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Guide to shipping personal effects by courier...

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Australia
Timeline

Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

July 2007 - met Jesse at a beach party held by mutual friends in Long Island, NY

May 2008 - J-1 visa expired, had to move back to Australia

July 2008-September 2008 - lived with Jesse for three months in Staten Island, NY

March 2009 - Jesse comes to Australia for 3 weeks

April 2009 - Engaged!

05/20/09 - I-129F petition mailed in

05/22/09 - NOA1!

05/25/09 - touch

09/09/09 - NOA2!

10/01/09 - due to fiance's illness, we are abandoning pursuit of K-1 at this point. Packet 3 received from consulate but won't be returned.

arnie.jpg

Our baby boy, Arnie.

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Filed: Other Country: United Kingdom
Timeline
Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

I found the hardest part was completing the forms I think it was called a WayBill??? and making up the lists of contents with how much each item was worth.

The rest was easy, they brought me the packing boxes I filled them they sealed them the day the came to collect them and they deliverd them to me here in US 4 weeks later.

Good idea to have a guide. even if it just lists the companies that people can contact. Might even get a few reviews for companies that others have used.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Australia
Timeline
I found the hardest part was completing the forms I think it was called a WayBill??? and making up the lists of contents with how much each item was worth.

The rest was easy, they brought me the packing boxes I filled them they sealed them the day the came to collect them and they deliverd them to me here in US 4 weeks later.

Good idea to have a guide. even if it just lists the companies that people can contact. Might even get a few reviews for companies that others have used.

Yeah, I find a lot of customers look at the Air Waybill and freak a bit because it is a LOT of information that needs to go on there! I will be covering Air Waybills/connotes/whatever FedEx calls them too.

I was thinking about finding contacts for a few countries, haven't made up a list yet... But that's something I can add to if there's a demand for certain countries.

As for different companies, there's only two that I would really consider for moving personal effects overseas - FedEx and DHL - but I also base that upon the fact that they are really the only options besides the post for shipping stuff out of Australia on a one-off customer level. There are a couple of other companies here which could do it, but specialize in domestic shipments, and don't exist in any other country regardless. I would think that FedEx and DHL are the most likely to exist in most of the countries VJer's are in anyway (maybe UPS too, but they are not here in Australia so I don't have a lot of knowledge about them).

If anyone does have any experiences shipping overseas, let me know (and name the company you used).

July 2007 - met Jesse at a beach party held by mutual friends in Long Island, NY

May 2008 - J-1 visa expired, had to move back to Australia

July 2008-September 2008 - lived with Jesse for three months in Staten Island, NY

March 2009 - Jesse comes to Australia for 3 weeks

April 2009 - Engaged!

05/20/09 - I-129F petition mailed in

05/22/09 - NOA1!

05/25/09 - touch

09/09/09 - NOA2!

10/01/09 - due to fiance's illness, we are abandoning pursuit of K-1 at this point. Packet 3 received from consulate but won't be returned.

arnie.jpg

Our baby boy, Arnie.

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I think sending your belongings through the postal system (Australia Post, Japan Post, etc), while not necessarily the quickest, is however the easiest and cheapest.

I've moved between 3 countries in the last 4 years, packed what I could as luggage and used the postal system for everything else. I've sent a few boxes I needed more urgently via air mail but for everything else I just slow boated it. The only paperwork you need is the customs declaration form which is very straight forward. I have sent 15+ boxes and have never lost a single box or had anything damaged.

oh and I only use Fedex or DHL if I need important documents delivered ASAP (passports, etc).. not for shipping personal effects because it's simply too expensive and not worth it for me

DCF Timeline here

POE Timeline

08/24/2008 POE Seattle

08/29/2008 SSN assigned

09/08/2008 SSN (Card) received

09/29/2008 Green Card received

I-90 Timeline (USCIS error)

11/10/2008 Send I-90 to Texas service center

12/xx/2008 NOA1

01/07/2009 Card production ordered

01/14/2009 Card mailed

01/xx/2009 Card received

I-751 Timeline

06/02/2010 Send I-751 to California service center

06/04/2010 Received at CSC

06/07/2010 NOA1

06/09/2010 Check cashed

07/27/2010 Biometrics

07/28/2010 Touch

09/02/2010 Approved

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Australia
Timeline
I think sending your belongings through the postal system (Australia Post, Japan Post, etc), while not necessarily the quickest, is however the easiest and cheapest.

I've moved between 3 countries in the last 4 years, packed what I could as luggage and used the postal system for everything else. I've sent a few boxes I needed more urgently via air mail but for everything else I just slow boated it. The only paperwork you need is the customs declaration form which is very straight forward. I have sent 15+ boxes and have never lost a single box or had anything damaged.

oh and I only use Fedex or DHL if I need important documents delivered ASAP (passports, etc).. not for shipping personal effects because it's simply too expensive and not worth it for me

I personally have never lost anything through the post either (both Aussie Post and USPS) but the amount of customers I get who say "Last time I sent through the post it got lost" or have shown me Registered Post tracking for a package that was signed for by a random in Johannesburg instead of going to the addressee in Pretoria... I think if you have the money, couriers are a solid option.

July 2007 - met Jesse at a beach party held by mutual friends in Long Island, NY

May 2008 - J-1 visa expired, had to move back to Australia

July 2008-September 2008 - lived with Jesse for three months in Staten Island, NY

March 2009 - Jesse comes to Australia for 3 weeks

April 2009 - Engaged!

05/20/09 - I-129F petition mailed in

05/22/09 - NOA1!

05/25/09 - touch

09/09/09 - NOA2!

10/01/09 - due to fiance's illness, we are abandoning pursuit of K-1 at this point. Packet 3 received from consulate but won't be returned.

arnie.jpg

Our baby boy, Arnie.

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Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Australia
Timeline
Hey all,

I see a lot of questions around about what the best way is to get personal effects over to the US. I work in the freight logistics industry and I have a pretty solid knowledge in the area of shipping via international couriers so I thought I'd write up a guide for VJer's in case anybody is interested in that path.

What I'd like to know before I begin writing it is what questions are you most likely to want answered? Transit time? Customs? Cost? What to expect?

I will be including links to all the major paperwork you need when sending items via courier to the US - namely, the customs declaration and the US Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles.

Cheers!

What a great idea!

I think the question I would most want answered is price. How do certain companies charge - $ per kg/lb etc.

01/09/09 - Sent I-129F

Visa Approved!

23/07/10 - Arrived in the U.S.

28/08/10 - Got Married

20/10/10 - Sent AOS

04/11/10 - InfoPass Appointment to request an Expedited AP

05/11/10 - Expedited AP Approved! RFE requested for AOS

01/02/11 - RFE sent

01/01/11 - RFE Received

01/12/11 - Biometrics taken

01/28/11 - EAD Approved

02/02/11 - AOS moved to CSC

03/07/11 - Greencard Approved!

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Belgium
Timeline

Oh, now these are some solid ideas.

I've only been looking into international moving companies, but I never considered DHL/UPS before for shipping my personal effects.

Hmm, I wonder if our national Postal Service has similar services.

--BaWa

Our K1 Visa timeline

03-28-09 : I-129F mailed to USCIS

03-30-09 : I-129F received at USCIS

03-31-09 : check cashed by USCIS

03-31-09 : NOA1 email

04-02-09 : check cleared at bank

04-04-09 : NOA1 hard copy received

07-21-09 : Touched

07-22-09 : NOA2 email

07-25-09 : NOA2 hard copy received

08-06-09 : Case received at NVC

08-07-09 : Case forwarded to US Embassy in Brussels

08-19-09 : Packet 3 received from US Embassy

09-03-09 : Medical completed

09-03-09 : Packet 3 checklist mailed back to US Embassy

09-10-09 : Interview!

09-17-09 : Turn in two missing forms, Approved, Got the VISA!

10-21-09 : POE Washington DC

11-08-09 : Married

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