Hi everyone,

I will be relocating soon to the US from the UK on an L1 visa. I'm very excited but I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with! My girlfriend (US citizen) will be moving across the country to live with me after I arrive. I haven't had much information from my employer, so I'm a little lost.

1. We are planning to do a house finding trip for a week or so shortly before my planned move date. I'm hoping that with her US credit record, SSN and such we should be able to rent somewhere in the area to get us started. Is it realistic to get a house sorted in this time frame so I can come back to the UK, get my stuff shipped and then move?

2. In terms of international movers, I'm trying to get a quote out of Pickfords as they looked reasonable from their site, if anyone has dealt with them I'd appreciate hearing what you think. I'm moving from a 1 bed flat with no furniture, so I'm hoping it won't be too much.

3. I understand they say to wait 10 days after you enter the US on the visa before applying for the SSN, so I won't be able to do it during the house finding trip. I was hoping to get a bank account opened though, is an SSN needed for this?

Thanks to everyone who posts here, this forum has been invaluable in informing me and calming my nerves through this whole process. Here's hoping all goes well!

How exciting and the very best of luck with the move. Whereabout are you moving to?? In answer to your first question you should do your research prior to your trip and spend the week or so you are there viewing the potential rentals and in that case you should have enough time. We didn't use Pickfords for our move so can't help you with that. Finally the 10 Days is correct and after applying you will need to wait for the number so you won't be able to do it during your short trip. You do also need SSN for opening up an account but what you can do whilst there is for your other half to open up an account and add your name to that account or if she has a few accounts she may wish to add you to one of her existing accounts. Best of luck again and ENJOY!!!

You can apply for a SSN the day you arrive, if you want. However, if your info hasn't yet been added to SAVE, then SSA will need to manually verify your immigration status. If you're leaving to return to the UK anyway, why not go ahead and apply - and it'll likely be sorted by the time you return.


Despite what the previous poster wrote, you do not need a SSN to open a non-interest bearing account such as a checking account. All you need is a "unique identifier" - and your passport will suffice for that.

Ian

This

I got added to my husband's bank account without a SSN, no problem at all.

Didn't use Pickfords (quote was too high) but if it's just boxes and not furniture take a look at Excess Baggage, might find it works out cheaper.

Thats the way to do it without any hassle for sure

[QUOTE=ian-mstm;11566879]You can apply for a SSN the day you arrive, if you want. However, if your info hasn't yet been added to SAVE, then SSA will need to manually verify your immigration status. If you're leaving to return to the UK anyway, why not go ahead and apply - and it'll likely be sorted by the time you return.

Doing it this way actually delays the whole process and NOT advisable so best to wait the 10 days!

Hi Pwibble
Congratulations.

We recently moved to the USA on a L1 & L2 (me) visa and we had no problems at all fulfilling the above things you mentioned.

We connected with a realtor before we moved and talked through our requirements/budgets/location etc and she then set up a search which emailed through properties as they became available. Our realtor put us in touch with a mortgage broker who dealt with international clients with no credit history and we spoke with him and got the ball rolling on a mortgage application. He managed to get us a very good package that was the same rate as a US client.

We found a house over the internet that we liked the look of, put an option on it and I flew out with my daughter to look at it. The inspection revealed too many problems so I had a day left before i returned to the UK and did a whirlwind tour of all properties available and found the one! (one we had seen on the internet that looked dull in the photos but was amazing in real life, so don't be put off). I went to a bank and opened an interest pain account with just my passport for ID and paid in just $200. They issued me with a debit card there and then and as I didn't have a social security number, they used by passport as a verifying number. I was in the bank for about 90 minutes in total. So simple.

I put an option on the house and flew back to the UK. We had another inspection done and it was great. Our realtor dealt with all the negotiations and kept the mortgage man in the loop and chased him when necessary. We transferred monies over as required and our US bank allowed us to email them with instructions for transfers and bill payments. Our realtor had software that allowed us to sign our documents wherever we were in the world from our phone screens (so impressed with that) and when we moved out here, we only had to do a walk-through of the house and sign the final papers at the Title Company. It was not difficult at all and meant that we had a home ready for our shipment to be delivered to.

I have to say, our realtor was used to dealing with international clients but she was seriously brilliant and covered everything that arose and kept us informed at all times. She made it a lot easier and less worry for us.

When we arrived here permanently, my husband then went to the bank and completed his part of the joint account; again, really easy to do.

The SS office was straight forward too and we did that in the first couple of weeks. We had to fill out the forms prior to going and then arrived early and just waited. Sat with a chap when we were called, he asked a couple of simple questions, looked very grumpily at us the whole time and then gave us a number each. My Husbands company arranged a relocation person to come with us incase of any problems and apart from putting one tiny detail on the form incorrectly, which she picked dup on before we were seen; we were fine.

I cannot help you with Pickfords but we used FD Platinum and they were brilliant. Lovely team of guys who packed up our home and out of 450 boxes/items we only had a few very minor breakages, which most of were repaired and covered by the insurance company. Have a clear out before you move, I ran out of time and never got to clear 20 years of 'stuff' from the loft, so brought it with me and realised I didn't need any of it now!

One thing to check, I'm not sure where you are relocating to but here in Texas you need to take your driving test within 90 days of arriving. Some companies who transfer people over insist that this is done in the correct timescale to comply with their insurance, others are more relaxed about it. Just another thing to add to your list!

Sorry I have really waffled on.... but good luck and enjoy! Everything comes at you at once but it will soon be over and you can relax and enjoy your new life.

Thank you! I'm moving to Illinois, so it's blizzards for me I think. Yes we're setting up some viewings for the week we're going to be there, there seem to be a reasonable amount of suitable places around. I hadn't considered being added on one of her accounts, I'll see what we can do!

Thanks, I'm hoping to be back in the US about a week after leaving, so it sounds like it might be quicker to wait the 10 days and apply when I come back to the US. That's good to hear about the bank account too, I was surprised Barclays couldn't open a US one for me to be honest!

Thanks, I'll have a look at them. I talked to Pickfords today and I'm not very impressed, a high quote and it was missing half the stuff I told them I want moved!

This is great to hear and gives me some hope, thanks for typing it all out! It all seems such like such a lot to do at once but when it's sorted I'm sure it'll be more than worth it. I've been having a clear out the past few weeks and it's amazing the stuff you find. Thanks for the tip about the driving license, I hadn't thought about that yet. Hopefully our house setup will be a bit simpler as we're renting, but it's good to know there are realtors (or 'letting agents' as I still keep calling them) that specialise in international clients. Bring on the relaxing!

Sounds good and best of luck again!!

Barclays doesn't have a retail US bank. You do not want on offshore/ overseas USD a/c as it would not be "plugged in" to the US banking system, so leading to delays in checks clearing both inwards and outwards. Also it is common still for businesses and state/ local government offices to refuse to accept "out of state" checks, bizarrely even if the account is one of the national or large regional banks.

Yes, but I didn't know they didn't have a US retail bank before I started asking them. Thanks for the check tip, I'll bear that in mind!