Citizenship to his child, he needs to have lived in the US x number of years prior to age 14? and x number of years after to be able to pass on USC. Also as a USC he is required to have filed US income taxes for all of his working years. Has he done so? If not, he needs at least to have filed the 3 years prior to the date of applying for your CR visa.

If he cannot pass on his USC, then your child will require a visa as well. Once the child is brought to the US with the visa, the child automatically becomes a US Citizen and can apply for a US Passport.

As for wanting to work for the Massachusetts police department, depends on the city he wants to work in (might require him to live in the city he is applying to). Pay is shite to start but at least it is something and will provide benefits, i.e. healthcare and 401K. Has he looked up what educational requirements are needed to apply?

Pulaski

You will apply for a visa, the green card comes after you have entered the US on your visa.

Your husband does not need to be in the US to sponsor your visa, and indeed if he was in the US it would take about two months longer for your visa application to be processed - you have the benefit of being able to apply directly to the US consulate in London, which is quicker. However if your husband doesn't have income [u]in the US[/i] of $20,040, pa. or liquid/realizable assets of about $60k then he will need a joint sponsor (financial guarantor), who is a US resident.

Your husband also must be current on his US taxes (all US citizens are required to complete a tax return annually no matter where in the world they live - the only exception is if they have very low income, less than $4k IIRC), meaning the three most recent years, so he can get started on that right now by back-filing. Given that US citizens overseas get a $90k+ allowance against non-US income, and then foreign tax paid is a credit for US taxes due, it is highly unlikely he will owe any tax in the US. .... Unless he has sold a house for a large capital gain which is taxable by the IRS but not in the UK, like Boris Johnson.

MidAtlantic

It is a requirement that all US citizens report their worldwide income to the IRS. It is not unusual for those who have never lived in the US, or maybe moved as young children, not even to be aware of this. It is something you should investigate because it will come up in your visa application.

A helpful place to start is here:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-united-states
which is a scheme intended to enable US citizens who were unaware of the requirements to come into compliance.

You also need to be aware of the FBAR requirements which are to report any financial interest in a foreign (to the US) institution. This is a report that should be made on-line to the Treasury:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/irsf...renceguide.pdf

robin1234

She's mid thirties, they've lived here for a decade. She's worked for two different towns, in environmental conservation, so has all sorts of professional contacts & friendships in that context. But between ice hockey, curling, cycling etc., there's lots going on sports-wise too. They've also volunteered at the Dennis Playhouse which seems to be a pretty lively venue ....

The Cape Playhouse

robin1234

Oh yes, I was forgetting about P'town. Brilliant place. No need to go to the nude beach to have fun there.

Ellem86

Thank you all.

I will have to ask my fiancé to sort out his taxes! The visa information is also very useful.

Provincetown would be great to visit but the drive to Boston is an additional 1 hr 45 so we have so far ruled it out as a place to live.

There seems to be very little info on what the different towns on the Cape are like and any further insight anyone here can offer would be much appreciated!