| Relocating to the US is generally
not as easy as most Britons think. We are conditioned
to think we “know” the US through the films
and television we watch, and the aspects of American
“culture” we absorb through our use of US
products and services.
If we have visited the US on business or on holiday,
or have American friends, we might especially think
that we know what to expect, and thus be under-prepared
for what is about to happen to us.
The fact is that things are done very differently in
the US. This can be a surprise to assignees from the
UK who do not expect a culture shock, then realise they
actually need assistance. Not having realistic expectations
before the
relocation can lead to serious frustration!
DIFFERENCES IN PROCESS
Take, for instance, the challenges presented in dealing
with federal and state bureaucracies. If you have visited
the US before on business you may not have had to deal
with them. Yet they will play a prominent role in the
first few weeks of your new life when you make your
move across the Atlantic.
You will need to obtain a US Social Security number
and a US state driving licence, and your dependants
will need to get Individual Tax Identification Numbers.
This means that you will need to navigate the processes
at the Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), US Citizenship and Immigration
Service (USCIS) and the ubiquitous Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV). Their processes have all become more
complicated since the events of 9/11.
Beyond these agencies, assignees from the UK will need
to deal with unfamiliar processes in other aspects of
their relocation:
REAL ESTATE
There are important differences in the conventions of
real estate in the two countries. British assignees
may not be familiar with the Multiple Listing Service
(MLS) widely used in the US, and the role of the Realtor
(Estate Agent) in a real estate transaction.
They may expect, as in the UK, to have to deal with
several agents, and then want to negotiate a lease directly
with a landlord. In the US, the existence of the MLS
system means that you do not need (nor is it considered
“good form”) to deal with more than one
realtor (unless you are looking for a home in more than
one State) since all realtors have access
to the same market information.
BANKING
The biggest challenge for assignees on the financial
side is to be eligible for credit in the US at the beginning
of an assignment. US banks do not generally recognise
a credit history outside the US and it usually takes
time to build one up after arrival.
The best solution is to take advantage of any special
relationship that the assignee’s company, or relocation
provider, may already have with a US bank. If these
do not exist, holders of personal American Express accounts
may be able to transfer their home country credit history
to the US via American Express.
If there is no immediate solution, assignees should
keep their home-based credit cards active for a while
after arrival.
SCHOOLS
Almost everything about the US school system will be
new to assignees from the UK: the curriculum; the teaching
of the history of liberation from British tyranny; the
grade structure; the SAT; the Pledge of Allegiance;
the word “Sophomore”; “Football”;
cheerleaders; yellow school buses (and the pain-of-death
rule not to pass them when they stop!), and MUCH more.
A few important topics that need to be considered:
- The long waiting lists for the
best international and private schools
- The recent appearance in several
American cities of the British School
- The excellent quality of some
American public schools (“public” school
in the US meaning “state” school)
- The geography of school boundaries
– the relationship between the exact location
of a home and the public schools that children attend.
You don’t want to be living in a house, however
desirable, if your children will have to attend the
“worst” school in the area.
DIFFERENCES IN DAY-TO-DAY
LIVING
Generally, British ex-pats in the US find living there
very agreeable, especially in the larger cities, which
offer many cultural, culinary and recreational opportunities,
as well as access to the incomparable American landscape.
There will be culture shocks though, perhaps most of
all in the presence of so many unfamiliar choices in
goods and services needed in daily life. There is simply
much more of everything in the US, and stress can quickly
accumulate unless you know what you are looking for.
The British assignee is likely to discover this first
in the Great American Supermarket, where not even familiar
products like ketchup or baked beans look or taste quite
the same. And if you hope to find English sausages or
pork pies, good luck!
DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATIONS
George Bernard Shaw famously said that Britain and America
are “two countries divided by a common language”.
Assignees from the UK will quickly find out what he
meant. Nothing is as disorienting as to discover that
the meaning one has given to ordinary words –
not just words, but gestures and body language too –
can sometimes send quite different messages to listeners
in the US, and vice versa.
All the more reason for companies relocating employees
to the US to consider the value of professional destination
services. A professional destination consultant can
prepare assignees beforehand, both mentally and practically,
and then shepherd them through the essential processes
when they arrive, helping them manage the variety of
choices that confront them at every turn. This is the
route to a low-stress relocation, and allows the employee
– as they say over here – “to hit
the ground running” from day one!
USEFUL REFERENCES:
“I’m a Stranger Here Myself” –
Bill Bryson
Broadway Books, 1999; ISBN 0 7679 0381 1
“Brit-Think Ameri-Think, A Transatlantic Survival
Guide”
– Jane Warmsley, Penguin Books, 1987; ISBN 0 14
00 9367 2
“Understanding American Schools”
– Anne P Copeland and Georgia Bennett
The Interchange Institute, 2001; ISBN 0 96729 342 1
“Cambridge International Dictionary of English”
Cambridge University Press; ISBN 0 521 48421 9
Martin Shaw
is Director, International Relocations at Full
Circle International Relocations. He is a UK citizen
who lived
and worked in several countries before relocating to
the US in
1981. He can be contacted by phone in the US at
703-448-1902, or by e-mail to martin.shaw@fullcircle.com.
USEFUL WEB SITES:
www.britishinamerica.com
www.ujnews.com
www.englishclub.8m.com/ukus1.htm
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