Documents - To Save or Not to Save - That is the question...

I am 100% certain someone (expat-in-scotland?  mapleleafgirl72?) posted this same exact question months & months ago, but I've been looking back through 60+ pages of visa/citizenship stuff & I can't find it...so smack me with a wet fish!

So I'm working on doing a clear out this weekend, that's about 3 years overdue - but these guests (in-laws) coming to stay at my house next weekend deserve a place to sleep that's not covered in nor blocked by piles of clutter & stuff!  (DH and I BOTH have the packrat gene... )

As far as visas & citizenship - I've got to the end of the long road - got my long coveted British passport in March.  So after 4+ years, three visas (fiancee, FLR, ILR) and one British citizenship, we got piles of crap paperwork remaining.  What do I keep?  What do I shred?  Help me - I'm drowning in a sea of old crap paperwork.

Once you naturalize, it's the end of retaining proof of address documents for immigration purposes.

If you plan to work in an organization regulated by the FSA (or etc, a travel agency or bank) in a managerial or regulated capacity, you may be asked for stuff going back 6 years.  But just 2 utility bills or similar will do fine for these cases. 

This has nothing to do with immigration however, it's just a basic rule of thumb for life in the UK.  Two items per year stashed away some place. 

I have had *SEVERAL* checks done by Kroll, for example...
http://www.krollbackgroundscreening.com/Services/BackgroundScreening.htm

and they always want the same stuff, even if they have seen it in a prior background check.   

Thanks garry!  Do I need to retain all the Home Office correspondence still longer - relating to all the visas & so on?

(All other replies, suggestions, tips still welcome too - other people who have been through it, what you kept, what you tossed...)

I've just kept official paperwork from the Home Office, copies of all visa applications (supporting documents, if still relevant, are kept elsewhere, like banking folder, housing folder and so on), all old passports and passport application forms.

For housing, for example, we've kept official documents relating to tenancy and tenancy termination, but not much else.

I am getting deja vu, too, because I'm sure we have discussed this before but can't be *rsed to search the treads! 
 

*smack* (with a wet fish of course).     We are similarly drowning.  What will I need for citizenship?  Dh is ready to throw the lot. 

But after citizenship, I'd honestly start the shredding!  And I'm a pack rat too!   

I am getting deja vu, too, because I'm sure we have discussed this before but can't be *rsed to search the treads!   

I know we did!  And I really did look last night.

I've just kept official paperwork from the Home Office, copies of all visa applications (supporting documents, if still relevant, are kept elsewhere, like banking folder, housing folder and so on), all old passports and passport application forms.

For housing, for example, we've kept official documents relating to tenancy and tenancy termination, but not much else. 

Yeah, I wonder how long I really need to hold onto all the Home Office correspondence & visa applications, etc.  I mean - I'm in, no more British immigration anything.  Hmmmm.

persephone, we are terrible packrats - and it's positively painful for us to sort through our piles & throw anything away.  (Harder for DH though - it was like wrenching a piece of his soul away earlier this morning in trying to convince him to throw away old cords that we don't even know what they go to anymore?!!!)

When I go through my citizenship pile, I'll let you know - but I don't remember needing all the proof of address stuff.  If you pull the application form & instructions off t'internet, it'll pretty much tell you what you need.

I think I'm just paranoid about an evidence trail! 

persephone, we are terrible packrats - and it's positively painful for us to sort through our piles & throw anything away.  (Harder for DH though - it was like wrenching a piece of his soul away earlier this morning in trying to convince him to throw away old cords that we don't even know what they go to anymore?!!!)

When I go through my citizenship pile, I'll let you know - but I don't remember needing all the proof of address stuff.  If you pull the application form & instructions off t'internet, it'll pretty much tell you what you need.

My husband just cheered your husband on with the cord keep.  ugh.  I feel your pain.  We have several book case shelves full of paperwork "just in case". 

I will have a look at the form, probably when it gets closer.  I didn't suspect I'd need the proof of address, but I just can't throw anything away.  A two year habit is hard to break.   ;)The discussion just kind of peaked my curiosity.  It's gone now.   

I get the double whammy on paperwork sorting this summer. First I'll be applying for my citizenship and then downsizing as much as possible for our move to the US.

*bangs head against wall*

My husband just cheered your husband on with the cord keep. 

Is it a man thing then - the cords?  We compromised that I'm going to put all the cords in a shoebox up in the loft here somewhere, and if they're still sat there, untouched, one year from now (which they will be cos they've been here 3 years already), then...

We have several book case shelves full of paperwork "just in case". 

Better than us!  Ours were in several piles on the floor & various surfaces throughout the house.  Now they are ALL in the middle of the living room floor - I'm taking no prisoners.   But if I go missing, send out the search party cos I've probably been smothered under a mountain of paperwork.  (Or choked to death with a random cord having pushed DH to the brink...)

I would keep all the Home Office approval letters and, of course, your naturalisation certificate, just in case you lose your passport.


Vicky

Thanks everyone!