10 steps to be taken after moving to the USA. Part of xnumx

Photo: depositphotos.com

ForumDaily He continues to talk about what an immigrant should do immediately after moving to the United States. AT the first part We talked about getting an identity card and a social security number, opening a bank account, building a credit history, and getting health insurance. The second part of the material will deal with renting a home, buying a car, learning English, studying at an American university and looking for a job.

6. Housing

Finding housing is the first task an immigrant faces when coming to America. And this is not an easy matter, because in order to rent an apartment for a long term, you need to provide a number of documents proving your solvency, pass a house association check and, most often, purchase furniture. While looking for an apartment, you can stay with your friends or acquaintances, if you have any, or rent a hotel room. Many immigrants rent temporary housing online before moving, and once they arrive in the States, they look for permanent housing.

You can find apartments on specialized sites like Zillow or Trulia, you can contact a realtor or view thematic groups on social networks in which immigrants rent or re-rent housing. Another option is to find residential complexes where apartments are rented and contact the building management directly (property management or leasing office).

As a rule, a rental contract is concluded for at least a year. To move into the apartment you want and make everything official, you need to not only negotiate with the landlord, but also meet the requirements of the condominium association. To do this, you need to provide a list of documents (this differs from state to state and association to state) - identification card, social security number, proof of funds in a bank account, proof that you have a job. You will also need to pay a certain amount for consideration of the application - on average it is 100-150 dollars. The condominium association where the apartment is located must check your credit rating and make sure you have no criminal history. If you are approved, you will be able to sign a lease (lease agreement).

Most likely, you will need to pay three amounts - payment for the first and last month of residence and a deposit (its amount can be up to the amount of rent for one month). If you break something in the apartment, the amount needed for repairs will be deducted from the deposit. If you leave everything clean and in order when you check out, your deposit will be returned to you. In addition, the association may request from you refundable and non-refundable deposits of various kinds - for moving in, for using the elevator, and so on.

Payment of monthly utilities and the Internet also often falls on the shoulders of the tenant, although there are different options.

If you want to move out before the deadline specified in the contract, keep in mind that the owner of the property has the full right not to return the deposit to you.

7. Buying a car

Photo: depositphotos.com

Without a car in most US cities it’s like having no legs. To get to work, the nearest store or hospital, you need to have a car. Even the simplest one. The exception is, perhaps, megacities with an extensive metro network.

Since a car in America is just a means of transportation and almost never a luxury, you can become the happy owner of your own “iron horse” quite easily. In general, there are several options for how you can purchase a car: on credit, on lease (conditional, lease for 3 years) or in cash. In order to lease a car, as a rule, you need to have a good credit rating, and the new arrivals may not have any good things at all. Therefore, the only option left is to buy with cash or use a loan.

With cash, everything is clear: the more money you have, the better and newer you can buy a car. When buying a used car you can always check its history with the program CARFAX, so the seller will not be able to hide accidents and breakdowns from you. CARFAX is an information system that contains information about almost all cars in the United States. In it you can find information about all owners and dates of purchase and sale, accidents, service that the car underwent, whether the speedometer was twisted and whether there are unpaid debts for the car. The car can be purchased at a car dealership, at an auction and on specialized websites.

To take a car on credit, if you came to the USA quite recently, it is quite difficult, but still real. A number of car dealers have special programs for those who do not have a credit history. However, in order for you to be sold a car on credit, you need to show a bank statement, utility bills, proof of income. Of course, there should be a decent amount in the bank account, and you should demonstrate the payment sufficient. Read more in our material, How can I buy a car in the USA.

Also, keep in mind that at the time of purchasing the car you should already have a driver's license. Also be sure at the time of purchase will need to issue insurance for the car.

8. Learning English language

To learn English, read, listen and write on it. Photo: depositphotos.com

Despite the fact that in almost any large city in the United States you will find a Russian-speaking diaspora, knowing English is simply necessary. And the sooner you start learning it, the better. Immediately upon arrival, you have several effective study options:

1) Watch movies in English with subtitles

One of the popular resources among Russian-speaking immigrants is P. You need to download this program to your computer, install it, and you will be able to watch old and new films, as well as TV series in the original language. Most films are offered with subtitles.

2) Play Youtube Channels and TED Lectures

If you are often on the move, you can learn English by listening to quality youtube channels and lectures TED in the app LingoLeo. It is there that lectures are given with subtitles and translation of each word upon request.

You can find a list of suitable channels. here.

3) Take free English courses at community centers

Every US city has free schools that offer language courses for foreigners. You can find such a school in your city by looking at this site (upon request English as a second language (ESL)) or online Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Also free courses are offered in many public libraries. Unlike the school, which you need to attend strictly on weekdays, the library has weekend classes.

4) Practice speaking with native speakers

Meeting and communicating with Americans on free topics is one of the best options for creating the right vocabulary and the opportunity to start talking. Using the site Meetup You will be able to join a company that is going to a new place every time in order to communicate and “untie the language”.

5) Study on your own using the app

Independent study of English allows you to choose the most convenient time and place for the lesson, the duration of the lesson and, of course, the format. Since almost all of us have a smartphone with a large screen, an application for learning the language on a mobile can be the most convenient option for a newcomer immigrant.

For example, online school ABA English makes it possible to learn live, spoken English - you can watch short videos on real-life topics and practice new vocabulary and grammar.

After registering on the site or in an app, a student gets access to 6 from 144 mini-movies — in the first lesson for each level, as well as in all 144 grammar lessons. These materials will always be available and can be returned to them and repeated.

В ABA English presented 6 difficulty levels: Beginners, Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Advanced, Business. They correspond to the levels of A1-C1 in the generally accepted classification Common European Reference Framework (CEFR). After each completed level, the student can take the test and even get an official certificate, which can be downloaded using the application.

In the paid version, tests, tutor support and “listen-write-compare” exercises are added.

The effectiveness of this application confirms the reward Reimagine Education Awardwhich online school ABA English Received in 2015 year for the best educational app.

9. Education confirmation

If you are planning to study at an American university, you can start studying the entrance requirements of the universities that interest you. Please note: for those who have already received a higher education in their home country, upon admission you need to have a diploma evaluation in hand - this is an assessment of how much a foreign diploma is equal to a similar American one. It is done by both special agencies and universities themselves. Therefore, do not rush to evaluate - first you should choose an educational institution and look at its requirements. However, keep in mind that for evaluation, some agencies ask you to send a diploma with an apostille already affixed to it.

What is an apostille? This is an international standardized form of document authentication. An apostille on a diploma is usually given by the Ministry of Education of the country where you graduated from a higher educational institution, and in fact confirms that you really studied there. That is, if you received an education, for example, in Russia or Ukraine, then the apostille should be done there. Why do you need it? A university in the USA is thus rechecking your higher education certificate.

Irina Kokurina, President of the New York Company Global Professional Consulting, who has been providing consultations in the field of education for about 20 years, points out that obtaining an apostille is a rather lengthy process, especially if you are already in the USA, and advises doing it in advance.

“We are often approached by clients who want to study in America. It so happens that they have already chosen a university, applied for evaluation to one of the agencies from the list of NACES.org (American Association of Evaluation Agencies) and were faced with the need to get an apostille for diplomas or educational documents. And to make it, you need to send the originals of the diploma and its annexes to the official body of the country involved in apostilization and leave them there for a period of time from 30 to 45 days", explains Irina Kokurina.

At the same time, Irina specifies: even though her company helps to get an apostille, they cannot speed up the process itself, since it provides a double recheck of the authenticity of the diploma. What they can help with is to create a power of attorney for the person who will receive the apostille, send the original documents by safe mail, provide an opportunity to track the process of promoting documents on the website of the Ministry of Education and arrange for the delivery of documents to the USA.

The entire procedure takes from 2-s to 4-s months. Depending on the country, its value ranges from 600 to 1000 dollars. This amount includes power of attorney, postal or courier expenses and state fees.

“If you plan to study in the USA, get an apostille in advance,” advises Irina Kokurina. — This does not apply to those countries on whose diplomas agencies do not ask for an apostille. However, applicants from these countries should be aware that agencies can still verify the authenticity of the diploma when doing the evaluation. They ask the educational institution to send proof of your study document, and this way you can waste time. Therefore, in order to manage everything, I would recommend starting to prepare for admission about two years in advance.”

Below you can read more about the requirements for putting apostille on diplomas from all 15 post-Soviet countries:

1. Azerbadzhan
2. Armenia
3. Belarus
4. Georgia
5. Kazakhstan
6. Kyrgyzstan - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation
7. Latvia - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation
8. Lithuania - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation
9. Moldova
10. Russia
11. Uzbekistan
12. Tajikistan - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation
13. Turkmenistan - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation
14. Ukraine
15. Estonia - they do not ask for an apostille during evaluation

10. Work in the specialty

Qualified immigrants can start working in their specialty again. Photo: Upwardly Global

Read also on ForumDaily:

10 steps to take immediately after moving to the USA

How to bring your credit rating to 800 points

11 steps when buying a home in the USA

Megacities VS small cities: where it is better to live in the USA

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