You become eligible the day you enter the US... I hope they understand that. Once you have your GCs, you're no longer tied to the company and can simply vanish anywhere you want in America! Sounds like a great adventure to me! Good luck.

Ian

errr doesnt that invalidate the L1 ??????

I was wondering about that too, and the H1 has filled the quota...but the OP has everything in hand, so what's to worry about.

whats to worry is they buy a house then find no visa !!!!!!!!!

I suppose sarcasm doesn't always convey so well... :/

oh I got it !!!!

Hmm ... Be nice!

L1 applies as office is still open for another 9 months and doing this now. We know there will be hurdles and problems we face, but why worry about them before they happen? Worst case scenario is we don't get a visa, but the house buying process we started doesn't matter, as for now, the company owner is buying it with his personal ltd name and then we buy it off him when we are there with all the paperwork. They are rather desperate for us to get there, so doing anything and everything to get us there.

And if it doesn't work out, we just go to Scandinavia, like our original plan was to do anyhow.

I know you are trying to make sure I've thought of everything, and that I appreciate. But even you can't predict that well what might or might not happen. I do appreciate all the help I get, but when it starts going into sarcasm as if we are looking into this through rose tinted glasses, it starts being unhelpful. Said it before, saying it again; many things could go wrong! But you lot are there, aren't you? And nothing is signed over to us, until we are actually there to stay. So we don't have much to loose in the house front and if the CFO of the comp wanted to do it that way to make sure we get the house I liked, why not? We expect delays, problems, some teething troubles and set backs, they always happen no matter how much and well you plan, so isn't that the right way to look at it rather than expect things to go smoothly? And I guess mentioning that when we buy the house, apart from tiny mortgage for the sake of it, we are going to be mortgage free. No car loans, no credit cards/loans to start off with, no HOA, $5k yearly tax on house, estimated monthly costs calculated by British utilities plus air con added to that and we should still be a lot better off than here. But then we aren't doing it for the money. Experience is what we want, we might never be offered something like this again, so whilst we and the kids are young, this is the time to do it.

And speaking of utilities, something we should know in that front? Apart from expensive mobile contracts and that receiving end pays calls too ... Do you need satellite, is that a norm or what? In uk we now have digiboxes if one doesn't want to pay for expensive sky channels. How about there? How does it work? Or is that completely different in each state (of course it is, duh me) Maybe RICH knows?

Back home now, so will start process from this end ... Medical records, vaccinations and quotes for removals ... Fun -NOT- !?!!?!

In 9 months, your L-1 may become invalid.


Well then, you've got this all sorted out. No worries.


Nobody needs satellite unless they're in an underserved cable area. Some people prefer it, others don't.

Ian

Mobile: ting.com

TV: netflix.com with a Roku box.

Internet: there's usually a duopoly of the local telco and cable provider. Ignore the bundled deals with TV and Phone and just take the cheapest Internet connection. Be sure to buy the modem rather than rent it.

Home Phone: Obi110 and Google Voice

There you go! All sorted! Next, please!

"Norm" here, is cable for tv & internet (and landline if required). A couple of satellite options are available. I have a dvr/cable converter box and wifi modem rented from Brighthouse, our local cable co. You might have Comcast. Also Verizon FIOS in some areas-fibre optic cable. All alternatives offer mostly the same options.

But you're rich. Although paying all those bills is likely to make you poor.

Hope it works out for you and yes, it is a great adventure. Just an expensive one if it doesn't work out.

Sure you can get a L1 easily enough, but what are your plans once the company owner transfers the house to you, closes the UK business and leaving you out of status? Even if they applied for a greencard straight away, the chances are more than likely that you won't get it within the 9 months.

As for utilities, you don't really have a choice of providers, so there's nothing to worry about there. There's only choice when you go with online options and fancy the extra hassle. Cable/phone/internet as a bundle tends to run $100-150 a month regardless of who, and only goes up if you want faster internet and more movie channels or sports stuff.

Agree. It is not cheap, or even good value - I am going to look into your suggestions!

The company has offices in 13 different countries and as long as my husband will carry on dealing with at least one foreign office, Whilst working in USA, it is okay ... That will happen, as midlands office is where they are basing most of things from the office he is now ... And he is in charge of teams in other countries too. And what I've understood from the rules, it's okay.

3)Â Â Â The Sponsoring Company Must Be a Qualifying Organization-One That Is Doing Business in the United States and One Other Country During the Whole Period of the Transfer.
The "qualifying organization" concept arises from the USCIS concern that the L1 category will be used by owners of small businesses abroad who "transfer" themselves to the United States, in the process shutting down the foreign operation which can no longer function without their physical presence abroad. Under USCIS rules, the transferring company must continue to do business abroad during the entire period of the alien's stay in the United States as an L1 transferee. The overseas operation can be carried out in any of the acceptable corporate forms - parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch office.


And maybe just believe the comp laywer who deals with these things when he says it should be all ok. What do I know? And what do I really need to know?! Not much to be honest.

Thanks for the utilities advice, will look into it and see what's what.

I would 100% agree in renting for at least 1 year before buying a place. We rented for a year and said we would do another 12 month rental but then made the mistake of going to look at a house that we liked so we bought it - bad move in our case. A little while later things went sour with my OH job and I decided to move back to UK so we decided to sell. Thankfully, because we decided to do a "for sale by owner", we didn't lose our shirts, maybe only a button or two, but oh how we wished we hadn't been so rash as to buy. The homeowners insurance in Florida (we lived on South East Coast, Martin County), is at best $2,000 and thats with basic cover.
Like you we holidayed in Florida for 18 years before moving out there on the H1B visa and its very true what people say, living somewhere is absolutely nothing like living there 24/7. We had a good couple of years but for me, two years was more than enough.
Hope everything works out for you though.