Moving Steps and Questions

My visa has not arrived yet, but it's getting close to the cut off date. What I'm asking is what proper steps do I take to make my transition to the UK as smooth as possible. Here are a couple of questions I have at the moment:


• How do I go about moving money? Paypal? Do I take everything out, cancel it, and then open a new account once I'm in the UK? I still have a credit card bill I'm still paying off, so I'm not sure how to go about doing anything.
• Should I wait till I get a confirmation or give my boss a heads up? I haven't told my boss/managers about the move. It's a simple retail job, and I was going to issue the two weeks notice once I received confirmation that a decision has been made.
• How do I go about moving medicine and doctors? Would I get all of my forms and bring them to the UK to continue medications? Is this something I have to discuss with the insurance I have over here?

Thank you!

I'd recommend keeping your US bank account open if you can. You can use TransferWise to send smaller amounts back n forth without many fees, if you have a larger amount (5-6 figures) you would want to shop around for rates & fees. It will take time to set up a bank account in the UK as you'll need specific mail to show proof of residency (each bank has slightly different requirements, council tax is usually good though).

Don't forget to fill out the TOR (transfer of residence) form in case you need to ship or declare anything when you arrive. It's good for 12 months, just give any details you have for what you plan to bring when submitting it.

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Also, don't give notice until you have a decision. If for any reason it's not an approval you don't want to be without a job/housing while working out the issues. I can almost guarantee with the advice from this forum it'll be an approval but the timelines have also been a bit slow since the move to NY!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

My visa has not arrived yet, but it's getting close to the cut off date. What I'm asking is what proper steps do I take to make my transition to the UK as smooth as possible. Here are a couple of questions I have at the moment:


• How do I go about moving money? Paypal? Do I take everything out, cancel it, and then open a new account once I'm in the UK? I still have a credit card bill I'm still paying off, so I'm not sure how to go about doing anything.

Paypal is an expensive way of moving money. Almost all of us use Transferwise regularly, it's great. Keep your US accounts open.

You should be able to your credit card bill over the phone/skype from here but if you have an online account, it's even easier to pay the bill directly from your bank account in the US.
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• How do I go about moving medicine and doctors? Would I get all of my forms and bring them to the UK to continue medications? Is this something I have to discuss with the insurance I have over here?

Thank you! [/list]

If you have a complicated medical history, bring your notes with you. If not, just bring a list of your medications, dosages and what you are taking them for.

Find a GP here.
https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/GP/LocationSearch/4

Then register with them according to their requirements, they tend to vary a little but you're likely to need to show proof of address and your visa.

You might want to keep your US bank account open, even after you leave, if you can feasibly do so (if there aren't fees that would just gobble it up). Once you're moved, it's almost impossible to get a bank account in the USA. And they are really handy to have - direct deposit of tax refunds, paying US bills, stuff like that. It's also nice to have US credit cards, especially if they have no foreign transaction fees.

As noted above, don't inform your employer that you "might be" or are "expecting to" leave. When you have approval, that's soon enough. Traditionally one gives two week notices, when possible. If not possible, as much as you can.

Transferwise is easy to set up and easy to move money over with. Once you have a UK bank account, you can do the transfers online. In either direction. They give you good rates, and you have a choice of several different options for how you have the money sent.

Almost there, you'll be on the way soon! 

I agree with the advice above.

Transferwise for moving your money.
Keep at least one free US account open.
Keep your US credit card(s) open because you won't have UK credit initially.  You have to start as if you're a new person over here, so no credit.

I agree with your plan to hold off notifying your boss until you have your approval in hand.

Go to your GP and any specialists you see and request copies of your notes, especially test results for things you've been monitoring.  Physically bring these with you.  When/if you show them to your new GP over here (getting the GP interested might not happen, depending on your medical history) and the GP says, "This is all very interesting... do you mind if I hold on to these for a bit so I can read everything in detail?" only give them photocopies.  I handed mine over to my GP two years ago, and I hope to get them back at an appointment next month.  I've never been without them before (I'm a complicated case), and it makes me nervous to not have them.  Plus, they're my records going back to my infancy.  I wants them.

I'm going to...
 

• Continue holding off on telling my managers and boss anything
• Once I get a confirmation, I'll begin making final appointments with my doctors and get as much paperwork as I can
• I'm going to switch banks before I go. My current bank charges me once my paychecks stop coming in and I'm not for it

Did any of you guys bring your wedding stuff with you? Half of it is with me and the other half is with me. I'm sure my mother has no issues keeping my wedding dress.

Also, in terms of driving in the UK---my husband and his family are going to teach me how to drive on the opposite side of the road, as far as licenses go, would I just need my license from America or is it more complicated then that?

Also, in terms of driving in the UK---my husband and his family are going to teach me how to drive on the opposite side of the road, as far as licenses go, would I just need my license from America or is it more complicated then that?

You can drive on your US license for one year only. After that, you need to have a full UK license or drive as a leaner.

It is not easy and you will need to take some official lessons in order to learn how to pass the test. It's great to get practice in with family as well though.

It can take some time to get through both the theory and practical tests so it's a good idea to get started sooner rather than later.


https://www.gov.uk/learn-to-drive-a-car

https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-your-full-driving-licence

It can take some time to get through both the theory and practical tests so it's a good idea to get started sooner rather than later.


https://www.gov.uk/learn-to-drive-a-car

https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-your-full-driving-licence

Yes, I waited until I'd been here until almost two years to start taking lessons. BIG mistake - I should have done it much sooner. There are a lot of things that are the same here, as far as driving, but just enough is different that it will throw you. My biggest problem was with sitting on the wrong side of the car. I could handle driving on the "wrong" side of the road, but being on the wrong side of the car while doing it just drove me buggy. That and I'd been driving in So Calif for decades, with minimal pedestrians. Here it's like being in a video game - who's going to pop out  and walk in front of you first? 

Also, if you want, you can get a license that's good for just automatic transmission cars. That way, unless you're already familiar with driving a manual transmission, you can get through all the theory and practical and be driving (if you have an auto trans car) and then go back and take just a manual practical test later, once you are really comfortable with driving here with UK rules. (That's my plan, anyway. I've made it to having the license for automatic only, which means I can still rent a car when I go back to the States, which was my primary purpose.)