Any advice for someone considering permanent career relocation to US?

LeperKing

Hi Folks,

My boss has asked me if I'd consider a permanent relocation to Folsom, California. The company is a large US multinational. I've a wife and small kids, so it's a big thing to consider. The company said it would cover paperwork for all of my family. I know the holiday allocation would be worse, but they do sabbaticals every 5 years (I think).

Things to consider..advice needed...

• Irish primary/secondary schooling vs US system? (I'm assuming my kids could go back to Ireland for 3rd level if desired.)
• Taxation and salary impacts?
• Experiences of anyone that have moved their family from Dublin to US?

Thanks,
LK.

Sugar Free

LeperKing wrote: »

Hi Folks,

My boss has asked me if I'd consider a permanent relocation to Folsom, California. The company is a large US multinational. I've a wife and small kids, so it's a big thing to consider. The company said it would cover paperwork for all of my family. I know the holiday allocation would be worse, but they do sabbaticals every 5 years (I think).

Things to consider..advice needed...

• Irish primary/secondary schooling vs US system? (I'm assuming my kids could go back to Ireland for 3rd level if desired.)
• Taxation and salary impacts?
• Experiences of anyone that have moved their family from Dublin to US?

Thanks,
LK.

With regards to 3rd level education, have a look here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/fees.html. It will depend on how long they've been out of the country as to how much fees they will pay.

I haven't made the move personally but several colleagues in my company have, both from Ireland -> US and US -> Ireland.

The biggest thing is to make sure you get every last bit of value out of their offer to 'cover paperwork'. This should really include a tax adviser to talk through your liability as the first year or two can be very difficult to assess what you owe.

You should also try to get a picture of what your take home pay will be compared to Ireland and the cost of living in your location. Take that and lobby for any extra salary/benefits - e.g. annual leave, car payments, housing etc.

Remember, you may have to account for things like property tax, water charges, increased cost of education or childcare for your kids, rent, sale of your vehicles/property in Ireland etc.

You'll only get one shot to make sure you're getting a good deal from a compensation perspective so leave no stone unturned.

Best of luck.

SanfranCal

It sounds like it could be a great opportunity for you and your family. When I have time, I
will try to post more for you later when I have time. Do you care to post how old your children are? Does the company name that you are with start with an "i."

Gone West

I can personally recommend Intel for moving to the USA, they are well used to moving people to and from the USA.
There would be people who will assist you with everything, they will ship your stuff out, everything is taken care of.

SanfranCal

A few notes for you:

Poster Sugar Free is right. Negotiate everything; and negotiate it upfront.
Think of every possible negative scenario and negotiate for it; i.e, if you are
fired/terminated; if there are lay-offs, etc. Does this mean your visa would be canceled?

Questions to ask: Is your visa only good for that company. How locked in will you be
to this one company? Will you be signing a non-compete agreement so that you could
not go to work for another Bay Area high tech company in San Francisco or Silicon Valley?

Yes, I would talk with a major accounting firm in Ireland and in the US to see what all of
your tax ramifications will be. Maybe they could agree to prepare all of your required tax returns for the first three years. I know you will have a US Federal Tax Return and a
California State Tax Return. I do not know what tax returns you have to file in Ireland.

Is it possible that your employer will have day care on site. I know some of the larger,
high tech companies do provide day care on site. One that I know of charges $1,000, but
the day care is excellent, and the mother has the benefit of seeing her child throughout the
day.

What employment opportunities will your wife have in Folsom? Maybe she could get a job
with the State of California in Sacramento. Will your employer assist her in getting a work
visa. It is common for both spouses to work in the US, particularly with the cost of housing/
real estate.


I don't mean to discourage you, but here are a few items of information for you.

Folsom is not a high-end community; i.e., outlet stores, etc. It is known for having
Folsom State Prison (i.e., a California State prison).
There is Folsom Lake in close proximity to Folsom. Be very, very careful about buying
real estate near a lake because lakes flood.

On the positive side, Folsom/Sacramento is about one-third to half way to Lake Tahoe from
the San Francisco Bay. If you lived in the Folsom area, you could have some great weekends in the San Francisco Bay area. In the winter months, you could have some great skiing weekends in the Lake Tahoe area. San Francisco to Lake Tahoe is about 200 to 250 miles one way.

Lake Tahoe has north Lake Tahoe/Truckee which has Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows Ski Resorts -- both large, wonderful ski areas. "South Lake Tahoe" has Heavenly Mountain which is a large ski resort on the border with Nevada.

A great website for information on cities is "City-Data.com"
If you put in Folsom, California, it will provide extensive data for you.
As a way of contrast, you could put in a city name of Granite Bay.
I believe this is a higher end neighborhood.
You will see some information about schools and ethnicity of the community on this
website.

A great website to find out about real estate prices is: Zillow.com

If I can think of anything else, I will post.

LeperKing

Folks, thanks for all the replies. There's a lot of research I need to do, and further thought leads to concerns on the culture clash of switching primary school to elementary school. If there's any experiences with aforementioned, please share.


Thanks,
LK.