Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Hi there

I have been offered a job in the US and have agreed to two years (with my existing company) and this means selling, relocating, finding a new place etc....

Am taking my girlfriend with me and we have a number of questions that im hoping some of you may be able to answer! Here goes people!?:

Can we both get work visas through my company, even if my partner does n ot work for them?
Where are the nicest places to live? We are both 30, presently own a £400k house in the UK, like walking, nice restaurants, (not into clubs, bars etc!) live in a hamlet in the country. We want somewhere green! Am guessing that rent is the way to start, probably in the region of $3/4000 per month max. Any suggestions on nice locations near to Newburyport?
What is company car tax like in the US, cant find anything relating to it?!
The dog! We have one! What are the conditions for bringing the fury fella with us?

thanks in advance for your help people!

Paul

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Before you get to wrapped up in the excitement of the move, read this and make sure you cover your @$$ so this doesn't happen to you:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=523310

And your girlfriend cannot move with you unless she can get a visa in her own right, or you marry her.

I would not sell the house in the UK until the road to PR is certain, which is likely to take a while. (Are you going to be L1A or L1B?)

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Thanks for the advice, duly noted. What is L1A or L1B?

Maybe i could get my girlfriend sponsored by my company, she has professional qualifications that relate to the industry?

Thanks

Paul

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

They arre types of visas ..you must find out what visa they are applyingfor
and arrange the wedding ..or she aint going anywhere..in most cases

thats not possible

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

ditch the girlfriend, or marry her, otherwise she ain't going anywhere.

Newburyport ain't bad apparently, but a crap commuter...if you want green and parks, look much further out into the burbs, or up north....$3-4K in Cambridge would get you a crappy one bed apartment over looking the river, but out in the burbs would get a nice house.

Don't get made redundant, because it sucks great big donkey balls, but if your on a visa, you'd be booted anyway.

Company car is rare, and owning one is expensive in this state, but on the plus side, any monkey can pass the test to get a license and if you live in a nice town, insurance will be marginally less crap.

do make sure you keep your UK contract regarding severance, holiday entitlement, sick leave etc and that they sort out your tax filing and UK pension because it's arse otherwise.

Depending on where you'll be working, find a place that's on the T, it'll be more expensive, but means you can get away with not driving because driving in Boston sucks balls, big time, $22 a day parking if you can find it and one way road system that changes with the wind, especially in the winter. Oh, and avoid the tunnels, they suck arse. If you want the burbs, Riverside is the last stop out on the T, that's in Newton Falls, that's a nice town, not much rental though, but then you've got the 3 W's not far out which aren't cheap and then a whole bunch of other towns, it's the Metrowest area...might want to look into Watertown, depending on which side of I-95, it's a bit bland, but there's greenery and strip malls. Allston is nice, but it's a student town, so what goes with that will be the downs. Waltham is worth a poke, there's some really nice area's to be found, but also some really shit holes. JP- Jamaica Plains, that's on the edge of Beantown, it's got some shitters, but the nice parts are superb, great little Brit private school too, and lovely golf course that is quite reasonable, well worth considering.

Well worth getting employer to stick you up in corporate apartment for a few months to give you time to explore the towns and help you find a place.

And if your on Facebook, there's a few good Brit groups for beantown, as well as meetup.com groups.

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Hi,
I think Newburyport itself would be a lovely place to live - no need to come closer to the city as it sounds like you prefer a quieter pace of life.
But, if you're only coming out for a couple of years don't sell your UK house! Can't you rent it out?
Jan

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

With regards to the dog, pretty much a piece of cake to take him to the US. Takes a little paperwork, maybe a shot and a little too much money… but pretty easy. Do a search on here for details.

Bringing him back to the UK after a couple of years is more complicated. If you want to avoid 6-months quarantine, you need to plan ahead and effectively do an 'at-home quarantine'. It's a little involved, and again involves a fair bit of paperwork and expense, but the abridged version is that you get your dog a rabies shot at least 6-months before flying back and get it documented that you did. Then you get him a check up before you fly, and then you've effectively done the quarantine.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar...res/owners.htm

We took our cat from the US to the UK, and back to the US again. Cost more than I ever want to think about… fingers crossed your company will cover it :)

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

No point in making any plans whatsoever until you've worked out what visa you think you'll be getting.

Sounds to me like you don't work for a branch of this company in the UK, so you won't be getting an L1 visa. That only really leaves an H1-B, and your chances of getting one of those are slim, given how over-subscribed they are. Even if you do get one (this year's application deadline is April 1st), you won't be able to start work until October 1st unless you're working for a not-for-profit or H1-B cap-exempt organization like a University.

Read this link and tell us what visa you're going to be getting. Or ask your prospective company's immigration lawyer. They have one, right? To sort out all these minor issues like actually getting into the country? Are you going to be paying the $$$ in lawyer and visa application fees? What is their relocation package like? Will the repatriate you if they lay you off... so many questions.

Really, you need to do just a little research into immigration into the US before you start asking about nice restaurants!

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Could've been worse....the OP could have asked about washing machines!

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

I took...

As meaing they were getting an L-1

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

good luck with this..... just keep a level head and weigh everything up seriously...... its a big move and if its for 2 years only, could be quite distructive to your life in the uk... lots of tax issues, house issues, pet issues, girlfriend issues etc etc etc......

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

I really should learn to read more carefully. I guess you're right that he'll be on an L1, even if he doesn't know it! :)

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Don't lose sight of the fact that this'll ultimately be a fun and rewarding experience after a few months of hassle!

If your company is sending you I would pressure them to answer all your questions and deal with as much as possible. When I did an L1 transfer to CA years ago (granted, it was pre-911 and therefore easier) I made the firm do all the paperwork and hire an immigration attorney. I just had to return calls and attend meetings when asked... and spend far too long at INS offices. The attorney filed all the paperwork, the company did all the tax work, I just signed off with the Inland Revenue. Same with the green card application... firm did everything (I just had to spend even longer at the INS office)

Girlfriend, house, pets obviously make things more complicated and I can't offer much advice there. Perhaps leave the girlfried in the house looking after the pets? ;)

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

That's the easy bit, it's the law that they employer does all that, only thing they can ask for, but if decent wouldn't, would be laywers fee, they have to stump for the visa fees themselves and repatriation cost of the main beneficiary if they get bounced.

Re: Moving from UK to Boston MA
 

Firts of all, thank you to all for having made comment on my situation. Chinese whispers, an incredible cancer of these types of forums i would guess?!?!

Essentially, the situation is as i originally said, update is; the company i work for have confirmed costs to move are covered, rental costs in the US, visa's (for us both, one way or the other!), repatriation etc etc.... Added to this we have a US law firm in NYC working on the whole "your girlfriend is more difficult to move than the dog" scenario!

Will keep you posted and thanks again for your advice, it is very much appreciated, seriously. What is Newburyport like to live, had some feedback, generally good?

P.S anyone know a good restaurant? (priorities, huh!)

Paul