Move your home to the USA from the UK

The USA runs a lighter regime for a settler's used belongings than you might fear. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wants to know two things: that your household goods have been used abroad for at least a year, and that they are not being brought in for sale or for somebody else. If both are true, they enter free of duty, and the USA has no import VAT to add on top.

There is also a UK leg to sort before anything sails, and a US security filing that has a hard deadline. We take care of both. What matters is that the inventory and values you give us match what is really in the container, because that is what CBP will compare against your declaration.

On a UK-to-USA sea move, your belongings usually land a few weeks after you have already flown over, and that is completely normal. Do not ship until your visa or immigration status is confirmed, because the filings depend on it and a container that arrives before you can enter the country becomes a storage bill. Check that the inventory matches what is really in the container. A gap between what is declared and what turns up at the port is far slower and pricier to untangle than it is to get right at the start.

For a full household, most families ship a 20ft or 40ft container. A single room or a studio's contents usually travels as LCL (Less than Container Load) groupage, consolidated with other UK-to-USA shipments at the departure port. The size question runs the opposite way to most moves to the UK: American homes are generally larger, so people often find their British furniture looks smaller than they remembered. It is still worth measuring before you ship, because beds, sofas and wardrobes cost far less to buy there than to move.

For a British mover, the border-tax question comes down to one thing: have you used your belongings abroad for at least a year, and are they staying with you? If so they enter free of duty on a Form 3299 declaration, and the USA has no national VAT to add. The bigger tax conversation is about income, and it comes later in this guide.

A UK-to-USA file is nearly always cleaner when your qualifying used belongings are clearly separated from everything else. The things that blur the line, like a new television bought in a Black Friday sale or a case of wine you meant to bring, are worth flagging before the container is packed rather than after it is sitting at an American port.

If you are not sure whether something qualifies or needs declaring on its own, ask us before it ships. Sorting a category question at origin is quick. Sorting it after arrival, with the shipment held for examination while storage meters run, is not.

An Atlantic crossing is shorter than most international moves, but your belongings still pass through several handovers on the way. Cargo insurance is well worth having, especially on anything that matters to you or carries real value.

Always go through the policy terms, exclusions and declared values with your broker or insurer before you commit to cover.

The USA has no equivalent of the working-holiday or youth-mobility schemes that Britons use to reach Australia or Canada, and a green card is not something you can simply apply for. Almost every route runs through an employer, a family relationship, an investment or an exceptional record of achievement. UK citizens do have one real advantage: the UK is a treaty country for the E-1 and E-2 visas, which many nationalities cannot use. US immigration rules, fees and processing times change often and have been changing quickly, so confirm the current position with USCIS and the State Department before you lock in any shipping dates.

Since 1999 we have been moving people between the UK and the United States, from collection at your British address through export, the Atlantic crossing, US customs clearance and delivery to your new home. We handle every step, so you can put your energy into the move itself rather than the logistics.

1. Collection and packing at your UK address

2. UK export and port handling

We sort the export side, load the container at your departure port and hand it safely to the vessel, with the US Importer Security Filing lodged before loading.

3. The crossing and US customs clearance

We book the sea or air freight as agreed, track the container across the Atlantic, and work with your US customs broker on the entry and clearance at the arrival port. Your Form 3299 declaration and inventory are what get your household effects through free of duty, which is why we have them ready before the vessel arrives. The customs section above covers exactly what is needed.

4. Delivery to your new American home

Once your shipment clears customs, we arrange the final leg and the drop at your US address. If your new place is an apartment with a reserved elevator slot, a gated community or a strict homeowners' association, tell your Move Manager early. Those rules are common in the States and much easier to plan around in advance than on the day.

5. Unpacking and setting up

Our local delivery team places the furniture and boxes where you actually want them, so you can start settling in rather than facing a mountain of unpacking on your own.

Our UK-to-USA support is built around a single contact: a dedicated Move Manager who owns your file from the first quote through British collection, export, the crossing, US clearance and American delivery. You are not handed off between teams at each stage.

On a US move that continuity matters most around the customs filings. The Importer Security Filing has a hard deadline before loading, and the free-entry declaration needs to match the inventory. One accountable person tracking both alongside the sailing schedule is how a timing problem gets spotted early.

From collection in the UK through loading at your departure port, the Atlantic crossing, US clearance, port release and the final delivery to your American door, your Move Manager stays in touch and keeps you posted at every stage.

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This is the part of a UK-to-USA move where the honest advice is almost always to sell. A car is dutiable rather than covered by the household effects rule, and a British-market car was built to different safety and emissions standards from an American one. A vehicle that is at least 25 years old, counted from its month of manufacture, can be imported without meeting the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, so a genuine classic is a different story. A younger one generally has to be made to comply, through a Registered Importer, and many models cannot be.

For most Britons the honest answer is to sell before you go. A modern UK car will usually cost more to bring into compliance than the same money buys on the American used market, and American cars are priced and sized for American roads. The exception is a classic over 25 years old that you could not replace, and in that case it is worth costing the whole path properly rather than just the freight.

This is the good-news section. The UK is not on the US list of high-risk countries for dog rabies, and the United States does not quarantine pets arriving from low-risk countries. A dog or cat coming from Britain can enter without quarantine, provided the paperwork and age rules are met. That puts this corridor in a completely different category from a move to Hawaii or a country with a quarantine regime.

We handle the freight and logistics side of your move. Your pet travels by air with its own paperwork, arranged alongside your household shipment rather than as an afterthought to it, and not inside the container. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rules, airline requirements and state rules all differ, so confirm the current position on the CDC website and with your airline before you book anything.

The UK-US corridor is among the most travelled in the world, and the shared language makes America feel like the softest landing available. In many ways it is. But the shared language also hides the differences until you are standing in them, and a fair number of those differences directly affect how you plan and pack a shipment.

From a shipping point of view, the USA is straightforward for Britons who get their customs file right and are realistic about what belongs in the container. The real challenges are not at the border. They are the visa route, the voltage difference, a tax system that follows you around, and the way health insurance, credit and driving all start again from zero.

The USA is a big country, so the answer depends on where you land. New York, San Francisco and Boston can match or beat London on housing, while much of the Midwest, the Southeast and Texas will give you far more space for the money than anywhere in the UK. Groceries, fuel and cars are generally cheaper than at home, and a car is close to essential outside a handful of cities.

The sticker price is not the real price in the USA. Sales tax is added at the till and varies by state and city, and tipping is expected in restaurants, bars and many services, usually 15 to 20 percent. Healthcare and childcare are the big swing items, and both can cost far more than you are used to from the UK. Count those in before you compare salaries.

For planning purposes, housing is the decision that drives everything else. Whether you have a confirmed American address before the container leaves the UK decides whether you need temporary storage on arrival. American homes are bigger, so measure what you own against what you are moving into. A lot of British furniture simply looks lost in a US living room.

This is where many Britons are pleasantly surprised. Headline salaries in the USA are higher than UK equivalents in most professional fields, and the gap is widest in technology, finance, law and medicine. What partly offsets it is the other side of the ledger: health insurance premiums, no federal right to paid annual leave, shorter notice periods and, for families, the cost of childcare and college. Compare packages rather than salaries.

For anyone coming on a work visa, the salary question is also a visa question. The employer, the role and the wage level are part of what the visa is granted on, and for the H-1B the wage level now also influences the selection process. Confirm the details with your employer's immigration lawyer rather than working from a salary guide.

One practical note on timing: tie your container's arrival to confirmed immigration status rather than betting on approval by a target date. A shipment that lands before you have a confirmed American address and permission to enter the country is a storage bill, and storage at a US port is not cheap.

Moving to the USA changes your tax position more than it does on almost any other route. The USA taxes its residents on worldwide income, and you become a US tax resident if you hold a green card or pass the substantial presence test, which counts the days you spend in the USA this year plus a fraction of the days in the two years before. Once you are in, your UK income and gains are generally in scope as well. The US-UK tax treaty and the foreign tax credit are what usually stop the same income being taxed twice, but you still file the paperwork.

The reporting is the part Britons do not expect. Foreign bank and financial accounts must be reported on an FBAR once their combined balance exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year, and further reporting under FATCA may apply. Some familiar British products are treated awkwardly by the IRS: ISAs do not keep their tax-free status for a US taxpayer, and UK funds held in them can be classed as passive foreign investment companies with punishing rules, so get advice before you move money rather than after. State income tax comes on top and varies widely, with a handful of states charging none on wages.

On the UK side, the tax year runs 6 April to 5 April and your liability depends on the Statutory Residence Test, with split-year treatment usually available in the year you leave. The UK also reaches beyond your departure date for inheritance tax: if you have been UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, your worldwide estate stays in scope for between 3 and 10 years after you leave, depending on how long you lived here. The good news is pensions. The UK State Pension is increased every year if you live in the USA, which is not true for Canada or Australia, and the US-UK social security agreement means you pay into one system, with a certificate of coverage as proof. Speak to an adviser who handles both tax systems before you go.

The USA remains the biggest destination for ambitious British professionals, particularly in technology, finance, life sciences, healthcare, entertainment and academia. New York, the Bay Area, Boston, Austin, Seattle and the Research Triangle in North Carolina are the usual magnets, but a growing share of movers choose a lower-cost state and settle for a quieter life.

The practical constraint is sponsorship. Unlike Australians, UK citizens have no dedicated work visa quota, so most people need an employer willing to sponsor them, an intracompany transfer, or a treaty route. That makes the L-1 and E-2 disproportionately useful for Britons whose employer has a US arm or who plan to run their own business. The H-1B is possible for specialty occupations but is capped and unpredictable, so do not plan a move around a lottery result.

Expect the hiring process to feel different. American employment is largely at-will, salary negotiation is expected rather than rude, references and a strong first interview carry more weight than a long CV, and notice periods are usually short, often two weeks. Build that into your shipping timeline: an American employer who wants you to start in a month is not unusual, and it is a tight window for a container.

Healthcare is the biggest adjustment. There is no national health service. Most working-age people get insurance through an employer, and others buy private or marketplace cover. Many insurance plans are tied to a network of doctors, so check which hospitals and clinics your plan covers before you choose a home. Start your cover on day one, because a gap of even a few weeks can be expensive.

Banking and credit have a classic newcomer trap. You need a Social Security number for most work and a US address to open an account, and your British credit history does not carry over, so expect to start again on credit scoring even if you arrive with a spotless record and a well-paid job. A secured card from your first bank is a common way in. Opening a US account before you land, where your bank allows it, makes the first month much smoother.

Public transport is genuinely good in a few cities, and elsewhere you will want a car. Your UK driving licence is a short-term pass: each state sets how long you may drive on it after becoming a resident and whether you must take its written and road tests, and the UK does not have a blanket swap arrangement. Check your own state's motor vehicle department as soon as you know where you are going, and book your tests early.

The USA uses the US dollar (USD). GBP/USD has moved meaningfully over recent years, so the rate on the day you transfer makes a real difference over a large sum. If you are converting sterling savings for a rental deposit, first-month costs or a home purchase, both the timing and the method matter.

Wise and similar specialist services give mid-market rates with transparent fees and are widely used by British movers for GBP-to-USD transfers. A traditional UK bank transfer is slower and usually less cost-efficient for a personal transfer. If you will keep sterling income, whether that is UK rental income, a pension or investment distributions, set up a multi-currency account or a regular-conversion service before you leave. Keep a UK bank account open too, because the State Pension and any UK pension income will keep arriving in pounds.

Your shipment is priced in a mix of currencies as well, with US port charges, customs handling and any temporary storage sitting in dollars that may drift against the pound between booking and paying. On a large move, it is worth confirming the dollar total at the time you book.