Delectable1

Hi all,

I'm relocating permanently from the UK to the US next year.

My understanding is that US bank accounts are fee paying unlike the UK. Is that right? I'll appreciate suggestions for non fee paying bank accounts operated by banks in the DC, MD, Virginia area please. I have a permanent US address, what documents are customary?

I'll appreciate your suggestions for shipping about 4 suitcases worth of personal belongings please. Airlines cost about £65 for an additional 23kg suitcase so I'll like to keep it about that.

How does one go about obtaining health insurance in the US without a job?

Thank you.

Pulaski

Are you a US citizen, and if not on what basis are you eligible to live in the US?

You aren't likely to do significantly better than the excess baggage fee you have found.

Find health insurance via through the state healthcare portal for the state you'll be living in, or through healthcare.gov - which will send you to the state portal.

Bank accounts are commonly free, but only free subject to a minimum monthly deposit or minimum balances of deposits and loans. In other words if you are generating profits for the bank they will usually throw in a checking (current) account for free.

Twinkle0927

I used Transglobal Express to send over 30 boxes by ship. They were mostly books so ship made more sense than air because of the weight. It took months but I was in no hurry for them. Transglobal were OK to deal with in the U.K., a few hiccups but nothing major. However, once the stuff reached the USA Troy Shipping got involved and it all became a mess. They didn't complete the customs documentation correctly (I paid the extra fee for them to do it) so when I went to Seattle customs I couldn't have my boxes. They delayed the paperwork so much that my stuff was being prepared to go to an auction house as "unclaimed goods" by the time I got it. Emails went unanswered. Phone calls were passed from person to person. They called me at 6 am demanding payment of bills that had been paid weeks beforehand (they are on the east coast and obviously didn't even think that 9 am for them is not 9 am for us here on the west coast). When I sent proof of the payment they were demanding I received no apology for the incorrect demands, just excuses about staff sickness, etc. They were the most unprofessional outfit I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.

LondontoDMV

Thanks for taking time to share your experience. I have about 4 suitcases. If I can't reduce it any further it'll have to be flight checked in luggage although I've considered going by cruise ship. Lol!

petitefrancaise

With no job I am guessing that you won't have a regular monthly amount being paid to you via direct deposit? This is usually the pre-requisite for getting the bank fees waived.

You could try a credit union? They usually don't charge fees but will have entry criteria. I opened one using my gym membership ( which had actually expired.....) so choose one and click through to the list of entry requirements to see if you can swing one of the those.

You will need a social security number for the credit union though, so wait until you have it if you want to go that route.

Banks will generally need:
2 proofs of ID - one of which must be a government issued one - like your passport. The other could be driver's license or an existing credit/debit card. They may want to see which visa you have for the USA so take your passport anyway
proof of US address
a US telephone number so either get a sim card or get a free number by opening a gmail account in the usa and go to google voice.
Banks don't need a social security number to open a non-interest bearing account but the clerk may not know this. Either speak to a more senior person or go to a different bank/branch.

Pulaski

They don't need an SSN, but they do need a "government issued ID number", for which a passport number suffices, but as PF said, you need to find a bank/credit onion member of staff who knows that.

Banks, and other financial institutions, including credit unions, are required under the USA PATRIOT Act to obtain proof of four pieces of information for all new customers: name, address, date of birth, and a government issued ID number.

Twinkle0927

Why are you using two accounts (and getting confused as to which one you are logged in with)? I got the notifications in my email and read them before you deleted the posts.

I'm not going to answer any further as it's a waste of time. You never answered our questions in your previous thread where you claimed to have been a green card holder for over a year but now "looking to move to the USA" (which isn't possible - a green card holder already lives in the USA) and now you say you're not going until next year. If you ever had a green card, your status is probably considered abandoned by now anyway. If all you had a year ago was an immigrant visa and you never entered the USA, that's also invalid now.

Pulaski

Which other account is this connected to?

Katdog

Hey Twinkle, thanks for sharing this experience, definitely interesting...

Just wanted to ask, how did Troy Shipping get involved? I follow you using Transglobal, but is that maybe the partner they use to ship from POE to residential on US mainland? Just curious as I'm about to go thru the same process (albeit maybe not with Transglobal)...

Twinkle0927

The one with the deleted posts here.

The deleted posts are identical to the replies posted by the OP - I got them by email and read them before I came back to the site.

He then quickly deleted them when he realized his faux pas.

Twinkle0927

They were the ones who actually owned the container that the stuff came in. Transglobal booked space in their container.

mrken30

I had a very similar issue. I cannot remember the company involved, it may have been the same one. I got my stuff shipped to Portland, OR. With hindsight I don't think I could have done anything different. The UK side was easy and I had constant updates. It was once the container landed in the US I started having the problems. I think the container landed in a Californian port from memory.