This year’s annual BABC British Expats Evening took place on April 24th, 2019 in the sleek offices of OFX. During the evening, guests were treated to a chance to mingle with fellow expats with food and drink, before sitting down to hear from our panel of Bay Area experts in banking, tax, immigration, and pensions. The panel consisted of: June Tan (Bank of the West), Anthony Amodei (Spott, Lucey & Wall), Jim Mayock (E & M Mayock), Emma Cockerton (Florin Pensions LLC), and was moderated by Jason Kumpf, (OFX).

Jason introduced each of the speakers to the audience where they each gave a brief introduction of their titles, expertise and summary of their respective companies before introducing the format of the discussion. The flow of discussion took the audience through a journey from arriving in the US and setting up credit, settling in the US and finally planning to stay in the US permanently or leave for retirement. A show of hands encouraged by Jason gave a little more context as to the audience’s status here in the US, the majority of which being Green Card Holders. It was June who kick started the discussion off with Jason’s opening remark of credit and what that means here in the US.

June first clarified what credit means in the US and how it differs from the UK prior to addressing general questions of banking and credit. Giving her insight she stressed the importance of being able to demonstrate your ability to manage your money, rather than the importance of the money itself. June highlighted the importance of paying bills on time and ensuring clarity amongst amenities such as subscription payments to avoid credit being negatively affected. Further, she noted that one must be careful with the way credit is used, as there are several habits, such as applying for multiple credit items at once or closing your oldest standing credit cards, that can be red flags, and damage your credit score. Although questions were advised for the conclusion of the discussion the audience was eager to know more which June kindly fielded in a succinct manner.

Jason prefaced that one has now initiated and building their credit, questioning Anthony as to how the IRS determine whether one is a US tax resident or non-resident.

Anthony addressed issues surrounding tax in the US. He acknowledged a swathe of issues and the criteria that effects your tax status as a ‘US tax resident’ or not. Anthony also commented on the criteria that affects what you must disclose as a US tax resident, noting that you are subject to worldwide taxation in the US once you become a US tax resident. He encouraged and stressed the importance of declaring all assets to reduce one’s risk. Anthony’s expertise was clearly sought after with a flurry of hands in the audience, all of which were addressed in the Q&A and networking on conclusion of the event.

The discussion then turned to immigration and Visas. Jason addressed the FAQ of ‘now that I’m here legally, how can I get a Green card?’. Jim noted that there are numerous ways to go about getting the green card, the most common being to demonstrate a shortage of labor suitable for the role that you are applying for, and the second most common being through marriage. It was inevitable that the Trump administration would feature in the discussion and Jim highlighted that that there has already been a down on these avenues, and that the process is now taking longer and longer.

Jim also touched upon the differences between types of visa when it comes to changing employer. He noted that different visas have very different levels of flexibility, with H1 and J1 visas offering much more flexibility. Jim also brought the audience’s attention to the alarming fact of how only 50% of lottery green cards are utilized, which caused a wave of disbelief. To conclude Jim’s segment, he shared with the audience a paper giveaway of what is going on in the government related to visa and immigration.

Jason then welcomed Emma to the discussion inquiring what questions they are most often asked by British expats regarding pensions. She noted that in the recent past, many people started putting their pensions into foreign countries when they left the UK into what is called a QROPS, however she alerted the audience that this is not a good idea, as the UK government has started to clamp down on this to avoid people taking their money out of the country, as such QROPS can be subject to massive taxes. She then also noted that people should be careful with how they withdraw their pensions if they do leave the UK, as there is potential to be double taxed on it. She pointed out ‘the best idea is to just leave it where it is, in the UK, to accumulate value until you need it’.

The panel then fielded a number of questions from the audience, regarding a number of different scenarios that they were facing, topics included requirements when leaving the US and taxing on real estate, to name a few.

After the panel discussion finished the guests enjoyed more time to network with one another and enjoy more food and drinks, and the panelists stayed to mingle with everyone and share one on one insight.

Thanks go to our Platinum sponsors; E&M Mayock and Florin Pensions, our venue host OFX and to our BABC Members who volunteered a representative that made up the insightful and engaging panel.