Moving from London to New York- HELP PLEASE

[Newjobformoremoney]

Hi all,
In a bit of a whirlwind week it seems highly likely that we are relocating to New York for 6 months. Its all a bit overwhelming.
We have a dog that we'd take with us, has anyone done that and can recommend a service? Schooling? How do we manage that? We have a 5 year old and ideally I would cut my hours to PT (visa depending).
Apartment would be sorted by the company I think, but they have a few so does anyone recommend a good family friendly area?
What else should I be thinking about? What should I be thinking about? Any advice? Any good links?
They'd like us to move in January.... which feels very soon!
Any words of wisdom?

@Newjobformoremoney DH and I are moving to the US in January. His company's immigration lawyers put in an expedited employer petition for his L1 visa in July which I believe takes 15 days from date of receipt to receive a decision on. We submitted our D160s on the 3rd of August but the next available embassy appointment was mid October. Unless you're going to be doing daily checks for appointment cancellations January seems unlikely. My L2 dependent visa was issued and when I first enter the US the I-94 will be issued with automatic authorisation to work. They changed this for L2 visas last November after several court cases.

Can't advise on the dog as we've been putting off getting one until we moved!

@No499 they've recently changed the rules so L2 is allowed to work as soon as an I-94 is received so you don't have to apply for authorisation.

Travel over there on the QE2, so you can take the dog with you and visit plenty on the voyage. Lots of people relocating with pets do it because it’s nicer for them and the pets and also doesn’t work out much more than business class flights.

kindergarten may be the official start to schooling in the us, but most children have attended 1-2 years of school before getting to that point. A year of preschool at age 3 and then pre-k at age 4.

the key to your child’s experience in kindergarten are going to be the demographics of the school, even with a state school.

Thanks about visa info @Jimhendersonsrelish this is one of my big worries. Immigration lawyer was very blasé about my partners coming but isn’t so certain about mine. He’s meeting them Tuesday so let’s see what they say to him then!

I take my child on the subway all the time. And I commute on it twice a day. It's not like it was in the 80s!

Also, the salary is good if you're not paying rent. General rule of thumb is to not attempt a family in Manhattan on under $200k per year - unless you have a rent controlled/stabilized apartment or similar, so you're way over that threshold.

It was a while ago now, but our experience with US immigration is that it is very slow. I hope yours goes faster, but I’d be prepared for delays!

Many children don’t start kindergarten in the US til they’re close to age 6. (In Illinois anyway it was 1 sep after they turn 5, but a lot of summer birthdays got kept back a year) I’d probably just look for a half day private daycare/preschool so your DD has some structured learning and social activities but isn’t in the proper school system. That would give you a lot more flexibility for trips and fun activities, and in my experience private preschool was similar to reception level in the Uk anyway. Maybe look for a nanny/babysitter in the language for the afternoons if you need the childcare.

We transported our cat when we moved back to UK from the US last year and it was so stressful. I wouldn’t take a dog for 6 months personally if you can avoid it

So you're moving to NY because you're partner has an opportunity, but you're c-suite bread winner and it might affect your position/career? I'm not sure I'd got - it's 6 months. You could visit once a month for a week and it'd be over before you knew it with career in tact.

Don't get me wrong, Working in NY is great, I've done a few stints around the globe, but I wouldn't put a c-suite career up for grabs just for 6 months.

Mind you, remote working is pretty easy even if you're c-suite, I've been doing that for a few years now, but the time difference will be a royal pain....

@Dibbydoos I’d go to half days remote (if I get a working visa) as it’s only 6 months and fly back to the UK once a month

Apologies, haven't read whole thread, but it seems to me that this sounds great for you and partner, but if you're both working a lot I think it would be truly difficult for a 5 year old. Even if they are really used to travel. If you're both working a lot, and nyers work A LOT, then she's been displaced and expected to deal with all this new stuff only to do it all over again in 6m? Another whole new school? It's a lot for a young kid.
It's hard to make friends when it's too cold to go out and play in the park, and most kids will be in school all day at that age, pre k at least.
If you do go, I'd consider a homeschooling group so they make friends quickly. More relaxed and homey than a whole new school.
We recently moved back from NYC, just so you know where I'm coming from.
I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if you got work authorization so quickly too, but I guess you can just work online for current company.
It's a fab city and experience tho- I'd just do a couple of very long trips- in spring especially!
Best of Luck.

I hear everyone on the visa front!

As I said, work visas come in different types. Some of the shorter ones do not make the holder normally resident in the US. So, their normal residence being back in the UK, may mean they aren’t qualified to receive public education at tax payer expense in NY. Hence the suggestion they should ask the lawyer.

Even if they aren’t technically eligible they may be able to game the system as documentation requirements aren’t always that robust (because of the difficulties of ensuring homeless and and undocumented immigrant children still get educated) but having the documents asked for doesn’t necessarily mean they are actually eligible. Whether it would be a problem for the OP would depend on a number of things, which is another reason to seek qualified legal advice.

Newjobformoremoney

I would suggest your DH asks his employer to include in his benefits a specialist tax accountant to cover the two tax years you’ll be working in both places.

Good point re: tax accountant!

@Ihavekids how long did you visa take? The lawyers said that interviews wait was 21 days and then we can pay a fast track fee to get the visa within a few weeks. They are talking about applying on Tuesday...

They also have a blanket L petition? I don't understand what that is. DP isn't super helpful with the conversation if I'm honest.

It means they’ve already got the general approval to move employees to the US which is the first stage of the process. So all you do is apply for your visas using the existing petition. Meaning a quick turnaround, dependent on appointment availability at the embassy.

The L visa being the transfer visa for existing employees- L1A (managers) or L1B (non managers) for the employee and L2 for spouse and child dependents.

It sounds like an amazing opportunity. I did an internship in NYC many years ago and loved it.
Non negotiable a for me though as a travelling spouse with dc and dog would be:

• a 6 month sabbatical from work
• not having to work so I could enjoy with dc. I wouldn't want to put them in school / childcare at that age
• being able to take my dog in the cabin. There's no way he'd cope in cargo. I won't even take a boat unless he's with us.
• getting a good enough salary that we could live comfortably

Sorry keep posting too soon! On timing, it was a few years ago but ours took about 8 weeks and I don’t think we fast tracked.

@Jimhendersonsrelish, that's good to know, thanks. Its been a few years now, almost 10, since I went through the process.

OP, apologies if this has been mentioned already, but is this your husband or partner? The L2 is only for spouses and children. The immigration system doesn't recognize common law marriages/defacto relationships. If you're not married you won't be able to work/obtain a driver's license etc. You'll essentially be treated as a visitor

Thanks @No499 were married!

Great. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Moving to the US was the best decision we made. Our quality of life is so much better out here.

If the apartment is included in the package would you actually get to choose the area?