Need advice for those moving to USA !!

[Pushpa]

Hi folks,

Pardon this posting in cooking thread ; but I will get quicker & better responses here , though I have posted the query in Misc. section also.......

My sister is planning to relocate to the USA, end of this year. So would be very helpful if those who are living there kindly answer a few of our doubts. They are currently living in Muscat, with their 2 kids ( 7 & 5yrs. old), and will all be travelling together [2 adults/ 2 kids], once the H1B formalities are over. Since my mum is very elderly & living in our home-town (village) with my brothers, my sister's family cannot stay in India till her hubby gets a job & settles down. Also, we know nobody in the States with whom they can stay for the initial few months. Hence the following problems :

1} Where can my sis. family stay ? Can they rent a flat without the hubby having got a job -- And if the husband has to fly to other states for interview etc. can the family stay safely in the flat ? How costly it will be ?

2}What is best way to carry required cash ---- as initial months till he gets a job, they have to give from their savings ; when can they get credit card ?

3} Can they rent a car ? If not, how to go about buying groceries etc. ?

4} Can the kids join the schools in the middle , after winter hols. [around mid-Jan] or must they be missing the rest of the year & join only in Sep. ? Is any particular detail / certificate necessary from the school they are presently studying in ?

5} Apart from the basic few vessels / masala powders for cooking, what other domestic item will be must to carry ? How to carry jewels ? How to carry all her pooja stuff -- like swami pictures, small idols, kumkum / vibhuthi, lamps etc. ?

6} Their heavier possessions like books / toys / etc. should come by what cargo -- sea or air, which is better cost-wise and time-wise ?

Hoping to get some sound advise / suggestions and tips from those already experienced with these situations ,
With thanks,
Pushpa.

[kavikuil]

Pushpa, I'll help you out with whatever I know. I've lived here in US, for 3 years now and we are moving to Canada in about a month.

Since my mum is very elderly & living in our home-town (village) with my brothers, my sister's family cannot stay in India till her hubby gets a job & settles down.

Is it possible for your sister to rent an apartment in a city near to the place where your mother/brothers are living? How big is your sister's family? This will be the most economical option.

1} Where can my sis. family stay ? Can they rent a flat without the hubby having got a job -- And if the husband has to fly to other states for interview etc. can the family stay safely in the flat ? How costly it will be ?

Yes, your sister's family can rent an apartment, without the hubby having a job. Many apartments ask for a 6 months lease or one year's. This is where a problem might come. If you break the lease in between, you'll have to pay the rent for the remaining duration of the lease. This is something to be kept into consideration. If they rent an apartment in one city and if the hubby gets a job in a different state, they'll end up paying rent to two apartments for the same time period. Very few apartments rent for monthly lease.

Usually interviews here, are phone interviews and very few require you to fly down for personal interviews. Since you mention H1B and having to look for a job, I assume he is a consultant. Now is a good time for him to come here and look for a job because the job market really opens up from March-April-May months.

Yep, the family can stay safely in the flat, if the flat is in a nice area. All cities have good areas and bad areas (when safety is taken into consideration.)

The rent will be based on the city they chose to rent an apartment. A 2 bedroom apartment in Sanjose, California can be from $900 - $1800 depending on the area, Whereas in other cities, it can be from $650-$1000.

If it is a single person, you can look for shared-accomodation in many websites like sulekha.com, justindians.com. where you can share apartments (usually, you have to give a month's notice, if you want to move out). so, my suggestion would be - for your sister to stay in India with the family in a city where she's used to, for a few months, till her husband gets a job. For staying, he can look for shared accomodation for the initial one or two month, and look for a job. When he finds one and moves to that city, he can bring your sister and family to the same place where he will be working. This will be a much simpler thing to do.

2}What is best way to carry required cash ---- as initial months till he gets a job, they have to give from their savings ; when can they get credit card

Traveller's cheque would be a good option, with about $2000-3000 in cash.
Also, do not bring all the cash you have in bank right away. You can transfer it from India later, once you figure out which bank and you can wire-transfer (Also, do make it a point to check with current bank if you can transfer/close account, when you are abroad or if you have to be present in person.)
An Indian credit card - master-visa will work for intial few months. Since he will have credit history in US, it will be initally, difficult to get credit card. He can ask his bank to give a secue credit card, where he will have to pay a deposit upfront and this card will usually have a small limit.

Banks also issue debit cards/check cards that can be used like credit cards, but this will not build his credit history. It is very important to get a credit card as I mentioned earlier. It will build his credit history and later, as his credit history increases, he can get a different credit card with higher limit. A credit history is required in many places - some of them are when buying a car, house. etc. Some apartments do credit check too, but not all.
And you need a US credit card to build credit hisory here.

3} Can they rent a car ? If not, how to go about buying groceries etc. ?

Yes, he can rent. He will need to show his passport and Indian/International driver's license (all the more reason to get a US driver's license soon). USually, many cities have good local transportation system - buses/trains. But, not all cities. You might have to reasearch on this.

4} Can the kids join the schools in the middle , after winter hols. [around mid-Jan] or must they be missing the rest of the year & join only in Sep. ? Is any particular detail / certificate necessary from the school they are presently studying in ?

I'm sorry, no clue on this.

5} Apart from the basic few vessels / masala powders for cooking, what other domestic item will be must to carry ? How to carry jewels ? How to carry all her pooja stuff -- like swami pictures, small idols, kumkum / vibhuthi, lamps etc. ?

Carry as less as possible. A few basic cookware would be just fine. You get all the masala powders etc, here. You can always get them from India later, or buy it here in Indian groceries or American stores. The lesser luggage you have, it will be easier/economical/safer to move from one city to another when your BIL gets a job. Can she get a safe-locker in a bank in India and deposit her jewels there. I don't advise on carrying/having many jewels in US. When I was in Sanjose, I've heard of many incidences where the homes of Indian families were looted, when they were away, mainly for their jewels.

Even if she decides to bring her jewels eventally, many banks offer safe deposit lockers. Make use of them. Home is not the best place for jewels, even if you hide it in rice bags or so. The robbers know where somebody will hide things, if they dont want it to be stolen.

6} Their heavier possessions like books / toys / etc. should come by what cargo -- sea or air, which is better cost-wise and time-wise ?

I think, sending cargo through sea would be better if they have huge luggage, following them. It usually takes 2-3 months for your lugagge to come.

[dev]

For the stay, if U r not able to commit for the lease, the otehr option is a studio suite-One room living(similar to hotels)...they usually come with a bedroom cum drawingroom, fully equiped kitchen(incl basic utensils to cook & serve for a family of 3-4) & a bath... They also have other things like iron box+ironing board,dryer & stuffs... cleaning the room will be done by them once a week or so...It's like staying in a hotel/partially serviced apartment...they'll be a bit expensive when compared to renting apartments but U've the flexibility to leave any time...Also U don't have the hassle of looking for furniture & other things ... These studios give some discounts if u stay for more than a month or so... I've stayed in one such studio(Homestead) for about 3 months... We were just the two of us(me & my husb) & it was more than enough for us... it was absolutely safe as well... I U can check their website for layout of the studio,rates etc... http://www.homesteadhotels.com/

[Pushpa]

Thanks so very very much to Kavikuil, dev and Redpepper -- very sweet of you guys to immediately respond. I'll tell my sis. when phoning her this weekend ; will revert back with any other doubts, if she has.

Regards,
Pushpa.

[dev]

Pushpa,

Just wanted to let U know that they need to take a medical insurace(tht covers accidents too) for them all before they go there...Medical expenses are very high & it's advisable to take an insurance as we never know when it'll be required... they can take a insurance that covers them for a month(the ones that the tourists take) or so & then they can find some good insurance plans that'll suit them later...

Considering the details U've given, the wise & economical option would be for ur sis & kids to stay back in India for a few months till ur BIL settles in a job there... Also, if ur is is not comfortable driving a car, please ask her to learn it before she goes there...

Please check these sites... they have many useful info...
http://www.newcomersguideusa.com
http://www.lifeintheusa.com/

[Pushpa]

Thanks again Dev. My sis. hates driving cars -- very afraid of roads and traffic. Why women also must drive, only then hubby will get license , am confused .....

Yes, though her staying in INdia is the best option, it is nearly impossible, due to the usual, sickening , 'Family Politics'.....
It would be easy as eating cake if she could stay with me here in Dubai, but see the lousy timing, I'm going to India end of Sept. for an extended vacation - 3 months, as 2 weddings in my hubby's family are coming up !! That's the major issue here, as I have to fulfuill this 'formality' on my hubby's behalf ....

Y'day, another neighbour was mentioning 'motels' to stay ..... but aren't they quite shady places, used by truckers , like in Eng. movies ??

And regarding jewels, she doesn't have that many, just wanted to know whether to bring in hand baggage, or must be put as check-in luggage.

Thanks all for your time,
Pushpa.

[ssanjinika]

Pushpa,
I am too moving to Jersey in the near future.Though mine is not that much of a move(I am just moving from a nearby state)I did have a chance to check out apartments in Jersey recently.I found that a one bedroom place can cost as much as 1000$ and a 2 bedroom place in a decent apartment complex is about 1200 - 1500.Though I was looking only at central Jersey and Jersey city which is across from Manhattan where rents are exhorbidant ,I dont suppose the rental rates would differ much in other parts of Jersey.
Another thing which I wanted to mention.You said your bro-in-law was coming here to work as a consultant(which is how his company is going to place him).Usually how it works is ,the hiring company will sponser the H1B and get him into the country.He will be on the "bench" when he gets here.Hopefully in a month or so if he is good enough they will be able to place him in a clients place.The clients company can be ANYWHERE in the US.I would suggest that he waits till he is settled in the clients place before bringing your sister here.Initial move to US can be pretty expensive if he is going to bring his family over.As for the lease,usually they will do a credit check(where they will check if your BIL has a good credit history) but as long as he has no credit and his company is able to vouch for him he should be ok.
Hope this information helps.

[kavikuil]

Thanks again Dev. My sis. hates driving cars -- very afraid of roads and traffic. Why women also must drive, only then hubby will get license , am confused ..... .

You must have mis-understood. Whoever knows driving can get license here. Dev mentioned that if she doesnt know, she can learn while in India. Her hubby's license is no way connected to hers.

Yeah... I mentioned that coz one's mobility will be almost paralysed if they don't know driving(again, depends on which state they live in coz some states have a decent public transport but many don't ...(meaning frequency ,route covered etc)... Better learn it if she goes to India, else she can even learn it after going to the US... These r kind of survival skills there... & since ur BIL is a consultant, his job might require travelling to other states & it'll be better for her at those times... Fear of road & traffic- many have that fear... It'll go away gradually once U start driving...Moreover, traffic there is more organised & shouldn't pose much of a problem except for the snowy winter months when u'll be like a circus clown on the road... But remember, taxis are very expensive there & using them 'll burn a big hole in ur pocket...ur sis's driving has nothing to do with ur BIL's driving license...

Homestead was a very nice place to stay... Am not sure abt the others...

[Tootiebug]

I can answer a few of your questions. It is the law that children under the age of 18 years MUST be enrolled in school when in the United States. It makes no difference when they arrive, during middle of the semester or at semester break. They must be enrolled as soon as your reach the USA. As far as rental cars, you cannot rent a car in the United States without a credit card. There are some nice motels/hotels which have small kitchens and will let you stay on a weekly or monthly basis. They are referred to as "extended stay". You get what you pay for here in the States. If you want to pay just a small amount you will get a shady place, for a nicer, more secure place you will have to pay for it.
Also, one small mistake that many foreigners make when coming here is not wearing seatbelts in the car. First of all, it's the law. You will get be stopped by police and ticketed if not wearing it. If your children are small the must be in proper restraints (child's car seat) in the back seat. Children are not allowed in front due to the airbags in the cars. We know of an indian family of four who came to the States on a holiday and all were killed in an accident. None were wearing seat belts.

Hope this helps.