Bob

You aren't residing at the address on the UK license, you can't change the address to a none-UK address, so it's not technically valid.

When you move back, you give them your new address and you're good to go.

Folks often get better rental rates using a US license.

Nutmegger

Account fees are usually based on balance, and have nothing whatsoever to do with the direct deposit of a salary.

petitefrancaise

"I think most banks will allow you to have a basic no-interest account without SSN, as I hear they can take a little bit to get through. I'm open to recommendations though, who's the best to deal with, and have decent online presence as I mostly do my banking online.

Yes you can open a checking(current) account without SSN.
My clients go into a wells fargo branch and 30 minutes later walk out with their account open, a temporary check book and temporary debit card. Wells Fargo online is perfectly good.

Although saying that, I hear that if you withdraw from cashpoints you get charged if it's not your branch? not had that in the UK for years now, they all just get along. Is that still true?

Yes you may get charged if you use a cashpoint that's not your banks. Wells fargo on every street corner...... Everyone uses debit/credit cards here, even for a $2 coffee in starbucks. If I need cash then I get it at the supermarket as cashback but usually that's just to give the kids money.

I'll register my UK Accounts to my parents address before I go out (as I know Barclaycard don't like Ex-Pats) to keep them up and running, and a credit history in the UK, and will make visits back a whole lot easier. Just have to work out how to send money over to the UK Current account regularly to make sure there's enough in it to pay any bills/direct debits that are left on it.

Paying money back to the UK and vice versa is best done using a foreign exchange service like worldfirst etc. Much cheaper and faster than using the banks. The banks may not give you market rate exchange which can cost you $$$. Open up your foreign exchange account as soon as possible from the UK whilst you are still there. It can take a few weeks to get set up whilst they do their security checks. Then, as soon as you have your US bank account set up you can transfer money into it and then transfer it back as you need to. However, you will have to declare your foreign bank accounts to the US tax service and the banks are obliged to let the US tax people know you have a UK bank account so you will have to tell them your US address. I've kept all my UK accounts open for over 14 years with no problem. Although not a credit card.
Don't use HSBC, you don't need it and their US presence isn't good enough. Whatever they offer you, you can get locally.
If you have had an Amex card for over a year in the UK, ask for it to be transferred to the US so that you have a local credit card straight away.

EE UK will help me set up a T-Mobile USA account (I have a business account with EE) and allow me to migrate my phones to the US Partner, but keep my UK account, which I thought was nice, will work out slightly more expensive than opening an account myself in the US with them, but a lot less hassle for the moment, and can always change later on down the line. Although not sure if that will work for me, as not sure if it will go against my US Credit history or UK one, or both? Assume they would need to create me a US account as such against my name, and can only complete it after I get my SSN so assume that it would be on my American history. Might look into switching to Google Fi anyhow after all settled (as also want Google Fibre, another advantage of Austin)

T-mobile prepay is easy to set up. It's fairly cheap, you don't need a SSN or credit check. if you have your own phone, you can bring it with you - just make sure it is unlocked.

Google Fi in Austin is really good. You do have to buy their Nexus phones but recently they brought the price down to $200. Won't your company provide you with a phone and a service? For just the 2 of you, over a 2 year period, 2 new phones and google Fi might well be cheaper, depends on your data usage.

Just had a look over IAS site, seems straight forward enough to organise cars, so probably look into that in more detail before we go out, after I've tried to bully work into a car After all we are working with Tesla on something Unfortunately not their cars, but hey, can dream

Then after settled a bit, need to look into getting my Technical Assistance Agreement, as one of our sites is at a US Military Base..... Oh the fun Although to be honest, I know that getting any level of clearance (even though I have UK clearance) is almost impossible, so just send one of the contractors what we pay them for afterall..."

charlas

Didn't think of looking in there for that, cheers will look,.

Bob

A requirement is at least one direct deposit a month, in many free accounts, along with the minimum balance to waive a fee. Not all accounts though.

Owen778

It's probably worth explaining how US healthcare works. For someone coming from the UK, it's complicated.

The company provides a health insurance policy, that they agree with one of the health insurance companies. However, you would usually have to pay for the premiums for that insurance, and then a significant proportion of actual healthcare costs on top of that, up to a yearly out-of-pocket maximum. That maximum varies depending on the insurance company and the level of premiums you choose to pay. Both the premiums and the out of pocket maximums are usually thousands of dollars per year.

Pulaski

I have a checking account that is free based on a minimum monthly deposit (only $500), not on a minimum balance.

Nutmegger

Then it shows how YMMV -- as my OH and I are both self-employed, money is prone to show up all at one time, or nothing for far too long! Not a regular direct or monthly deposit -- or a bank fee -- between us!

petitefrancaise

wells fargo account $1k a month direct deposit for it to be free.

I was looking at various accounts the other day for someone and noticed that it's the "premier" accounts that usually require a minimum daily balance for them to be free, one of them was $7500! However, the fee was $25 a month and one of the services you got with that was the ability to pay a much larger amount electronically without it being sent as a check. So, the convenience of that might be worth $25 a month to someone.

themadpooper

kodokan

What Bob said for the license - it ceases to be a valid license if you're not a UK resident.

The 60 days on a UK licence with an L1 visa is also not correct. Every state will have its own rules about how soon you need to be using a state license to drive, after becoming resident (and it's not tied to visa status).

For example, we moved to Arizona and the rule was that as soon as you did something that meant you were resident rather than merely visiting - started work, placed children in school, etc - then you had to get an AZ license 'immediately'. We moved to Ohio recently, and had 30 days to trade our AZ licenses for OH ones; every state is different.

In my two states, testing has been walk-in with no appointments. My full eye/ written/ road test in AZ was all done in under an hour on a quiet Tuesday morning from when I walked in the door. If you fail, you'll be able to walk back in the next day and try again. Don't go during school vacation if you can help it, then the place won't be littered with 16 year olds trying to get a license.

petitefrancaise

Nutmegger, i think it was Bob who recommended Alliant Credit Union. They are online and don't require a minimum deposit or balance for it to be free. in fact I joined and they gave me $50! Their online site is great, the only issue is lack of ATMs but that's not a big deal for me.

charlas

Cool, as long as its not a right faff like the DVLA then I don't mind doing it ASAP.

Pulaski

For most people in good or reasonably good health you are financially better off taking the lowest insurance premium and accepting the risk of paying more out of pocket for routine doctor's appointments. We (family of three) pay about $160/mth on an employer-provided scheme, and pay for the occasional doctor's appointments, and treatment for Little Miss P's allergies, "out of pocket" from our before-tax Health Savings Account (not to be confused with a Health Spending/ Health Reimbursement Account), which works like a British private pension, funded by before-tax payroll deductions, and subject to an IRS cap (just under $7k/yr).

Two colleagues who have three and four children, so much greater health costs than us, independently reached the same decision - "high deductible" (low premium) insurance + an HSA is the optimum choice.

petitefrancaise

30 days in Texas.
You can go to the mega center at Pflugerville in the morning and get a test that day but you need to do the online "theory" first. My OH passed it all and I don't think he even looked at the handbook.....