need help .............. lots of it
 

Firstly hello to you all a little bit about our situation we decided to emigrate to Texas. After 3 years of endless form filling, waiting and heartache we have finally got our interview with the American Embassy in London. In a little over 2 weeks. We are emigrating on an E3 visa with Freightliner of Austin as my sponsor and have all the relevant forms etc.
My questions, with your indulgance, are these...
1... We are planning to sell our property when we actually have the visas in our hands and within the prescribed 160 day time frame. How do we get the money from that sale to Texas? We dont have an American bank account.
2... How much cash can we take into the U.S. legally each myself, my wife and my son(my own research has conflicting results ranging from $1000-$10000 each)?
3... Do you know how long it will take from my arrival as to when I can start work?
4... We will be staying with friends in San Antonio for a few days till we can get a place of our own(depending on answer to q. 1 above) can we use this address to open a bank account? and would you advise that?
5... My son is 17 will we have to get him into a school?
6... Will my wife and myself have to take an american driving test? or will we just hand over our licenses and be issued the american equivelant? if not how long will our licenses be valid?
7... Will we be able to get a mortgage, if required, or if not how long would we have to wait?
There are loads more but these are our main concerns any advise or help you can offer will be much appreciated
thanks
Chas

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

leave money in uk and move it as soon as you have opened an account using something like be.com
i beleive there is no actual limit but you will have to decalre to customes anything over 10k in dollars.
if you have a working visa then straight away? wont be able to give then a ssn for a while but they can still employ you.
[quote]4... We will be staying with friends in San Antonio for a few days till we can get a place of our own(depending on answer to q. 1 above) can we use this address to open a bank account? and would you advise that?[/qoute] i believe you could do it for your hotel - so certainly could do it at a freiends - more about how well do you trust them. If your freind takes you into his branch it may make it easier to open a bank account as some banks can be a pain without an ssn.
no idea.
yes i think you have to do a us test. maybe a practical and a written - but they are far far simpler than the uk tests and it really shoulnt be hard to pass.
you can apply straight away. be warned they are being ultra cautious right now though and the processing is taking months and months. They may do an international credit check (basically ringing your creditors in the uk and asking if you paid on time whilst you sit on the conference call and introduce them. as we all pay by direct debit in the ul its all a bit of a farce) they also asked us for proof we had sold the uk house, and proof of 6 months worth of mortgage payments in cash reserves sitting in a bank account just in case - NOT including the deposot).

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

Is BE doing currency transfers now?

I imagine you meant XE.com

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

You only need declare amounts over $10K if you are actually bringing the money with you into the country ie in your bag. If you're transferring it from bank to bank you need not declare it to anyone...your US bank does it automatically.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

Carry that much cash, very dangerous, just transfer it to a US account when you have one.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

is that $10000 each totaling $30000? before we need to declare it?

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

so I could use my debit card for the first few days for hotel food car hire etc is that what you mean boiler

oh btw thanks to you all so far

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

Yes. It does not have to be cash...cheques, money orders, cash etc totalling $10K. Why would you carry so much cash with you...why not transfer it when you open a US bank account?

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

You can use your UK credit card or debit card in most places in the US.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

ah i see so what you mean is just take a couple of thou cash and then use debit card just wasnt sure thanks

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

I don't see why you want to take any large amount in cash - just use your card.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

how long would that take usually to open the account and get cards etc.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

The issue that most people face is having a Social Security Number (SSN) and proof of address. You don't need a SSN to open an account but a lot of staff in banks will think you do - so you have to be strong on that one. Once you get a lease for a house/apartment or a bill with your address you can probably open an account. Doubt you can get one without proof of address.

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

You can open an account immediately...shouldn't take too long to get a debit card. You will have difficulty obtaining a credit card because you'll have no US credit history. Best option is to open a UK AMEX account...then transfer it to the US.

You can do the same thing with a bank account. I can't remember the name of the bank...maybe HSBC...if you open a UK account you can then transfer it to the US.

Welcome to BE BTW. :)

Re: need help .............. lots of it
 

there in lies my problem if the bulk of our money is in the uk we cant get a place to rent or buy and without an address we cant open an account dya see what i mean