Following on from the first part of our story Moving from the UK to the US, this is the next chapter, where I’ll describe what happened once we arrived in the US, and how we settled into life in Seattle.
It was a good flight, and around the same amount of time we’re used to when we’ve flown UK to Orlando. Even though Seattle is much further across the US, the plane took a more Northerly route, which cut down the flight time.
We flew over some stunning scenery, including these icy mountains.
Immigration was also much quicker than we’re used to in Florida. The immigration officer was nice and pleasant, and after a quick inspection of our passports and visas we were through. No separate customs to go through either.
With the 8 hour time difference, it is now after midnight UK time, and after such a long day we were really feeling it. But we still had to get from SeaTac Airport to our new temporary home. My husband’s new company had arranged a rental car for our first month, but the rental cars are offsite at SeaTac (we should have maybe researched this beforehand). It was accessed by shuttle bus, and thankfully the bus driver saw the horrified look on our faces at getting 12 cases onto a bus, took pity and helped us load them.
Once we’d checked into the Enterprise rental car desk, we explained how worried we were about fitting five of us and 12 cases into the economy SUV they had booked. They were really good about it and offered a free upgrade, and even went above & beyond by bringing two different size cars around for us to try. Sadly we had two-three too many cases to fit in any of the cars. We decided that my middle daughter and myself would go by Uber with three cases, while the others drove.
We had a great Uber driver called Ibrahim, who spent the whole hour long journey acting as tour guide. He pointed out all of the landmarks, told us the best places to shop, and much more. Hubby’s new employer had arranged an “apartment” for us for the first month. In a town called Mill Creek, just north of Bothell, which is about 35 minutes (with no traffic) from Seattle. It’s referred to as an apartment, but I’d disagree. It’s a 3-floor, 1970sq.ft. town house. Our 4 bedroom detached house back in the UK was around 1,400sq.ft. so this “apartment” was huge by our standards!
Time ticked on, and there was still no sign of our other family members. We all still only had Sky Mobile SIM cards in our phones, so I couldn’t call them to find out where they were. After two hours had passed I tried to send a text, and luckily it got through as my eldest replied. They’d no sat nav in the car, and no wi-fi, so had been struggling trying to follow road signs, but with no real idea of where they were going. They ended up stopping at McDonald’s, logging into their wi-fi, starting Google maps and eventually finding their way to us. In hindsight, we should have got one or two Three mobile SIM cards before we left the UK, as you can use them internationally. They should have also found wi-fi to start Google maps sooner.
Before we arrived, we’d researched the area the apartment is in, liked it, and decided to extend the lease for an extra two months. It meant that we wouldn’t have to unpack, pack up again, and have to find somewhere else temporary to live after the first month. It’s worked out well, and we enjoyed our time there. Mill Creek is a beautiful little town. Commuting for my husband has been hit and miss. He either takes the I5 or I405 to downtown Seattle where he works. Both tend to get very congested at rush hour, and a couple of times it’s taken him over 100 minutes to do what should be a 35 minute drive. He has to leave before 7am for the best chance of clearer roads. Mondays and Fridays are usually quieter, as employees at a lot of the tech companies (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon) apparently tend to work remotely those days.
It was about 5-6 days after we first arrived that we began he process of applying for our Social Security Numbers (SSNs). Had we known then what we know now, we’d have applied on the first day. As we learned, you need an SSN for pretty much everything, and it made life very difficult not having them. First off, you need to apply online. Then visit your local Social Security office. You’re supposed to be able to make an appointment to do this, but it wouldn’t let me make an appointment without inputting my SSN, which I obviously didn’t have! So instead I had to go and wait for two hours, just to be able to show my birth certificate and passport. My husband visited a different office and waited three hours there. You’re then told it’ll be a two week wait before you receive the number in the mail, but they both came within 8-9 days.
Getting Mobile Phones in the US
Just after we arrived we went looking for some US SIM cards to use. We were told we couldn’t apply for contract SIM cards without our SSNs. Which left us with the only option of pay-as-you-go SIM cards, or pre-pay as they’re known here. After looking at the different options, the best ones were with Mint. I think we paid around $80-90 for each SIM card, for three months service. There were no shorter term options. Our teenage girls had to continue to manage with their Sky Mobile SIM cards from the UK, so they at least had a phone number for using WhatsApp, but could only connect to the internet when wi-fi was available.
We tried going into T-Mobile to get contract (post-paid) phones, but were told we couldn’t apply until we had our SSNs.
I’ll go into more detail on the phone situation a little later.
Driving in the USA
Once you arrive in Washington State, you can use your UK driving license for up to 30 days, after which time you need to have a Washington driver’s license. This time limit varies by State. I believe you only have 10 days in California.
To get a driver’s license, you must take both the theory and practical driving test. Unlike the UK, whre you can only take the tests at test centres, here you can take the test at most driving school locations. I spent a few days learning the DMV handbook rules. They don’t have a Highway Code book here. Each State has it’s own Department of Motor Vehicles, and each of these will publish a handbook online. You should also be able to get a printed copy for free from the local DMV license office.
I booked my test with a local driving school office. I had to take my own iPad (you can also take your own phone or laptop), which was logged into my license account. They sit you in a small room, which is monitored, so no cheating allowed! You then take the test of 40 questions on your own device, and it will tell you at the end if you’ve passed or not. I passed with 98%!
As it was a quiet weekday morning, there was an instructor free, so I was given the option of taking the practical test there and then. I accepted the offer, then instantly regretted it, as I’d planned on booking the test with a 30 minute practice beforehand.
It all worked out well though, and I passed, despite failing on parallel parking and reverse parking! The test itself only lasted 18 minutes, and was a doddle compared to the UK practical test. It helps that it’s not an official driving examiner like in the UK, so doesn’t feel as formal and pressured.
Once I’d passed I could go to the local licensing center that day to obtain my driver’s license. You can just walk in, but I booked an appointment online beforehand, so only waited a couple of minutes before being seen. You need to take ID (passport) and foreign driver’s license. Along with verifying your ID, they also do a quick eyesight test (look into the machine, and read the top line of letters). Be sure to take your glasses if you need them for driving. You’re issued with a temporary paper license, and your photo driver’s license is sent by mail in 2-3 weeks time. By law, you must keep your license with you everytime you drive a car.
Buying Cars in the USA for Expats
As I mentioned previously, my husband had a rental car for the first month as part of the relocation package. But I had no way of getting around. Being stuck at home with 3 kids all week, not being able to get to the supermarket, or anywhere else, wasn’t an option. So we hired a car for me for two weeks from Enterprise. There was a rental office a short distance away, so we got an Uber there to pick the car up. My husband had booked it online for me, and said it didn’t mention insurance when he booked it. But when I went to collect the car, they said I needed my own insurance, or pay for theirs. At that point I hadn’t got my Washington driver’s license, therefore couldn’t get insurance, so was stuck with having to pay for theirs. The cost of insurance was more than the actual rental car cost! They also required a credit card to guarantee the booking. I only had a US debit card, so had to use my UK credit card, which then incurred extra foreign transaction costs. It was great having my own car to use, but was very costly!
A couple of weeks in, I’d got my license, and he had his test scheduled, so we started looking for cars. I’d done some research online, and knew it wasn’t going to be straightforward as we had no credit history in the US. I’d discovered a couple of companies – International AutoSource and ExpatRide – both of whom specialized in getting new cars on credit for foreign nationals in the US. After some quick calls and emails, they sent through some quotes for a selection of new cars. The prices seemed reasonable enough to us, and they guaranteed acceptance, although it would be several weeks before delivery of any car.
But we wanted to have a look around and get a feel for cars ourselves, so visited a few dealerships. We liked the VW Tiguan, and decided to ask the dealership for a quote, just to see how it compared to the online companies. The monthly cost for a lease (cheaper than finance) was less than the online company. When we said we’d need two cars, they were more amenable to reducing the price further, so we came out with a good deal.
However, I will warn you, it’s not like in the UK, where you can go into the dealership, sign the papers and be done within an hour. We were in that dealership for just short of four hours! The kids were bored silly, and we were all starving by the time we got out. There was a mountain of paperwork to sign, and they spent ages feeding info into their computers. They had a special foreign nationals lease program that we could get the cars through, but they needed various documents including proof of address, passports, etc. One thing they were insisting on was a phone contract, which at that point neither of us had.
We’d previously been told that when you go to buy a car you can drive it away that same day, so we’d gone in thinking that would be the case. Part way through the afternoon, when they said about needing all of these docs, and that they’d need approving, we realized that we wouldn’t be able to take them away that day. But then, as we were leaving, the saleswoman said we could come back and pick mine up the day after.
So, the following day, I had the kids ready to get an Uber to the dealership to pick my car up. I’d even got the auto insurance in place – more on that later. I texted the sales manager first just to double check, and it was a good job that I did. He said we couldn’t get the cars until we’d provided a phone contract. I explained that we hadn’t been able to get the phones yet, but he said they wouldn’t approve it without this contract. Now, I’d already given my rental car back a couple of days earlier, which left us with no transport. So off me and the kids went, walking along the side of the highway in the pouring rain – not something I’d recommend! Turned out to be much further to the AT&T phone store than I’d anticipated. 45 minutes later, four very wet people made it to the photo store, where we spent the next two hours! The guy in the store tried repeatedly to get the system to accept my passport as ID, but it wasn’t having any of it. As we later found out, only a US driving license would be accepted for photo ID (or a US passport if you have one of those).
The following day I explained all of this to the guy at VW, and after much faffing he eventually managed to speak to someone at VW finance and they got it approved without the phone contracts. I was able to pick my car up the day after, but was met with a very frosty reception from the saleswoman, who had wrongly told me about being able to pick the car up, and clearly been given a telling off for doing so! My husband was able to pick his car up the following weekend, once he’d passed his driving test.
Regarding the auto insurance, the whole insurance business seems to work differently in the US than the UK. Back in the UK I was so used to using Comparethemarket.com or Confused.com and getting insurance that way. I quickly learned here that insurance tends to be done through brokers. You tell them what you need and they come back to you with quotes. They get paid by the insurance companies, so it doesn’t cost you any extra, and it’s really helpful, as auto insurance is very different here, with several components to it. I’d been driving since I was 17 in the UK, and proudly had 30 years of no claims bonus. That means literally nothing here. You’re starting afresh. Despite what I’d read online, no insurance company will honor your UK no claims bonus. It cost over $1500 just for the insurance on one car for six months! Thankfully, when we added the second car it brought the total to just over $2000 for both. And when we added on renter’s insurance it brought it down even more. You won’t be able to pay monthly until you have several month’s credit history.
How we Eventually got Cell Phones
Once we’d got our photo card driver’s licenses, we returned to a different AT&T store. But due to having no US credit history they wouldn’t give us any of the new phone deals. We could’ve got just SIM cards, but they weren’t compatible with our current phones. We tried Verizon, but it was the same there.
Back to T-Mobile, and another 2 hours sat in a phone store! This time, even though we had the SSN and the driver’s license, their system had somehow attached my SSN to someone else’s account. To the girl’s credit, she spent a long time on the phone trying to sort it out, but couldn’t and said it would be up to 7 days before they could get my account sorted. I’m not one to give up easily, and am also very impatient. So I tried going via online chat on the T-Mobile website. After another two hours, they still couldn’t sort my account, but did eventually manage to get the order put through in my husband’s name. Because of our credit history we didn’t fully qualify for the new phone deals advertised, but got new phones (including two new iPhone 13s) at just a few dollars a month, plus an upfront fee. This still turned out to be a good deal, and saved hundreds compared to buying new phones.
Banking & Finances for Expats
Soon after my husband had been offered the new job, I started researching about moving to the US from the UK. One thing mentioned was how difficult it was to set up a bank account and do anything finance-related. A few people had recommended opening an account with HSBC in the UK, as it was then quite easy to open an account with them in the US.
I opened a current account with HSBC UK, and then added the Global Money Account on. The Global Money Account is a great way to get started as it allows you to use the HSBC app to exchange money from your UK GBP account into the Global Money section on your HSBC app. So you can pay in $USD (or any other currency) using the Global Money Debit card. This was so handy when we first arrived, as we were able to pay in $USD without getting charged excess fees if we’d used one of our regular UK debit or credit cards. The exchange rates for this are also near perfect.
We started the process to open the US HSBC account before we left the UK. This wasn’t as easy as the UK part had been. With hindsight we should have applied earlier, but didn’t realize it would take so long. I think it took around two weeks, which coincided with our actual move. So by the time they’d mailed the account details and new debit card we’d already moved. So when we arrived here, my husband had one of the numbers to access the new account, but not the other one that was needed. That was being mailed, and then redirected to our UK address. It took him several days trying to get hold of someone at HSBC who could help, but did finally manage to get the number needed sent to him here. They also had to resend the new debit card, as that had been sent to the UK, and Royal Mail, for some reason, won’t redirect a cardboard envelope.
Mortgages in the US for Expats
As I’ve mentioned previously, we were renting for the first three months, but needed to find somewhere permanent to put down roots. Not long after we arrived I started looking at properties and trying to get an idea of the best places to live. It soon became apparent that it would be difficult to afford to buy anywhere around the Seattle area. Four bedroom single family homes (detached houses) were going for $1.2 million+, which was way beyond our budget. We could have perhaps afforded to buy a townhome/condo like we were renting, but we really needed somewhere with our own garden for the kids and dog. After much research, and touring various model homes in Kitsap County, we decided on Port Orchard, which is on the Olympic Peninsula. It’s possible to drive around to get there, but much quicker and easier to get the ferry across the Puget Sound.
After spending a day over there touring model homes, we found our dream home. It was at the top end of our budget, but we fell in love with it as soon as we walked through the door. Unsure of how the process works over here, we took guidance from the sales person.
The first step was to put a formal offer in. He also put us in touch with their mortgage rep. The idea had been to use HSBC for a mortgage. As we had the HSBC accounts set up, you’re supposed to be able to get a mortgage through them more easily, as they pull your credit records from the UK. However, after a couple of weeks of trying to get in touch with their mortgage department (completed their online forms multiple times, rang them, were told someone would get back but never did) it became clear we’d have to look elsewhere if we wanted to secure this house.
The house builder’s mortgage rep was unable to help, due to us having no credit score here. But he was able to put us onto a bank who said they could help. What followed was weeks of form filling, and submitting every single document you can think of. They had to build a picture of our UK credit history by using our credit card statements, bank statements, insurance documents, etc. It was fraught with issues, as we didn’t always have copies of the documents they needed. I’m not sure how, but we did eventually get there, and by some miracle, got our mortgage approved.
But that wasn’t the end of the problems. During this time, the sale on our house in the UK had finally completed, and the money deposited in our UK bank account. All we had to do was transfer it to our US bank account by a certain date, to be able to go ahead with the mortgage. Sounds easy? Well, it wasn’t!
We’d hoped to just be able to transfer it from our UK HSBC account to the US one. But when we looked into it, the exchange rate was very poor. For the amount of money we were transferring, we’d be losing thousands. Therefore the only option open to use was to use a wire transfer company. Much research followed to try to ensure I picked safe and reliable company. I would not personally recommend XE.com, they were very unprofessional. In the end we went with OFX, who were fantastic.
There was another stumbling block in our way though. Our bank had a £50,000 daily transfer limit. So we had to transfer each day, for several days until all of the money was with OFX. Only then could they transfer it across to our US account. Their communication was excellent, and the money was transferred and in our US account within 30 minutes of them receiving the full amount.
We ended up missing several deadlines with the mortgage people, but again they were great and just kept pushing deadlines back for us. The money was in our account, and then transferred to the escrow company just in time for us to close (complete) on the house sale. The escrow company are a go-between who holds the money for you until closing, when they transfer it to the house builder.
On the day of closing, the mortgage company arranged for a notary to come to our house so that we could sign the papers. It’s a long time since we purchased our UK house, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t have to sign so many papers! It took about 30 minutes of signing document after document. Once that was done, the following day all of the money got released and paid to the house builder, and the house was officially ours!
Things to note that are different from the UK – there are thousand of dollars of “closing fees” involved with buying a house. I couldn’t begin to tell you what they all were, but if you’re buying a house here, you need to be aware of them and account for them in your budget. As it was, because we were buying a new build home, and went through the house builder’s mortgage company (even though we ended up with a bank for the mortgage), they awarded us thousands of dollars as an incentive, which we were able to use for the closing fees. So we ended up paying $0 for those fees.
In every state you’ll pay property tax if you own real estate. The tax is a percentage of the value of your home, and in Washington state it’s paid twice yearly. We were given the option of paying the property tax and/or our home insurance through escrow. We had to pay one of them through escrow, as monthly payments alongside our mortgage payments, to avoid penalties, so we chose to pay the insurance this way.
When it came to moving into our new house, it was a bit of a pain having to pack everything again, but needs must! We’d intended on using a removals company, but after getting several quotes, it was going to cost in the region of $1400-2000 just to move our boxes and the few bits of furniture we’d accrued since getting here. In the end we hired a U-Haul truck and did it ourselves. We paid less than $400, and although it was very hard work, it was worth it to save so much.
As I write this, we’ve been in our new home for just over two months, and are loving it. Although I could write a whole new blog article on the problems we’ve had with ordering furniture and deliveries that have gone wrong!
Stay tuned for more of our American adventures, and how we’ve settled into Seattle!