Moving to the United States is not just about buying a ticket and packing suitcases. Even once the visa is in hand, plenty of questions remain before the flight: documents, money, housing, medical papers, phone service, bank accounts, shipping your things and the first steps after you land.
So that it does not all have to be sorted out at once at the last minute, it is better to split the preparation into stages. This checklist will help you prepare methodically and miss nothing important.
Check your documents
Start with the documents. Check the expiry dates on every family member's passport, and the visas or other documents you are entering the country on. Make electronic copies of passports, visas, birth certificates, your marriage certificate, diplomas, medical records and other important papers. It is best to keep the copies in more than one place — in secure cloud storage and on your phone, for example.
If children are travelling with you, prepare their documents in advance. Some situations call for birth certificates, custody papers or the consent of the other parent.
If you plan to continue your education, look for skilled work or have your professional skills recognised, gather your diplomas, certificates, references from previous employers and other supporting documents in advance.
Build a financial cushion
The first few weeks after the move can turn out to be considerably more expensive than you expect. Besides rent, you will need money for a deposit, transport, food, phone service, household items and other initial costs.
It is advisable to have a reserve to cover several months. How much depends on the city, on the size of your family and on your own situation, but the fewer people you know and the less ready-made infrastructure you have in the new place, the larger the cushion should be. Before you travel it is also worth checking the terms for using your bank cards abroad and making sure you will be able to reach your accounts from the United States.
Think about housing in advance
If you already know the city, look into the neighbourhoods and rent levels beforehand. You do not have to sign a long lease straight away if you do not know the area yet. For the first few weeks you might consider temporary accommodation. That gives you time to look around the neighbourhoods, judge the transport and the local amenities, and then choose somewhere permanent.
Check the terms of a tenancy especially carefully: the size of the deposit, the length of the lease, utility charges, income requirements, whether a credit history is needed and the rules for ending it early. If you are moving with children, check in advance which school district the address falls into.
Sort out your phone service
Before you fly, think about how you will use your phone once you land. Check whether your handset supports eSIM and what connection options are available. Having mobile service in the first hours after landing matters a great deal.
You will need the phone for navigation, for ordering transport, for contacting relatives, and for email and various services. Also keep offline copies of important addresses and contacts in case the internet is temporarily unavailable.
Prepare your medical records
Gather the medical records you may need after the move. This matters especially for children, for people with chronic conditions and for anyone who takes medicines regularly. It is useful to have a list of the medicines you take, with their names and doses. If the medicines you need may go by a different name in the United States, find out their American equivalents and how they are obtained before you travel.
Keep your vaccination records and medical history too. For children, these documents may be needed to enrol in a school or a nursery.
Deal with medicines properly
Do not simply throw all your medicines into a suitcase. Before travelling, check the rules on bringing them in and make sure you have the paperwork for them where it is needed. Pay particular attention to medicines that may count as controlled substances. Separate requirements can apply to those.
It is advisable to have enough of the medicines you take regularly to cover the first stretch — but only within the permitted quantity and taking the requirements of the country of entry into account.
Prepare your education documents
If you plan to study or to work in your profession, gather your education documents in advance. Diplomas and their transcripts may be needed by an employer, by an educational institution, or by an organisation that assesses foreign qualifications. Depending on the situation, an official translation or a credential evaluation may be required. Do not leave this until after the move: obtaining some documents and translations takes time.
Prepare your driving documents
If you plan to drive, bring your valid driving licence and your driving record, if you can get one. An international driving permit can be useful in certain situations, but it does not replace a local licence. Requirements for licences and how they are obtained are set at state level. Look up the rules of the particular state you are going to live in beforehand.
Decide what to take with you
Before the move, sort your things into three groups: what you must take, what can be sent later, and what is cheaper to buy once you are there. It does not always make sense to ship heavy appliances, furniture and large quantities of inexpensive items. Baggage and shipping can cost more than buying the same thing after the move.
Documents, medicines, a small amount of necessary clothing, electronics and essential personal items should be within reach.
Plan the flight
Check your tickets, baggage, the airline's rules and any connection arrangements. If you are flying with children, check the requirements for their documents and baggage in advance. Keep tickets and booking confirmations on your phone and, ideally, in your email. Write down the address of your first place to stay and the contact details of someone who can meet you or help you after you land.
Take the time difference into account too. After a long flight the first day can be hard, so do not plan too much for straight after your arrival.
Plan your route from the airport
Decide in advance how you will get from the airport to your accommodation. Depending on the city that may be a taxi, a ride-hailing service, public transport or a car. Save the address in a form that is easy to show a driver. If relatives or friends are meeting you, agree the place and time beforehand. Having a plan ready takes a great deal of the stress out of the first hours after landing.
Sort out your banking
Before you leave, check that you can reach your bank accounts and make sure your cards will not be blocked because of transactions from another country. If you have regular payments, loans or subscriptions in the country you are leaving, work out in advance how they will be paid after the move.
Opening an American bank account is a separate matter once you arrive. Whether you can open one, and what documents are needed, depends on the particular bank and on your situation.
Prepare the contacts that matter
Make a separate list of the phone numbers and addresses you may need in the first few days. It can include relatives, your employer, an educational institution, your landlord, an insurance company and other important organisations.
Do not keep all your contacts in a single messaging app. Better to have a backup in your notes or in a separate document. Find out in advance where the nearest hospital, pharmacy, grocery shop and other necessary places are, near your first address.
Check your insurance
The medical system in the United States differs substantially from healthcare in many other countries. So health insurance is best thought through before the move, or immediately after you arrive, depending on your status and circumstances.
If insurance comes with the job, check the date the cover starts and what it covers. If you are arranging insurance yourself, look at the options and their limits in advance. Do not count on medical costs being covered automatically by the state or by an employer.
If you are moving with children
For a child, moving is a process of adjustment in its own right. Besides the documents, think in advance about school or nursery, medical records, vaccinations and language support. It helps to bring familiar things that will make the change of surroundings easier — favourite books, toys or other small items.
Once you arrive, give the child time to get used to the new environment. A new country, language, school and circle of people all at once can be a heavy load.
If you are bringing pets
Moving with an animal takes separate preparation. Check the airline's requirements, the animal's documents and the rules on vaccination, microchipping and entry in advance. You also need to look at the requirements of the state or city you are moving to. They can differ depending on the species and on where you will live. Do not leave the paperwork to the last few days — some procedures take time.
What to check a week before the flight
A few days before you travel, go through all the main documents, tickets and baggage again. Make sure the phone is charged, the necessary documents are available offline, the bank cards work and the address of your first accommodation is saved.
It helps to put together a small piece of hand baggage with documents, medicines, chargers, money, bank cards and the things you will need as soon as you land.
Checklist before the flight
Before you set off for the airport, make sure you have:
- passports and entry documents;
- tickets and booking confirmations;
- the address of your first place to stay;
- bank cards and access to your accounts;
- cash or a backup way of paying;
- medical records and the medicines you need;
- children's documents;
- pets' documents, if they are travelling with you;
- your driving licence;
- diplomas and professional certificates;
- electronic copies of important documents;
- mobile service and internet access;
- contact details for relatives and other important people.
The first days after the move
Once you land, there is no need to try to settle everything in a day. Concentrate first on the basics: housing, phone service, food, transport and safety.
Then you can gradually move on to longer-term matters — a bank account, insurance, a driving licence, finding permanent housing, work, school for the children and other administrative tasks. The better you prepare beforehand, the fewer things you will have to handle at once when you arrive.
The main points
Preparing well for a move avoids many of the common problems. Check your documents, build a financial reserve, think through housing and transport, gather your medical and educational papers, arrange phone service and read up on the rules of the state you plan to live in.
A move is a big step, so do not try to do it all in a day. Break the preparation into stages and work through the checklist point by point. That will make your first weeks in the new country considerably calmer and better organised.
End of the article.
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