Vanitas

When I did an adv. search for threads like this, I found that while they started off well they tended to get derailed big time because they didn't focus on the subject matter (the last one went from "you need to do this" to "I want to get this food to take with me" to "I'm going to be living near you"). Others got ignored and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I would like this thread to be the main resource for things you need to do or cover before you leave for the US from the United Kingdom. Hence I will be dividing it into sections and anyone can contribute items that they know of which needs to be sorted before you go.
Government (inc. Taxes)
-File Form 85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-leaving-the-uk-getting-your-tax-right-p85 with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
-Check with Jobcentre Plus regarding any benefits you are currently claiming. Most will stop when you move abroad (like JSA and ESA).
-Inform your Local Council you are leaving. You may be able to claim back Council Tax for the time you won't be in the UK if you paid it in one blast up front.
Medical
-Get your Medical Records from the Doctor's. You may have to pay for this. Also inform Doctor's you're emigrating and thus will be leaving the surgery.
-Stock up on any vital medications you will need whilst changing over to a US Doctor. Be aware that some items (or large quantities of items) will need a Doctor's Letter verifying you actually need the medication.
Financial
-Inform your Bank that you are moving abroad to the States. You might want to keep the account open to avoid exchange rate fees when you visit the UK.
-Transfer any savings or anything in that vein over to where you want it to be (be it in a UK or US account).
-Cancel any Insurance Policies you won't need in the US (Car, for example).
-If you're expecting a pension you may need to check on whether it can be paid in the US or if you need to take action now.
Employment
-Hand your Notice in and make sure you get the length of time right. You might lose pay or the like if you don't.
-See if you can get a reference to take over with you, sealed in an envelope (if on good terms with employer).
-Don't do anything silly on your last day of work which might jeopardize you being able to leave for the States.
Possessions
-Anything of sentimental value you can't pack could be couriered over pre-move in plenty of time. Check around for costs and applicable regulations at Customs and Border Protection. See details here: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go
-Get any last items of food or drink you want to take over with you to tide you over, again keeping in mind the Customs regulations (see link above).
-Sell anything you can't take or don't want to take. Ebay or local shops may be an idea. Charity shops are also an excellent idea.
-If renting accomodation make sure it is clean and tidy, nothing is missing from your inventory and the Landlord knows where to send a deposit refund to (or a bill for damages/cleaning).
-Make sure your Mobile Phone is unlocked and therefore can accept a US Simcard to save on roaming and all.
Family/Friends
-Make sure your family can get hold of you in an emergency (be it via email, social media, phone or whatever you choose). You might find that teaching family members to use Skype or the like is a good idea.
-In a similar vein, make sure that you have a nice send-off with your friends and family so they can all see you before you go. This may be the last chance you get for the next six months or so.
--------
What else do you think needs to be added under these categories, guys?

When I did an adv. search for threads like this, I found that while they started off well they tended to get derailed big time because they didn't focus on the subject matter (the last one went from "you need to do this" to "I want to get this food to take with me" to "I'm going to be living near you"). Others got ignored and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I would like this thread to be the main resource for things you need to do or cover before you leave for the US from the United Kingdom. Hence I will be dividing it into sections and anyone can contribute items that they know of which needs to be sorted before you go.
Government (inc. Taxes)
-File Form 85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-leaving-the-uk-getting-your-tax-right-p85 with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
-Check with Jobcentre Plus regarding any benefits you are currently claiming. Most will stop when you move abroad (like JSA and ESA).
-Inform your Local Council you are leaving. You may be able to claim back Council Tax for the time you won't be in the UK if you paid it in one blast up front.
Medical
-Get your Medical Records from the Doctor's. You may have to pay for this. Also inform Doctor's you're emigrating and thus will be leaving the surgery.
-Stock up on any vital medications you will need whilst changing over to a US Doctor. Be aware that some items (or large quantities of items) will need a Doctor's Letter verifying you actually need the medication.
Financial
-Inform your Bank that you are moving abroad to the States. You might want to keep the account open to avoid exchange rate fees when you visit the UK.
-Transfer any savings or anything in that vein over to where you want it to be (be it in a UK or US account).
-Cancel any Insurance Policies you won't need in the US (Car, for example).
-If you're expecting a pension you may need to check on whether it can be paid in the US or if you need to take action now.
Employment
-Hand your Notice in and make sure you get the length of time right. You might lose pay or the like if you don't.
-See if you can get a reference to take over with you, sealed in an envelope (if on good terms with employer).
-Don't do anything silly on your last day of work which might jeopardize you being able to leave for the States.
Possessions
-Anything of sentimental value you can't pack could be couriered over pre-move in plenty of time. Check around for costs and applicable regulations at Customs and Border Protection. See details here: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go
-Get any last items of food or drink you want to take over with you to tide you over, again keeping in mind the Customs regulations (see link above).
-Sell anything you can't take or don't want to take. Ebay or local shops may be an idea. Charity shops are also an excellent idea.
-If renting accomodation make sure it is clean and tidy, nothing is missing from your inventory and the Landlord knows where to send a deposit refund to (or a bill for damages/cleaning).
-Make sure your Mobile Phone is unlocked and therefore can accept a US Simcard to save on roaming and all.
Family/Friends
-Make sure your family can get hold of you in an emergency (be it via email, social media, phone or whatever you choose). You might find that teaching family members to use Skype or the like is a good idea.
-In a similar vein, make sure that you have a nice send-off with your friends and family so they can all see you before you go. This may be the last chance you get for the next six months or so.
--------
What else do you think needs to be added under these categories, guys?

When I did an adv. search for threads like this, I found that while they started off well they tended to get derailed big time because they didn't focus on the subject matter (the last one went from "you need to do this" to "I want to get this food to take with me" to "I'm going to be living near you"). Others got ignored and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I would like this thread to be the main resource for things you need to do or cover before you leave for the US from the United Kingdom. Hence I will be dividing it into sections and anyone can contribute items that they know of which needs to be sorted before you go.
Government (inc. Taxes)
-File Form 85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-leaving-the-uk-getting-your-tax-right-p85 with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
-Check with Jobcentre Plus regarding any benefits you are currently claiming. Most will stop when you move abroad (like JSA and ESA).
-Inform your Local Council you are leaving. You may be able to claim back Council Tax for the time you won't be in the UK if you paid it in one blast up front.
Medical
-Get your Medical Records from the Doctor's. You may have to pay for this. Also inform Doctor's you're emigrating and thus will be leaving the surgery.
-Stock up on any vital medications you will need whilst changing over to a US Doctor. Be aware that some items (or large quantities of items) will need a Doctor's Letter verifying you actually need the medication.
Financial
-Inform your Bank that you are moving abroad to the States. You might want to keep the account open to avoid exchange rate fees when you visit the UK.
-Transfer any savings or anything in that vein over to where you want it to be (be it in a UK or US account).
-Cancel any Insurance Policies you won't need in the US (Car, for example).
-If you're expecting a pension you may need to check on whether it can be paid in the US or if you need to take action now.
Employment
-Hand your Notice in and make sure you get the length of time right. You might lose pay or the like if you don't.
-See if you can get a reference to take over with you, sealed in an envelope (if on good terms with employer).
-Don't do anything silly on your last day of work which might jeopardize you being able to leave for the States.
Possessions
-Anything of sentimental value you can't pack could be couriered over pre-move in plenty of time. Check around for costs and applicable regulations at Customs and Border Protection. See details here: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go
-Get any last items of food or drink you want to take over with you to tide you over, again keeping in mind the Customs regulations (see link above).
-Sell anything you can't take or don't want to take. Ebay or local shops may be an idea. Charity shops are also an excellent idea.
-If renting accomodation make sure it is clean and tidy, nothing is missing from your inventory and the Landlord knows where to send a deposit refund to (or a bill for damages/cleaning).
-Make sure your Mobile Phone is unlocked and therefore can accept a US Simcard to save on roaming and all.
Family/Friends
-Make sure your family can get hold of you in an emergency (be it via email, social media, phone or whatever you choose). You might find that teaching family members to use Skype or the like is a good idea.
-In a similar vein, make sure that you have a nice send-off with your friends and family so they can all see you before you go. This may be the last chance you get for the next six months or so.
--------
What else do you think needs to be added under these categories, guys?

When I did an adv. search for threads like this, I found that while they started off well they tended to get derailed big time because they didn't focus on the subject matter (the last one went from "you need to do this" to "I want to get this food to take with me" to "I'm going to be living near you"). Others got ignored and pushed to the bottom of the pile.
I would like this thread to be the main resource for things you need to do or cover before you leave for the US from the United Kingdom. Hence I will be dividing it into sections and anyone can contribute items that they know of which needs to be sorted before you go.
Government (inc. Taxes)
-File Form 85 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-leaving-the-uk-getting-your-tax-right-p85 with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
-Check with Jobcentre Plus regarding any benefits you are currently claiming. Most will stop when you move abroad (like JSA and ESA).
-Inform your Local Council you are leaving. You may be able to claim back Council Tax for the time you won't be in the UK if you paid it in one blast up front.
Medical
-Get your Medical Records from the Doctor's. You may have to pay for this. Also inform Doctor's you're emigrating and thus will be leaving the surgery.
-Stock up on any vital medications you will need whilst changing over to a US Doctor. Be aware that some items (or large quantities of items) will need a Doctor's Letter verifying you actually need the medication.
Financial
-Inform your Bank that you are moving abroad to the States. You might want to keep the account open to avoid exchange rate fees when you visit the UK.
-Transfer any savings or anything in that vein over to where you want it to be (be it in a UK or US account).
-Cancel any Insurance Policies you won't need in the US (Car, for example).
-If you're expecting a pension you may need to check on whether it can be paid in the US or if you need to take action now.
Employment
-Hand your Notice in and make sure you get the length of time right. You might lose pay or the like if you don't.
-See if you can get a reference to take over with you, sealed in an envelope (if on good terms with employer).
-Don't do anything silly on your last day of work which might jeopardize you being able to leave for the States.
Possessions
-Anything of sentimental value you can't pack could be couriered over pre-move in plenty of time. Check around for costs and applicable regulations at Customs and Border Protection. See details here: http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go
-Get any last items of food or drink you want to take over with you to tide you over, again keeping in mind the Customs regulations (see link above).
-Sell anything you can't take or don't want to take. Ebay or local shops may be an idea. Charity shops are also an excellent idea.
-If renting accomodation make sure it is clean and tidy, nothing is missing from your inventory and the Landlord knows where to send a deposit refund to (or a bill for damages/cleaning).
-Make sure your Mobile Phone is unlocked and therefore can accept a US Simcard to save on roaming and all.
Family/Friends
-Make sure your family can get hold of you in an emergency (be it via email, social media, phone or whatever you choose). You might find that teaching family members to use Skype or the like is a good idea.
-In a similar vein, make sure that you have a nice send-off with your friends and family so they can all see you before you go. This may be the last chance you get for the next six months or so.
--------
What else do you think needs to be added under these categories, guys?

I thought I would write this up as I was successful in expediting my EAD.
Called USCIS on 1-800-375-5283 on 4 September.
Said 'I would like to expedite my EAD because I have been offered a job and cannot take it up until I have the right to work in the US'
I was given a list of reasons as to why my expedited EAD may be considered. These reasons are:
Severe financial loss to company or individual Extreme emergent situation Humanitarian situation Nonprofit status of requesting organization in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: Request must come from official United States Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to our Government) USCIS error Compelling interest of USCIS I selected 'severe financial loss'. I said that I had been unable to work due to waiting for the K1 process to finish - I was made redundant. I said that whether this could be consider severe or not was open to opinion.
The person at USCIS then read back to me what she had typed up and told me that someone would be in contact with 5 working days. She gave me a reference number for my request. She said there was no guarantee that my request would be granted.
On 9 September I received a letter from USCIS requesting that I fax them proof of my job offer, together with a reference number and also to fax their letter. I did that the same afternoon and also included the state exam and license I had taken in order to get the job offer. I also included a cover letter.
On 10 September I received an e-mail to tell me that my status had changed to 'card production' for my EAD. My AP was updated about 2 hours later.
I thought I would write this up as I've noticed a couple people saying that they've managed to expedite their EAD because of a job offer but did not explain how they did it.

I shall test this out at once, milord. Thanks for listening to my suggestion.
Edit: Alright, having looked at it I have one or two more suggestions on it. Would it be possible to add a "Date transferred" field? And when you view a individual user's timeline could it then show where it was transferred to and the date in a couple of fields? Not saying to have it affect the estimate at the bottom or anything, but that way in the future you might be able to get data on how long transfers take and all from NOA-T to NOA2.
Otherwise, definitely a good start.

Judging someone on whether they're newer than you or not can be hit-and-miss. They might well be wrong, but on the other hand they might be a quick study and have learnt the basics of their process quickly and somewhat accurately. I like to think I've fallen into the latter category given I didn't start offering any detailed advice for a good while until I'd had time to read some veteran responses. Even then I stick to K1 stuff and leave other processes to more knowledgeable people.
That said? You're right. A lot of the veterans do look down upon those of us who need a bit more help at times but that said, I personally get annoyed with some people who want their hand held for the entire process. There's one person in the UK forum (and you might tweak as to who I'm referring to) who has posted a separate topic asking for help every single time they come up against the most minor of obstacles like "how do I answer this field on this form". If they aren't going to get it now or try and use a bit of logic, they are going to have a hell of a time doing AOS, ROC and then Naturalization.
Asking questions is a good thing, all said. It's the key to understanding which then leads to knowledge. The trick is knowing when to ask the question to yourself and find the answer via your own means - or when you hit a brick wall when to ask out loud and understand that way. Once I was told "You don't question this veteran". But if we don't question either to ourselves or openly, it gets harder to understand and then eventually help others ourselves.

yess ofc I agree
actually it's more like the whole teach a man to fish thingy lol
some people will always starve

Overconfidence isn't perpetuating stupid. You learned.
Perpetuating stupid is when we spoon feed people the answers instead of making them find out for themselves and learning. It's like giving the answers to the people taking the test instead of making them learn the stuff. I learned it. That's why I've stuck around to help other people learn. I still learn more all the time.

I like the region-specific forums because there is a lot of stuff that applies to other countries, but not mine. I didn't find out about the region-specifics until later in the process and ended up doing a bit more work than I needed to because ours is an easier embassy.
Honestly haven't gotten too much help from individual members when I do post questions. It seems that most of the responses I get are either from people who are newer than I am and have the same question or are veterans who get irritated at you because you misread something, didn't catch a post on page 56 of a forum longer than the collective works of Shakespeare, or are just in information overload. I like the advanced search feature and have gotten a few questions answered that way, but a couple times I've had a question and the only previous forums I could find were several years old so I didn't know if the answers were still correct. A lot of stuff, including some of the posts pinned at the top of topic forums, is very outdated.

Well, my file hit Texas properly as of yesterday.. now let's see if their speed holds up..

Then maybe you need to go and read the Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits forum a bit more deeply before you put hands to keys.

Wacko, if you are going to stick your "hindquarters" out windows, expect them to get pinched.

Or very loud sex might do the trick..

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/452334-uscis-work-load-re-distibution-is-not-good-for-k-1-visa/
*sigh* I hate it when people feel the need to either type in all caps, or use increased font sizes because they think it's super important. If I were a Mod, I'd delete those kinds of posts. But then I'm a no-nonsense kind of moderator when I have that power.
Same kind of thing for people who then don't read what everyone else has said. Latest post is basically "Boo hoo, is this a bad thing?" - Hell no. Transfers to TSC over getting stuck/lost at VSC? I know what I'd pick even if it adds more time onto the entire process. I used some of T-Bone's advice, looked over my post 2-3 times and decided not to post in the end. Let someone else with more tact do it..

First off, stop typing in caps and turn your caps lock off. You are effectively shouting at other users.
Secondly, have you got a link to an article or news update from USCIS saying that Texas is now the *only* place where I-129F petitions are going to be processed? Because I can't see one. Which means you're effectively conjecturing given that no transfers have taken place from CSC to TSC. The only transfers at this time are from VSC to TSC.

First off, stop typing in caps and turn your caps lock off. You are effectively shouting at other users.
Secondly, have you got a link to an article or news update from USCIS saying that Texas is now the *only* place where I-129F petitions are going to be processed? Because I can't see one. Which means you're effectively conjecturing given that no transfers have taken place from CSC to TSC. The only transfers at this time are from VSC to TSC.

This is epic. There is no other way to describe it.

Strike 2!

one troll ejected.

Transferred to Texas today.. we're getting somewhere now!

Transferred to Texas today.. we're getting somewhere now!

Yes, yes they are. I can see why people would be glad to be rid of them once they file N-400s..

Wacko, if you are going to stick your "hindquarters" out windows, expect them to get pinched.

Wacko, if you are going to stick your "hindquarters" out windows, expect them to get pinched.