Moving to Boston MA from UK

[pauldwhyte]

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

[Rachel_Heath]

Hola Paul and congratulations on the chance to move!

Under what visa status have you been offered the job? H-1B, L1 etc.

As for the company car tax question, that's a pretty open ended one that has some answers in page 28 of the IRS publication 463. Unfortunately it's not an easy question to answer without knowing a significant more about your financial situation and I'd suggest if your company is indeed offering a vehicle that you get them to help out in answering it.

I myself have never been to Boston so am unable to answer any questions regarding where are the nice places to live.

As for bringing your pet pooch into the USA, the CDC's Importation of Pets, Other Animals, and Animal Products into the United States might be a good place to start for information with Code of Federal Regulations Title 9 Part 93:600 detailing the actual law behind it all.

However the big issue you need to address is your girlfriend. As such she has no legal rights to join you in the US unless as a tourist - and even then here stay would be severely limited and she might even be turned away by immigration due to your status (the chance being that she may want to overstay her maximum stay period). If you were to become engaged then she'd be able to join you on a fiancée visa so long as you both got married with something like six months.

[pauldwhyte]

Thanks for the info, very helpfull.

We both work in the same industry but for different companies, my Girlfirend may well come to work for the same company as me in time, but not straight away. Could my company sponsor her for a visa?

Thanks for the info on the dog, car tax etc, very helpfull!!

Thanks

Paul

[pauldwhyte]

Havent got that far yet on visas etc! what are the differences please? I will be working as a director of the US arm of our business.

Thanks

Paul

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. It just so happens that I grew up in the Boston area, and I go back there (from France) a couple of times a year to visit friends and family.

Rachel is right - the big question is going to be your girlfriend. The US will not give her any recognition in the visa process unless you're married. If she wants a work permit, she'll have to find her own job and then her employer will have to "petition" her in. If she doesn't want to work, she'll have to qualify on her own for a non-work visa. One possibility might be for her to study - there are hundreds of colleges and universities in the Boston area and if she has ever thought about going for a degree (especially a masters - which usually takes two years) all she has to do is pick one and apply.

Nicest places to live, eh? Boston is a rather expensive area, though housing prices are starting to fall in response to this current mortgage crisis. If you're asking about Newburyport because you'll be working there, you're in luck. North of Boston prices are a bit more reasonable - and southern New Hampshire is just a stone's throw away. New Hampshire is about as green as you can get - except during the winter, when the snow falls and everyone goes skiing.

Go to the Boston Globe website (Boston.com) and click on Real Estate to get a feel for housing prices. (They have a section for rentals.) You may also want to check the Globe's "regional sections" for Globe North, where you can get a feel for some of the goings-on in that area.

Getting the dog into the country is actually probably easier than getting your girlfriend in. (Sorry.) There's no quarrantine, but Doggy will need all shots up to date and a current health certificate prepared according to US standards.

You probably won't find anything on car taxes because there aren't any specific car taxes (at least not like in the UK). A company car is a very rare perk in the US (actually kind of discouraged under the tax code) - usually reserved for sales people who have to travel to customer sites. For an expat employee, you'll probably have the full leasing value of a company-provided car added to your income for tax purposes. Depending on the terms of your contract (if you have one) you may be responsible for "personal mileage" or "personal use" of the vehicle. The usual way to handle that in the US is that you would pay all car expenses (petrol, maintenance, etc.) and then reclaim work-related mileage expenses from the employer. Best to clarify that with your employer before you go.

I'm actually just back from two weeks spent north of Boston, so let me know if you have further questions.
Cheers,
Bev

[Rachel_Heath]

Sadly your girlfriend's going to have real problems if she stays just as your girlfriend.

I'd imagine from what you've described that you're heading here on a L-1A transfer visa. For your girlfriend to come over and work she'd need to apply under a totally different visa, such as an H-1B which are significantly harder and longer to obtain.

An H-1B is used for companies to obtain foreign skilled workers performing a role the company is unable to fill domestically.

In addition there is a cap of 65,000 H-1B's issued each year (which is already full for 2008).

If you were to marry, she would be able to obtain an L2 visa which, when coupled with an Employment Authorization card, would allow her to obtain most of any sort of job here.

[pauldwhyte]

Thanks both

Marriage is obviously the future!

Surely if my company sponsor my GF as a new employee this would not matter!!??? (guessing?) Thanks for the Dog quip, im sure that will go down well when i tell my GF!


Paul

[Rachel_Heath]

Originally Posted by pauldwhyte

Surely if my company sponsor my GF as a new employee this would not matter!!???

It would considering it could take quite possibly 1.5 to 2 years for your girlfriend to obtain an H-1B and would not be able to join you in Boston until it had been approved (baring any possible tourist visits).

Unless she's been working at the same business as you for over a year, her chances of obtaining a similar L-1A (or even a lesser L-1B) are pretty gosh-darned slim.

As Bev mentioned though - if she is able to take a couple of years off studying then a student visa might be a good route.

[Rachel_Heath]

That's a very interesting point Ray raises. More information can be found here.

[synthia]

You mention selling? A house or condo? Do you want to do that, or would it be smart to rent out your place until you return?

Have you been told you would get a company car, or have you just assumed that because you qualify for one in the US?

Other things you won't find on the internet include references to radio and TV licenses, because there aren't any. Ask about them, and no one will know what you are talking about.