emmapersky

Wooo!

I had my H-1B interview this morning and less then 60 seconds after stepping up to the desk I was approved. Of course there was a 90 minute wait before that...

I've now realised I have *so* much to do in the next 10 days and will probably come back with a million questions.

Any way, thought I would say hello (as I've been reading posts here for a while).

E

Rete

Hi Emma

Congratulations on getting your H-1B. When you say you are coming to New York, I assume New York City. Have you a place to stay? Have you done your research on driving licenses, automobiles, auto insurance, healthcare insurance, dental?

emmapersky

I do indeed. Working downtown near canal/broadway.

I'll probably be living in Brooklyn near by a bunch of my friends and not too far on the NQ from work Moving in with some for the first month or two until my shipping arrives / I find somewhere.

Do you know if I can sign up for Zip Car with a british license? If not then I will need to sort a license - but I won't be buying / shipping a car.

My company provides heath, but only kicks in on the first of the month, need to check with my travel insurance if they will cover before then. Perhaps its best to not "start working" until then so that I'm technically on holiday, its only a few days...

Its such a relief to finally be getting there!

Rete

Not sure about the zip car rental and your British license. If you are here on vacation you can rent a car with your foreign license so should not be too much a problem. The zip cars are provided/rented through Enterprise. Can always check them out directly.

Ja5on

You won't need a car if your living in the city, just take the subway every where.

Bob

Good luck and congrats on the visa!

Zipcar will let you use your UK license, friend of mind uses Zipcar in Boston now and again using his Brit license.

Rete

She is not going to be living in the city. She will be living in Brooklyn. She might need a car for sightseeing, shopping for heavy to carry items, and perhaps she is talking about a rental.

When did you live in Manhattan????????????

Bob

zipcar is handy though, if you've got to lug shit around for a couple hours for whatever reason.

Ja5on

My wife lived in Brooklyn for a year, i spent around a month there. we never needed a car.....some people might need a car, just saying that most can live without.

Untitled 3

You can join Zipcar with a UK license it's just a little fiddly because they still need to get hold of your driving history from the DVLA. So they will process your membersip through their UK office. However, you should join in the Uk now and your membership will remain valid when you arrive in NY.

I live in manhattan but have found it useful for trips to Ikea (they have pick-ups in their fleet), trips to costco for a big shop or just simply visiting friends and places outside of NYC.

md95065

While you may not need a New York driver's license you should still get one at the earliest possible opportunity. As you probably already know, US driver's licenses long ago ceased to be simply evidence that you had passed a driving test and became the de facto universal identification card. You don't really exist in the US unless you have one ...

Jerseygirl

I think you'll probably find that legally once you are living here you will need to get a US licence. The grace period before you are required to have a US licence differs from state to state so best check with your state's DMV. I'm sure a rental company won't bother...they'll assume you're a tourist but if you got stopped by a traffic cop then you've got some explaining to do.

laneylovesyoga

Speaking as someone who moved to the US from a different country (Canada), I found it much easier/convenient to have a US license - esp when getting insurance for my car (they may have required it actually).

tht

I moved over in March on an L1A, I signed up for Zipcar (in NYC) on my UK license with no problem, I called the DVLA, paid the fee with a debit card and they sent me the letter I needed. It was useful to have the car for trips to Ikea etc. (I am in the East Village).

The bigger issues I thought I would have was a bank account, which turned out to be very easy, I walked in to HSBC with NO SSN, and walked out with starter checks, a current account and a savings account, the debit card took about a week and the credit card came within 2 weeks (if you have a UK account they look at your credit there).

The hardest part was getting a lease with no personal guarantor, I lost the first apartment I found due to that. I ended up getting the second one by paying 3 months rent in advance and 2 months bond, so 5 months rent up front in total.

Cable and utilities were no issue, I just called and they did not ask for a bond. I already had a prepay cellphone from previous trips, but got a proper plan after 5 months (I waited for my credit to build).

Make sure you bring your warm cloths... it's getting cold again now....

Good luck,

tht

noxreallyxhonest

Hey, congrats on the H1-B, good luck with everything.
I never had a UK license so therefore do not have a US license but i've never had any problems with any ID issues.
I am kind of surprised about tht's experience at HSBC though....
i went there as i had been a customer with them for over 10 years and figured that would help me out.... it didn't, i needed all kinds of paperwork, including proof of address which i didn't have at the time, as i was staying with a friend before i found my own place, which i pretty much needed to have a bank account in order to get a place to eventually pay 6 months rent up front (non cash) plus brokers fee..... it was a catch 22, but i eventually found a place with a landlord (albeit a dodgy landlord) who gave me a signed lease agreement which HSBC eventually accepted as proof of address. They also said that they definitely couldn't access/look at/use in any way my UK checking and savings account... maybe it depends on the branch you go to....
I eventually ended up switching to Chase after they sent a promo about giving me $100 for opening an account.
It upset me that i had to pay for cheques, which is the only way i can pay rent, and pay for my dr's co-pay, which i think is terribly archaic... i thought cheques were supposed to be being phased out!!!