Shipping
Nippon Express (http://www.nipponexpress.com/)19500 S. Vermont Ave.
Torrance, CA 90502
(310)515-2222
100 total inches (H+W+L) <30kg , ($1000 insurance per box) with doorstep delivery. All for $100.
Be sure to include a packaging (contents) list for customs and insurance purposes.
Political Documentation
Passport (http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html) - they last about 10 years from issuance.Visa - KIRA will take care of this with the submission of proper documentation (CV/resume, application form, letters of introduction, and two modified passport photos).
1 Yes, this is how the US government works.
Certificate of Residency (Form 6166) from the IRS - requested via form 8022 (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=137809,00.html)1.What they end up sending you is a "Certificate of Eligibility." With this certificate, you can take down your passport along with a copy of the visa application form and one more passport photo (http://www.la.us.emb-japan.go.jp/e_web/e_m02_06_05.htm). Don't forget to make duplicates of everything (probably your passport as well as you'll be handing it over to have the visa pages inserted). Apparently, they are requiring me to drop it off and pick it up in person. The process should take fewer than 3 days to turn around.
Additional note, however: the Visa that they provide you with initially, is a Single-Entry Visa, meaning that if you're planning on leaving Japan (and coming back, assumedly, to teach), you will need to change it over to a Multiple-Entry Visa.
International Absentee Ballot Voter (http://travel.state.gov/travel/living/overseas_voting/overseas_voting_4754.html) - if you're like me, you like your absentee ballot voter status. And if you're like me, and you don't want to lose it forever (by missing two elections in a row), become an international absentee ballot voter.
Internet and Television
If you don't want to mess with trying to find (costly) international (re: "American") television packages via ISPs and communications providers in Japan (they DO exist), here are your options:Slingbox (http://www.slingbox.com/)- Slingbox SD and Slingbox Pro HD redigitizes decoded (uncoded, if you're using basic cable) television information and rebroadcasts it over the internet. Using the Slingbox Pro on decoded information does require commandeering the decoder box (meaning that the Slingbox is a passive, tuner-less broadcasting agent between the decoder box and the television), so an extra drone box is the way to go.
StrongVPN (http://strongvpn.com/) - this was the service recommended to me by Geoff. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure, encrypted data "tunnel." Data requests are passed and processed through a remote, third-party IP, meaning that 1) your information requests are virtually anonymous and secure, and 2) all of those requests are made from the remote, third party's IP. This offers the ability to view international content as if you are a resident. The long and the short of it is that with this US-domestic IP, you can browse and watch US content without international restrictions. Which brings me to...
HuluPlus (http://www.hulu.com/plus)- Short of slingbox-ing your own DVR content, Hulu offers a premium service (through "Plus," for a monthly $8 fee) to day-of content as well as their complete catalog of "premium content" (such as "complete seasons of television shows" and Criterion Collection movies). Hulu Plus has the added advantage of streaming to set-top boxes, such as the PS3 and the XBox360. (As does as NetFlix, though their streaming content leaves a lot to be desired.)
Router - as of today (6/14/11), everyone is telling me that if I want a router (wireless or not), I should bring my own. Additionally, using DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com) firmware, you can flash your router to provide VPN access to every component that accesses the internet through that router (including web-accessing peripherals like the PS3). Currently, I am looking into wireless routers that broadcast at the 5.0gHz frequency in an attempt to avoid the clutter at and around the 2.4gHz band.
Medical
2 And sick days...
Be sure to visit all of your doctors at least once before you leave, especially if you have health coverage2.Vision
Dental
Physical
Cancel Domestic Subscriptions
Also don't forget to look into canceling those automatically-debiting domestic subscription services such as:Netflix
Cell phones*
Newspapers/magazines
Memberships (gyms, clubs, etc.)
*Cell Phones (and Google Voice)
I looked into my options regarding preserving my cell phone number abroad.3 *cough* iPhones *cough*
Most people downgrade their plans to the lowest subscription available, often hanging their number onto a domestic family-plan. That also means dropping out of any data plans3. They then pick up a Japanese-domestic cell phone for local use, using their American phone for travel. This is what I was thinking of doing:Before I leave, I intend to convert my active cell phone number to Google Voice (https://www.google.com/voice, $20 cancellation fee). This will cancel my active AT&T contract, but port my number to Google Voice: a digital forwarding system. This way, internationally, though my ability to call out internationally will be limited, I will still have access to text and voice mail messages (as well as the ability to call) via the Google portal.
4 e.g. "if it is 8am-5pm, forward calls to [work phone], else call [home phone]; if it is [family] calling, always dial [home phone]".
Domestically, GV receives the incoming call and forwards the contact according to any set of pre-programmed algorithms4.The only problem with Google Voice is that, as a forwarding service, dialing out with [home phone] dials out using the home phone number, rather than the registered GV number (which people use to call you), unless you dial through the GV portal (web or phone-native app). This can lead to confusion as the number that calls out may not always align with the number that is used to dial in.
Then, with GV taking my cell phone number, I pick up a junk-phone with a new number on my parent's family plan and connect that to my GV account, using that whenever I travel internationally.
Finances
Before leaving, inform your credit card companies (and banks) of your changing status. It will make everything easier. In fact, begin every business conversation with the words "I will be moving to Japan for employment" for the next couple of months.There are a couple of things to consider regarding banking, wire transfers, and e-pay.
If you are like me, you will be paid in yen (d.d. to a Japanese bank). As of today (6/14/11), the yen is strong to the US dollar, so I want to hedge my bets and transfer as much yen as soon as possible into dollars.
5 Be sure to check if your credit cards charge an international conversion fee. Capital One does not. Chase and American Express do (6/14/11).
This would have to be the case, anyway, if I wanted to attach some local (and foreign) payments to any American credit cards5.My needs divide up nicely into these categories:
- Liquid yen (local liquidity) - cash money
- Liquid dollars (foreign liquidity for travel and bill-payment)
- Domestic savings (both for future large purchases and retirement)
6 Genie noted that a lot of JET people use GoLloyds, which does transfers for a $10 per-use fee.
There are a number of options for international wire-transfers6, however, Citibank claims to charge no fees for incoming international wire transfers (https://online.citibank.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=InterCiti), which is a boon, even if the Japanese institution charges an outgoing fee... which they are likely to do.Oh yeah, and don't forget to check about any 401(k)s or 403(b)s you have lying around. Consult a financial expert before deciding what to do with blah, blah, blah. Just don't forget about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment