Moving without expat package?
#1
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 13
Moving without expat package?
Hello everyone,
new member here, even though I have been reading for ages. I think I need a bit of advice and a sounding board to get clearer on what I/we want. So I am grateful for everyone taking the time to answer
The situation: we are a family with two children (4 and 6 months), currently residing in Germany where we own a flat. We have been living in London before and would also like to go back at some point, but we are also strongly considering a move to the US Within the next 2 years. That is mainly my doing I must admit, as my husband is not the biggest USA fan but he is slowly warming up to the idea. It is not meant to be a permanent move, so not pursuing a green card, but more 2-3 years (just to get it out of the system I suppose )
Visa is not the big problem, my husband would get a L1A through his company, they do it all the time. He has in fact already asked the CFO a few months ago and she liked the idea, BUT (and now we come to the problem/question I guess) his company is a bit disorganized when it comes to considering the bigger picture. So for them to initiate the move is probably unlikely. I think that us initiating the process brings us in a not so favorable position though, right? There goes the cushy expat package I have dreamt of...
My questions are along the lines of what would you do in this situation? Did you go with your company but without any additional benefits besides the visa costs (which I’d appreciate of course)? If you’d have to go again under this circumstances, would you bring all your things like furniture with you or buy brand new (both options make my head spin when I look at the costs!)? Is it just a big money sink to do it for such a short amount of time?
Oh and we are unfortunately looking at high COL areas... it would probably be the Washington DC office, so I was looking at VA and MD homes. Or maybe the NYC one, so either NJ or Westchester County...
Thanks in advance!
new member here, even though I have been reading for ages. I think I need a bit of advice and a sounding board to get clearer on what I/we want. So I am grateful for everyone taking the time to answer
The situation: we are a family with two children (4 and 6 months), currently residing in Germany where we own a flat. We have been living in London before and would also like to go back at some point, but we are also strongly considering a move to the US Within the next 2 years. That is mainly my doing I must admit, as my husband is not the biggest USA fan but he is slowly warming up to the idea. It is not meant to be a permanent move, so not pursuing a green card, but more 2-3 years (just to get it out of the system I suppose )
Visa is not the big problem, my husband would get a L1A through his company, they do it all the time. He has in fact already asked the CFO a few months ago and she liked the idea, BUT (and now we come to the problem/question I guess) his company is a bit disorganized when it comes to considering the bigger picture. So for them to initiate the move is probably unlikely. I think that us initiating the process brings us in a not so favorable position though, right? There goes the cushy expat package I have dreamt of...
My questions are along the lines of what would you do in this situation? Did you go with your company but without any additional benefits besides the visa costs (which I’d appreciate of course)? If you’d have to go again under this circumstances, would you bring all your things like furniture with you or buy brand new (both options make my head spin when I look at the costs!)? Is it just a big money sink to do it for such a short amount of time?
Oh and we are unfortunately looking at high COL areas... it would probably be the Washington DC office, so I was looking at VA and MD homes. Or maybe the NYC one, so either NJ or Westchester County...
Thanks in advance!
#2
DE-UK-NZ-IE-US... the TYP
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,854
Re: Moving without expat package?
Hello everyone,
new member here, even though I have been reading for ages. I think I need a bit of advice and a sounding board to get clearer on what I/we want. So I am grateful for everyone taking the time to answer
The situation: we are a family with two children (4 and 6 months), currently residing in Germany where we own a flat. We have been living in London before and would also like to go back at some point, but we are also strongly considering a move to the US Within the next 2 years. That is mainly my doing I must admit, as my husband is not the biggest USA fan but he is slowly warming up to the idea. It is not meant to be a permanent move, so not pursuing a green card, but more 2-3 years (just to get it out of the system I suppose )
Visa is not the big problem, my husband would get a L1A through his company, they do it all the time. He has in fact already asked the CFO a few months ago and she liked the idea, BUT (and now we come to the problem/question I guess) his company is a bit disorganized when it comes to considering the bigger picture. So for them to initiate the move is probably unlikely. I think that us initiating the process brings us in a not so favorable position though, right? There goes the cushy expat package I have dreamt of...
My questions are along the lines of what would you do in this situation? Did you go with your company but without any additional benefits besides the visa costs (which I’d appreciate of course)? If you’d have to go again under this circumstances, would you bring all your things like furniture with you or buy brand new (both options make my head spin when I look at the costs!)? Is it just a big money sink to do it for such a short amount of time?
Oh and we are unfortunately looking at high COL areas... it would probably be the Washington DC office, so I was looking at VA and MD homes. Or maybe the NYC one, so either NJ or Westchester County...
Thanks in advance!
new member here, even though I have been reading for ages. I think I need a bit of advice and a sounding board to get clearer on what I/we want. So I am grateful for everyone taking the time to answer
The situation: we are a family with two children (4 and 6 months), currently residing in Germany where we own a flat. We have been living in London before and would also like to go back at some point, but we are also strongly considering a move to the US Within the next 2 years. That is mainly my doing I must admit, as my husband is not the biggest USA fan but he is slowly warming up to the idea. It is not meant to be a permanent move, so not pursuing a green card, but more 2-3 years (just to get it out of the system I suppose )
Visa is not the big problem, my husband would get a L1A through his company, they do it all the time. He has in fact already asked the CFO a few months ago and she liked the idea, BUT (and now we come to the problem/question I guess) his company is a bit disorganized when it comes to considering the bigger picture. So for them to initiate the move is probably unlikely. I think that us initiating the process brings us in a not so favorable position though, right? There goes the cushy expat package I have dreamt of...
My questions are along the lines of what would you do in this situation? Did you go with your company but without any additional benefits besides the visa costs (which I’d appreciate of course)? If you’d have to go again under this circumstances, would you bring all your things like furniture with you or buy brand new (both options make my head spin when I look at the costs!)? Is it just a big money sink to do it for such a short amount of time?
Oh and we are unfortunately looking at high COL areas... it would probably be the Washington DC office, so I was looking at VA and MD homes. Or maybe the NYC one, so either NJ or Westchester County...
Thanks in advance!
#3
Re: Moving without expat package?
Wow, there's lots to talk about there, but for starters, with a family, IMO it would critically depend on the salary of the US position. For a location like the DC area, I wouldn't recommend trying it on less than about $200k/yr gross salary. You could, do it on less, certainly, and obviously many do, including locals on a lot less - but they have eased into their living situation either as a student or with family support, whereas you're going to be unsupported by family and needing to acquire vehicles and all the trappings of family life, .... And the costs are somewhat compounded if you are only planning to stay for a few years - with double shipping costs, disposal of vehicles, etc.
Last edited by Pulaski; Jan 17th 2020 at 1:06 pm.
#4
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Joined: Jan 2020
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Re: Moving without expat package?
Thank you for your thoughts! I am under the impression that they simply “pause” the German contract until the person comes back, but I will definitely check. And we will also try to find out how they translate the salary from Euro to USD. Thanks for the number, that’s also along the lines I thought we would need.
#5
Re: Moving without expat package?
Thank you for your thoughts! I am under the impression that they simply “pause” the German contract until the person comes back, but I will definitely check. And we will also try to find out how they translate the salary from Euro to USD. Thanks for the number, that’s also along the lines I thought we would need.
You can look on-line using rental web sites such as Zillow.com to look at homes and what you'll pay to rent them. And remember in the US the owner of the property pays the local property tax, so you don't have a "community charge" to pay on top of the rent.
#6
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Re: Moving without expat package?
You're welcome.
You can look on-line using rental web sites such as Zillow.com to look at homes and what you'll pay to rent them. And remember in the US the owner of the property pays the local property tax, so you don't have a "community charge" to pay on top of the rent.
You can look on-line using rental web sites such as Zillow.com to look at homes and what you'll pay to rent them. And remember in the US the owner of the property pays the local property tax, so you don't have a "community charge" to pay on top of the rent.
for those of you who came with only suitcases... how much did you approx. spend to furnish your houses?
#7
Re: Moving without expat package?
I came with my USC wife, and we didn't unpack for 17 months, and lived in a sparsely furnished apartment until we decided were we going to live longer term.
Good quality furniture can be very expensive in the US - we bought a fairly nice new dining table last year, that seats 10 (has two removable leaves), with chairs, and we think we got a great deal, from a furniture clearance warehouse (a long way from DC, and in a small rural town in NC), and paid almost $2,000. Take a look at Restoration Hardware's web site for some ideas on more pricey furniture - though from a British perspective high end US furniture often looks "dated".
If you like to research, look at Ikea's US web site, and see if you could furnish a home for less than say $10k (about what you'd pay to ship furniture back and forth), then ship only clothes and personal stuff and dispose of it when you leave the US.
Try wayfair.com for more general ideas on buying furniture in the US. .... You will see that most larger dining tables start around $2k, and many are in the $3k-$4k range, which probably means over $6k with chairs, which is why we were fairly pleased with our purchase.
Last edited by Pulaski; Jan 17th 2020 at 3:08 pm.
#8
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Joined: Mar 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 455
Re: Moving without expat package?
Thank you for your thoughts! I am under the impression that they simply “pause” the German contract until the person comes back, but I will definitely check. And we will also try to find out how they translate the salary from Euro to USD. Thanks for the number, that’s also along the lines I thought we would need.
The friends in question don't seem to think they are being screwed, yet regularly complain about having to recruit subordinates who earn substantially more than they do.
I suppose every firm will do things differently, but at least see if they will put you on a local contract with local payroll.
#9
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Location: Austin, TX
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Re: Moving without expat package?
I still have all my original Ikea stuff now that I own a (somewhat sparsely furnished) house. I've been looking at buying more furniture recently and it's pretty damn expensive for even moderately nice stuff!
#10
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Re: Moving without expat package?
haha, I knew that would come
great deal on the table!
I was looking at Ikea, and also at furnished apartments. Our city here has also a very big facebook group where expats sell their furniture and other things once they leave, so I am aware of this option
interesting! Thanks for sharing
Yes, I should probably look at smaller houses, at least the rooms wont be that sparse then
great deal on the table!
I was looking at Ikea, and also at furnished apartments. Our city here has also a very big facebook group where expats sell their furniture and other things once they leave, so I am aware of this option
I have friends who relocated from Germany on an expat contract and they didn't convert the salary at all - they continued to pay the Germany salary into their Germany bank account, along with a housing allowance and a car allowance to cover their apartment here in Texas.
The friends in question don't seem to think they are being screwed, yet regularly complain about having to recruit subordinates who earn substantially more than they do.
I suppose every firm will do things differently, but at least see if they will put you on a local contract with local payroll.
The friends in question don't seem to think they are being screwed, yet regularly complain about having to recruit subordinates who earn substantially more than they do.
I suppose every firm will do things differently, but at least see if they will put you on a local contract with local payroll.
I have no kids, so I just spent a couple grand in Ikea on a sofa, bed and coffee table for my apartment.
I still have all my original Ikea stuff now that I own a (somewhat sparsely furnished) house. I've been looking at buying more furniture recently and it's pretty damn expensive for even moderately nice stuff!
I still have all my original Ikea stuff now that I own a (somewhat sparsely furnished) house. I've been looking at buying more furniture recently and it's pretty damn expensive for even moderately nice stuff!
#11
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Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Near Lynchburg Tennessee, home of Jack Daniels
Posts: 1,381
Re: Moving without expat package?
I wouldn’t spend a lot on furniture for a short term three year stay. Buy new bedding and maybe couch but the rest used thru craigslist, furniture consignment shops, garage sales etc. You can buy OK used furniture for a fraction of new cost.
#12
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: Moving without expat package?
Lets get back to basics.
They do relocation's all the time, yet those people are happy to move without any relocation package? Sounds odd to say the least.
They do relocation's all the time, yet those people are happy to move without any relocation package? Sounds odd to say the least.
#13
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Joined: May 2010
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 9,651
Re: Moving without expat package?
You usually get a good moving package when the company asks you to move - not so much the other way, when the employee is asking for the move.
#14
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Re: Moving without expat package?
But yes, if they need you somewhere they will be very generous. They sent us to London for a few months (quite spontaneously) and paid for a nice corporate apartment in Kensington and all the flights.