Moving to the US when pregnant

[Lolly2803]

Hi, I have 18 month old twins and am currently 16 weeks pregnant. There is a strong possibility we will be moving the the US (L.A) in March which would mean I'd be around 7 months pregnant.
What do I need to do?!! How easy is it to have a baby in the US? Basically am after any advice or help etc! Also any ideas how much nursery is in the US? I assume they have nurseries like here in the U.K.? xx

If he’s in the $250k range then he should be negotiating for a complete international move package that includes a specialist to oversee and advise on all aspects

arf You would have had premium processing for a 2 month processing time. That isn't an option right now and DH was told it would take about 6 months by the US embassy here in Denmark for the L1 visa he is waiting on. They don't expect premium processing to resume under Trump. You might find they have already put in for your visas. DH has three people under consideration for a transfer and all 3 families have had visas submitted because they need someone to move over in april.

The other thing to consider is making sure you have help with your taxes. It's not straight forward and it's normally included in an expat package.

Yes you should get tax help for the first year-we came over on a much lower salary and got the move paid for plus around 6k to buy new electrical stuff, 8 weeks fully paid accommodation, relocation agent to help us find a rental, and of course all visa costs and then green card costs fully paid by the company.

Premium Processing is still available for L visas. It's only H-1B visas that have been suspended.

You might find they have already put in for your visas.

How could you have a visa application submitted on your behalf and not know about it. The reams of paperwork that have to be gathered and submitted (birth certificates, marriage certificates included) would be quite an achievement to happen without your knowledge.

We requested $15k for our move - that covered flights, shipping household goods, my green card (children were American already), and things like covering initial deposits.

It was actually given as a $15k loan that was forgiven $5k per year - the idea being that the company didn't want to fund our move then have DH leave the company shortly after.

We never did ask for tax help, but DH has been a US citizen all his life and has lived all over the world so was pretty well versed in filing tax returns from wherever he happened to be living. We've done ours ourselves with TurboTax for the last 11 years. But it's a good idea to ask for help.

OP I haven't lived in LA but I do live in a very good school district on the east coast and we would live extremely comfortably on $250k :-) We were on $70k when we arrived, and paying out $1k a month for health insurance, and it was a struggle.

Yes stupomax I agree 70k would be tight but no doubt that was some time ago.
Flights being paid should also be a given-I will say that we negotiated hard over vacation time when we really should have asked for a higher salary looking back- 15 days holiday is pretty generous on top of all the public holidays here but it seemed really low to us at the time.

They will expect you to negotiate over salary so I would pitch harder on that than relocation costs anything between 5-10k would be pretty generous- 15 k is super generous on a 70K salary so you got lucky there Stupo or negotiated well. Better to get an extra 20-30k a year than 5 days extra holiday or flights home each year.

scotx They have relocated these employees and their families before and everything is on file. They did the same to DH a few years ago when they were considering if they would relocate him to HK.

Hey ladies! So we have a job offer and negotiating package. Salary will be around the $200k mark. Healthcare that pays 100% (don't know all details of this yet). They said they will also cover the first 6 months rent. And relocation costs. The bit that is concerning me is we'd live in an apartment complex type which is lovely no probs. It's just things like we won't have a secure garden so it's all well having the beach and a lovely shared space and pool etc but I'm worried about having 2 year old twins who won't be secured in a garden! I know this isn't something you can give me an answer on etc but just wondered whether there was a good community of mums etc and how easy it is to make mum friends to do things with?

Congrats OP. LA is great. The weather alone makes it worth it.

The pool in any apartment complex will be fenced. Six months without a garden won't be the end of the world especially as the inside will likely be bigger than what you're used to.

The complex living will be our permanent home while we are there so we won't have our own garden. It's just the being able to do things on my own with the twins that concerns me.

Why does it have to be that complex? Plenty of places with private gardens to be had. Getting out anywhere with two year old twins and baby is going to be a challenge I think. Reigns for the twins?

Yer that's a good plan. I would love to make use of the beach and pool but just alone with them will be tricky but I have challenges like that here I guess just not beach and pool! Is it easy to meet people and make friends in L.A? Like Mum friends?

I'd search on FB for local mum groups to where the complex is; you're bound to find people with kids of similar ages that might be able to give you pointers on the area, social events etc

Americans are overwhelmingly friendly. Making mum friends won't be a problem. Enroll the twins in a playschool scheme for a few hours each week and you'll meet loads. There will be Facebook groups.

Thank you! So useful. I'm so nervous about it all. We have so much going on what with me being pregnant and we are renovating our UK house!

Life in the US is far easier. No one needs to make a parking diagram because there will be enough and you can even open your doors. Everything will be air conditioned. I've found people to be FAR more tolerant of kids. People will chat to your toddlers and coo over the baby. Target will be the best place you've ever been.

I'd question why it has to be that one apartment complex? Are they offering to pay for a scouting trip? You could use it to interview OBs and find out which areas you like etc. Maybe and interview some people to help with the kids because two 2 year olds and newborn sounds incredibly hard on your own.

Are they covering private PreK? Def worth asking because with twins it's not cheap to go privately. Locally to us here in North Jersey it was $20k a year per child for the decent option which had qualified teachers for 8am-2pm. No sibling discount. Luckily we have them in the state program which is free for those hours. Yes you can do the parent co-op preschools but honestly, you need the break and being honest I found the quality of many of the programs to be inferior.

Also, if they are insistent on you living in that complex check out the assigned schools. Do they have kindergarten? If so, is it a FT or PT program? If no kindergarten or a PT program will the company pay for private school?

I'd be relatively relaxed about the apartment living, assuming that the complex is well maintained and has good facilities

Check what "100% coverage" insurance means in detail. It'd be unusual to have no co-pays at all, for example - you might have a low deductable but higher co-pays

Check vaccination requirements - just because they are up to date in the UK doesn't mean that they are up to date in LA. This definitely matters for school enrollment, but we found that lots of day care and activity programs also asked to see a completed vaccination record in order to enroll

We have 100% insurance as expats (including when we were in the US). No copays, no deductible, no “network” we had to use.

My dc had to have hep B and varicella (or in my case letter from dr saying they’d already had chickenpox) when we first arrived so they could start nursery/school. I think the requirements vary by state though. They were allowed to start as soon as they had had the first one, didn’t need to wait until they had completed the course.

100% coverage isn't unusual. We have it. It's through SOS which is a subsidiary of AIG. Just be careful because our SOS coverage doesn't include preexisting conditions and the fuckers in Denmark processing our claims spent 3 years arguing that DSs autism was a preexisting condition because he was born with it. We were dropping $50-60k a year on therapy for him. Don't assume that Europeans will be more reasonable on healthcare. I found them to be far less understanding and cruel when it comes to coverage compared to the American healthcare insurance.

DH now has a an agreement with his employer that they will pay any healthcare expense SOS denies. If they don't pay we are leaving america or DH will be changing jobs.

Ah don't worry about vaccinations. Just start with claiming a religious exemption and figure out with your pediatrician what is needed.

Life in LA really is easier than anywhere I have lived before and if you don't have to commute the traffic (the #1 thing people complain about) really isn't an issue. I wouldn't worry about not having a garden, there are plenty of parks. I am not sure about where you are living but I am a few towns south of Marina Del Rey and our town's parks and rec department have a ton of affordable kids activities. I also use an app for Dr's visits called Heal, they come to your house and do vaccinations/well child/sick child visits and it is 100% covered by insurance. It really is a great lifestyle here, as your kids get older and you have to worry more about schools the house prices in good school zones can be a bit of a shock but the good school districts are great and typically you are guaranteed a place if you live in the zone, no complex catchment area issues.

I’ve had both my babies in Los Angeles - one at St. John’s and one at Ucla Ronald Reagan. Both great hospitals and wonderful postnatal care. I’m also seven months pregnant. We were thinking of moving back to the UK but put it off so we could have our third child here as the medical care is just so great (obviously only if you have good insurance). And also wanted our baby to have us citizenship like his siblings, which we think is an advantage, especially now with brexit. If you want to research doctors before you get here, and know where in la you will be living, you could also join the la mommies Facebook group and ask for doctor reccomendations.

Also you can’t claim a religious exemption for vaccinations in California. Unless you want to home school!

Sorry OP just reading your update. If they are paying for six months in that apartment complex then personally I’d take it. We are on about the same income as you will be, and rent a three bedroom house with large yard and guest house in a great area with nice schools, so I don’t think you will have a problem. We lived in a similar sounding apartment complex in the marina when we first got here and it was fine, remember it will be nice weather and there are parks everywhere so you can be outside as much as you like.