Transfer From US job to UK job...Tips, tricks, etiquette :)
 

Hello Everyone!

I am transferring jobs from a company in the US to that same company in the UK. I have literally been in love with your country and its people/culture for as long as I can remember, I study your history just for fun lol...ps if it helps LOVE Top Gear :)

Basically, though, for myself and my family I am looking for any tips moving...Im originally a southern belle and was taught being polite and proper etiquette was first and foremost...but what I might thinks is being friendly and polite might not be in a "foreign" country. Also, where to to look for a safe and inviting area to live in since I have a mini me (toddler)

My goal is to make a smooth transition, not offend anyone, learn everything I possibly can, be as involved as I can and make a suitable life for myself and my family.

*Goal is towards Farnborough
*Education and Open Job Market would be excellent to throw in too :)

Thanks Everyone.....and I appreciate all honesty, I take nothing offensively!

Welcome to Fodors . . .Just a couple of quick comments right now.

>>Goal is towards Farnborough<< Does that mean you will be working in Farnborough?

>>Education and Open Job Market would be excellent to throw in too << Not quite sure what this means? Education and job market for whom? And if it is your spouse - what field?

(BTW - one Fodorite is a 'neighbor' of Jeremy Clarkson ;) )

The UK Top gear is filmed near Farnborough (Waverley) The test track is not there though.
I would suggest you look for an expat website, with a forum
Also read this:
http://uk.angloinfo.com/
It is not only in work situations you can commit faux pas.
Just learn as you go along.

"*Education and Open Job Market would be excellent to throw in too"

We don't have an open job market, except for citizens of EU member states, and you need to be very careful about this.

Our laws on foreign workers are extremely complex (not least because we allow the automatic right to work here to thousands of times more foreigners than the US does), and if this matters, you need specialist advice - which MIGHT pop up on this forum, but it would be wise to ensure your company provides advice on all this as part of your package.

Not all companies are able to do so, and you might feel it's pushing your employer further than they're able to be pushed to hire expensive attorneys. But you might be in difficulties otherwise.

As I understand it, unless you've got a passport from an EU member, you need a work permit to come here. For inter-company transfers, that permit self-destructs if you cease to work for the company you're being transferred within, and applies only to you. Your spouse doesn't get a work permit, won't get one and you have to demonstrate you can support the family. If you fall out with your employer, you're stranded here, and a potential illegal immigrant - though I've never encountered disputes getting that far.

Don't worry about offending other people. You will anyway, and practically no-one will hold it against you.

DO realise Britons absolutely DO NOT BELIEVE in "being polite" and "proper etiquette" is almost universally seen as a silly colonial hangup. We believe in being straightforward, in perpetual banter and irony. The reason we're famous for our sense of humour isn't that our jokes are funny (for most non-Britons they're not) but because what passes for humour here underpins about 80% of routine transactions between neighbours and colleagues. And there's a limit to the slack we give to foreign visitors who don't understand this. That limit doesn't consist in "Yank go home" posters, but in their finding they're not corralled in to the local networks.

Realise too, that Britain isn't a country where people move a lot. We don't have a welcome waggon culture, are mostly content with our current circle of friends and don't ourselves expect much more than a "hello" when we do move. I have little advice on how to live with this (I'm as guilty of it as anyone else), but I suspect it's widely misunderstood and often causes people far more grief than is intended. The experts on it are people who've made the moved happily.

Good luck

Thanks for the great feedback!

When I said "Goal is Farnborough" yes that is the location of where my Co is....and yes they do take great care of the legalities and such but I did not know that made me the bread winner....which is ok it works out anyway.

The open job market I did mean that a reference to jobs for my spouse but I read after posting this how that works over there so I have already contacted these ppl in that reguard but again thanks for the tips...he is in healthcare

However I do find conflicting stories that maybe not a welcome wagon is in sight but that some places depending on area are more open to strangers than others? But seeing what was said about keeping to your own circles makes sense...we are all guilty of that

Ps thanks for the info on Top Gear! Love it!

Education for my toddler ... oops sorry!

@janisj ....I caught that wink....lucky lucky lucky duck that neighbor is!!!!

Welcome Wagon does not exist here...but your local council may have something on their website for newbies. We got a welcome basket filled with goodies and coupons for local stores when we signed up as new in the Greenwich borough.

I wouldn't worry about offending people. But I would have reasonable expectations about locals. We have found them to be great and helpful, but also find that after 7 years living here we have limited friends that are English. Most of our friends are other expats. It's not that the English aren't friendly, they just have their own friend circles and established families. Now we live in London so the high number of immigrants may be the cause if this. Smaller places and the fact that you have a child will open different doors.

I would highly recommend reading the book Living and Working in the UK. It goes through cultural things and what it's like to relocate.

We are from Canada and some things we noted when we moved:
- tipping like you are used to is not really done. In London a voluntary service charge is already included and no further tip is necessary. You don't tip at pubs etc.
- pop culture reference are completely different...our first Christmas we were shocked that all the Xmas music is different. And all the tv shows and celebrities are different. Naive of us, but still was something to note!
- foods are different. Belgium Endive is called chicory, they don't have Stove Top stuffing, and graham crackers don't exist. Mexican food is generally rubbish. However they have fantastic Indian food! They keep eggs on the shelves in grocery stores, not in the coolers and milkshakes are not think, but milky.
- public transit is amazing. Maybe not in smaller ares but in London it has eliminated the need for us to have a car.

If your work is in farnborough it makes sense to live there so that is where I would focus my search.

Do a search for a poster called Indydad. His family is living in the UK while he works and he has a blog. I will see if I can find it for you.

Hope this helps!

This is the Farnborough council website which may have info to help you...how much help is your company providing? http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk

If your husband wants to work in the UK he will need to have a visa, will your company help you with this?

Sorry the posters name is Indy_dad and here is his blog

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/welcome.html

Hopefully he will see you post and post here with some tips

...Thanks Everyone.....and I appreciate all honesty, I take nothing offensively! ...

I think you are safe from offensiveness, but that might not apply to those who answer you :-(
We have one or two nasty trolls who are capable of hijacking the most innocuous thread.

It's true that English people are more reserved than many Americans, and generally more so in the South than in the North.

However, you have your entry ticket in your hand, or rather by the hand. Once you have enrolled your toddler in the local playgroup/nursery or nursery school, if she is a nice well behaved little soul, her social life will be more extensive than yours. You will find yourself sipping wine at countless children's parties and will get to know the parents of her friends.

It's worth remembering that English children start formal schooling very young in comparison with other countries.

For example, my older grandson will be four in May and starts school in September, the beginning of the year of his fifth year.

Here are some local preschools http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/LOCA...rrounding-area

Before you choose a school or preschool, it's a good idea to check its report on the Ofsted site http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/

Congratulations! I spent 4 1/2 very happy years in the UK on a corporate relocation, working in offices in Basingstoke and Reading so settled in Hartley Wintney, a village on the A30 about 10 miles from Farnborough. Great village, lots of local services. This was in the mid-90s, it was a pricey area then and still is.

I didn't have children but I believe you will find childcare to be of a very high standard. As already mentioned, your spouse doesn't automatically have a right to work. My company did help with this issue, if I remember, but it wasn't applicable in my case and it was almost 20 years' ago so not very relevant.

My main piece of advice is to get everything defined and in writing from your company, no matter how trivial you think the item might be. My company did a lot of hand-holding, taking care of tax reconciliation, on-going payments to Social Security (long break in payments not desirable if you intend to go back to the States), healthcare, etc. The arrangement was fair, I paid no more or less tax than I would had I been working in the States and of course income tax was paid in both UK and US. They also handled (actually must) the visa and work permit issues. Per Flanner, don't forget a repatriation agreement for end of term or if things should come unstuck.

The advice from flanner is pretty good, his "DO realise Britons absolutely DO NOT BELIEVE in "being polite" and "proper etiquette" is almost universally seen as a silly colonial hangup. We believe in being straightforward, in perpetual banter and irony. The reason we're famous for our sense of humour isn't that our jokes are funny (for most non-Britons they're not) but because what passes for humour here underpins about 80% of routine transactions between neighbours and colleagues" is probably the best description of how Brits work with each other, though of course people do vary and you may find some people more polite than others (certainly older people and particular groups can be very strict on proper etiquette, you will have to play this by ear).

Normally Brits at work will treat you with cotton gloves for the first few weeks as they explain themselves and you storm and norm. This "birthday" period only lasts a few weeks, so use the time to make internal networks asap. Irony is very important to Brits, it allows us to reinforce bonds (those who get it are on the inside) catching onto these does not require you to make a statement, just raise an eyebrow (only one) or lift the side of the mouth will make you an insider.

Straightforward is a tricky one, irony can destroy the straightforward message and you also need to look out for English phrases that differ from American phrases, for instance leave it on the tabkle does not mean leave it on the shelf while underhand means something very different to inhand.

And pants are not pants but underwear...so telling a colleague you like their pants will get you a very strange look!

Actually, excessive politeness in a Briton is a bad sign, especially if you notice icicles forming in the air.
What can be maddening to us is the false positive. Americans are programmed to be "can do". If you say that you will meet a deadline, then meet it. If you need more time, say so.

I've been told that a British habit that drives foreigners mad is to spend most of a meeting going over fairly trivial matters, only to release the details of the major problem or disaster right at the end almost as an afterthought

You are receiving some good information here, and will be moving to a prosperous part of the country with residents and ex-pats from all over the world, and who have probably themselves travelled widely.

You might want to watch your enthusiasm for Top Gear, however, since it divides opinions. Some see it as just a bunch of lads messing about and getting to play with some expensive toys. Others see it as a group of overpaid self-indulgent prats, with Jeremy Clarkson in particular as a right-wing loudmouth.

Perhaps good advice for anyone moving to a new country is not to start too many discussions yourself, but to see how the conversation is going before venturing an opinion. Also, however much locals are happy to run down their own country, they become patriotic in its defence when the criticism comes from a foreigner.

"I've been told that a British habit that drives foreigners mad is to spend most of a meeting going over fairly trivial matters, only to release the details of the major problem or disaster right at the end almost as an afterthought"

Josser's clearly not spent as much time as I have in meetings, on their territory, with French, Italian or American "colleagues". Waffling, and poor meeting control skills, seem to be pretty universal human weaknesses.

We do have a reputation for starting many sessions with small talk (it helps to have weather so unpredictable it really is worth discussing), but this, in reality, depends very much on the prevailing culture. In turn, this is subject to the universal (I think) rule that the prevailing culture is dictated first by the client, not the supplier, and then by position on the totem pole.

Jamikins' experience of welcoming might be exceptional (she lives close to the financial centre of the world, with a huge temporary expat quotient). I suspect you might be more concerned with avoiding positively "unwelcoming" places than with worrying too much about welcome waggons.

Don't. Even if there are stats (and I've not seen any), what'll you do if somewhere rates high on trying to attract foreigners and you find your new next door neighbour is both racist AND has just got fired because his US company has decided to onshore the R&D facility he was working in?

In SE England, temporary migrants are now so common a feature of everyday life (in a mile walk yesterday from one end of a modest Cotswold town to the other, I didn't hear English once. Polish followed by Spanish dominated - and none appeared to be tourists), that all official systems, like schools and healthcare, understand how to explain, and outright hostility (to anyone) is practically non-existent.

I just confine myself to the legality of your proposed move.
It's called intra-company transfer, and it's under Tier 2 of points-based system of UK immigration rules. Basically you are sponsored by your US employer to transfer to their operations in UK. There are several hoops to jump through, but your employer is responsible for generating a certificate of sponsorship, and with it you apply for a visa yourself. You can include your family members - your spouse/partner and children. There is a fairly modest financial requirement for them. Once the visas are granted, your spouse will be able to work without further formalities, except to get national insurance number, similar to SSN. Your children will be able to attend non fee-paying state schools. Your visa will only allow you to work for your current employer. It's usually for up to 3 years, with a possibility of extension up to 5, but it doesn't normally lead to settlement (permanent resident status), unless you are very highly paid, around 150,000 pounds a year or $250,000.

>>I've been told that a British habit that drives foreigners mad is to spend most of a meeting going over fairly trivial matters, only to release the details of the major problem or disaster right at the end almost as an afterthought<<

It was a lesser part of the book that introduced "Parkinson's Law", I believe, and it's known as the "gardener's bicycle syndrome": a meeting will spend hours on where the gardener can store his bike, and approve a multi-million project in the five minutes left before lunch. But I'm sure I remember reading somewhere of a similar thing in some institution Eisenhower presided over before presiding over the USA: the meeting went on and on over how to make people stick to the paths and not walk across the lawns, until Eisenhower had had enough and said "Why don't we just put the paths where the people want to walk?". Or maybe it was somewhere/someone else, but I'm sure wasting time in meetings is a common phenomenon in a lot of cultures.

On British understatement: http://imgur.com/eyJNd
On language variations:
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...4/m/4101007861
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.co.uk/

How very exciting!

When we moved from the US to the UK our son was just 2. MissPrism is correct when she says your toddler will be your ticket to a social life. Nurseries will usually take children from 2 or 2 1/2. At 3, the state provides 15 hours a week of care/pre-school. This can be at a state or a private nursery. At 4 your chlld starts formal education in reception, 5 will be year one and so on. Try to get your child into a nursery that feeds into a local infants school so the friendships made at nursery can carry on.

Private schools are much more prevalent than they are in this states (at least where I'm from in Seattle). I have opinions about state vs private if you're conflicted.

The council will probably offer play groups and other little groups for mums of little ones.

As an expat, my closest friends are also expats or at least English transplants. People that live in the area where they grew up tend to need less new friends and can be at bit closed up, already full as it were. Don't be offended by that, just find the people that are also looking for people and you'll be fine!

Some light reading to give you a little more insight into the Brits
Notes on a Small Island by Bill Bryons
Watching the English by Kate Fox.

Also, checkout www.mumsnet.com it can be an amazing guide to navigating the UK. There are separate forums for schools, shopping, legal issues, healthcare, etc. Plus it can be a real peak into the psyche of the British, something that can be difficult to understand at the school gate or the register.

Funny . . When I first moved to London and established a branch office for the company, we hired as many Brits as possible . . in one of the sessions where we were trying to understand each other better, the most common complaint about the yanks was that we were too blunt . . did not engage in pleasantries and tended to go straight to the heart of an issue.

MommaBrawls, you seem to have an open mind which is the most important characteristic an ExPat can have. I lived in London but did visit Farnborough a few times . . it seems to be a very pleasant place to live.

Thank you all this is such wonderful feedback and I already have found all your books suggested and websites!

Question though...how can I learn more about how your government operates...

It was suggested to me to be careful in regards to politics and what not since I said I loved Top Gear ...not so that I can interject an opinion of any government topics but so I do not feel totally lost in conversation and know when to keep my mouth closed lol as that much is the same in America lol!

ALSO, if any of you also have blogs or something I would love to follow your intrigues!

I think one if he biggest things us to pick out your football team ��

For politics, have a look at the online versions of the Guardian and Telegraph. They are both quality newspapers at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

I presume we are talking about Farnborough, Hampshire? I lived in the area for around eight years. Farnborough itself is nothing to write home about. The town centre itself has always been a little run down when I've visited.

There are some very pleasant areas roundabouts, although the proximity to London makes it quite expensive commuter belt.

"be careful in regards to politics and what not since I said I loved Top Gear"

Clarkson is generally thought, by the clueless about how Britain works, to be a chum of PM David Cameron. Clarkson's show is also the one eco-fascists love to hate, so liking Top Gear is widely believed to be tantamount to expressing support for the party that commanded more votes than any other at the last election.

Among eco-fascists, and their groupies, getting most votes PROVES a party's beneath contempt. So, the logic goes, if you like Top Gear you must be in favour of whatever horror eco-fascists are trying to pin on the government this week .

The "chum" allegation is mainly based on the fact that, until his wife kicked him out, Clarkson was a neighbour of Cameron (and me). I've no idea whether he's speaking to his wife again, or where he's living (he's not been seen for months sheepishly buying a ticket at the railway station we all share - but trains are rather against his religion).

I can't understand why anyone needs to be careful about this. Most people most of us know self-evidently vote differently from us, and civilised life is all about dealing with that. Raucous debate is an essential part of our way of life: what else is there to talk about?

Religion, OTOH, is quite different. I've just been at my church's post-Advent Carol Service mulled wine party. Even the parish priest didn't talk about religion. Expressing any public interest in the subject (beyond the statutory "they're all dodgy, but this new Pope sounds as if he mightn't be as bad as the others") means complete social exclusion.

Flanner just lost me on Clarkson (I don't watch that much TV) and no idea what an Eco-fascist is. However he is spot on about Church of England which as the state religion tries to avoid any religious activity.

Since you will find more religions in the this country than you can shake a stick at do not be surprised that very few people will discuss the subject (probably due to having so many deaths attributed to "discussion" over the last few hundred years).

To give a flavour of this my own small town has 22 Public Houses but 27 houses of organised religion, the vast majority of which are ex-directory.

flanneruk is a (Roman) Catholic.

>>how can I learn more about how your government operates...<<

Don't get me started......

But if you mean, how does an enthusiasm for Top Gear get to drag politics into the discussion, this is perhaps more of an example of the British (or maybe it's a more English phenomenon) habit of looking for all sorts of "markers" to try and place people socially, as to whether they're likely to be people to feel broadly comfortable with or "Not Quite Our Sort". So Jeremy Clarkson is identified not only with being a petrolhead, but he also has a sideline in opinionating about a whole range of issues. In that business, being "controversial" is what it's all about, so fans of his might well find themselves assumed to be a bit less than right-on when it comes to climate change, the status of women, and so on.

You'll find quite a lot in the Kate Fox book mentioned above about this process of finding social markers, which for us might be in terms of where you went to school, where you send your children to school, where you shop, where you live and how you decorate it, whether and what you drive, what paper you read and TV programmes you watch, and so on. Since you'll be coming from outside, it can't work as comprehensively with you, but you might find people trying to place you in relation to whatever they find comfortable or uncomfortable about their perceptions of the US and whatever has been reported here about the US recently.

I had no idea how involved this is for Clarkson...I'm glad I know now that this may not be the way to go...but as far as car shows goes I still like it

Again thank u all, I have also picked up the other book and council site these are great!

One piece of advice from a 30 year Expat . . Do take time to explore the culture and environment during your assignment. It's easy to get involved up to your neck in the job and not take advantage of the opportunity to see the country your are assigned to.

I lived in London twice and only really explored it after retirement. By the time I got into the third assignment ( Cairo), I learned there is more to life than the office and took the time to see the place I was living! What a difference it made!

@rich thank you that is for sure going to happen! I'm in a unique position with my co to make this happen too

>>.I'm glad I know now that this may not be the way to go...but as far as car shows goes I still like it<<

If anyone looks askance, just turn it into a trivial and apparently self-deprecating joke - "I like cars, I'm American, what else can I say? By the way, this cake you made is delicious", or whatever.

The point I didn't mention about the "looking for markers" thing is that we avoid all sorts of personal questions, particularly about money. So all those markers help you make your own (silent) guesses about how much someone earns or paid for their house, as well as whether they might be likely to go off on some embarrassing or infuriating rant about some cause that's dear to your heart. Other people's enthusiasms are often considered embarrassing, unless treated as private and personal eccentricities (or unless, of course, you share them). One exception is that you can never go wrong by saying nice things about someone's garden (even if you hate it).

<i>On British understatement: http://imgur.com/eyJNd</i>

None of them are understatement - understatement is saying "nothing serious" when in reality everything is going to Heck

Not understatement, but some are useful.
"You must come for dinner", is politeness. You may get an invitation, but don't be offended if you don't.

And "I hear what you say" = "It's still nonsense, no matter how loud or how often you keep saying it".

Interest I was taught to use "I hear what you say" when working with Americans by British managers as a way of satisfying their need to believe someone was listening to them when you didn't want to tell them what you really thought as it excludes concepts like "I understand what you are on about". I struggle with most US sporting phrases and have no idea what a "five" is unless it's a concrete court to play a game in, hence "high five" is meaningless

The most seasonal such saying is "We really must meet up in 2014".

My apologies for what I appear to have stirred up with my comments on Top Gear, but I think Patrick is right when he says it is something of a social marker. It is also a more significant one than a liking for Downton Abbey would be, for example. The best policy is to wait until discussion in the office comes round to a particular topic, judge how it is being approached, and then add some intelligent remark of your own.

I understand that some Americans still watch "Are you being served" and old Benny Hill shows. Expressing a fondness for either of those would probably be social and cultural death.

My circle of mums very rarely discusses Top Gear but daggers and handbags were drawn when I mentioned a preference for Robbie Williams over Gary Barlow.

(Translation for MommaB, Take That is sort of like the English Nsync, super popular boy band that dissolved and one boy, Robbie Williams, went on to be much more successful than the others including Gary Barlow, sort of like Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass.)

>>I understand that some Americans still watch "Are you being served" and old Benny Hill shows. Expressing a fondness for either of those would probably be social and cultural death.<<

In certain quarters, perhaps. But the spirit of the end of the pier lives on in some of us.

And I am unanimous in that.