New to the Country

[Passacaglia]

So I spent a lot of time last night helping someone out who just moved here last night -- he's doing his residency here in Chicago, and is "starting from scratch" as he put it, so he had a lot of questions about what he needs to do to get on his feet as quickly and cheaply as possible, since he needs to begin his residency soon, and won't receive a paycheck immediately. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice they'd like to pass along? Here's some of the questions he had -- feel free to offer advice on these questions exactly, or any other issues you can think of!

He said something about needing a SIM card for his cell phone (which I assume he used when he lived in London prior to this). I talked to my brother in law, who works for U.S. Cellular, and he said that they don't have SIM technology, but T-Mobile does. But when I told him that if he doesn't care what type of phone he has, he can get a phone free with pretty much any carrier, he seemed to really like that idea. Is it worth it for him to get a SIM card for his phone, or should he just get a new phone?

He also wants to get a car. I figure I'll just ask around for that, and maybe refer him to craigslist. He seemed worried that buying online like that might get him a bad car, and I guess I'd be worried about that, too, but he's looking to spend $1500 -- is that too low of an amount to go to used car dealers? What about CarMax? Also, he asked what kind of cars were reliable around here, and I guess I had to turn in my man card, cuz I'm not into cars enough to know that -- especially if he wanted me to mention American cars (although I don't think he really cares about that). Lastly, he asked if there were driving schools around here, since he was worried about driving on the opposite side coming from England, and I told him there were, but it probably was too expensive to enroll just for that. Are the differences that great?

In order to start applying for a social security number, he had to give an address -- he gave them the address for a hostel in Chicago. But he said that if he changes his address, he has to register with Homeland Security (possibly because he is originally from Pakistan), and was worried about the hassle involved with that. Does anyone know A) how to do that, and B) how difficult it is?

Looking at the rest of his questions, most of it is local-related -- he needs a laptop, but I was thinking I could point him to craigslist or maybe amazon for that -- though I'm not sure if it's the best idea to have a laptop delivered to a hostel so amazon might be out, and I think he might be needing a new machine so craigslist might be out.

Thanks in advance!

[Dr. Sak]

I always used Dell's refurbished site for Laptops and Desktops. I haven't had a problem with any of them yet. Not all are used...some are brand new, people just sent them back because they didn't have exactly what they ordered.

For the car, check around and see if there are any police auctions. When I was 17 I bought my first car for $250. A Mazda 323, I bought it at a police auction and it lasted me 5 years. It was seized from a drug heist or something like that.

[rkmsuf]

Babu Bat?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Regarding a new phone, most companies will give you a new basic phone or charge you no more than $50 as a new user, so that's relatively inexpensive.

$1,500 will get you a car, but not sure how good of a car. $3,000-4,000 can get you a much more reliable vehicle as long as you shop around to check for quality.

You can get a laptop for $400-500 at a retail store if you shop around for sales. Just have to be patient.

Edit: Just noted an above post. Car auctions are a great way to track down a good car. Totally forgot about that.

[RPI-Fan]

For a car, my opinion is avoid American cars at all costs.

A mid-to-late 90's Civic or Corolla will almost always work great and would be in the $2,000-$4,000 range, generally. The extra thousand dollars would, IMO, but well worth it given that the alternative, generallly, is buying an American car.

[Neon_Chaos]

Whoa. Wait. You don't have SIM cards for your phones? What do your celphones use?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Whoa. Wait. You don't have SIM cards for your phones? What do your celphones use?

Batteries?

[Passacaglia]

But seriously Neon, you had a cell phone when you were here, right? Did you just get a new phone just for while you were here, or convert one you already had?

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Batteries?

You've never tried moving the SIM card on your phone, have you?

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

But seriously Neon, you had a cell phone when you were here, right? Did you just get a new phone just for while you were here, or convert one you already had?

This is a SIM card: it's about the size of a human thumb and contains all your celphone line data. It's essentially what allows you to interchange phones and still use the same number and have the same phone data. Remove the batteries to your phone, and you'll see the SIM Card placed somewhere there.

I was issued with my own Blackberry in the states, though, so no SIM card troubles. (meaning, they gave my my own blackberry phone and SIM card).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Here's a couple of SIM card things that might help understand this (I've got only the most basic understanding of it myself)

Ask the Editors: SIM card explained - CNET reviews
Subscriber Identity Module - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

This is a SIM card: it's about the size of a human thumb and contains all your celphone line data. It's essentially what allows you to interchange phones and still use the same number and have the same phone data. Remove the batteries to your phone, and you'll see the SIM Card placed somewhere there.

I was issued with my own Blackberry in the states, though, so no SIM card troubles. (meaning, they gave my my own blackberry phone and SIM card).

I use T-Mobile, so I actually have a SIM card. So it sounds like, based on what you're saying, he doesn't need a new SIM card -- he needs a new phone to put his current SIM card into? But he probably doesn't want his old (British) number -- he probably needs a new (American) one, right?

Also, does anyone know if some carriers are cheaper to call England than others?

[clemsonfan]

I would just get a new cell phone if I were him. I like Toyotas and Hondas for reliable cars.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Here's a couple of SIM card things that might help understand this (I've got only the most basic understanding of it myself)

Ask the Editors: SIM card explained - CNET reviews
Subscriber Identity Module - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks. I think this is what he's trying to do?

And on a related note, if your handset is unlocked (meaning it's not locked to one carrier only) you can buy prepaid SIM cards when traveling so that your mobile will always have a local number for your destination.

I guess I'll have to find out where he can get them, and what kind of prices he can get them for.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

I use T-Mobile, so I actually have a SIM card. So it sounds like, based on what you're saying, he doesn't need a new SIM card -- he needs a new phone to put his current SIM card into? But he probably doesn't want his old (British) number -- he probably needs a new (American) one, right?

Also, does anyone know if some carriers are cheaper to call England than others?

Not sure why only T-Mobile has SIM technology, as all GSM phones require SIM cards. Maybe they meant Pre-Paid SIM Cards?

Yes, he probably does need a new SIM if he's in the states. The SIM card is localized to what provider distributed it, so if he uses his UK SIM in the US, he's probably going to incur ridiculous long-distance charges.

Better to get a new line instead.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Not sure why only T-Mobile has SIM technology, as all GSM phones require SIM cards. Maybe they meant Pre-Paid SIM Cards?

Yes, he probably does need a new SIM if he's in the states. The SIM card is localized to what provider distributed it, so if he uses his UK SIM in the US, he's probably going to incur ridiculous long-distance charges.

Better to get a new line instead.

According to JimGA's link, only T-Mobile and Verizon have GSM phones. Verizon and Sprint (and I guess U.S. Cellular) have...some other kind.

[vex]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Not sure why only T-Mobile has SIM technology, as all GSM phones require SIM cards. Maybe they meant Pre-Paid SIM Cards?

Yes, he probably does need a new SIM if he's in the states. The SIM card is localized to what provider distributed it, so if he uses his UK SIM in the US, he's probably going to incur ridiculous long-distance charges.

Better to get a new line instead.

But not all companies use GSM, we also have CDMA.

[Racer]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

He also wants to get a car. I figure I'll just ask around for that, and maybe refer him to craigslist. He seemed worried that buying online like that might get him a bad car, and I guess I'd be worried about that, too, but he's looking to spend $1500 -- is that too low of an amount to go to used car dealers? What about CarMax? Also, he asked what kind of cars were reliable around here, and I guess I had to turn in my man card, cuz I'm not into cars enough to know that -- especially if he wanted me to mention American cars (although I don't think he really cares about that). Lastly, he asked if there were driving schools around here, since he was worried about driving on the opposite side coming from England, and I told him there were, but it probably was too expensive to enroll just for that. Are the differences that great?

I don't have a specific place I would recommend getting a car from, but I would recommend that he seriously considers getting temporary insurance on the car to cover any repairs that come up in the first 3 months or so. It's hard knowing what you'll get in a used car and there's a good chance he'll save money in the long run doing that.

[korme]

HONDA

[Icy]

This thread has me curious about the whole process for a foreigner to move to USA for a living. My wife wouldn't ever want to move away from Spain and probably me neither as i'm too used to our weather, food, public health, laws regarding online business (way less restrictive than USA ones) etc, but since i expended a week in Miami 4 years ago, i have always been curious about how easy would it be to move over there. I know Marc V has moved there from UK but his wife is American so i guess that means no troubles at all.

I know that USA immigration rues are pretty hard and restrictive but let's suppose i wanted to move there with the following conditions (the ones i think could matter, feel free to point other conditions required).

1- We are three in the family, wife, son and me.
2- I have my own company for over 7 years and could hire 1 or 2 persons to work for me in USA.
3- I'm used to work with American companies daily, probably some of them could even offer me a contract to work for them part/full time to help to get the residence if being self employed didn't do the trick.
4- Can buy a home, car, etc there.
5- Can deposit a good sum in a bank account to prove i'm not a hopeless immigrant looking for the American's dream miracle. (not sure if this helps at all)
6- Speak English (not sure if it matters at all).
7- Never had any issue with the laws in my country

In resume, how easy/hard would it be for a person from Europe who is not needing to look for a job or has no financial issues to move to USA for a living?

In my country, laws are becoming harder for the imigrants from South America, East Europe or Africa to come here looking for a job, but a person with a good economic position could move here without any trouble, i wonder about USA.

I might be getting offtopic here, but thought it could be related somewhat.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

According to JimGA's link, only T-Mobile and Verizon have GSM phones. Verizon and Sprint (and I guess U.S. Cellular) have...some other kind.

Assuming he gets rid of his old phone, he should get a GSM phone so that if he goes home, he can swap out his SIM card for a UK one and make calls on it for local rates.

If he buys Sprint or Verizon, his phone will not work overseas.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Assuming he gets rid of his old phone, he should get a GSM phone so that if he goes home, he can swap out his SIM card for a UK one and make calls on it for local rates.

If he wants to use the phone in the UK he will need to buy a quad band phone. If his current phone is quad band (and unlocked) he can get a prepaid card that should work on his phone. I think T-Mobile will sell you a card for $7.

I would think that advice regarding cars would be the same in the US and the UK. If you want something fun, buy German, if you want something safe, buy Swedish and if you want something cheap and reliable, buy Japanese. I would not go near an American car.

I find driving on the wrong side of the road pretty easy, it won't take him long to get used to it.

[lurker]

Just popping in to defend American cars. I've always driven Ford cars and never had any problems at all, even on the cheap used Escort I got in high school. Meanwhile, my brother would always go for Hondas and such and invariably they'd fall apart.

I just had to get that off my chest since Passacaglia apparently is incapable of defending our awesome Mustang.

[Coder]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

I would think that advice regarding cars would be the same in the US and the UK. If you want something fun, buy German, if you want something safe, buy Swedish and if you want something cheap and reliable, buy Japanese. I would not go near an American car.

Meh, that just means buying american nowadays anyway ;-)

GM owns Saab and Ford owns Volvo.. sure sure, it's still the same old Volvo, but the company is deteriorating fast... (yeah, I work there)

As for the cell phone.. the guy probably already has a cellphone from England wanted a new provider who would then give him a US SIM, figuring this way he didn't have to purchase a new phone.

[Passacaglia]

Little update...he got a new cell phone at T-Mobile -- a new phone instead of a SIM card. Seems like a good idea, since the phone was free anyway. I guess he might have problems calling the UK, but he'll probably do something to figure that out. The rest of the stuff is probably lower priority, anyway.

[Mrs. Schmidty]

I had a $2500 budget for a car and went to Craigslist myself a year and a half ago. I had gone to several dealerships and got so tired of stating how much I was looking to spend and yet being pushed into cars around the 7k mark. I had a couple of my guys friends that knew cars go with me to a few of the dealerships and on the test drives so I got an idea of what to listen for and look for under the hood.

I kept checking Craigslist for cars in the area and test drove several. I ended up getting the best little Ford Escort wagon and it was in great shape. It didn't need any immediate work (new catalytic converter about 3 months ago and new tires about a year ago but tires for it are cheap enough).

As far as police auctions go, a friend of mine got hers there and had some interesting stories to tell because of it. We live right on the Canadian/US border and she would frequently go up to Vancouver and 100% of the time when she would take her car she would get pulled to the side and searched at the border. She would even get pulled over on the highway around here simply because her car's license plate was registered as a drug dealer's car - even though it was now under her name. Suffice it to say, she was happy to get rid of that car. In a pinch though obviously it would be worth the hassle for a cheap, good car.

As for Icy trying to move to the US...honestly I have no idea man. If it were up to me, on paper you look great! Would be nice to get someone wanting to move here legally, already know the language and not be reliant on government help for buying groceries once you get here. Sorry if that offends anyone, but I see it every day at work large families moving here, some legal, some not, they expect me to know Russian or Spanish (most common here anyway) and get frustrated at me when we don't have an interpreter, and then want to pay with government (my tax dollars) money for their extravagant purchases. I know there are legit folks doing it the "right" way, but the ones that aren't are the ones that really stand out.

[JPhillips]

My Filipino playwright friend said that if you're walking alone at night, singing loudly helps convince potential muggers that you're crazy and should be avoided. For three years he never had a problem in NE DC even though he often wondered the streets alone after midnight.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

My Filipino playwright friend said that if you're walking alone at night, singing loudly helps convince potential muggers that you're crazy and should be avoided. For three years he never had a problem in NE DC even though he often wondered the streets alone after midnight.

that comes in handy since most people wander the streets alone after midnight

ie, your friend is actually crazy

[Mrs. Schmidty]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

that comes in handy since most people wander the streets alone after midnight

ie, your friend is actually crazy

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

that comes in handy since most people wander the streets alone after midnight

ie, your friend is actually crazy

He never completely got onto US time while I knew him. It wasn't at all uncommon for him to sleep much of the day and stay up writing all night. I think part of his writing process was long walks when things started to block.

[Hoosierbuckeye]

Does he live at this hostel or did he just use it? I can't understand why you can't have something mailed there.

[rkmsuf]

As a cockeyed optimist, Pass is going to get himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Hoosierbuckeye

Does he live at this hostel or did he just use it? I can't understand why you can't have something mailed there.

He lives there now, but will probably only be there for a week. Maybe hostels are different here, but the one I stayed at in Israel didn't seem like it would be convenient to receive expensive packages from. He probably won't be getting a laptop until he moves to a more permanent place, anyway.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

As a cockeyed optimist, Pass is going to get himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue.

Nah, most of the stuff I've been doing is telling him stuff like where the nearest grocery store and post office are, and how the trains work. I'm only asking you guys about the weird stuff. (in other words, I'm no Billy Mumphrey)

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

He said something about needing a SIM card for his cell phone (which I assume he used when he lived in London prior to this). I talked to my brother in law, who works for U.S. Cellular, and he said that they don't have SIM technology, but T-Mobile does. But when I told him that if he doesn't care what type of phone he has, he can get a phone free with pretty much any carrier, he seemed to really like that idea. Is it worth it for him to get a SIM card for his phone, or should he just get a new phone?

I used my old english phone with a US (Cingular) sim card for ages - this was simply because my english phone was pretty good and I'm stingy.

So long as his phones tri-band he should be ok for using it with an American simcard.

Lastly, he asked if there were driving schools around here, since he was worried about driving on the opposite side coming from England, and I told him there were, but it probably was too expensive to enroll just for that. Are the differences that great?

Tell him that Americans are crazy but have big roads - they'll let anyone drive.

I didn't drive at all before I moved over here, a few spins with the wife later she convinced me to take a test - I was CONVINCED I'd failed, if it was a UK test I'd probably have been arrested for dangerous driving ... but instead Florida issued me a licence

In order to start applying for a social security number, he had to give an address -- he gave them the address for a hostel in Chicago. But he said that if he changes his address, he has to register with Homeland Security (possibly because he is originally from Pakistan), and was worried about the hassle involved with that. Does anyone know A) how to do that, and B) how difficult it is?

Never done it - but will have to if I ever relocated, I don't think it'd be a huge hassle to be honest - most likely he'll be able to do it online somehow (or at the very least print out a form and mail it).

Looking at the rest of his questions, most of it is local-related -- he needs a laptop, but I was thinking I could point him to craigslist or maybe amazon for that -- though I'm not sure if it's the best idea to have a laptop delivered to a hostel so amazon might be out, and I think he might be needing a new machine so craigslist might be out.

If he's living in a hostel then I'd recommend delivering things to work - thats standard play at SI Towers and probably accepted most places.

If he wants to talk to somewhere who's been there and scratched their head about this sort of thing before then feel free to pass along my email address to him.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Icy

blah ...
4- Can buy a home, car, etc there.
5- Can deposit a good sum in a bank account to prove i'm not a hopeless immigrant looking for the American's dream miracle. (not sure if this helps at all)
6- Speak English (not sure if it matters at all).
7- Never had any issue with the laws in my country
...

One of the main things they look for is you not being a 'drain' on their economy - being able to employ people and invest money in the country is one way to 'encourage' you being accepted in as I recall from my application, so you'd be in good stead if you applied from the brief information you gave (but yes it is hit and miss to a certain extent).

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Schmidty

As for Icy trying to move to the US...honestly I have no idea man. If it were up to me, on paper you look great! Would be nice to get someone wanting to move here legally, already know the language and not be reliant on government help for buying groceries once you get here. Sorry if that offends anyone, but I see it every day at work large families moving here, some legal, some not, they expect me to know Russian or Spanish (most common here anyway) and get frustrated at me when we don't have an interpreter, and then want to pay with government (my tax dollars) money for their extravagant purchases. I know there are legit folks doing it the "right" way, but the ones that aren't are the ones that really stand out.

+1

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Tell him that Americans are crazy but have big roads - they'll let anyone drive.

I didn't drive at all before I moved over here, a few spins with the wife later she convinced me to take a test - I was CONVINCED I'd failed, if it was a UK test I'd probably have been arrested for dangerous driving ... but instead Florida issued me a licence

Thanks, MV! He actually has a license which he says is valid here, so it's not about passing any kind of test -- he's just worried about different driving rules that might trip him up, and was interested in the driving school to actually teach him how to drive, rather than as a means to a license (obviously, he hasn't been in the US very long).

Other than driving on the opposite side of the road, is there anything else that might trip him up? Or should I tell him that's really the only problem, and not to worry about it?

[Mrs. Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Thanks, MV! He actually has a license which he says is valid here, so it's not about passing any kind of test -- he's just worried about different driving rules that might trip him up, and was interested in the driving school to actually teach him how to drive, rather than as a means to a license (obviously, he hasn't been in the US very long).

Other than driving on the opposite side of the road, is there anything else that might trip him up? Or should I tell him that's really the only problem, and not to worry about it?

Tell him about turn lanes. They don't have them in BC that I know of and when Canadians come down here they don't use them - they turn from the main lane and hold up traffic.

[SnDvls]

if he has an "international or foreign driver's license" his insurance rates will be higher. it would be worth his time and $ to take a US test and get a US license to whatever state he is in...FYI

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

My Filipino playwright friend said that if you're walking alone at night, singing loudly helps convince potential muggers that you're crazy and should be avoided. For three years he never had a problem in NE DC even though he often wondered the streets alone after midnight.

This is true and it's just one of many tactics to use.