Any book, online courses or recommendations on how to adapt and learn about how life works in the US in terms of settling, taxes, job hunting, etc for a citizen that has never lived in the US?

23 comments

1. How life works? No, you’re gonna have to figure it out based on where you live.

   Taxes, use an accountant or just use TurboTax (that will be fine unless you have some special situation) even if you do you can probably pay a small fee for their consultation and be good to go.

   Job hunting, I would just do internet research based on the kind of job as opposed to try to find a book or course. It is really a matter of applying and doing interviews, figuring out how much you should be paid within a range. All of that can be done with Google and YouTube videos.

2. The [USCIS has an entire section dedicated to settling in the US](https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/civic-integration/settling-in-the-us).

3. Long story short: war in the ukraine and europe offering no long term solutions for a family of immigrants, the option of going to the country of citizenship seems the most possible way to plan a life long term regardless of initial struggles.

4. Google works well

5. Passport?

   Not a visa?

6. Thank you all for your suggestions. We’re going to do read and discuss the information you’ve shared and keep brainstorming over here. Thanks once again for your help. Bless you all and have a fantastic day.

7. Where are you looking to settle?

8. Even Americans don’t know any of this, so you should be fine.

9. My suggestion is to take the ESL classes at the local,community college, even if you don’t need to. Much of the curriculum is based around everyday life like banking and ordering in restaurants. You learn conversational English with emphasis on stuff you will do frequently.

   Also, take a driving course. Gets you up to speed on laws plus a discount on insurance.

10. Your guide to federal income tax: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

11. Haha we don’t know how any of that works either

12. You should get a secure credit card to start building your credit score if it isn’t mentioned on any of the sources people have provided

13. One of the very first things you’ll want to purchase is a vehicle. So checking out the department of transportation website for whatever location you wind up going to for the legal requirements of vehicle ownership would be a good idea.

14. Have you been filing US taxes all these years? Not sure if you are aware, but as a citizen you’re supposed to file US taxes even if you don’t live here. If you haven’t, I wouldn’t worry too much cause you probably wouldn’t actually owe anything but you are still supposed to file.

15. I don’t think many Americans are well versed in books on how to be American. I think this question would be better suited for American immigrants

16. It’s sooooooo differebt depending on each state. It’s like asking a guide to learning how to live in Europe.

17. Just be ready to work yourself to death to get by if you aren’t wealthy.

18. Be very prepared for a few things:

    1. health care costs

    2. working conditions are pretty shit.

    3. It’s not hard to get a job, but it is very difficult for a foreigner to get a job in their field, even with degrees and decades of experience. This is especially true if you’re from Eastern Europe unfortunately.

    Be prepared to work frustrating low wage jobs that require little experience.

19. The husband and kids have no other citizenship within Europe? Man, i don’t want to be the bummer.

    If the wife and mother-in-law are not US citizens or do not already have “green cards” they will not be allowed to just enter the US. They will need a visa, but a tourist visa is unlikely considering the current state of affairs in Ukraine. Getting a visa for the wife of a citizen is possible, but often still takes months or even years. Not sure mother-in-law would qualify at all, to be honest.

    Definitely call a refugee organization in the US and possibly an immigration attorney in an area they are considering moving to. He could also visit the American consulate/embassy closest to you and see if they have any advice.

    Definitely don’t buy plane tickets right away without visas for wife and her mom. That won’t end well. They may not even be allowed on the plane without a valid visa. I’ve read stories of Ukrainians flying to Mexico (because they don’t need visas to enter there) and then applying for asylum/visas at the US border. That’s a hard path to take though.

20. One thing I would recommend that I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is, if any of you have university degrees or professional certifications from other countries, start looking into getting them recognized by a U.S. institution. I know several immigrants who just mistakenly assumed their university degrees weren’t worth anything over here, so they just started off in unskilled jobs and unnecessarily gave up decades of career momentum. Here’s a starting point: https://gcs.org/blog/how-to-validate-foreign-degree-in-usa/

21. If he’s a software dev I’d strongly advise beginning a job hunt asap. Make a LinkedIn account, and see about reaching out to recruiters. Normally I’d advise against recruiters because you may get a lower off but it will probably be easier and the fastest path to being employed. If he can get a job with a larger company there’s a good chance they can help with relocation and other issues. Also he’ll probably be better off in a city with a lot of tech jobs but those also tend have a higher cost of living so picking where to go may be a balancing act. Almost all the cities outside of CA will be less expensive.

22. As a us citizen I don’t know how the taxes work

23. What questions do you have? Feel free to message me