'The Move'

[wee carrington 33]

We are now at the stage where we have the plane tickets booked and we are starting to tie everything in the UK up for the move to the US.

We have a list of things we need to get done before we go (ie. HM Revenue & Customs, bills, ect) For those in the US: What are some of the things you came up against that maybe in hind sight you wish you would have considered sooner?

What are/were the essentials on your check list to get done before you make/made the move?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

[Adriene H 89]

We are now at the stage where we have the plane tickets booked and we are starting to tie everything in the UK up for the move to the US.

We have a list of things we need to get done before we go (ie. HM Revenue & Customs, bills, ect) For those in the US: What are some of the things you came up against that maybe in hind sight you wish you would have considered sooner?

What are/were the essentials on your check list to get done before you make/made the move?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

Do you have any pets? Taking pets to a different country can be a

long and expensive process

[Boiler 43,396]

Should have got an AMEX Card, would have helped kick start the credit rating.

[wee carrington 33]

Do you have any pets? Taking pets to a different country can be a

long and expensive process

Thanks for the reply Nope, no pets for us just yet.

[Chris921 13]

lots of lucozade..i wish i had done this....being ill and not being able to get the stuff here sucks! erm yeah not alot ese i would be worried about tbh,

[my uk love 0]

Should have got an AMEX Card, would have helped kick start the credit rating.

I don't think Amex card will help much most places or merchants here choose not to take it....The card is attached to expensive fees.

[Boiler 43,396]

That was not the point.

[my uk love 0]

That was not the point.

The point was to use the card to help your credit ratings right? Well if you have a hard time finding a place that takes the card ...the whole point is useless. You need to be able to use the card on a regular basis to make a difference in your credit. That is JMO. Sorry if I offended you.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

We wished he had listed his two cars for sale sooner. He had to leave one car with his mum with papers all signed. Well she didn't bother to contact him when a shyster came along and offered about a fourth of what he wanted for it. She just took the offer and sold the car. If he was going to "give" it away, he would have given it to his son. Ugh!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I was surprised at how smoothly everything went (if you haven't already used the services of a professional moving company, I highly recommend it; they took care of all customs paperwork and it was a lot cheaper than I had imagined!), but one thing I did forget to do was cancel my cell phone service well in advance. I sent the letter off (they usually require 30 days' warning) before I left, but what I hadn't anticipated was there was a piece of information I left off the letter - it took three more months and my parents having to forward mail from the UK to get everything properly sorted!

[wee carrington 33]

I was surprised at how smoothly everything went (if you haven't already used the services of a professional moving company, I highly recommend it; they took care of all customs paperwork and it was a lot cheaper than I had imagined!), but one thing I did forget to do was cancel my cell phone service well in advance. I sent the letter off (they usually require 30 days' warning) before I left, but what I hadn't anticipated was there was a piece of information I left off the letter - it took three more months and my parents having to forward mail from the UK to get everything properly sorted!

Thanks very much for that! We're looking into different moving companies at the moment. I found the thread on here that Poiteen started. Do you have any recommendations as far at that goes? We're currently looking at: sevenseasworldwide.com and shipit.co.uk

[Ellesse 11]

I used anglopacific (www.anglopacific.co.uk) for my move - I had spoken to a number of companies (including Seven Seas and John Mason), but they offered a reasonable deal and were really helpful (or have been so far!)

The one thing I wish I'd done prior to moving was sorting out how to move my money from the UK when I needed it. I didn't want to move it all at once given the interest rate in the US is worse than the UK, so I set up an account at the Post Office and UKForex. Not being in the UK made it a bit more tricky as they like having a UK address to send verification information to. So, if you're planning on moving savings gradually, or would like to keep some money in UK bank accounts for a while, it might be an idea to set up those accounts prior to leaving the UK.

Good luck with the move.

L

[Robert&Karen 264]

Eat bacon until you are sick of it, because in the US we only have streaky bacon.

[wee carrington 33]

Eat bacon until you are sick of it, because in the US we only have streaky bacon.

No problem there, we are not back bacon loving folk Streaky bacon here we come!!

I used anglopacific (www.anglopacific.co.uk) for my move - I had spoken to a number of companies (including Seven Seas and John Mason), but they offered a reasonable deal and were really helpful (or have been so far!)

The one thing I wish I'd done prior to moving was sorting out how to move my money from the UK when I needed it. I didn't want to move it all at once given the interest rate in the US is worse than the UK, so I set up an account at the Post Office and UKForex. Not being in the UK made it a bit more tricky as they like having a UK address to send verification information to. So, if you're planning on moving savings gradually, or would like to keep some money in UK bank accounts for a while, it might be an idea to set up those accounts prior to leaving the UK.

Good luck with the move.

L

Thanks!! Someone else on here had posted about opening a Post Office account, so would you suggest that's one of the best options as far as transferring money goes?

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I used http://www.excess-baggage.co.uk , but having read most of the moving thread, it really seems as if many companies are competent and in the end it really comes down to personal preference! You might also be restricted if certain companies don't service your area. You might also like to get a few quotes from several companies first.

With regards to transferring money, I've kept a UK account I could use easily online (Smile); if I receive a check in the UK my parents are able to deposit it at the Post Office. I use paypal to transfer money between my UK and US bank accounts; the exchange rates are reasonable and the transfer fees low.

I like to keep a current UK credit card and I use this for when I visit the UK. I've been paying off the charges I incurred on it this summer - setting up a repayment plan through paypal I pay $1.50 to transfer $300 or $3 to transfer $600 - not bad!

Edited November 29, 2011 by Alex & Rachel