scrubbedexpat099

Sounds like some politicking is needed to ensure that they see this in their interest and come up with the package.

Giantaxe

I moved on an L1 with a pretty generous relocation package, which included things like cost of selling UK property, cost of buying US property, cost of transporting household goods, allowance for cost of setting up home, rental car for two months, first year tax preparation etc, plus a "gross up" on the costs to effectively avoid any tax liability on my part. I am pretty certain I would not have moved without it as the financial hit would have been too large at that stage of my life. Plus, like others have mentioned, doing an intra-company transfer without some kind of package just feels... wrong. Although it was the company that eventually offered me a position in the US, I had made it pretty clear that I was angling for a relocation. It made no difference to my company that that was the case.

sherbert

I doubt that the income you'll make from your rental in Germany would cover the costs of a suitable property in a safe, decent area with good schools (your postcode dictates which (state) school your child goes to: the better the school, the higher the local housing prices) in any of the areas you've mentioned. Unless of course you have a ten bedroom penthouse in the most desirable street in Munich! Also, furnished properties are few and far between so you'd need to furnish your new place. Cost of living is extremely high: remember the prices you are seeing online do not include sales tax which is added when you 'check out'. Childcare will be 2k/month per child. That said, we moved here with no expat package. My OH's company gave us 1,500 for the flights, which didn't even cover the full cost of them and less than zero help in finding somewhere to live, settling in etc. But we did not have any kids so less of a risk and less stress for us.

tom169

Be prepared to say no if the salary isn't right.

Busylizzy111

that sounds like an amazing package!

thanks for all your thoughts! It is along what I was thinking, and we are in no time crunch, so „politicking“ it is I’ll have to coach my husband

Busylizzy111

Just an update on the contract side: every secondment is a min of 2 years, max of 5 years and you keep your home contract and are guaranteed your old job back. So at least the „employment at will“ is not that scary anymore..-

TexanScot

What’s their commitment to doing your Green Cards?

Busylizzy111

In that scenario none. With a secondment they expect you to come back after the time is up or switch to a local contract afterwards (Obviously not applicable for the US but for countries where it is not as difficult to get PR). If they really want you I am sure you could get it written in your offer though.

TexanScot

Problem is that everyone just moves “for a few years” to “try it out”, before invariably falling in love with the place and wanting to stay 😁

Pulaski

It is actually fairly easy for a corporation to convert a secondee on an L-1 "secondment" visa, to permanent resident aka "green card". Not all companies are willing to do so because of the cost linked to the fact that once someone has a green card they can walk straight out the door and go to work for anyone else in the US who will hire them.

TexanScot

Yup - I’m going through it right now.

Busylizzy111

haha omg I hope that won’t happen. But I can see it..

Kooky.

Hi BusyLizzy, welcome. We've lived a few places over the last 18 years but moved to the US from Australia just last year. Lots of good advice and info here but the question I would ask you: If you want to go, you are initiating the move, but no relocation package is offered, would you still want to go? What's it worth to you?

We had no desire to move to the US but my husband got made redundant and an opportunity came up that was too good to miss. We did get a decent relocation allowance but it's a small company, doesn't do a lot of this, and we were happy with a lump sum to spend as we wished. We didn't ship much at all (two cats and 10 tea chests) so that worked in our favour. Had they not offered the allowance, would we have still moved? Probably - the offer and career-enhancing opportunity were worth it.

Of course the company provided immigration lawyers and paid for the visas (E3, temp visas - initially 2 years) and my EAD too. Flights, and we could have had temporary accommodation but wanted to move our cats straight into a home so my husband secured one up-front. What was most important for us was health insurance for both of us (we don't have children but would have wanted it for any we had). I'm old and decrepit.

As to what we brought - just personal effects and a few bits of bedding, favourite kitchen items, etc., by air to get us started. We've kept our apartment in Oz as we plan to go back to it. We renovated just before we left and had already started to get rid of a load of stuff for replacement, we got rid of more in December as we rented the place out after six months of trialling the US, but we have put some treasured pieces in storage. (Luckily we rent a couple of large storage cages in the complex we own in so it's not that expensive.) We've spent about USD15k furnishing our 2 bedroom apartment with a mix of Room & Board, West Elm, and Ikea. I hope to take the better pieces back when we go, chose them with this plan in mind.

As to staying - never say never, we don't plan too far ahead, we'll stay while we are having fun and entitled to be here but right now Australia has our hearts.

robtuck

I received $10k upfront and a couple of weeks to settle in, other than that we were on our own (L1A). I instigated the move, so wasn't expecting much, it was the opportunity I was after, and have not regretted it. Sure, some extra upfront would have made life easier, but where's the fun in that!! It's the small things that add up over the first few months you don't account for properly - like having to get a whole new set of kitchen utensils, pots and pans etc. We didn't bring much over, bar a few bigger items and clothes, soon found ourselves racking up the costs as a result. 3 and half years later, loving it.

Kooky.

You're so right about the small things that add up but, if you know / think it's a temporary move, I advise just buying the bare minimum as you need it. When we moved to Singapore in 2002 with 4 suitcases, I went straight off to Ikea and bought starter kits - crockery, cutlery, pans. Along the way we acquired a lot more stuff - 20ft container to move to Australia (having offloaded a lot of the large furniture), 40 ft container to move across the Harbour Bridge just two years later.

When we moved to Seattle last June, in my mid 50s, I picked up more Ikea starter kits and felt like the oldest student in town. We did bring a few favourite bits (e.g., cutlery set from Bangkok) but it hurts me from an environmental perspective to duplicate everything I've got in storage in Oz, so we're trying to live more lightly and just buy essentials as we find we need them.

One thing you will need, of course, is new electric items. Thankfully our rental has all the appliances (brand new place, never lived in before us) but do budget for your kettle and toaster