Our emigration is really close now. I still have folders of paperwork I needed for my visa. Bank statements, payslips, rental agreements, bills.... you know the type of thing.

This paperwork is heavy. Am I going to need it in the States? Keeping records is usually wise, but I don't want to fly over a tree's worth of paper for no reason

If you can, scan it. I used a document feeder copier at work, and it took about 30 minutes. Then I had it on a password protected USB, along with PDF password protection. I still find it useful to this day.

Been here six years, and a citizen for two and a half. All I've need from anything for my visa application, were official personal documents such as birth, marriage certificates etc. The rest never touched them since.

If you want to apply for a mortgage it might be helpful. I know it was when we got ours four years ago. Our mortgage co (Bank of America) would not accept emailed docs they wanted everything faxed - yes FAXED . We gave them 2 years worth of credit card statements plus a bunch of utilities, council tax etc. we even opened our storage container to get more stuff for them.

Chances are you won't need it, but it can be helpful for loans and more importantly utilities in lieu of having any credit history.

Scanned is probably a good idea though if you want to save space.

Advice above is sound. Scan it. I brought some of mine over and it was very useful in getting a mortgage. Haven't needed it for anything else.

This past week i have been having a clear out. I kept EVERYTHING, and now 8 years later am shredding everything but the most recent correspondence.

Point is - keep everything until you KNOW its useless.


**But absolutely keep a copy of EVERYTHING you ever send to US immigration***.

I shouldn't have shredded that loan agreement from 2002. I might be in for a PPI rebate!