Ewan

I came to the US in 2021 on an IR5 parent visa. I am a self-employed, home-based contractor (I brought my work with me) and ALL of my income comes from OUTSIDE the US. On the contrary, ALL of my spending is done INSIDE the US. My earnings from foreign clients are paid into my US bank and are used to pay my income tax (the US gets all the taxes on my worldwide earnings), property, utilities, car insurance, food, leisure etc etc. As well as that... Being self-employed, I have to pay for my own health insurance and whatever part of my medical bills that I owe. I also am paying Social Security taxes but will not be eligible for Medicare until I have been paying in for 10 years, which will mean having to work until at least the age of 70. Apart from the above, my daughter petitioned me and agreed to be responsible for me financially if I am unable to do so myself. So the impression given of immigrant parents as getting everything and giving nothing is way off course for me - and, I'm sure, for many other parents.

My timings just seemed to work out. I did my first port of entry in September 2021, then went back to my home country soon after to sort out some things. I re-entered the US in November, by which time my physical green card had been delivered. I got short-term medical insurance for six weeks (called a local agent and asked about plans) and then my ACA started. As for Medicare, I believe you have to pay into it through your taxes for 10 years before you become eligible. Although you can purchase Medicare Part A after residing legally in the U.S. for five years continuously. That's where my knowledge of the system ends.

I moved to Tennessee in late 2021 on an IR5 and have been on ACA since the start of 2022. I qualify because I'm self-employed and earning under the maximum limit of $54,360 per year. It was very easy to apply for it and to report on my annual tax return. Like you, I would have been paying about $1200 a month but instead the ACA tax credits mean I'm paying under $300 (although that doesn't include dental).

At the risk of causing more confusion (but hopefully not), I went back through my documents to see what I had to do in 2021 - bearing in mind this was to transport a dog in the cargo hold. I needed to provide PetAir UK: A rabies vaccine certificate and proof of other vaccinations. A Fitness to Fly Certificate (done by a vet after an examination and valid only for 10 days). An Acclimatisation Declaration (only needed for a pet travelling in the cargo hold, also done by the vet) American Airlines provided a Customs Clearance Pack through PetAir UK for their purposes, which included: A breed verification form (completed by vet) A Customs Power of Attorney (completed by me) A shipper's certification (completed by me) Again, these might only be necessary if an animal travels in the cargo hold and is taken to customs officials for pickup. I did a quick search on the UK Government website section about "Find an export health certificate". When you search for USA and pets, it says there are no matching results. But always best to check. https://www.gov.uk/export-health-certificates?keywords=dog&destination_country[]=usa&commodity_type[]=pets&certificate_status[]=active

That's great that you've got this sorted out. Obviously I was giving you my experience of moving a large dog - but this sounds like a really good way of travelling with your cat (and much cheaper!) VisaJourney is wonderful for getting this sort of advice. It was a huge help to me when I was preparing to move. I hope everything goes well with your move.

That's correct. I went through immigration, collected my rental car and drove to the cargo section of the airport, where my dog was sitting in her crate waiting to be collected. I just checked back through all my emails from the time and found out that I did something called Silver Plus, which was a bit of a hybrid. That's because I was doing some bits myself but using their overnight boarding facility near Windsor and letting them take my dog to the airport. I'm not sure if you need a custom-made crate for a cat. I definitely did because I have a Siberian husky, who are renowned escape artists! I would call PetAir UK and chat through the options of which bits of the service you want and see what they say. As someone else pointed out, there are other services available that are worth checking out but I found this one suited my needs best.

You're very welcome. Glad to be of some help. I went for the Silver package. I got all the vet stuff done myself and decided to drive my dog from Glasgow to the Heathrow area myself rather than her having a long journey in the back of a van. I dropped her off the day before the flight at PetAir UK. I just used the broker option (I think I said handler in my previous post) because I was on the same flight. I picked her up from the cargo area, which did involve a bit of a wait while they did the paperwork. It was fairly quiet at Charlotte Airport but I suspect JFK would be much busier and possibly more problematic. I chose to go on the same flight for logistical reasons. As I said, I had to drive my dog from Glasgow to the London area. And then from Charlotte Airport (after a stay in a hotel), we had another six-hour drive to Chattanooga. So I couldn't have done it any other way. I found PetAir UK very helpful and responsive. I had loads of questions and they were happy to talk by email or on the phone at any time during the process. As for the timing, I also had to move within six months of my medical date. That was June, so in the middle of the hot season. What I I did was take a trip to the US, do my first point of entry and get my passport stamped with an I-551, do a few things like setting up banking, seeing rental agents etc - and then went back to the UK for three months to wait for the pet flight to be sorted and finalise some stuff there. If you have that option, it might be worth considering. Good luck with everything.

I moved from the UK to US in 2021 and brought my dog with me. I used PetAir UK and had a great experience with them. They were very helpful and communicative throughout the whole process. It wasn't cheap but I had peace of mind that they were advising me on vet requirements, dealing with all the customs and airline paperwork, and arranging handlers both at departure and arrival airports to ensure she was OK. Sometimes the routes can be limited. I moved from Scotland to Tennessee and had to go with American Airlines from Heathrow to Charlotte, North Carolina. We were on the same flight and I picked her up from the cargo area of the airport about an hour after we landed. One thing to look out for if you're moving in the summer is that most airlines will not take pets in the cargo hold if the temperature at either the departure or arrival airport is likely to be above 29C (84F). This is in case the the plane has to sit on the tarmac for a lengthy period and heat rises into the hold. I delayed my move to the US from September to November because of higher temperatures in the southern states.

Others have mentioned Geico. I found them really easy to deal with after moving from the UK to Tennessee in late 2021. I rented a car for three weeks, got my Tennessee license, then bought a used car. Despite being a new immigrant with no US credit history, I immediately got car insurance with Geico without any issues - and they have reduced my payments every six months since then. Although I did have the advantage of having opened a US bank account a few weeks earlier and having an existing Social Security number through an H1B visa from many years ago.

I also got an IR-5 visa. After approval, I made my first entry into the US in September 2021 to organise a rental home, open a bank account etc. Using my return ticket, I went back to the UK after a week to finalise matters such as clearing my house and transporting my dog over. I then re-entered the US in November, explained what I had been doing and encountered no issues. Hope that helps.