Forms to fill when leaving....

I will be moving to England in April.  I know of all the forms I need to fill out on England's end; however, I am not sure if I need to fill any forms out when leaving the US.  If there are forms, would someone please steer me in the right direction so that I know where to find it?  

I apologize if this has already been asked previously.

Thanks,
Tracy

There's no real "announcement" you have to make that you're moving away from the US. But there are little things to do that you would do in any move (even if it's just across the street), such as change your address, stop your paper, notify whoever needs to know, etc. Even though I felt I'd thought of everything, when I went by the US Embassy to take care of little things, like changing my name on my Social Security card, I discovered a whole bunch more services they had that I was unaware of. Questions answered for driver's licenses, taxes, etc., forms that could be picked up and other helpful things.

If you want to keep voting, let your local voting place know your new address; they will send you absentee ballots to use. Certainly let Social Security and the Internal Revenue know where you are. Also, inform the US Embassy in London. You can try to change your driver's license address, but they'll probably just laugh it off 'yeah surrrrrre' like they did to me.

You've got a good four months to think of all this stuff. Note what comes in the mail to you during this time. Either cancel the service, or change your address (if you know the new one). Look up checks in your checkbook that you wrote for the past year. There could be an annual subscription or membership that you may have forgotten about. Is your bank/credit card company willing to send your statements overseas? Frankly, I have US bank and credit card accounts that I have found a huge help, even though I live over here. If your current accounts don't handle UK addresses, then you may want to open up an account where they do. Wachovia and American Express are companies I know of. You might even want to open up an AOL account; you can certainly "bring" that with you in your move just about anyplace. Just because you're moving to some place, don't close the door behind you.

Anyway, a long explanation just to really tell you that there aren't any "exit" forms. But you are moving, so take the next four months and think about all the things you have to do to make your move easier while you're still there, remembering it's not all that easy to run back and handle anything that may come up.

If you want to keep voting, let your local voting place know your new address; they will send you absentee ballots to use. Certainly let Social Security and the Internal Revenue know where you are. Also, inform the US Embassy in London.

errrr.....I'm beginning to think they'll never let me back in.

errrr.....I'm beginning to think they'll never let me back in.

Hey, I'm great at giving advice. Never said I was any good at taking it   But, of those three, I'd say Social Security for sure. You might have some money coming to you at age 65. (Still gives you plenty of time!)

If you want to keep voting, let your local voting place know your new address; they will send you absentee ballots to use. Certainly let Social Security and the Internal Revenue know where you are. Also, inform the US Embassy in London.

Now if you haven't let your local voting place know (because quite frankly I don't feel that I *should* vote in local elections given I do not consider it my home anymore) can you still register to vote in federal elections somewhere?  Seems to me this should still be possible.  I will look into it, but if anyone knows right off.

Also, yes, DO let SS know.  I didn't know that there was a Social Security office at the Embassy until I went there to amend my passport.  When I found out, I promptly went downstairs to their office and changed my name with them and updated my info with them.  Unfortunately, the IRS office was closed that day so I was unable to get to them to do the same, but I believe one can find the form online to fill out to send that gives them your change of address.  I have found through experience though that the IRS will find you anyway so long as you file your taxes every year.

Now if you haven't let your local voting place know (because quite frankly I don't feel that I *should* vote in local elections given I do not consider it my home anymore) can you still register to vote in federal elections somewhere?

Yes. All US citizens living overseas are allowed to vote in Federal elections. You must use the normal absentee voting procedure in your place of legal voting residence, which will be the last place you lived before leaving the United States. If you request an absentee ballot and don't get it in time (30 days before the election) you can vote using special federal write-in absentee ballot which is available from American embassies and consulates.

If you vote absentee in state or local elections, you may incur tax liability - your vote may be interpreted as an acknowledgement that you still consider that state to be your legal residence, and thus subject you to state income tax. This is not a problem if you vote only in Federal elections. States are prohibited by Federal law from using Federal elections to establish residence or domicile.

Will the USPS forward your mail to an UK address for a time? I went to change my address online and unfortuneately it has no form to change to an international address.  I guess I will have to fill in the form at the USPS office.

Will the USPS forward your mail to an UK address for a time? I went to change my address online and unfortuneately it has no form to change to an international address.  I guess I will have to fill in the form at the USPS office.

I tried to do it my local post office, but I couldn't.  They only forward it to you if it is a domestic move.

bvamin

I had one clerk at my local post office say they would --no problem...and another who said they couldnt--- of course this was a small rural post office who never heard of such things as moving out of the country :-)

Helena

No problems with US mail forwarding here.......no charge and they did it up to one year (altho my magazine subscriptions were 2-3 months late). Thats more than I can say for the Royal Mail, who charge in 3 month increments for forwarding!