Expat

So you want to move to another country Part 4: The Visa Application

by

Once I signed my employment contract for the relocation things started happening pretty quickly with my companies human resources and mobility groups. They got all the information they needed together to send The lawyers who are working on my visa application.

The visa application process was much more stressful than originally thought it would be. From reading the EU Rules on citizens relocating it seems pretty straightforward that we could move. The lawyers initially had major concerns because I was the one with the job yet I was not a citizen. As we got into more details they quickly came back and said our application should be pretty straightforward. However they were being lawyers initially and to me seemed all doom and gloom. It boils down to the more information we gave them when they asked for it the better our chances became that this would be pretty straightforward.

Surprisingly the hardest part in this entire process was the time zone difference with the lawyers. The other challenge was around document Catherine. For the visa application I needed to provide a huge amount of documentation. Most of it was pretty straightforward however I ran into a snag with my bank statements. Generally are use an online bank for most of our finances. It works great and I typically have no problems. The only time I recall there being an issue was when we bought our apartment I needed a bank certified check that I simply could not get from them. For the visa application the UK government requires a physical copy of statements. I opt to get electronic distributions of my statements. The lawyer said that’s not a problem print them out and have the bank sign and stamp them to certify they are authentic or simply order print outs and have them delivered. That was easier said than done. One bank we use housing for a walk down the street and have some statement signed and stamped in 15 minutes. Do you mean online bank however originally gave me a lot of back-and-forth on that they would not even do what we needed.After finally getting fed up with the back-and-forth I actually got results by sending a Twitter message to their support group. They confirmed that could go to a branch and have documents printed stamped and signed. Like I said they are an online bank however they do you have a few branches in the United States. Big challenge for me is the nearest branch is an hour and a half drive from New York City.

MC and I opted to drive out there together with the girls and make a morning of it. She took the girls to play playground while I got the documents printed. We then met up with her parents for lunch. They lived only about 30 minutes from where we were so we thought was a good opportunity to see them.

In the end things worked out and I was able to get all the documents I needed however it was extremely challenging pulling all the information together. I was glad that I keep really good records of things. Not having lots of readily available digital copies of information to send the lawyers would’ve drawn out their preparations.

Once we got all the documents together we all had to go to a visa processing center to get pictures and fingerprints. Only my youngest daughter who is under five did not need to have her fingerprints taken. I’m glad for that since she barely would look into the camera to get her picture taken.

After we had that done the application was submitted with all the documentation to go along with it. We were concerned that we wouldn’t get it back in time for the trip we were planning to house hunt in London. The guidance we were given what is up to 15 business days to get a reply. It turned out we got an email saying the visas were being printed within two days of it being submitted. Total duration between when we submitted the paperwork to the lawyers and when I picked up all the papers and the pieces was one week or five business days. It was a major relief.

But wait we’re not done. What I learned on this process started because you get a visa for six months that get you to United Kingdom. Once you’re there you apply for five your visa that you can only apply for if you’re actually living there. This might be different depending on your situation however for that type of visa that we are getting at is what we had to do. That means once we get there we start the process over again. I’m not sure what documentation we need to provide for that however i’m assuming it’s going to be as much or more information then we’ve already provided for the first visa.

In the next part of the series talk about money. I am told they don’t take US dollar:)

From Cellular to Mobile

by

One of the first things I need to get in England is a phone. More specifically a UK Sim card for my iPhone. It sounds pretty simple. You can get them pretty much anywhere. Seriously the recommendation was to buy one in a Tesco (a Grocery Store) Surprisingly for an American they’re super cheap compared to US plans. I think we pay around $130 for two iPhones and one iPad with about three or four gigs of data and unlimited minutes between them.In the UK you can get close to unlimited or unlimited minutes and three or four gigs of data per line for about 15 to 20 pounds a month. What I found is not all plans are created equal.

I’m probably a stickler for technical details more than most people however there were a few things that I’m concerned about. For one what is the service look like where we want to live and near my office? When I had AT&T in time square I basically could not use my phone for three years at work. That’s not really acceptable in 2018. Since we own our phones were looking for a pay as you go or a pay monthly without contract.

I’m going to try 3. The reviews have been decent. I’m concerned about coverage but I’ll have to be there to test it. The advantage they have over everyone else is for about the same price they offer complete roaming in Europe and the US for no additional charge. That means calls to the UK and data usage is like I was still in the UK even when traveling. I would need to continue the use of voice over IP solution when calling US phone numbers however that’s not different from when I would be in the UK as well. That set up seems like the most liberal roaming policy of everyone. It’s even better than the T-Mobile options I have in the states now.

One thing I learned that I heard rumors about previously was you by prepay some cards from the grocery store. That’s a little different from the US. While on our house hunting trip I bought a 3 & EE SIM card at a Tesco.  I wasn’t able to use 3 Sim card I bought.  I was able to use the EE card for my phone and i bought another one for my iPad. I didn’t really pay attention to signal strength in the neighborhood we were looking to get a house. I also wasn’t near the office very much. I was hoping to settle on a carrier during the trip and then keep the number when we moved. What I learned when I went top up the prepay card while I was there was to do a top up remotely you need a local address. Even though I had a local debit card it’s still tied to my US address until we move. At the time of this writing we don’t have a house sorted so I will either not use the number I got or once the house is sorted I can top up a card and be ready for when we arrive.

I know I can do most of this when we get there however especially for technology challenges like this I want to be prepared. This particular challenge won’t get resolved until were actually living there. I will likely post an update once I have figured out what we will do and then see how it goes.

So you want to move to another country Part 3: Selling Apartment

by

By early September with paperwork imminent for my work relocation our focus shifted to actually getting ready to move.  Up until this point we felt like the move was a possibility however until we had something tangible in our hands we did not want to believe it was happening.

When the reality set in that this was happening we realize we needed to scramble and get her apartment ready to put on the market. We had to declare and give away a bunch of stuff. MC already started the process of purging some things however that process kicked into high gear. We also had some minor work around the house to do. Nothing major but things we were just procrastinating on until then. The deadline is a great motivator. By the middle of September we had secured a realtor and listed the apartment. We were pleased to hear that it was a sellers market. We have a two bedroom in a great location. That type of apartment is generally low inventory and there’s demand for it. All things as a seller we wanted to hear.

The first day realtor show the apartment we had somewhere like 23 people show up. From that we got an offer we were happy with and work to get the contract. That took longer than I would’ve liked. Of course that’s one of those things that can ever go fast enough even if everything is perfect.

I was concerned about the timeline for selling especially since we live in a co-op and the guidance we were given was 60 to 90 days from contract close due to board approval and other things that have to happen. Not having to worry about the New York apartment would be an extra bonus when we moved. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to go into an offer as quickly as we did. That just confirmed he original assessment about low inventory and high demand.

At the time of writing this we are still not sure if we will get the closing before we leave. It’s not a huge deal since we can have a power of attorney with someone. Having apartment clothes on or around when you’re planning to leave is also beneficial because we don’t have to worry about being temporarily homeless before we leave if we close to soon.

We’re not done yet so I’m knocking on wood as I write this since I don’t want to jinx myself however I was concerned about this process being one of the more challenging parts of our move. What’s turning out to be more challenging is finding a house were preparing to find a house in London versus selling in New York. That however is another chapter.

So you want to move to another country Part 2: You Need a Job

by

This is part two of “So you want to move to another country”.  My overview of the process we went through to be able to actually move to London.  So far I am still writing the series so not sure how many parts it will eventually come out to.  I am finding it very therapeutic to write this all out.  Hopefully friends and family enjoy it and anyone on the internet thinking of doing the same thing might find it useful.

Having the ability to work in the EU with MC now being an citizen of an EU country was only the first step. Even though it felt very complex and stressful in and of itself it was likely pretty easy compared to what came next. Let’s face it MC was able to prove her criteria to be a citizen. All she had to do is jump through the hoops to get the paperwork. Finding a job on the other hand was nowhere near as guaranteed.

MC and I both agreed that our most viable option would be if there was an opportunity within my company. Where she worked was very small and niche. The challenge was at the time of those discussions in the summer and fall of 2016 there appeared to be no opportunities in my company availible. MC and I still agreed to move forward with citizenship process anyway since it was something that kind of always wanted to have done anyway.

Opportunity presents itself in the weirdest ways sometimes. At the end of March of this year my group was part of a large reorganization within the greater technical operations group. As part of that reorganization some of the work that was currently part of the group I managed was getting spun off into a new central delivery group. What was left was purely a support organization. I’ve done IT operations support on and off in my career for years. I have done operational support more than anything else however prior to that group I was doing service delivery and I liked it. In my role at the time service delivery was a small part of what i did and I was a little frustrated with it going away. When my boss at the time asked me how I was doing after the announcement of the reorganization we had a long chat. I voice my concerns and he presented an opportunity to lead the group that was being formed out of the people from my current group and my peers groups in the new organization. At first I wasn’t so sure I was interested.  It would be a smaller group and doing something different.  It was similar to what i had done at a smaller scale in the past and i enjoyed that.  Even if support can be tiring I sometimes enjoy the adrenaline of under pressure problem solving.  I had mixed thoughts about the opportunity however the more i thought about it the more interesting it became.  The final deciding factor was that there seemed to be an opportunity for overseas relocation.  In my group at the time i was responsible for Americas.  It was very regional and no real overseas opportunities.  The new position was managing a global team again.  The was a case to be made to do that job from England.  My new manager agreed and was interested in seeing if we could make it happen.

At that point it was only an idea but it sounded promising.  Due to some other re-org related dependencies I had to stay quiet about my job move until late April / early May.  Once that change was announced i started in my new position.  I also started working with my new manager to make the business case to his management about my move. His manager seemed opened to the idea and wanted to see it written up.  Once that eventually got approved it had to go one level higher for approval.  During that time there was debate over where to send me.  London was an option that i assumed I would goto, however there was another site in England that was an option too.  MC and I would have been happy with either.  During the summer it seemed like this decision was more we are going but not sure where yet however nothing was in writing.  In August i got word that everything was approved for London.  The next part of the move was to have our Mobility and HR groups get involved.  it wasn’t until early September before i got the details of the offer.  It was another week or two before I had paperwork to sign.  It is one thing to know something is happening and it is another to actually have something to sign.  The entire process from hearing it was a possibility to do in March to having signed papers in September was almost 6 months.  It was totally worth it however as they say the waiting is the hardest part.

When this originally started looking like it was a possibility we were targeting a move at the end of 2017 or early 2018.  Even with things feeling like it took a long time it turned out that my finger in the air guess on when we could move would actually come true.

In Part 3 of this saga I will describe the process of actually selling our apartment…