Approved at the Embassy this morning! (and celebrating already)

[fcat 79]

BOOM!!!

Passport and sealed envelope delivered:)

[fcat 79]

Passport ........Check

Sealed envelope.......Check

10 x large bottles of HP sauce...... Check

4 x two litre bottles of Sainsbury's traditional Lemonade.....Check

3 x packets of Birds custard powder.....Check.

I'm good to go!

[Mark_Tammy2014 0]

YAY!!! Congrats and safe journey!

[fcat 79]

Landed at Washington DC IAD airport at 8pm last night, presented my sealed envelope to the IO, he asked me why on earth id want to come from the UK to the USA! we laughed, he sent me down to the number 1 booth, woman took my fingerprint, i signed a form,she asked how long i'd been married and that was it, picked my luggage up and i was in the car on my way at 8:25pm!

[FrozenGlitter 1]

Congratulations !!!! Yay!!! Hoping there will be a similar post from my fiance in about 12 hours.

[fcat 79]

SSN number arrived in the mail yesterday, exactly 2 weeks since i got here:)

I'm fortunate that i have got my car insurance, bank account and a few others things with USAA, amazing service but you have to have a military family along the line.

Question, do US banks have a similar thing to what we call Direct Debits and Standing Orders ?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

SSN number arrived in the mail yesterday, exactly 2 weeks since i got here:)

I'm fortunate that i have got my car insurance, bank account and a few others things with USAA, amazing service but you have to have a military family along the line.

Question, do US banks have a similar thing to what we call Direct Debits and Standing Orders ?

If you have a provider like the phone bill or monthly auto insurance bill, you set up with them your bank details and they can debit straight from your bank each month the full amount you owe.

Or in the case of same amount you want to go to somebody each month--- I have BillPay offered by my bank for paying bills online. I set up with BillPay to send a check to my aunt in a specific amount every 28th of the month until I say stop.

I think that is similar to what you may be needing that is offered by some of your service providers or some banks through their online bill paying service.

[fcat 79]

Great, just Googled BillPay and looks like that's it! I'm still surprised by how many people still use cheques (Checks!) over here!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Great, just Googled BillPay and looks like that's it! I'm still surprised by how many people still use cheques (Checks!) over here!

BillPay is a common one because we got a new bank and they also use BillPay like the former bank. I rarely write checks...the yard guy and the odd one here and there. I used to write a check to my aunt but I would keep forgetting and send it late. It's just to help her out because she is living on a very small social security income. So I finally said I hope you won't think it's impersonal, but I'm going to have a check sent automatically so you get it at a regular time you can depend on. Love the efficiency of it. With big companies, they zap the funds to them electronically. With an old Aunite, they actually send a check to her mailbox...all free of charge. Edited February 19, 2014 by Nich-Nick