One month to go - emigration checklist

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

Hi everyone,

 

I fly in exactly one month, so have put together my checklist of things to do before I leave. Is there anything else you think is missing?

 

• Renew medical driving license (expires early next year - mine are only issued for 3 years due to diabetes)

 

• Contact HMRC to arrange income tax refund (anyone know if I can do this the day before I leave, or do I have to wait until I’ve left and then do it? My last day at work is 8th November and I’m emigrating on 13th November - I’ll receive my last wage packet on 24th November - so does this mean I need to wait until after 24th November?)

 

• Cancel phone contract

 

• Contact pension company to arrange transferring money to 401K (I’m with Fidelity, who also operate in the US, so luckily, my pension can be moved over).

 

• Print off all payslips for 2019.

 

• Scrap car (31st October) - notify DVLA of change of ownership.

 

• Register for proxy vote online

 

• Call student loan company to let them know I’m moving/find out how much I owe them.

 

• Print off AOS forms and check what documents I need to bring with me for that (if anyone has a list, I’d much appreciate it!)

 

• Arrange for suitcase to be shipped (flying with two, will have a third shipped separately, as cheaper to do that)

 

• Get six months supply of meds from GP (appointment is this week to arrange this).

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Zoeeeeeee

[Andy & Val 494]

From every indication, it seems you have zero hope of ever stepping foot into the UK again...Lol

Congratulations for your approval and wishing you all the good things life has to offer moving forward into this next and important chapter.

[Mrs Ryan Carreras 247]

1 hour ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Contact HMRC to arrange income tax refund (anyone know if I can do this the day before I leave, or do I have to wait until I’ve left and then do it?

Are you talking about p85? 
The tax form we can answer as we tried to fill this form out on-line last night  

It required that he enter the date he landed on US Soil and would not let us post date. 
 

Almost positive you need to wait. 



 

 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

1 hour ago, Andy & Val said:

From every indication, it seems you have zero hope of ever stepping foot into the UK again...Lol

Congratulations for your approval and wishing you all the good things life has to offer moving forward into this next and important chapter.

Nah, I’ll be coming back to visit every year (so am keeping my debit account and credit card account open) - but as US will be my permanent home, things like student loan, pension, etc, all need sorting 🙃

[Andy & Val 494]

1 minute ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Nah, I’ll be coming back to visit every year (so am keeping my debit account and credit card account open) - but as US will be my permanent home, things like student loan, pension, etc, all need sorting 🙃

Haha okay.

All the best my dear!

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

1 hour ago, Sarah n Ryan said:

Are you talking about p85? 
The tax form we can answer as we tried to fill this form out on-line last night  

It required that he enter the date he landed on US Soil and would not let us post date. 
 

Almost positive you need to wait. 



 

 

Gotcha - I thought as much - I will also wait until after 24th November, as my last wage will be taxed too, so will want that figure including also 🙃.

 

Does Ryan have his flight booked now? 

Just now, Andy & Val said:

Haha okay.

All the best my dear!

Thank you 🙏 

[Mrs Ryan Carreras 247]

Just now, Zoeeeeeee said:

Does Ryan have his flight booked now? 

He flies in on the 23rd of this month. 

Cant wait !

Bet you’re excited as well ? 
We are “literally” doing the same thing as you right now and trying to make sure we get everything we need in the U.K. before he leaves plus organize and start on the AOS Forms already.  
I scheduled the wedding November 8th (thankfully we get the certificate the same day). 
We have his social security form filled out etc, etc ... 

 So much paperwork that I think it fills up one room already 😆. 
Going to stalk your post and hope a few respond. 
 

 

 

[JFH 12,190]

Not sure why you’re renewing your DL if you are leaving in a month. Which state are you moving to? Check the local DMV requirements but most require you to have state license within 30 days if moving (some have an even shorter time). WA is 30 days. 

 

Good luck with everything! How are you shipping the suitcase? It sounds interesting if it’s cheaper than excess baggage. I shipped 33 crates here and it was a nightmare. Took 5 months and I almost lost everything. 

 

Medical records. Just remembered that. I have epilepsy and brought some documents with me that the consultant gave me to bring here but they said it would have been helpful here if they could have seen my full EEGs and MRIs. They tried calling the hospital in the U.K. to get them but due to the time difference there was no one there to answer the phone. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by JFH

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

33 minutes ago, JFH said:

Not sure why you’re renewing your DL if you are leaving in a month. Which state are you moving to? Check the local DMV requirements but most require you to have state license within 30 days if moving (some have an even shorter time). WA is 30 days. 

It’s free for me to renew (because they’re only issued for 3 years), so feel like I might as well - whilst I don’t plan to be driving until I have a US license, say something random happened (other half was kidnapped and I needed to track him in a Liam-Neeson-style fashion, for example), would be better to have a not-expired license  (I mean, Liam Neeson definitely wouldn’t use Uber or the bus)...

 

33 minutes ago, JFH said:

 

Good luck with everything! How are you shipping the suitcase? It sounds interesting if it’s cheaper than excess baggage. I shipped 33 crates here and it was a nightmare. Took 5 months and I almost lost everything. 

I’m flying with United - my first suitcase costs $60 (fine)...second suitcase costs $100 (fine)...third suitcase is $200 (nope!). 

 

Third suitcase will be going by sendmybag.com - I used them in 2017 - costs around £100 for a suitcase weighing up to 30kg. To be honest, depending on how heavy my cases are, I may send two via ‘sendmybag’, as whilst it’s a little more expensive than the $100 with United, I can pack an extra 7kg per case. Not certain I’ll need to though, as most of my stuff is over there already 🙃.

 

33 minutes ago, JFH said:

 

Medical records. Just remembered that. I have epilepsy and brought some documents with me that the consultant gave me to bring here but they said it would have been helpful here if they could have seen my full EEGs and MRIs. They tried calling the hospital in the U.K. to get them but due to the time difference there was no one there to answer the phone. 

That’s a good shout - though the difficulty is, until you see the doctor over there, you don’t know what info they’d like...having said that, I have a couple of friends who are doctors there, so I’ll ask them what they’d want and link in with my doctors here 🙃.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

44 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

It’s free for me to renew (because they’re only issued for 3 years), so feel like I might as well - whilst I don’t plan to be driving until I have a US license, say something random happened (other half was kidnapped and I needed to track him in a Liam-Neeson-style fashion, for example), would be better to have a not-expired license  (I mean, Liam Neeson definitely wouldn’t use Uber or the bus).

 

New California Residents

When you become a California resident and you want to drive in California, you must apply for a California DL within 10 days. Residency is established in a variety of ways, including the following:

• Being registered to vote in California elections.
• Paying resident tuition at a California college or university.
• Filing for a homeowner’s property tax exemption.
• Receiving any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents.

Adults Visiting California

Visitors over 18 years old with a valid DL from their home state or country may drive in California without getting a California DL as long as their home state or country DL is valid.

[JFH 12,190]

43 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

would be better to have a not-expired license 

But it won’t be valid. UK licenses are only valid whilst you are living in the U.K. Should you find yourself needing to drive in an emergency and for some reason you are stopped by the police (tail light out seems to be the number one thing these days), or you are hit by another car and they see your license isn’t valid you have a much bigger issue on your hands. Even if you are not planning on driving it’s useful to have a state ID or license for age verification when buying alcohol, etc. it’s just easier when it’s a form of ID they recognize. 

 

I used to love using my European passports as ID here but it soon becomes less of a novelty and more of an inconvenience when they didn’t know what to do with them or where to find the date of birth to enter into the register or something. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Even illegals can get a driver license in CA. It will not be realID compliant for boarding a plane and does not have to be accepted by law enforcement if used outside of California.

 

 

 

Governor Brown signed AB 60 into law in 2013, which directs the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue a driver's license to any California resident who is eligible, regardless of immigration status. This means that an applicant who is undocumented can receive a driver's license under AB 60.

[yuna628 9,680]

Inherently there is nothing wrong with renewing the UK license. In fact some states will want to see a valid foreign license to exchange it when you go through the process of getting a US license. That way you won't have to start from complete scratch, and can bypass a lot of new driver stuff. If they wanted to visit the UK, they could also drive on the UK license as well. I know my husband's license has ages left to go before expiry.

 

As far as the SLC goes OP. Beware. They will likely tell you a bunch of nonsense, and it may take a few tries. What you will really need to do is send in a particular form, and letter explaining your situation. You'll have to continue to do this every year until you get a US job and begin repayments. Then every year you'll be required to send them another letter and copies of six months of paystubs for 're-evaluations'. For ease, it is good to keep a UK bank account open and put a lump sum into that every year, to cover the cost of the payments you make each month.

 

Make sure to inform your banks that you are moving abroad, I have seen people get accounts frozen because the bank freaked out. Husband had multiple accounts, and some have proved more difficult than others in updating information, such as getting new cards sent to the house or even so much as logging into that account from a different country. Also.. get rid of any ISA accounts, should you have them.

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

 

New California Residents

When you become a California resident and you want to drive in California, you must apply for a California DL within 10 days. Residency is established in a variety of ways, including the following:

• Being registered to vote in California elections.
• Paying resident tuition at a California college or university.
• Filing for a homeowner’s property tax exemption.
• Receiving any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents.

Adults Visiting California

Visitors over 18 years old with a valid DL from their home state or country may drive in California without getting a California DL as long as their home state or country DL is valid.

See, I’d originally planned to apply for an AB 60, however, read a thread on here that said I can’t until after the 90 days are up...

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

1 hour ago, yuna628 said:

Inherently there is nothing wrong with renewing the UK license. In fact some states will want to see a valid foreign license to exchange it when you go through the process of getting a US license. That way you won't have to start from complete scratch, and can bypass a lot of new driver stuff. If they wanted to visit the UK, they could also drive on the UK license as well. I know my husband's license has ages left to go before expiry.

 

As far as the SLC goes OP. Beware. They will likely tell you a bunch of nonsense, and it may take a few tries. What you will really need to do is send in a particular form, and letter explaining your situation. You'll have to continue to do this every year until you get a US job and begin repayments. Then every year you'll be required to send them another letter and copies of six months of paystubs for 're-evaluations'. For ease, it is good to keep a UK bank account open and put a lump sum into that every year, to cover the cost of the payments you make each month.

 

Make sure to inform your banks that you are moving abroad, I have seen people get accounts frozen because the bank freaked out. Husband had multiple accounts, and some have proved more difficult than others in updating information, such as getting new cards sent to the house or even so much as logging into that account from a different country. Also.. get rid of any ISA accounts, should you have them.

I think this is more the reason why I’m going to renew it - if it can help me, in any way, shape or form, it’s worth it, as apart from the 15 minutes spent filling in the form online, it costs me nothing...

 

ISA closed already 🙃