Hi,

I am moving to the US on a K1 fiance visa to live next May. It's probably never too early to get organized. Does anyone know of any check lists out there which are useful, like what to do 12 months in advance, 6 months etc...

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks

There's nothing like that, that I've seen anyway, as your timescale is so dependent on the US government.

For example, we petitioned for a K-1 at the end of November last year, got notice of approval of the petition in mid April, medical in May and my interview in London is in 12 days.

That will make it about 8 months from petitioning to interview. Assuming all goes well, the visa in my passport should be back with me a week later, so almost exactly 8 months.

Do not make "chiseled in stone" wedding date plans, as anything can hold you up along the way (granted also there have been people whose petitions were approved in around a month!), and as you have 6 months to enter the US from time of approval and then 90 days after that to get married, the timescales can stretch out.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the timescales seem to be varied, we are filing this week so it's fingers crossed as the wedding is planned for mid July next year!
Good luck with your interview.

Read the wiki.

Someone did put up a kind of list of things to do and consider up there.

Here it is:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/List_o...n_about_Moving

I came in on a 90 day visa waiver, then came back on an extended stay visitors visa.

After those 9 months, I was married, and applied for residence a couple days before my 6 month extended stay visa was up. Got work authorization and document allowing me to stay within a month of sending it off. 5 years later, im now considering citizenship, as lawyer and document fees add up.

Get yourself an American Express card in the UK if your credit is good. Use it often but don't max it out, and pay it off in full each month.

When you move to the US, you can ask US-based Amex to give you a proper credit card straight off (rather than a crappy 'secured' card) based on your UK history with them, and this will give your credit score a jump start and get you ahead of where you would have been (credit-wise) by a good 6 months.

I did this and when I moved to the US I got an Amex card with $10k credit limit within a couple of weeks of arrival, no questions asked.

Since you start again from zero with creditworthiness when you move to the US, many of us here have done this trick.

Isn't a 10k limit only useful if you are able to Pay off the 10k expenditure in your next statement with Amex?

The point with credit is to be able to use it as a short to mid term I.e couple of months upwards - credit advantage?

Although being able to spend say 1-2k and Pay it off is more useful...

Don't suppose you have any advice as to how the points accrual for things like MRs and BA miles is affected by changing from a uk to USA card?

A 10K limit means they deem you creditworthy, which is an advantage if you have plans on applying for a car loan or mortgage. Just because they offer you 10K doesn't mean you're required to spend it.

I doubt points will carry across countries.

Blimey.

A good limit is a good thing. You don't need to use it. Most people will do all their shopping/bills etc on CC instead of debit card/cheques for the reward points and pay the bill off when it comes if they can.

The AmEx thing, they'll only do it if you've had a card for 12 months or more, or if you're a good customer and not far from 12 months they'll bend the rules for you.

No. On top of what the others have said already since your reply.....

If you have a 2K credit limit and max that out every month, you are using 100% of available credit. That's bad for your credit score.

If you have a 10k credit limit and spend 2k on it every month, that's great for your credit score, since the ratio of balance to available credit amount is low.

I know some people prefer not to use credit cards at all, but if you have good credit you can get better rates on loans, mortgages etc, and also it bleeds over into other areas, for example with good credit your car insurance is lower than someone else's who has an identical driving record, but bad credit.

medical insurance.

Try and get a copy of your medical records.
Remember to tidy up your affairs with the inland revenue .. The form used to be called a D80 (it may well have a different number now).
If you have property etc... nominate someone(if they will help you) to act on your behalf back in Britain.

most of all ... bring your patience with you.. although it has to be done, it gets tiresome totally re organizing your life with 'officialdom'... its part of the adventure.

Fair enough didn't realise spend to available funds ratio was a factor- always understood it didn't matter as long as the balance was paid in full. I'm off to get an Amex anyway they targeted me in a promotion drop recently but it's a shame the points thing would be lost.

The ratio is probably more important than the paying off in full.

Having the potential to max out and then you get laid off, how do you pay it off is their main concern and that's why you'll get dinged.