US-to-UK

From DevRandom

Contents 1 Relocating from US to UK 1.1 Visa and paperwork 1.2 Shipping 1.3 Renting a place 1.4 Appliances 1.5 Bank Accounts/Credit cards 1.6 Phones , Cable & Internet 1.7 Transportation 1.8 Drivers License 1.9 Vehicle 1.10 Weather 1.11 Buying a House 1.12 Medical/Hospitals 1.13 Overall cost and standard of living 1.14 Etc

Relocating from US to UK

In 2009, we decided to relocate to UK from US. I am originally from India and lived close to 10 years in USA. To put things in perspective , we moved from Texas, US to Reading, UK (a suburb 30 miles from London). Here are the various observations and experiences we encountered. Please note, that these are relative to our experiences and perspective. All the usual disclaimers apply :)

Visa and paperwork

UK has a more streamlined Visa system. It based on points system which depends on things like qualification, earnings, age etc. Please check the official site for more http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier1/

On the application side, be very specific about the paper work and things like bank statements. If you are applying from outside of UK and your Visa is rejected than you do not have many grounds for appeal and will have to re-apply and play the application fee (around 900 USD).

Few things we learnt :-

• Insist on signed/stamped bank statements from Banks. Some banks are not ready to do this but if you persist and be a pain they finally agree :)

• If possible provide more than one proof for each requirement.

• Be very meticulous with your application. Pay attention to every requirement as listed in the application process.

If you are transferring to a UK division of your employer, then in most cases they employer will do the paperwork for you. All you need is your valid passport and salary statements. This is sponsored tier2 visa http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier2/

The difference between the 2 is that with Tier 1 you can work anywhere in UK while with Tier 2 you are tied to the employer who sponsored it. If your spouse has a Tier 1 visa , then you automatically qualify for a dependant visa which also allows you work anywhere in UK.

Upon completing 5 years in UK on any of the Tier visas, you can then apply for permanent residency (settlement).

Also with either Tier visas, your spouse can get a dependant tier2 visa and work in UK. This is in contrast to the H1-B visas in US where a dependant spouse cannot work.

NOTE: These rules get amended every year and so check with the home office.

Shipping

Shipping is tricky. If you are moving everything ; furniture, appliances etc from a 2-3 bedroom house then going with a professional mover and using freight services is your best bet. The cost varies from 2500$ to 10000$. Be vary of shady movers who quote low prices and then hold you hostage to other charges. In our case , we decided to *not* move all the bigger stuff like furniture, TV. Those we donated to Salvation army or sold to friends.

That left us with just clothes and other household items. For those, we used the United states postal service which uses the UK parcel post on the UK side. Cost comes to around 150$ for a 50 pound box (22 Kgs). Be sure to pack with all your protection as the boxes are roughly handled. Also if you are shipping in winter , water proof the stuff you want to protect. A snowy winter might make things difficult.

If you are using USPS, you can download the labelling software and created all labels (including customs form) at home. This will save you some time at the post office. You should also attach a UK C3 customs form for UK customs. I put estimated prices for all the goods and itemized everything in the box. The prices we put were about 10-20% of the original cost. From the US side the price does not matter as it only affects the insurance. From the UK side, depending on the goods and cost , you may be charged a VAT (Value added tax).

We shipped about 20 boxes and were only charged VAT for 2 boxes (40 pounds each). Why, we have no idea as the goods were the same as other boxes. Maybe we got an anal customs officer on one box :) If you are billed by customs, you have to pay the fees before the postal service can deliver. You can try to claim the money back but the time required to do that is not worth it. So be prepared for that. Most stuff came intact. We had 2 items (fragile ones) that had part damage. Others where fine. Thanks to the winter storm and rain some boxes had some moisture but that did not affect the inside items.

Boxes take about 2-3 weeks to arrive. If you go via professional mover (via Ship) it takes about 6-8 weeks.

Renting a place

In US you have large complexes that are managed by property managers. Here you need to locate the owners or property agents. This makes the apartment search longer and more time consuming. Also lack of rental history in UK will hinder your choices. Many owners are not ready to rent if you do not have history or require 4-5 months of rent up front. If you are willing to pay the rent up front, it simplifies things a bit but then you are risking a high amount with a owner you don't have an history with :)

But if you look hard enough there are quite a few apartments that you can get without prior rental history. Costs vary from places to places. Closer to Central London will be obviously expensive but it gets cheaper if you start hitting the suburbs. Also be prepared to smaller apartments as you get closer to London. We moved from Texas which has big places but if you are coming from New York or thereabouts it is not that different.

Things to consider are :

• Apartment deposits are much higher using 1.5 times monthly rent. This is negotiable so you talk to the agent/owner

• Apartments are much more expensive when you compare costs with certain places in US. Costs in and around London are comparable to New York. Also for the cost you pay you are not going to get palaces like you can in Texas :) So be prepared for a space adjustment.

• Depending you commute situation there is added cost. Take this into account when renting the apartment. It might be cheaper to pay 200-300 pounds more on rent to get an apartment closer to work. Having a car helps as it will help lower the commute costs but you still need to pay for the car, gas , parking and other vehicle costs.

• Parking. If you plan to own a car, then parking with your apartment is critical. Some apartments come with their own parking while with others you have to pay 100-200 pounds per month

• Furniture. Most apartments come furnished with things like bed, couches, dining tables etc. This helps a lot especially if you are planning to rent initially before planning to get a house.

• Appliances. Check what all appliances are provided by default. Not all apartments are the same here. So make sure you ask all the questions. It would be nice to have a Fridge, washing machine, dryer included.

Appliances

For most part the appliances are similar to US. If you are bringing lots of electrical appliances from US, you will need to get the lots of converter plugs. Also some US appliances are 110V and for those you will need a inverter. It will be simpler to get few power strips from US and convert the main end rather than having individual converters for all.

One noticeable change was the lack of a full clothes dryer in many apartments. They all have a good washer but no full dryer. So you will need to get a dryer or one of the clothes lines to finish off the last 20% of drying. Condenser dryers with water trays are available if you really want a dryer.

Most apartments don't have Air Conditioning, they do have heaters. In summer you might need a cooler or a fan but that is only for few weeks. Typically the heaters use gas and that is the more expensive option. You can buy electric heaters if all you want is to heat your bed room or one specific room.

Bank Accounts/Credit cards

Bank accounts are easy for most part. You do need proof of address and a valid form of identification. ID can be your passport but for address you will need your name in council tax receipts or utility bills. If you don't have a proof of address you can reach out to http://www.1stcontact.com who can provide this letter for a nominal charge. Banks will try to sell you premium services at a charge so make sure you are aware of this. It is probably better to start with a free account and then upgrade if you need any of the premium services. If you plan to transfer money back and forth between UK and US, try to go with one of the bigger banks as they usually have better ties with US banks.

One note on Bank transfers. Make sure you have transferred your money to UK before you get here. Thanks to online fraud protection, many US banks prevent money transfers from IP addresses outside of the US. We had some problems getting the funds wired and had to weave around some of the protection mechanisms.

Credit cards are a different story. Your credit history from US does not transfer to UK and so you start at zero. If you have good credit standing in US, some of the bigger credit card companies like American Express are willing to transfer your card to a UK address. Other options are to go with introductory cards. These cards have very high APR but as long as you pay them off within each billing period you are fine. They do help build credit history which will be useful when you apply for car or house loans. Have a good paying job also helps in getting credit cards. Having a credit card for about 6 months is usually enough to build a decent credit history.

Phones , Cable & Internet

Cell phones cost the same compared to US. There are some differences in the plans. UK has more choices and things start basic and you can pile up options. Unlike US , many providers here do not have free weekends and nights. But the minute plans are competitive. For example O2 has a 20 Pound/month plan for 600 any time minutes and either unlimited text or unlimited broadband. If you are unsure go with a pre-paid plan till you research more. Those are easy to get and you can buy them at any store. Also if you can get an unlocked phone from US it will help.

Landlines are similar to US and easy to get. You will need a line rental from a provider which is usually BT. On top of that line you can use any phone provider. For few extra pounds you can make evenings and weekends free. International calling cards are cheaper and if you are frequent caller to a country you can also enrol in a fixed cost unlimited calling to that country.

For internet, you have figure out the providers to your home address. This may limit your choices but normally you will have at least 2 - 3 providers.

Cable is similar too & like US you can bundle them together. You do have to pay a tax on TV (Approx 150 GBP per year) and in return you get several free to air channels.

Transportation

Most UK cities have good public transportation. London and suburbs have very good coverage with tube(underground), rail(overground) & buses covering all major locations and places.. But there is a cost associated with this. A 30-40 mile trip in a public transport can cost about 10 Pounds (incl return journey) and a monthly pass will cost around 225-250 Pounds. Also it might take more time in public transport as it involves waiting for bus/train, the bus route will be longer and there will be some time lost in stops. But overall getting around is easy and you don't need a car. A car adds to the convenience for sure but is not a must like some places in US. Also having an apartment close to a major train station helps a lot as it will reduce your walk time and provide with better choices.

Some other things worth mentioning are :-

• Peak hour journeys cost more than off peak

• If more than 2 people are travelling you can buy group passes

• Some pre-paid cards can be cheaper

• Coverage with respect to time is good but not all routes are covered on weekends or in late evening.

Drivers License

Most people will tell you that this is quite hard to get. And it is true to certain extent. When you compare it with certain US states the process is very different. Our advice is to start early, since the process is quite lengthy.

• International License Holders

If you have US license, you can drive in UK for up to 1 year. During that year you need to acquire a UK drivers license. You can rent or purchase a car on the US license. If you have a license from Canada or other countries like South Africa, you can literally exchange your license for a UK license. However there are no such options for a US drivers license.

• Theory Exam

This is the first part of the exam. You have to prepare based on a guide and sit for a computer based exam. The exam is relatively easy but you do need to prepare for it. It also has video based component where you review a traffic video and click in reaction to certain events. You have to reserve the date for the exam and depending on where you live you might have to wait 1-2 weeks for a date.

• Practical Exam

This is the harder part. For starters getting a date is hard. In most busy places like London, you will have to wait up to 8-12 weeks. So you have to plan in advance. If you can , try to give them exam in the suburbs or even remote areas where the wait is much less (2-4 weeks). Also keep in mind that dates become available because of cancellations and do you are persistent and check daily you can sneak an early date. Secondly the test is thorough and you are tested on all aspects of driving. For accomplished drivers it can be easy but there is very little margin for error. Most test centers have 30-50% passing rate. The long wait is one reason to start real early for your license. The details of the exam, test route, pass percentage, wait times are all listed on the DVLA (equivalent of a DMV) website

Vehicle

We considered shipping our car to UK. It costs about 3000 to 4000 USD for shipping ,customs etc. In the end we decided to sell the car in US and buy a new one. Cars cost the same but in general are smaller. You won't see any many SUVs and Pickup trucks in and around London as you would in US (especially Texas)

Before leaving US , you can visit a AAA and get an international drivers license. This allows you to drive in UK up to a year. Renting cars is relatively easy. A weekend rental will cost close to 60 pounds and usually includes basic insurance. Buying the car is similar, hunt online, talk to dealers, test drive etc.

You will need insurance and that is where it can expensive. Insurance rates change dramatically on the type of the car and so research that part well. Secondly, get a letter from your US insurer regarding your insurance history. In UK that is called 'No claims certificate' or 'No Claims Discount'. This piece of paper will save you lots of money on your insurance. Typically getting a 3 to 6 year no claims certificate can reduce your insurance cost by 50%. There are several comparison sites you can use like gocompare and they do a good job of helping you understand the costs. Law requires you to only have 3rd part coverage only but you might be better off getting coverage for yourself and even throw in a road side assistance plan. For us full coverage insurance on a Nissan Note came to 60 GBP after providing the US no claims certificate.

We purchased the car before we had a UK drivers license. We had one car dealer who would not let us test drive on the US license but for most part all dealers had no problems with that.

Car registration and Road Tax add to the cost but they are not very significant. Some of the greener cars are exempt from road tax.

Weather

Depending on where you come from in US, weather can be very different. One common thing you hear about London and UK is that it rains a lot. While this is true to some extent it is not too bad. Winter are more bad as the rain (and occasional snow) does make it worse. Another characteristic of rain in London is short rain spells and short sun shine periods and lots of cloudy/grey skies

Winters can be dreary as it gets dark around 1500 hours. Winters are cold but the coldest it gets is around 0 to -5 deg Celsius ( 30 to 37 deg F).

In summers daylight stays till 2100 hours. If never gets too hot during summer and on an average it will stay around 20-25 Celsius (68 to 77 deg F). Very rarely it touches 30 Celsius (85 deg F). Typically July, August and September are the best months weather wise.

If you like lot of Sun (you are from Texas or California) , you will be disappointed. The flip side is that you enjoy sunny intervals when you get them. You also have access to sunny vacation areas like Spain or Morocco

Buying a House

House hunting is very similar to what you do in US. You get a mortgage, survey houses, make a choice, make a offer, get all the legal work done, move in. Sounds easy ? It may not always be. The biggest problem for us , since we relocated was Mortgages. Because we are on the visa (Tier1 ), not many banks are willing to lend. Some require in excess of 18 months left on the Visa, which depending on the how the Visa is issued, may not be possible. Also if you can do higher down payments (> 25%) , you open lot of more doors and Visa becomes less of an issue. But having said that we found at least 3 banks that were willing to lend as long as we had 12 months left on our Visa and at 10-15% down payment. It does limit your options and you will have to compromise on a higher rate of interest. The alternative to this is to wait for 5 years, apply for permanent residency and then look for a house.

Once you have a mortgage agreed in principal, you can start house hunting. We used online sites like rightmove, zoopla. We did not feel the need to get a estate agent. Only time, you need an agent is to arrange a house viewing. Few things worth reviewing

Which council tax band it falls under. This might make a difference of about 15-50 GBP a month but then the higher band usually means a better locality.

Insurance is around 30GBP for every 250,000

Chain free homes where the seller is waiting on another house before they can move.

Age of the property. Banks are less willing and require higher downpayment for new homes. Best house is a one that is about 10 to 20 years old.

Newer homes also have higher setup costs as they do not come with appliances or carpets. With old home, often you can negotiate things like appliances or furniture to get you up and running.

Really old Victorian properties look nice from the outside but come with few caveats like old fashioned plumbing, restrictions on what you can do to the house etc.

Once you have decided on a house, then you begin the long legal process of exchanging all the paper work between the seller and buyer. Give yourself 4-6 weeks for this process as there can be unexpected delays. If you have a strict date for move, make sure you negotiate that during the move.

Medical/Hospitals

Your national insurance tax covers your medical charges. A government run health system(NHS) has it's benefits but it also comes with it's bureaucracy. Many companies provide supplementary private health coverage or you can buy at a small rate. Basic Dental is also covered under NHS but you might have to find a dentist who is taking new patients. Till date, we have not used it much and so really don't have a review of it.

Overall cost and standard of living

Income taxes are higher by about 5-7% depending on your tax bands. In Texas, you pay federal tax + social security + medicare whereas in UK you pay income tax + National Insurance + Council tax(property tax).

Depending on where you come from in the US , the cost of living may be different. The biggest expense would be renting an apartment or owning a house. Be prepared for smaller apartments and more cost.

Cost of fuel(petrol) is also much higher

Cost of groceries and restaurants is also generally higher

Etc

Few other things are nice or annoying :)

++ Things are much closer and you don't have to drive or walk too much

-- Stores and businesses close early (6.00 PM on most days). So if you are used late night shopping you need to adapt. This is true on weekends also. There are few chain stores like Tesco that do stay open longer but even they close early on Sundays.

-- London is most fast paced and people are generally more curt (not rude)

-- Once a year, snow seems to shutdown the whole country

++ You get a wide variety of cultures, especially is a big city like London. That adds to the culture and is a pleasant experience

++ If you are into travelling mainland Europe is close. Paris is about a 8 hour drive, 3-4 hours by train, 1-2 hours by flight. There is also lots of places to visit in UK itself.

++ If you are vegetarian, unlike USA , there are more food choices in most places.