It’s easy to lose contact with what goes on as an American expatriate. However, it doesn’t mean you can forget about your obligations at home simply because you are an American expat worker abroad.
Almost nine million Americans are expatriates, with the exception of military members. Expatriates live abroad and maintain U.S. citizenship across at least 160 countries.
Whether you’re an expats for long periods of time or are still packaging your bags, you should know some things about living and working in a foreign country:
Pay attention to your fees
Wherever American citizens live or work, American income taxes are imposed. Even those with a zero tax burden still have to file IRS tax forms.
For domestic workers, paying taxes is painful enough. To remain compliant, many American expatriates need financial support. Platforms such as MyExpatTaxes enable returns to be completed within 30 minutes.
“The average time that tax companies are expatriate to make a return is between one and two months,” says Nathalie Goldstein, the founder of MyExpatTaxes, a Vienna-based expat. “Our turnaround has helped us manage the ten-fold growth of this year while respecting our quality standards.”
Get your visa in good time
The visa process can be very long, and the restrictions imposed on Covid-19 have made matters worse. Goldstein suggests that you start early: “As with taxes, you can save a lot of last-minute headaches by getting your work visa ironed out early.”
There are different visa requirements for different countries. Some require that you return periodically to your home country, so that it remains valid. Others need an employer to check that you are in your host country legally.
It takes time to get verification letters and squared travel plans. Do not wait for your sponsor to reach or book an air ticket until the last minute.
Using local culture
Overseas work doesn’t have to be all work and no fun. Even if you can bleed red, white and blue, the local culture will benefit. Removing language and cultural barriers makes it much easier to adapt, make it more comfortable and make the most of your time abroad.
You can also benefit from your work by getting to know the local culture. Find ways to communicate with supervisors and staff. Try some local food or ask them to help you learn important phrases in your mother tongue.
What do you wait for? What do you expect? Go to your new home to explore tourist sites, local restaurants and historic places. You can’t go bramble
Keep up on the U.S. business date
What is happening in the United States inevitably affects Americans living outside of America. The latest round of stimulus controls is a good example. Checks should be cut only weeks from the breakdown of the new stimulus agreement.
“If America’s tax filings are up to date, they should receive a second stimulus check,” Goldstein said. “Though for those that are not, it’s not too late.”
Goldstein recommends that expatriates who have not filed follow the streamlined tax filing procedures. They may not be eligible otherwise. For the second round of checks eligibility requirements reflect those for the first round.
Local news monitoring, too much
Not only will changes in policy and other US news affect you, but you need to keep an eye on what is going on in your new country. Local and national governments could modify your position directly as an expat.
This isn’t much work to be done. Nan Sussman, professor of Psychology at Staten Institute who studied repatriation, argues: “You can read the foreign journal, you can watch foreign movies, you can Skype with your friends.
What are you supposed to look for? Anything that may change or affect your working status. For example, you might need to know about a local Covid-19 lockdown that prevents .
