January 24, 2005 Sponsor: HSBC Bank   InternationalLimited Article: Maid in China Quiz of the Week Sponsor: Ecuador: Owner's Manual Job Opportunities Article: Ways in and Out   of US Tax Residency:   To Be or Not To Be a   US Resident Alien! Property of the Week Travel Warnings Expat Events Hot Topics on the Forums Subscribe/Unsubscribe Maid in China View Full Article By Andrew Williamson "Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined." - Johnny Carson   SPONSOR: HSBC Bank International Limited Offshore banking: is it for me? Same old bank? If you are living overseas then you need to look into what offshore banking could do for you. Before becoming an expat you probably banked with the same bank since you left school. They organised your bank accounts and credit cards, maybe even a mortgage or other loan. However, as an expat your needs are different. Now you are an expat.. What you need now can't be provided by your bank at home. Does your bank understand the dynamics of living in a different country? What will be the tax implications for your salary and benefits package? How can you protect the assets that you are building? Old Hand? Maybe you are an old hand at the expat lifestyle. Is your bank keeping up? Are you able to do what you want when you want? Can you access your money easily in different countries and talk to staff that understand the challenges of living in another country ? Do you want to be tied to local time zones and stand in queues at a bank? Or do you want to do your banking when you want - at 3am in a hotel in Dubai? At 10pm on the beach in Sydney? What do you do if you're living in Delhi but want to buy a house in France? How about tax liabilities? Have you thought about these? Do you understand the implications of being taxed in different countries? How will you manage it all? Commuter? Maybe your needs are simpler and you simply spend time between two countries. Perhaps you live with your family in one country you commute to another for work. Or maybe your work requires you to be established in two different countries. Can your old bank help you manage banking in different currencies? Can they arrange overseas transfers of funds? Can they do it easily? Your needs should be met, not the bank's! Rather than looking at your needs from the bank's perspective, you need to find a bank that see things from your point of view. Maybe you are travelling regularly from one country to another. Maybe you live between two or more different countries. Or maybe you are just starting out as an expatriate and need someone who understands what international travel and living will mean for you. HSBC International has services specially designed for people living overseas. They also have staff who understand what you need from your bank while abroad. To prove their commitment, they are putting their money where their mouth is. Open an HSBC Bank International Account online today. They will credit your account with either BP 100, US$100 or Euro 100. You choose an account in the most convenient currency for you. Apply online at: www.offshore.hsbc.com before 31th January 2005 and open your account by 25th March to qualify for this offer. Maid in China View Full Article By Andrew Williamson, Minim Consulting Every time something went missing in our home in China, the cry would go up: "the "ayi" has lost so-and-so" - "ayi" being the Chinese word for "auntie" used to address a maid - since she was prone to putting things away where they were more convenient for her on the assumption that we did not need, let alone know how to use, whatever it was! (Read More) Test Your Global IQ with our Weekly Quiz. To check your answers, Click Here. 1.) True or False? Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. 2.) True or False? Rio De Janeiro is the capital of Brazil. 3.) True or False? The "OK" sign is considered to be profane in Brazil. 4.) True or False? Brazil is considered the leading economic power in South America. 5.) True or False? The Amazon river runs through Brazil. SPONSOR: Ecuador: Owner's Manual International Living's Ecuador: Owner's Manual is your guide to living in Ecuador. It's true: you can live large on little...settle into the lap of luxury on even a pensioner's budget...in Ecuador--one of the world's cheapest places to live. Plus, it hides some of the world's great real estate bargains and investment opportunities. Click here for more details or to order Ecuador: Owner's Manual. Take our Expat Life Survey & be Eligible to Win $250 Click here ExpatExchange.com is conducting a survey in order to better understand the expatriate experience. We are constantly bombarded by requests from people seeking information about issues relevant to international relocation and the expatriate lifestyle. The survey questions are varied and meant to find out as much information about expatriates in general. Everyone that completes the full survey will be eligible to win a $250 prize payable as an Amazon.com gift certificate or into a PayPal account. Peter in Milan, Italy won our Expatriate Finances survey, and he elected to receive an Amazon.com gift certificate. Congratulations, Peter! Please note that the survey is anonymous. The only information requested that can be used to identify you is your e-mail address, and that is for the sole purpose of informing you if you win the $250 prize. We will NEVER share your e-mail address with any third parties. You can still take the survey without providing your e-mail address, but you will be ineligible to win the $250 prize, as we will have no way to notify you. We really hope you will take the time to help us understand the needs, habits and opinions of expatriates! Your opinion really matters! Click here to take our survey. Advertise to 100,000 Worldwide! ExpatExchange.com welcomes 90-120,000 visitors per month. Our site and newsletter are great places to advertise to expats, future transferees, international employers and relocation professionals. For a copy of our Media Kit & Advertising Rate Card, please click here or e-mail us at advertising@expatexchange.com. Is your company listed in our Resource Guide? Click here to add your listing. View All Job Listings | Add Listing (15 day free trial period) Jobs openings: Offshore Oil Industry View Details Oil Job Link (Multiple Locations) European High Tech Sales Executives View Details Sales Force Europe (Multiple Locations) Sign Up Here for our bi-weekly Job & Classified Update e-mail to receive new job listings and classifieds by e-mail. Ways in and Out of US Tax Residency: To Be or Not To Be a US Resident Alien! View Full Article By Marc J. Strohl, CPA, Protax Consulting Services Inc The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive checklist of information for the foreign national to consider prior to accepting an assignment in the US. This article is not designed to teach you the technical competence required to perform self compliance; however it will certainly arm you with what you need to know to determine if your US tax preparer knows all that they should to provide you with adequate professional services. To Be or Not To Be a US Resident Alien: All United States (US) citizens, green card holders and foreign national individuals meeting the Substantial Presence Test (SPT), which comprises adding the days of US presence in the current year with a fractional two year look back rule, are US resident aliens. You meet SPT if you have at least 31 days of US presence in the current year and where the following sums to 183 days or greater: 100 % of the physical days of US presence in the current year + 1/3 of the days of US presence in the preceding year + 1/6 of the days of US presence in the second preceding year. (Read More) View All Property Listings (Sale & Rental) | Add Rental | Add Property For Sale (15 day free trial period) Loft Type Prime Condo Unit Quezon City, Philippines Unit located in a compound with 24-hr security. Amenities include: smoke detection system, generator, elevator, club house, swimming pool, mini theater, jogging path. Very near the Mass Rail Transit station. Also, near the major malls/shopping centers in Mandaluyong, Cubao and Greenhills. Near Xavier School, Immaculate Concepcion Academy (ICA), La Salle Greenhills, Jubilee Christian Academy. (Full Details) Sign Up Here for our bi-weekly Real Estate & Job Classified Update e-mail to receive new rentals, properties for sale and job listings by e-mail. View all Travel Warnings Algeria (01/19/05) Guyana (01/19/05) Sign up for Critical Expat News to receive travel warnings as they are published by the US State Department. View All Events | Add Event American Womens Group Paris: Musee Carnavalet 18th Century Paris (01/25) - The Musee Carnavalet is a gorgeous museum. The Hotel Carnavalet, among the oldest town mansions of the Marais district, was for many years the bastion of the famous Madame de Sevigne, one of the most fascinating and prolific female chroniclers of the 17th century. (Full Details) American Womens Group Paris: The Food Lover's Guide to the Louvre Paris (01/26) - Everything you always wanted to know about oysters, chocolat chaud, gaufrettes, hares hanging by a leg, angels cooking meals and other edible oddities, but never dared ask. (Full Details) You're invited to promote local expat events to other ExpatExchange.com members. Click here to add a local event. Canada Expat Clubs or International clubs in GTA Q: Does anyone know of any international or expat clubs in GTA. I was a member of a international ladies association in Slovenia. This was great since women from 30 different countries gathered together. We had a book club, lunch bunch, tennis group, childcare, culture club, language club, etc. It was great fun and I am looking for something similar in Toronto. Any suggestions? United Kingdom International Employment Agencies Q: I am a U.S. citizen looking to relocate to the U.K. Does anyone know of or can recommend the best head hunting agencies for the financial/insurance industry? The ones I have run into will not sponsor an American to come over and will only consider if you are already living in the U.K. Any advice/information is welcome. France State-side university for child Q: My daughter attends French public school and will be receiving her baccalaureate with the international option in three years. She plans on going to the university in the US. We are US citizens, have no residence there, but would like to find a way to take advantage of in-state tuition. Would like to hear from someone who has experience with this situation. Also, any US school suggestions for child born in UK, raised in Singapore, US and France with strong international orientation. Oman German kids at English school? Q: We are a family from Germany (with two boys age 6 and 8) and are planning our move to Oman this year. Can anybody tell me about difficulties or problems which non-native English children have to face at the TAISM or other schools (if existent) in Muscat? And what about safety there?  Copyright 2005 Burlingame Interactive