Zach41

I've used transglobal more than once and they were perfect. Once to.send stuff ahead of me and once getting family to send more stuff when I was in the US. Price was easily the best I could find for the 4 boxes I had to ship as well as my golf clubs. My only advice would be to do a little research into the paper work needed. They say they provide it, and they do provide some on their site, packing list for example, but I took no chances and included possibly more than needed. All the paperwork info I found on here. Also I was pretty honest about value, which was a concern of mine, and at about £500 declared value there were no issues. Let me know if you have any more questions.

I'm being quoted some... frankly incredible rates from both, for four boxes weighing 20 kilos each, at 30x20x20 (in)...

Parcel2Go and Transglobal both come in at around £300-£350 for UPS 3-5 day air shipping, where the likes of allfreight are charging that for sea shipping with a lead time of 6-8 weeks. Their equivalent air service is almost £800

So what's the catch?

Am I missing something here? Additional fees that wouldn't normally be listed? How would things be processed for immigration to avoid import duty using the forms?

Or would this be flat out refused because it's not a 'parcel shipment' and more of a move?

Note: I realise there are a LOT of threads about shipping and moving dotted around the forum, but there aren't any that I could see with good useful info about shipping with these two people so apologies If I've missed them! I would like to try and create a centralised post for shipping articles for people, similar to the NOA2 thread by Nich-Nick so any answers would be appreciated.

Smart Currency have been excellent for me so far. Very good rates, no commission and you pay to their UK bank so no additional charges there. Also as soon as they receive the funds from you they process a same day transfer to the US account. http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/

I know that you aren't suppopsed to get taxed or have to pay duty on importing personal and household goods, however the majority of shipping companies require you to put a value of the items on the shipping documents/packing list. Technically this is supposed to be the purchase cost and not the resale value, however if you are supposed to have owned these goods for 6 months to a year this seems a little silly. I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a value that you should stay below or if you should give an honest evaluation of cost. I know for example that for sending gifts to the USA from the UK anything with a declared value under £50 doens't require any duty to be paid on it. I know gifts are a different ball game but don't want to be stung by being too honest.

Hey! Congrats on the interview and good luck!

To DiZZyLoX, this is what the London embassy site says about the MRV Fee on the fees tab, http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/iv_fees.html:

K Visa Applicants pay the fee to the Operator Assisted Information Service prior to attending the visa interview. Instructions concerning payment will be sent to you with the appointment letter.

I would be happy to pay the fee in advance if it would mean an earlier interview date, but it doesn't look like it would make a difference!

Much like chrisandliz I phoned the DOS to find my case status, because the US Embassy in London still apparently hadn't received my case even though it was sent from the NVC on the 13th of May. DOS were able to let me know that London did in fact have my case, when exactly they received it I'm not sure. Anyway, I booked my medical a couple of days ago and also got an appointment of June 9th, so I'm ready and waiting for that elusive packet 3!