Postdoc in USA tips II: Arrival “Credit card by Banana republic”

Monday, 19 April 2010 14:37

Unbelievable but true: there is no such a thing like online banking in the USA…cheques is the keyword. And forget about getting an American credit card; you will most likely need a credit history for that ….and most European people just don’t seem to have one. You can get yourself a temporary (kind of fake) credit card which will allow you to build up some credit by using it at stores like GAP and Banana Republic. And if you buy half of the store in a very limited amount of time, you just might get yourself a real American card.

Upon my arrival I realized that Europeans would have to face serious adaptations in the USA. The good thing is: these adaptations are incredibly easy and achievable. After living in Philly for a week now, I already feel a little bit at home. The golden trick is to arrange the housing before actually arriving in the USA, even if it’s only temporary. This saved me so much time which I could efficiently use to arrange all the paperwork and allowed me to start working on day five already. Arranging the social security number (SSN) is the most important thing that you should arrange after arrival, however, try to postpone this for a while…at least for a week or so. USA government does not allow for the application within 10 days after the actual arrival anyway, which gives you time to arrange other things for which you don’t need your SSN:

• Bank account and debit card at day one! (it will take a few days until you receive your debit card which you will need for several purposes, like e.g. in order to arrange the internet connection).
• Prepaid phone number at a company without contract which will give you time to look around for a new one but to have instantly an USA number (which is rather essential around here for almost anything).
• Report at the international house of the university which will give you more important information for foreign employees and documents.
• Report at the department where you will work in order to fill in the forms necessary for your pay cheques and taxes.

All these things should not take longer than a few days, so the only thing left now are the application for the SSN (don’t forget to take the letter of application approval at the SSN office which you will need to hand over to you business administrator in order to enroll you in the pay cheque procedure).

SSN procedure might take up to a couple of weeks. As soon as you have your SSN you can apply for your ID-card (so you don’t have to take your passport with you every time you go out with your friends…and actually, do not forget to take you ID with you for those occasions, like I did the first time, which resulted in a rather short night out L).

I hope this will help you during the first few days in the USA. And don’t forget to be assertive and ask, ask, ask! And make new friends (this makes life so much easier)! Have fun!