Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ex-pat

Ex-pat assignment in Malaysia

John Frum — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:27:31 -0800

I have just accepted an ex-pat assignment to Malaysia, specifically Malacca. I have a variety of questions, some specific to my family situation: my wife is three months pregnant and we have a toddler. See inside for details. Thanks! The assignment is expected to be for a year or less at which time we'll (likely) come back to the US. My company has a good ex-pat policy, so I'm not too concerned about money. I expect to start work in April. As mentioned, my wife is pregnant and due in June. We have an 18-month-old son who loves being around other little kids. We are white mid-westerns who have never traveled to Asia. My questions:

1. Any books, movies, websites, etc. we should check out to better understand and acclimate to the area?

2. Any advice for my pregnant wife? Hospitals/doctors in Malacca? From what we've heard, it sounds like Malacca has good health care, and at very worst we could travel to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore for the birth.

3. Any advice for handling the transition for my son? We'd like to get a nanny or use day care too, so my wife can continue her internet-based business. Suggestions?

4. Since this is a short-term move, we will keep our house in the US. Any suggestions about the best way to manage this?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Can you recommend a tax consultant for an American ex-pat in the UK?

olinerd — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:14:32 -0800

I'm seeking recommendations for tax consultants in the UK, or in the US, or maybe both, to figure out where I need to pay taxes. Background: I just relocated to the UK on a 2 year visa as the spouse of a visiting armed forces serviceperson. That visa gives me the right to work in the UK, but I am still working for my US company, based in Boston, on a telecommute basis as a part-time employee, being paid in US dollars directly deposited into my US bank account. We called the HMRC office and they after hemming and hawing a bit they said they think I should be paying taxes here, not in the US, since the work is being performed here, but a private tax attorney we spoke with briefly said I may still have some liability for state taxes in Massachusetts since that's where the company is based. The CFO of my company mostly wants to avoid running afoul of any laws so he wants to make sure I get as accurate and confident an answer as possible before my company changes any witholding.

I need to figure out where my tax liability is and how I should either withhold or make periodic estimated payments. But that's all I need to do. My partner and I can do our own returns and everything, and I know I have to file in both countries regardless. We got a quote from a tax consultancy here in the UK that works with a US firm and it was a bit outrageous (twice as much as the immigration lawyers were charging us to figure out our visa situation!) so we're looking for alternatives.

So. Can you recommend a firm to work with who has experience helping out ex-pats to tell me which government I should be giving my money to? I'm living in Plymouth, if you know anyone in the Devon/Cornwall area, but if they're willing to do most of their communication with me by phone or email then I don't care where they are. Like I said, I'm not interested in having them prepare returns for me, I just want them to do the research and be able to tell me where all the laws say my liability is.

Tell me why I should be excited to move to Plymouth, England

olinerd — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:40:54 -0800

Talk me in to being excited about moving to Plymouth (UK, not US) Later this year I'll be moving from Boston, MA to join my fiance in the UK. We are both in our late 20s. He is currently in Plymouth but we had planned to move to Bath when I got over there. However, today we found out that his work requires him to stay in Plymouth for the next two years. Since he travels extensively for work, I will be spending a fair amount of time on my own as a newly minted ex-pat.

I've lived in Boston for the last six years, with four years of college just outside the city before that. I love Boston. I work in the tech industry and I love the culture of nerdy overeducated workaholic professionals that seems to permeate the whole city, and especially in Cambridge, where I most frequently socialize. I'm a proud yuppie and a foodie (both of which may make me intolerable, I know). I'm a history nerd. I like the old neighborhoods and brick sidewalks and cute little boutiques and cafes in Boston. I like laying on the Common with a book in the summer. I live in Beacon Hill and love it. I grew up in the Midwest but I easily and happily became an east-coast liberal elite who walks too fast and drives like a Masshole.

The Bath prospect was easy for me to get excited about because it's a really neat city with beautiful architecture and really interesting history that's still accessible. It has neat cafes and tea houses and neighborhoods, and the touristy center of town felt a lot like the touristy centers of Boston. Even though it's a much smaller city, it's dense, and while we were visiting there were tons of people out and about; it feels like a good pedestrian city. I managed to stumble onto a fair amount of greenspace even when I wasn't looking for it. Even though both Plymouth and Bath have major universities, Bath had more of a "college town" feel, which I liked. The surrounding countryside is beautiful. Nearby Bristol seems to have a great tech industry. I also like the relative proximity to London, since both my fiance and I have family and friends there.

I've visited him a couple of times where he is now in Plymouth, and while it's been nice to visit and enjoy a pint at one of the pubs in the Barbican, I'm having trouble feeling as excited as I was about the Bath option. Plymouth isn't nearly as dense (or at least, it doesn't feel that way) and while it doesn't seem to require a car to get everywhere, it doesn't feel as walkable. On average the population seems a bit older than Bath or Boston so I worry about the sorts of social stuff and young professionals networking that I'd hoped I could keep up. Though there are a few neat areas, the near-total rebuild of the city after the WWII destruction to me has left a lot of areas feeling a bit bleak and industrial. I seldom see people out walking around outside of the Drake Circus area. There are lots of newish restaurants around the Barbican where my fiance lives, but the majority of the time I walk past them, they're totally empty.

I guess what it comes down to is that given my limited experience with each, I felt like I could see myself fitting in in Bath whereas I can't as much in Plymouth. But since I'll be working from home and my fiance will be gone a lot, it's rather imperative that I have a lot of motivation to get out of the house and meet people and do things and generally avoid becoming a homesick hermit.

So I need help. What don't I know about Plymouth? What are the groups of MeFi-type people and where in the city can I find them? What things to do and people to meet are near Plymouth but maybe just outside the city in other towns? What should a US east coast city slicker do to be happy there for a couple of years?

Moving from the US to Switzerland for work - what should I know?

scblackman — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:28:15 -0800

I'm looking at a potential job in Berne/Neuchatel, Switzerland, and it would involve relocating my wife and 5 year old child. Does anyone have experience with relocating from the US to Switzerland, or any thoughts on life in Switzerland that they'd could share? I'm a physician-scientist working for a large company, with the potential to move to a company whose European HQ is in Neuchatel. My wife is a nurse anesthetist, and my daughter is 5. I think it'd be a great adventure for us, and a great experience for my daughter. Assume that I'd be compensated at a respectable level (and hopefully in Swiss Francs), so money is probably not a huge issue - I was just in Geneva, so I know how far a US dollar goes in Switzerland.

My bigger questions are:

- Could my wife, who doesn't speak anything other than English, get by on a day-to-day basis?
- Could a nurse care for patients even if she only speaks English?
- How would a 5 y/o adapt (I suspect she'd be fine, but would like to hear the experience of others, if possible)
- How do the people tolerate "outsiders" (e.g., Americans)? Is the culture welcoming?
- What would schools be like for a 5 year old? My daughter goes to a Waldorf school her in the US, and we love the approach. Anything comparable?
- Housing: tiny? modest?
- Pets: Can we bring our dog and 2 cats over with us?
- Weather: thoughts?

If you have experience in this area and would be willing to let me pepper you with questions for 20 minutes on the phone, please let me know. I'd be grateful.

Help me come home with as little trouble as possible!

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:56:56 -0800

How to reintegrate as quickly as possible after having lived abroad? Both socially and with regards the "systems" in place in England. I'll be moving back to southern England after three years in Norway. I am a British national currently living in Oslo, Norway. I intend to move back to England in July after three years of living here as an ex-pat... I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to begin the process of reintegration so that it goes as smoothly as possible. For example:

Dentists. I guess I'll have dropped off my dentist's register and will have to go private?
Doctor. I won't be registered but I don't suppose it will be any problem to re-register but is there anything specific I need to do?
Taxes. Wow. Scary. Norway is in the EEA so I've always been unsure about whether my national insurance contributions have been made all the while under a reciprocal arrangement. The online documentation isn't very clear under what circumstances this happens. Otherwise, what happens if Norway decides I owe money in 2011 from the 2010 tax year? They send me a bill?
Credit rating: Will this be the same as when I left, or lower due to inactivity?

Anything else I haven't thought of? Any systems it's difficult to reintegrate into? Any that you don't realise are going to be a problem until they rear their head? Posting anonymously because friends don't know of my decision yet.

Help a British Ex-Pat Access Overseas Content (BBC, iTV, premier league football, etc...)

ghostpony — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:10:32 -0800

My father is a British ex-pat who is craving some good old fashion football/cricket/BBC. Please share some advice about best way to access this content while in the states. My father is a British ex-pat who has lived in the states for some 20 odd years. After many years of paying through the nose for pay per view football matches and the occasional cricket test match he gave up.

Can you give us some advice about the best way to access this content? He is interested in watching Premier League matches, cricket, rugby, and most everything the BBC puts out. He is particularly interested in live-streaming matches, but would take what he can get.

Also news to me Hulu has a UK only site that features content from Channel 4, ITV, and other UK only channels, and so access to that would be welcome.

Do you have any advice? Where do we start?

The world is my oyster... hopefully.

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:09:17 -0800

If I want to live in the UK ten or fifteen years down the road, what do I do to improve my marketability as a skilled worker or immigrant now? I am American, in my early twenties and married to another American. We both have fairly useless Bachelor's degrees and work full time, making about $50,000 combined. I have a productive career in Web development and my spouse has a menial office job. What can I do in the next ten or fifteen years to make it easier for us to become ex-pats down the road? Should I bother pouring more money into a Master's education (together, my spouse and I have about $30,000 in debt--I really don't want to waste more time in school) or just work my butt off and move upward in my field? Should I court overseas employers for a few years? Currently, we live in a rural area and have no employers with international connections in the area. No kids and no interest in kids, if that makes any difference. Are highly skilled couples accepted over a highly skilled employee and a tag-along spouse?

Any insight into the politics of emigrating from the US is welcome! Thanks!

Leaving Tokyo On A Jet Plane

willmize — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:26:52 -0800

Help my Japanese friend find a job in the US! She'll graduate in March with a PhD in Marine Biology, speaks and writes fluent English, and has experience in the museum environment. She's willing to relocate anywhere, but is drawn toward Washington DC, as that's where her museum work was done. She's also willing to work outside her field to get her foot in the door.
She's starting to network and reach out to her friends and former co-workers in the museum field, but not sure if that's enough.
I've volunteered to help her in her search, but because I know nothing about these things (overseas employment/visas in the US), just referred her to Monster and Yahoo! Jobs.
Yeah, I know. Kinda useless.
I would love to present this thread to her as a small gift to aid her in her search. I'm looking for websites, articles, anecdotes, stories, forums, anything and everything that might help someone from Japan get a job here in the US.
Thanks so much.

US corporate tax on Americans abroad

sagwalla — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:57:48 -0800

Do any MeFi Americans have experience of (part)-owning companies overseas? Particularly as regards US corporate and personal tax. I am considering becoming part-owner of a small limited company in the UK, and I'm wondering what the tax implications of this are in the US (so I think experience from other countries would be relevant). Other owners would be UK citizens. I would probably not be the majority owner, but probably would be a director of the company or be employed by the company in some capacity.

I will take professional advice on this matter, but I thought I'd ask here if anyone has any comments about particular pitfalls or burdens I might ask about to help shape the discussion. What I really want to avoid is the long hand of Uncle Sam reaching into the operations of the UK company and mucking up the works just because I'm a US citizen, where otherwise he would have no jurisdiction.

How do I ship my life to the UK?

circe — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 00:05:36 -0800

I will soon be moving permanently from California to the UK. Besides the headaches of visa applications and plane tickets, I have an awful lot of crap I need to ship over. I'm looking for the cheapest, safest way to ship large amounts of clothing, books, etc. overseas. I don't mind if the cheapest option means it will take 3 months to arrive. Any advice on this matter is welcome. Thankfully, I don't have to bother with shipping furniture. My issue is with clothing (including bulky coats), shoes, and books. I'm giving away all my soft cover novels to local used book stores, but it's the heavy hard cover "coffee table books" I will need to ship (ugh!).

Also, I have a lifetime of photographs I need to bring with me. I have no idea whether shipping them in albums or out is the best option. And if no albums is best, how in the world do I box them up safely? When it comes to the photos, I'm willing to pay a bit more to make sure they arrive safely without warping or damage.

Please help a clueless lady out. I know there are a few of you lurking these parts who have gone through the same thing. All advice is welcome.