Hi,
We arrived in Phoenix 4 weeks ago today (we being my husband, myself and two children). Steve was out here last year for 4 months and got himself set up with a Social Security number and driving licence. He came back to the UK to help me sell the house and we all came back a month ago. We went to get Social Security numbers for me and the children but were told we could not have them because we have H4 visas. Steve has an H1B. It seems to me you can't do anything much without a social security no - like open a Bank account, apply for a credit card etc. Is there something else I should apply for instead? We were advised to apply to the IRS for Individual Taxpayer ID Numbers but we don't know why. Is Steve entitled to claim for any help for the children as I am not allowed to work over here - like Child Benefit? How do we go about starting the process for Green cards? We spent approx $10,500 employing a lawyer to help us get our Visas and can't afford to do that again for the Green cards. Our Visas run out in about 2 years. We don't have any credit history over here and I read here its not good to keep applying, but how do you ever get credit history? Will we find it hard to get a mortgage? Sorry, its so many questions but my mind is completely full of rubbish at the moment! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi there! Welcome to Britnet, you're in the right place. D
Don't panic, it takes a while to settle in and get sorted.
Many of these questions have been asked and answered before, and as you have so many, I suggest you use the marvellous search function we have, using key words such as credit record, getting credit, mortgage, green card etc.
I will try and nudge a few to the surface for you.
In a nutshell, your ITIN number (the tax number) will often work in lieu of an SSN. But you're going to have to build your credit from scratch (see the results of your searches). For the mortgage, try to gete as much paperwork proving good credt as you can from the UK -that may help.
A lot of transferees get help from their company who will "introduce" them to a bank/lender, which bypasses some of the credit history requirements.
No, there is no child benefit, but your husband will be able to claim a tax deduction (not sure of the terminology) for you and the children.
Ask hubby's company for as much relocation help as possible.
If you're only here for two years and are uncertain whether you will apply for a greencard, it may well not be worth buying house if the company is not paying costs, btw. Standard minimum deposit is 10% and closing costs can be quite large.
Hope this helps.
Hi Welcome, there are lots of answers here.
I don't have all the answers myself but lots of others do.
It is all very confusing when first getting here.
There is no such thing as child benefit here.
I wouldn't suggest buying a house if your visas are only for 2 years, you may be stuck with a house that you can't sell for what you want for it if you have to move back.
The best way to get a green card without paying out for it seems to be to get your employer to pay for it. Though I've heard say that a lot of employers are cutting back on that option.
Do a search through this visa and immigration forum, it will answer a lot of your questions.
Ok,
You and the children are not eligible for an SSN as you are on H4 and not entitled to work.
However, this should not prevent you from opening a bank account. Next time, ask to see someone who knows what they're doing at the bank. You will have to work slightly harder to prove who you are, but a passport and uk drivers license, plus some mail addressed to you at your Phoenix address should help.
The individual taxpayer number (ITIN) is ESSENTIAL. Get one, quickly. You can download the form from the IRS website, where you will also find the address of your local IRS office where you have to go to hand in the forms (unless you want to trust your passport to the US authorities for several weeks, which I don't recommend)
Without an ITIN, the IRS will assume you don't exist, and tax your husband as if he is a single person, so you need to get this before tax filing time (which is next April).
Green cards can be hard to get hold of. Best if you can get your employer to pay for it, and expect it to take a long time, especially if you have to get labor certification.
As far as mortgages and credit cards go. It is time consuming, but not really difficult to get these things with no US credit history. If you can prove that you had good credit in the UK that will help, and then keep shopping around.
I am here on H1-B, and my wife is H4, and we managed to get a car loan, buy a house with only $6000 down, and I now have a credit card, which I don't use much, and we have only been here for 18months.
The car loan was the easiest to get, the mortgage took a lot of running around, but ended up being fairly straightforward. We bought our house after we'd only been in the country for 6 months.
Welcome to Britnet by the way, and to the US.
Lots of people here will be able to help you with the things I've missed. And there's always some good banter going on here too.
Thanks everyone - this is a really good site. Our visas ran for 3 years but by the time I got over here with the kids only 2 are left! Steve wants to stay here forever and intends extending the visas then going for Green Cards but it's all double dutch to me. We have a lump sum from the sale of our house to put down and really with him being the only one who can work the only way we could survive out here would be for us to buy a house. Our rent is ridiculous compared to what a mortgage would be, so although I agree its probably not worth buying over here if we have to go home after 2 years, our plan is to stay longer if we can. He only works for a small employer and we won't get much help from him I don't think. He helped us a bit with the visa fees but wouldn't help anymore I'm sure. Thanks again.
By the way, is it just me that can't cook decent meals in America or does everyone go through this problem! I could cook in England but I can't even get the ingrediants to make a curry over here? Everything is so bland and I can't cook without a grill!
I have nudged a few topics for you. For cooking tips, see Debsowerby and maczippy in the food forum -they can solve any culinary problems!
Credit threads usually end up in the main Britnet forum, so I nudged a couple in there for you. Chin up!
Jeepers, Monster. Is this all you have done with yourself today - look up all these different threads! wink
Welcome, unsure in AZ and I am very glad you had good old Monster to assist you today. Stick around and you will have a great time here, especially listening to us lot at the weekend coping with a hurricane D
No, I did that in 5 minutes.
Today I have prepared all the paperwork and calculated all the figures for all the families receiving tuition aid at school, worked out how a payroll works in our system, set one up and paid the teacher ordered flowers in Manchester (and chased them up when Scary found out she was being released early) -that was before breakfast-, then I did the laundry (2 loads), fired the accountant, dressed and washed the boys, dealt with the guys estimating our gutter repairs, tidied, cleaned, did a ton more paperwork, went to school, did a stack more paperwork, went to the bank..... got stuck behind an accident (took the opportunity to sort handbag a little), picked up Hebe, picked up Hector, tried to arrange gutter repair with different company, did more paperwork, posted on here, returned all phone calls, chased up gutter company, cleaned entire downstairs, now waiting for a guy to come and quote for the windows.
Guy has been and gone -arrived before I could post. Now opening 1st beer.... D
Pheew, I don't usually do that much in a week much less a day! o
It's OK, I'm calm now.... lol
(and yes, Ben, I know you were teasing, I just needed to vent a tad! lol)
You could try using the bank that your husband's company uses to get a mortgage and credit card, as you will have a connection there to someone they are already dealing with. That's how we did it. Good luck. I agree, renting is very expensive, and they tie you into annual leases too. But you will find the costs associated with buying are quite high here.
It's OK, I'm calm now.... :lol:
(and yes, Ben, I know you were teasing, I just needed to vent a tad! :lol:)
:lol: I love the vent. I have to say, however, I can't understand why you aren't doing your own gutters. It would be much cheapers :roll: :lol: We (I should say my dad) have just ripped down the old gutter at the back and replaced it with new UPVC type guttering which is actually from Canada. Really good :)
Next time, you could fit in the gutter repairs yourself between the 1st and 2nd load of washing! :lol:
It's OK, I'm calm now.... :lol:
(and yes, Ben, I know you were teasing, I just needed to vent a tad! :lol:)
:lol: I love the vent. I have to say, however, I can't understand why you aren't doing your own gutters. It would be much cheapers :roll: :lol: We (I should say my dad) have just ripped down the old gutter at the back and replaced it with new UPVC type guttering which is actually from Canada. Really good :)
Next time, you could fit in the gutter repairs yourself between the 1st and 2nd load of washing! :lol:
You know, any other gutter we would (we're going to renail the rest ourselves), but this is over a double-roof bit of the house which means two sets of ladders, two adults required, all children napping at the same time for an extended period and I'm not too keen on working from a ladder based on a sloping roof with no way to secure it. Send your dad over, will you -I'm sure he'd enjoy seeing a bit of Michigan :)