June 9, 2007

Transcitizens of UK and US

Stephen handed me today's Financial Times and said "read this its about us." Transcitizens of the world unite is a commentary piece by professor John Sutherland who lives his life between the US and UK. "Not quire resident, not quite alien - Sutherland describes the peculiar state of living between two countries."

Like Sutherland and ironically Posh and David Beckham, Stephen and I live between two worlds. Currently we are residents of the UK but we are just as comfortable in the US. It reminds me of when I first met Stephen and was amazed by how much we had in common despite his being from Scotland and me from the US. Perfect candidates for a reality tv show?

But there are challenges to being transcitizens notes Sutherland. Green cards are not forever and neither are work visas. At some point we have to decide if we live in the US or the UK as we can not easily split our time between both countries because of the tax implications. This "choice" is much on our minds these days as we think about next steps in our careers. We've both proven that we can be successful over here (UK) or there (US) but in which do we land...next?