A year of life in the USA after winning a green card: working on bugs

In May, 2016 I won a green card and have been living in California for a year now. I already talked about how won the green card and moved to the USA but looking back, I see some errors that have turned into monetary costs, and now I will tell about them. Everything is considered in the conditions of California and in this context: a family with an 9-year-old child moves to the US without work, without housing, without dating.

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First machine

Let's start right from the airport - the car. We took the car for rent, because it was more convenient and cheaper for us with all the suitcases to go by “our” car, and not by taxi. And here comes the error: we extended the rent longer than on the 2 week. Do not delay, start looking for a car to buy as soon as possible, and this will save you a lot of money. Those. slept, ate and went to watch the sites of companies selling cars to buy theirs just at the moment when the time comes to return the rented.

To save time, it is good to choose on the site what suits you, and go to the office where there is a suitable car.

Miracles, of course, happen, but, as practice has shown, usually there is what is indicated on the site, and no more. Why we went to the company, and did not buy from the hands - because we were afraid of something to be underestimated in documents out of ignorance, well, we didn’t want to search for a car, order a number, look for insurance. It is more convenient to wait a bit until a specially trained man quickly does everything for you. In California, you can buy a car for $ 2000, as I have, for example, or even cheaper and well to save on rent.

If you didn’t come to live in a huge city, then it’s impossible to survive without a car: this is the only way to get to work, which may be 20 miles from home, or the store.

Rental housing

For the first time, the cheapest for us was an apartment with Airbnb. Here again, it is necessary to resolve the issue quickly. As soon as you know the SSN number, immediately take a long time. Usually a lease agreement at a nice price is valid for 12 + months with rare exceptions.

We are now looking for housing to move, and got a good option in the complex, which is demolished in the winter, so there is rent only for 6 months - convenient for fresh immigrants. So what was our mistake with housing right after the move?

We spent a long, long time with the city, waiting for the issue of work to be resolved, we ended up spending a lot of money on temporary overnight stays, but we still rented permanent housing for 50 miles from work. But now we appreciate how wonderful it is to live in “our” house, and not in rooms for a short rent.

And it’s worth knowing that moving out of a rented apartment is also an expensive proposition. Read my experience: how much does it cost to move out of a rented apartment in the USA

Фото: Depositphotos

School for a child

If the child speaks English poorly, go to school right away so that you will be given a ticket for the language exam. In the summer, the school closes and there is no one there. The later you pass the exam, the less chance that there will be a place in the classroom for students of English.

I got to school just at the time when everyone was on vacation there, so we only got to the class with the language program after half a year. For my daughter, a special class came up more, because there they develop not only language, but also self-esteem, helping to adapt to local traditions. Maybe, of course, we were just lucky with the teacher. Read more Mom's experience: what impressed me about the American school.

All our mistakes, of course, were not fatal, but caused some discomfort, material and mental. I want you to draw useful conclusions and your move is as simple as possible. I have a series of business texts in the plan, so look in for information.

Finally, I want to ask you: go to the state where your soul is calling you! Drop the idea of ​​going to the agricultural wilderness, just because your grandmother’s nephew’s friend lives there.

Published by author @aqisfm

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