Hi all,- Manager in a Big4 consultancy- Primarily doing op model, due diligence, merger integration etc.- 5-6 years under my belt in the London office - Vast majority of my projects around mainland Europe, doing the whole Monday-Thursday travel thingI'm now considering some options for doing a stint further afield (USA or far-East most likely). Probably for 1-2 years. For the far-East there seems to be a well-trodden route of moving hook, line and sinker (local contract, local tax, paid in local currency in somewhere like Singapore or HK).However, I'm trying to work out the best outcome for me financially if I were to go to the U.S. - there seems to be 3 main ways of doing it: (1) Expat contract: obviously the best option, but these are now like hens teeth (2) Long-term project conditions: e.g. they would provide accommodation but I'd stay on UK contract, salary and tax (3) Localise: U.S. contract, U.S. salary, U.S. tax.Has anyone with some transatlantic experience got a perspective of the best option to go push for? The expat option is most likely off the table (unless any one has any tips of a good rationale to present for it!)

I'd go for the far East. If the travel aspect of your job is to be maintained, I have heard pretty horrific stories of weekly commutes within continental US. But it depends on the industry you work in.While in Europe you're never really more than a 3 hour flight from your destination (even less so if you are flying from London), is there a chance that you might end up on a LA to NYC commute?Plus overtime and long hours in the US are in a league of their own, apparently.Any idea if you were to travel less from HK or Singapore if you were to go there? Also, as far as I gather, expat contracts should be a bit more likely to come by in the far East as, [i]theoretically[/i], going from London to say Singapore is some kind of move down the food chain of business excellence and the US are still regarded as the place to be.

@ Asterion - An NYC to LA commute would be impossible. Not just hard work but impossible.East Coast/West Coast in US are separate markets, as distinctly different in every respect as HK and Berlin. @Rothco you are missing the point imo - focus less on the specific short term tax regime or favourable contract and more on the medium term of international projects experience in your resume. Having international experience, particularly if that includes managing projects across geos, add significant bucks to your bang. As for expat opportunities, well those only exist where localised talent isnt available, and with the Middle East and APAJ rapidly maturing in this respect, there are less and less needs for white Europeans to come in from outside at out of market cost. As for the US...well forget expat altogether its not even a starter.

Marsday, I've heard of a couple of US-based companies doing quite hands-on ops work which might require you to go to rather remote places. Projects would sometimes require you to travel already on Sunday night.I guess if you end up working for a big enough consultancy (like all Big4 are), I can see how they will have their North American presence clearly polarised around the two coasts and maybe Michigan for car manufacturing and will hardly ever need weekly coast-to-coast commutes.But if the company is small, the industry is not services with clients mostly located in civilised places, (that's why I asked Rothco about it), well, then it [i]can[/i] be "go fetch, dog" to anywhere in continental US...