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