Calling all UK MNers who live in USA, advice on emigrating needed

[PavlovtheWitchesCat]

DH is american by birth, has a lapsed US passport, apparantly getting it renewed is no hassle.

We have family in California, and for a while now we have kept going back to the idea of moving there, for a while.

DH's brother has offered him some work there (events management). Details, pay, terms etc etc etc to be worked out but likely that DH will only want to take this on for say 6 months, and then use those 6 months to source his own work. IF it works out with DB then all is good and that won't happen, but it will not be relied on (family, keep your distance at work right?!).

Anyway, this vague idea has slowly slowly become more of a reality. His other DB in NY has indicated he would move to California, and his mother in New Mexico the same. Which means for the first time, EVER, all the family will be in the same place (also have DHs aunts and some cousins in California). DD has two cousins within 6 months of her age and two older ones, would be fab to spend some time with each other.

Not to mention. Er. The weather .

I can get a sabbatical from work for up to a year. So we thought, do a year, if we want to come home, I will have a job to return to, and we will have a home too. If we like it there and want to stay a bit longer we can see what our options are (DH said, we will be coming back to UK though, just in case I fall in love with the place!)

So, two areas I would like to get advice on, English and US side of things.

English (easy)
How long can I, if any time at all, continue to claim CTC/CB when out of the country?
Should we rent out our flat as a formal deal with the mortgage co involved or just through an agent without telling them?
If we do it officially, how much more would the cost be, 5 wise? As it stands we can cover the mortgage and a bit more if we rent it at a reasonable price.
What happens with DDs schooling if we take her out of the country when she is due in school, or if this crosses over with her starting school over here? Will she be required to go to school in USA? Who do we need to tell she is abroad if this coincides.

Anything else I need to think of? VISA side, I think I understand, but anything else that might help?

US side:
What, roughly would be a minimum wage we should expect to earn in California to be able to afford to live (Bay/Nappa Valley area)?
How much would we expect to pay on a house? Or on a nice apartment?
How much would we expect to pay in insurances? (two adults, one child, potentially another child before we go)
What happens if I have a baby there? Is this covered by health insurance?
How easy is it for me to get part time work? I am qualified in criminal justice work, and it has been indicated that I could get work there, but not sure of part time hours?

What other things should we consider before making the decision to move? What have we not yet thought about?

I have an immigrant visa (aka green card) which means I can live here permanently. I got it on the basis of being married to American DH (children not important in this respect). Look on the US embassy website, it has loads of information on this.
I didn't get searched at the airport when we arrived. They do make you go off to a side room to do paperwork, take fingerprints etc, but for me it was fine and easy. People's experiences do vary on this though - look at various expat forums for this and the visa process generally - britishexpats.com or diveintoamerica.
Social security payments will be deducted from your income before you get it, just like national insurance.
If renting, you won't need to pay property tax - your landlord should do it. You will need to pay all the usual, gas, electric, phone, internet etc. You will also need to organise renter's insurance - ie contents insurance.
Driving licence - you can drive on UK licence for a short period I think, but it various state to state. Look on the California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)website to find out what you need to do. I had to take a US driving test. But getting your US driving licence is incredibly helpful as it is used as ID everywhere.
Food - there may not be the choice that you are used to. There is quite a lot of organic stuff, but there is so much premade crap as well. Some stuff is much more expensive but lots of it is much cheaper.
TBH, visa is the big one - if you are going for a green card, it will take six to nine months and is a lot of paperwork.

We didn't use an immigration lawyer, but NMC is right - the forms are bloody awful. They are generic forms which basically presume your DH is already living in the US (with a job) and trying to bring you, his foreign bride, into the US. This means that some of the questions are nonsensical in your situation but, as NMC says, if you get any of them "wrong" they will send them back and put you back to the beginning, or even turn you down. There is a US embassy helpline, but it costs about 3 quid a minute or something. Use the internet forums, they got us through a lot of the difficult stuff!

wine question: Trader Joes - 2 buck chuck

food question: there are Whole Foods, Trader Joe's most places. Organic is no problem, although there is tax on food. Based on state tax rate...

Your DH will have to put together proof that he has been in the US for five years, two of which after the age of 14. Basically he will need to make a list of dates and addresses of where he lived (to the best of his ability), and then anything he can find to back up this statement - eg High School transcripts, old passport entry stamps, boy scout badges, names of witnesses, parents' tax returns. The closer he is to only just meeting the rule, the more evidence he should have.

When you go for the child's passport, both parents have to go with the child. If one parent cannot make it, they have to send in a statement notarised by a US Notary. They run an appointment system and sometimes the earliest appt can be a month away. On the day, you have to arrive and be searched before entering the embassy. After that, you just wait for your number to be called - once to hand in your documents, and about a half-hour wait to be called again for interview. They will ask your daughter to identify you as her parents. All being well, the passport will be delivered to your house in about a week.

The people in the passport section are very nice. Don't be put off by horror stories. We have never encountered anyone nasty there.

Immediate relatives get green cards immediately, Califrau.

OK, visa timings.

The process is that your DH files a I-130 petition for alien relative for you. He sends this to the London Embassy and it takes them about a month to process it. At the same time, you send of a biographical info sheet (your name, address, dates in the US) to the visa processing centre in London.

Once they have received this, and the petition approval, they will send you a full visa application pack, which will allow you to make a formal application and schedule an appt. You have to have an medical with the Embassy doctor, which will include a blood test, chest x-ray and possibly vaccinations. You should take proof of vaccinations with you, and have a tetanus with your GP if you are due for one.

In the visa interview, they review all of your documents (birth cert, marriage cert etc), and are especially interested in teh I-864 Affidavit of Support. This is the financial bit where DH promises to support you and has the financial wherewithall to do so.

I think nowadays they courier your visa to you, which is basically a brown envelope containing all your paperwork with a fancy visa stapled to the outside.

When you arrive in the US, you hand in this envelope to the agent, who will then direct you to secondary immigration. In secondary immigration, you fill out a form that is transformed into your green card, which then arrives in the post a few weeks later. Your passport is stamped with a temporary green card stating that you are free to work.

As for timings - the shortest possible is about 4 months. You can drag this on to over a year if you wish. For example, after receiving the visa, you have 6 months to enter the US.

We are currently going throught the process of emigrating to the US, DH is american and i'm British. We have 1 DD together who is Dual citizen and i have a DD from previous relationship who DD has now adopted.
Firstly, Getting your DD registered and an american passport is the 1st thing. You book appointment on the internet through the London embassy website, you do both the registering birth aboard and passport at the same time. There is currently a 3 month wait on appointments so book this asap. They only release 1-2 days at a time.

We started the visa process in January this year and could of been done within 4 months however are stretching this out as do not plan to leave until June next year (as now expecting DC3 in May) You do not need an immigration attorney we did it all ourselves with the help of the various expat and visa forums. Check out - Visa journey, dive into america and British expats. The forms are long and at first seem confusing but most of the questions are irrelevant. So much help on the forums that anyone could fill them in.
Your Dh will need to have been filing taxes within the US they want to see proof for the past 3 years. Don't worry if he hasn't you can backdate and unless he earns over something like £80,000 he won't have to pay any taxes.
You will need assets or a joint sponser for yourself, we are using MIL. The amount they need to earn or have in assets is all in the US embassy website.

What i would suggest to you now is to check out the forums have a look at what you will be facing and ask lots of questions.
If you need anymore help please ask.

oh the filing taxes thing. Because dh had never filed US taxes so had to file 4 years all at once which required hunting down pay slips and P60's etc. Like who keeps any of this stuff?! He didn't owe any taxes cos he's never earned enough but it still had to be filed.
Sqeauky - yes, immediate relatives are entitled to green cards but you still have to go through this application process and its still stressful and takes month.
Its actually easier to go on a work visa! If DH hadn't been American and had got a jb we could of gone on his work visa and it would of been easy peasy. Cos he was american we can to do the whole immigration permanent resident filing just to stay there a few years.

It might be easier to go on a work visa, but that involves the long process of getting a job, labor certification and visa quotas.

The IR1 process isn't that bad. The London office is relatively quick and you don't have to go through National Visa Center.

If you are trying to do it super fast, it is very frustrating. If you are able to call the shots re timing, then you just go with the flow.

Tax returns are a sticking point for a lot of people. A lot of Americans who haven't lived there as adults don't realise they have a duty to file taxes every year, unless their income falls below the threshhold.

The visa process requires you to submit the last three years' tax returns. If you haven't been doing these, then you need to backtrack and do them for the last three years. The forms for each year are all on the IRS website. If you haven't done US taxes before, it is not an easy process. If you earn less that $85 a year, it's not too onerous, but if you earn more and have to do Foreign Tax Credit, it is a whole new level of bureaucracy. I do ours every year on Turbotax, and it usually goes smoothly.

If you have lost the relevent info you just have to do your best with what you can remember. It is highly unlikely you will have to pay anything so you won't be cheating the IRS out of anything. You do not have to provide any documents with your tax returns.

Oh tax. That is interesting, did not know that...it won't be an issues in terms of money as he does not earn £80k or anywhere near. He is really really bad at keeping p60's. He has the last 2 years but nothing before I don't think. He is even owed tax here as he paid to much and could not get employment prof for the whole year in question!

The visa/green card sounds a nightmare!

We are planning on going in 18m -2 years. I suspected getting there would be a lengthy process involved, firstly DH and his passport, DD and her passport, me and a visa.

Would it just be easier to not bother with a green card until I got there? Can I get a temporary visa, while being married to DH, and then do green card once there? Or, by being married to DH, would I have to get a green card? Of course it would be useful, and there is always a chance we will want to stay longer so I will get one, but wondered if it might be quicker, sinpler if I am over there?

think green cards have to be applied for out of the country (out of USA)

You don't actually need your p60's, they don't actually need proof of what you DH has earnt for each year, they just take your word for it The tax forms were the worst to fill it but again a lot of it isn't revelant to you. if you need any help give me a shout. Surprisingly my DH got a $300 Economic stimulus payment this year because he filed his taxes and he doesn't even live in the US????
18m- 2years is plenty of time to research it properly and save the huge amounts of cash it costs. You will also need to get a police report from all the places/countries you have lived for 6 months plus snce the age of 16. This costs £40.00 and only takes a week maximum.
The visas costs $800 total plus £180 for the medical exam.plus any shots you may need. I got mine free at GPs.
I would suggest getting your DD vaccinations upto date with US guidelines also. It is not an requirement however when you move she will require them all before starting school.
My DD's have to have Hep B and Hep A.
I'm not sure but don't think you could get a temporary visa? The IR1 is easy, and once you have it no more visas? Trust me much easier me moving stateside than When DH moved to the UK.
I would firstly get DH and DD sorted as they will need to be done anyway and take it from there.

You cannot go with immigrant intent without an appropriate visa.

As you are going as the spouse of a US citizen, the IR1 is the best visa (your alternative would be a work visa in your own right, but that is not a straightforward process, visa or otherwise).

It is not a nightmare, especially when you can do it leisurely.

If you are planning on going in 18 months, and already have 2 years of tax returns, the one that needs to be done early next year will give you the third.

You do not have to attach any official documents to it. The only thing they accept is a US W-2 (equivalent to a P60). What you have to do is basically make your own W-2 to base your numbers on (it means converting our April-April tax years into a Jan - Dec one.

One thing to keep in mind is that the USA is desperate for your husband and daughter to live out their birthright in the US - they really do want to give you your visa.

My advice is to get the passports sorted out ASAP. It sounds like DH has a bit of work to do collating information about his presence in the US. He might have to take a bit of stick about having visited the US on a British passport (assuming that he has been there in the last 15 years).

2beautifulgals,

We get money from the IRS every year, despite not paying any tax in the US. We always get up to $1000 Additional Child Tax Credit, and this year we got about $700 Stimulus payment.

I used to feel bad about having to do US taxes, but now feel that I get paid to do them

2beautifulgals - the police report? A CRB check? Both DH and I have this already due to the nature of our work, updated every 2 years. Will this count? Or is the Police Report something different?
Will I need Hep B injection? Not a problem as I should have had it by now due to the nature of my job, it is not compulsory but recommended.

Everyone has been very very helpful in this. It is a minefield, not as straighforward as going oh holiday!!! and this is start of a serious plan, it has gone from months (years?) or talking to actual planning.

Oh I am so excited! This time in two years we could be in California!

Keep any thoughts/suggestions advice coming. I am going to keep all this and refer back to it all as we go ahead with it.

DH said, sod all the checking and stuff, we will get his and DDs passport sorted then we will hire an immigration lawyer to help with the rest, but perhaps by then I will be so knowledgable that we won't need to!!!

A police report is a search of the Police National Computer to see if your name appears on it!

The Embassy tells you how to apply. I went along to my local cop shop to pick up the form. I filled it in and had a person of standing countersign to confirm my identity and address.

It has to be done within 6 months of the visa interview, iirc.

I am confused about CTC paymwents/IRS/stimulus payments? , whats all that about?

I am under the assumption, that I will get a big fat ZERO from the US in support of ANY kind, we are basing our finances on that assumption. If it is wrong, well, bonus!

yeah, we got the economic stimulus thingy this year. Coo I thought
Don't reacll getting any child tax credit though. DH uses turbotax too and there's a lot of wearing when he's doing the tax return
You can get a waiver for the vaccination if you don't vaccinate. Cos my kids were coming in on the I-130 we all needed a waiver at 4 x $410. A child who already holds a US passport is ok.

Could you post about the passport renewals. DH's US passport has run out, as have the 3 kids. Child number 4 was born here after we got back and he still hasn't racked up enough US years for her to be american. By 6 months.

Look on the website for immunisation requirements. When I did mine, the only one that was important was MMR and Tetanus-Diptheria.

I had proof that I had suffered measles and mumps, and had an immunity to rubella certificate, so didn't need the MMR. I was due for Tetanus anyway, so had that one.

When I did my visa, hepB was just relevent to children, so not applicable in my case.

Really, unless you are a conscientious objector of vaccinations, you just get them done. You don't have to do anything in advance - they decide at the medical what you need, and are happy to administer them.

We get Child Benefit here for our children, but nothing on our tax returns for dependents.

In the US, it is the opposite. When you file a US return, you list the number of dependents and they give you an allowance (exemption) for each one, reducing your amount of taxable income (AGI - adjusted gross income).

We also get Additional Tax Credit worth up to $200 per child, but it depends on your overall tax bill as to whether you get this.

This year, the govt handed out an Economic Stimulus Payment worth up to $300 per person - so that you would go out and spend money and boost the economy. This was literally money for nothing.

The police report is good for 12 months is the advice from the embassy even though it says only 6 months on it. It is different to the CRB they have just changed all the requirements it is now done through ACRO they require a photo and a signature from a person of good standing.

You will not need the hep B. The only Vaccination i required was the MMR. I had already had the Tdap a few years back. Depending on age depends on what you need. If you are under 27 or will be when you go for the interview you will require the new HPV vaccination which costs i believe around £120.00

Honestly you do not need an immigration lawyer, from the things i have read on the Expat forums they are more trouble than they are worth, even delaying things.You can do it.

Vaccination info

It's as I said - Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Tetanus, Diptheria.

You need to either have the vaccination, or provide evidence that you have been vaccinated in the past or suffered the diseases.