Our visa applications should complete soon and we should be moving shortly on L Visas. Can anyone help with a few questions.

1. My husband will be working immediately but as I’m on a L2 visa it’ll probably be a while till I start working. What are the rules on tax? Will I need to pay tax even though I’m not working?

2. Driving- Do we need to get a US driving license? Will we need to do a test? And how do we apply?

3. Any dummie guide to tax returns? Luckily being in UK its all done for us out of our salary. I see so much about tax returns in America and I have no idea what to do. Do we keep every receipt etc...

4. We’re going to rent out our uk property but won’t make a huge profit on the monthly income. Do we need to do anything about this? UK & US end.

5. I’ll be on a L2 visa. How long realistically can I expect to start working? I’ve heard I need to apply for something else when we get there that’ll take 3-4 months.

6. I’m thinking of running a website. Could I run this as a UK based website and work on it whilst in US and get any income paid in the UK?

I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions but any help on these to start would be greatly appreciated.
Any checklist sort of thing of things we must do when we arrive on our visas would be a great help too.

thanks in advance

You can't "pay" tax if you haven't earned any income. However, your husband should file "married" either joint of separate when he files his 2019 tax return in 2020. You might well be working by then so worry about it when the tax year is over and you have to file. 2019 taxes need to be filed between January 1, 2020 and April 15, 2020. Or you can ask for an extension.

Yes, once you have landed and your passports are stamped you are then a resident of the state you are living in and need to obtain a state driver's license. Not sure what the requirements are for Florida but more likely than not, you will need to take the written, vision and driving test before getting a driver's license. Google "Florida Driver's License".

Don't worry about this at the moment. Hire an accountant or tax specialist to do your taxes for the first year if the company does not supply one. As said tax filing for 2019 isn't until the first quarter of 2020.

At minimum 90 days after filing and having biometrics done. At present Employment Authorization Documents are taking between 60 and 120 days. No, you cannot work for yourself without the EAD even if the corporation is based in the UK. You would still be working from the US and the US law applies. BTW the US taxes on all worldwide income so any income, interest, income from rental properties, etc. earned outside of the US during that tax year needs to be reported on the IRS tax return.

Thank you so much for your responses. I’m quite happy waiting 4 months for EAD as will give me time to enjoy a bit of Florida before I start working.
2 more;
1) How do we get our social security number? Is it just an online form when we enter the country?

2) Has anyone got experience applying for work on a L2 Visa? Is it tougher not being an actual US citizen?

Yes you need a Florida drivers license - this page has the requirements. I don't immediately see the allowed time, but you only have 30 days to register a car brought into Florida (for those moving within the US), so I expect that you also only have 30 days to get your drivers license, as for most people the two things go hand in hand. Obviously this is going to be fairly tight, but you will be OK so long as you start the process even if you can't get the road test completed within 30 days - just carry documentation to show that you are in the process of getting your FL drivers license in the unlikely event that you are stopped and asked for it.*

That said, the "road test" in all US states is a pretty pathetic test of driving ability, and the test in Florida, from everything I have heard, is weaker than most, with the "road test" often being completed in a car park or paved area set aside for the "road test", so you can pas your "road test" without driving on an actual road! :blink: ….. But do check what information you are expected to know for the "written" (computer based) test, as that can catch you out. Things that seem to be favorite topics are things like drink driving penalties, road signs, and rules about driving near school buses.