Thread: Moving my personal effects to the US...

Hi all,

Long story short... My immigration to America looks to be coming good soon (just got the medical and interview to see to) so, assuming that all goes well for me, I'll need to ship my life over there.

A little info... I wouldn't say I have a whole household full of stuff to bring with me, I don't intend to bring the furniture, but I definitely have a lot of bits 'n pieces that will need to come along. I guess I have about 1/3 to 1/2 of a house full of stuff. I've been quite fortunate in that I've got family in the States so I've been travelling back and forth between here and there all my life. This being the case I'm aware of the little things like power differences on appliances and certain restrictions for customs and excise. I don't have anything that can't be brought over from here to there due to legalities and appliances that I can't use over there are either being left with family or sold off. I'm not exporting a vehicle of any sort (not even a bicycle) because I figure it's easier to just buy one out there. So, all in all, I don't really need advice on what not to bring. I just need to know how I go about actually bringing my stuff to the US.

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable, reputable company to ship my stuff? And can anyone give me a rough idea as to how much I should be setting aside to pay for this kind of thing? And what sort of timescale would be the average for a door to door service?

Thanks in advance for any help,
J.

BTW I'll be moving from South London to Oregon if that helps.

We used GB Liners, we got quotes from lots of company's and they came across as the best to us and also promised to beat any other company. Their service was fantastic, we couldn't fault them :) We got a 20ft container in the end, it sounds a lot but believe me it's not!

If you are not bringing furniture, do you have furniture over there? I only ask as that's one thing we found was that it's very over priced in the US for what you get, in hind side we wish we had just brought everything and got a bigger container.

It took about 4 weeks from Leeds to Orlando, although we have heard of it taking 3 months for people :o

I'm moving in with family to begin with so I guess you could say that I'm moving to somewhere that's already furnished.

Anything that I don't have at my disposal I can look for at the local charity places. There's a few close by that aren't too bad for stock and for prices.

I don't think I'd need so much space but how much does a 20ft container hold?

Yay! My visa arrived by courier this morning but now that means I have to really get on with organising my stuff and myself.

Is there any other advice or tips for moving my stuff to the USA? Are there any procedures, rules or regulations that I should be aware of?

Well done on getting your visa! My friend is trying his luck with green card lottery. I ship to USA quite a lot and the best places to get quotes are Parcel.To and Fast Lane International, they are particularly good with prices for large, bulky or heavy items and use FedEx and DHL ex so you know it'll be good service

YAY for the visa :D Removal companies don't just quote for containers, they will quote for smaller things too, or part containers etc. They also give you a list of things you can't take (not much to be honest).

Good luck with the move :)