best way to move usc savings to uk

hi all,could someone please advise on how a usc moves savings in hsbc to the uk,wife ( usc )...has been told by HSBC local bank that her best way to move her savings is to get from them a international cheque,and deposit this into her uk account when she goes to open it,should there be any problem with this....also if she brings that cheque,is there a certain amount that she has to declare either to i/o officer or customs....or is it better to wire the tranfer...any help please because we have 2 weeks until she flys to uk to be with me....cheers

I know in the US you have to declare if you bring in more than $10,000. 

I've been using www.xe.com to transfer money to my husband's uk account.  There's no fee from either my US bank (Wellsfargo) or his UK bank (HSBC).  It's a bit of a pain to set it up (you have to have the account number and routing number from the US and the IBAN and Sort Code from the UK account) but once it's set up it's really easy.  It takes about a week to transfer, you get the best exchange rate, and you can transfer up to around 9000$ at a time.

I don't know about using a check.

Good luck!

Hi British Bulldog

Please speak to the very many Currency Exchange specialists who offer better rates and services than the big banks.

They've recently become more visible to the general public in the UK as many Brit's (including myself!) look to buy properties all over the world. Their services also help out the small businessman (me) as well as immigrants etc (the many users of this forum and others like it)

The method mentioned by UKurs is also perfectly viable, it will be a factor depnding on how much money you are thinking of.

Just a quick yahoo or googly search will bring up quite a few hits, and Hifx are one of the more well known ones. Speak to perhaps 4/5 of them to see who gives you the best deal for your circumstances. The least effective of these currency specialists will still be better than the high street banks.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!