Has Anyone moved to UK?

[tcsparky]

I want to buy a car during the half-term break. Question for those of you who are / have lived temporarily in the UK:

Do I need to get a UK driving license? Whenever I have rented a car, my US driving license was considered valid. However, if I am a temporary resident (as opposed to a temporary visitor), do I need a UK license?

[WhiteDaisy128]

Originally Posted by tcsparky

I want to buy a car during the half-term break. Question for those of you who are / have lived temporarily in the UK:

Do I need to get a UK driving license? Whenever I have rented a car, my US driving license was considered valid. However, if I am a temporary resident (as opposed to a temporary visitor), do I need a UK license?

We had a similar bank issue when moving here! The UK banks do not love working with Americans because it means more paperwork for them (they have to report the accounts to the IRS) - so it's really difficult to get accounts. The paperwork juggle is crazy!

UK Driving License - you can drive on your US license for 1 year, then you are supposed to get a UK License. Start the process early because it can be quite lengthy (https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence -- more info here). It can sometimes be hard to find someone that will insure you here on your US licence and insurance is more expensive than in the US.

[tcsparky]

OK, here is another question for those of you who have lived here or are living here now. How do I go about filing income taxes? For state taxes, would I file in the state where I lived until June? Or the state where I have official US residence but never earned income? And for Federal taxes, can I do it online, or should I get a CPA in the states to take care of it all?

What do you recommend?

Thanks!!!

[Iota_JWH]

Originally Posted by tcsparky

OK, here is another question for those of you who have lived here or are living here now. How do I go about filing income taxes? For state taxes, would I file in the state where I lived until June? Or the state where I have official US residence but never earned income? And for Federal taxes, can I do it online, or should I get a CPA in the states to take care of it all?

What do you recommend?

Thanks!!!

Definately get a CPA. As for state taxes, each state is different, some tax your income from other states. I believe all tax your income earned in that state (if there are income taxes.)

[tcsparky]

Hard to believe I have been here for a full year now! I am finally getting around to getting the UK driving license. I have hired a Driving School to support me with this. They are SO nit-picky. For example, every time I transition to a new road (turn a corner, merge, etc), I have to make exaggerated head movements to show that I am checking all three mirrors. If the examiner doesn't see clear enough head movements, they will mark me down as having not checked all mirrors.

When turning onto another street, they have Give Way, not stop signs. OK. But sometimes I can't see well enough to just drive out into the street! So I stop or pause before making the turn. On the driving test, I can get dinged for pausing too long, because it endangers the other drivers behind me.

And don't even get me started on the round-abouts!! I don't think ANYONE actually knows what to do in those. It looks like an automobile free-for-all!

[navane]

Originally Posted by tcsparky

Hard to believe I have been here for a full year now!

Wow! I can't believe it's been a year either!

I am finally getting around to getting the UK driving license. I have hired a Driving School to support me with this. They are SO nit-picky. For example, every time I transition to a new road (turn a corner, merge, etc), I have to make exaggerated head movements to show that I am checking all three mirrors. If the examiner doesn't see clear enough head movements, they will mark me down as having not checked all mirrors.

Haha....I did that on my California driver's test way back in 1993. The driving school drilled it in to us that we would be marked down for "not looking" before proceeding through an intersection and advised us to make sure the examiner saw us checking. On the day of my driving exam, I came up to the first 4-way intersection on the test. I came to a full stop, looked left, right, and then left again like I'm supposed to. Except, the examiner was also looking down the cross street to make sure it was clear. So, when I was looking right, he was also looking right and his back was towards me. I panicked, because if he was looking away from me, then he might not have seen my head movements and I didn't want to get marked down. So, with exaggerated head movements, I quickly looked left-right-left one more time. I then got marked down for being too cautious. LOL! (I still passed though!)

Glad you are having a great experience so far!