Housing, cellular communications, insurance, bank account for new immigrants in New York: the personal experience of a Russian

How to buy a house, connect a cellular connection, open a bank account for a newcomer in New York? These questions are asked by everyone who plans to move to America. A Russian shared his personal experience of living in New York with a nickname PapaRoma227 to "Peekaboo".

Housing in New York

Expensive, cramped, with cockroaches and mice. Rent only through a realtor. Deposits: a monthly fee to the realtor, the first month for the apartment and plus a deposit (the amount for several months that the landlord will ask for). As a rule, this is another 1-2 months of payment, but it can be up to 6 months. The guys (acquaintances of acquaintances), from whom I rented a room, pay $ 1700 + Internet 100 + some nonsense for the light. They only took a monthly payment as collateral. Rental start: May 2022. Location: Brooklyn, Metro Sheepshead Bay.

Total: 100% realtor, 100% first month payment, 100-600% deposit to the landlord. Why can the deposit be up to 600%? Yes, because you are as clean as a sheet for the landlord. No documents, no credit history. In which case he will not be able to expel you just like that, everything is through the court. Especially if there are children! The deposit acts as an insurance policy. Apartments are rented empty. Add here the purchase of furniture, kitchen utensils, etc. ~ 1000 - 1500 dollars.

There is another unpleasant moment on the topic of houses. At the request of the government, the treaty stipulates that it is not desirable for children to live in certain houses or live for a limited period. Such a moment is written in the contract with the guys from whom I rented a room.

There is a hack. I know guys who did this: they searched for sublease ads on FB, filmed for several months, and then searched further. Like this? The tenant leaves for some business somewhere for a couple of months. He has to pay rent. And to save money, he subleases. The guys sublease this apartment, live without additional costs, the tenant lives without additional costs and everyone is happy. The scheme is working (for the first time) and saves good money.

How to connect cellular

There is nowhere easier. You go to a T-Mobile outlet in Brighton or Sheepshead Bay. My Redmi phone does not work with US sims. I was upset, there was no desire to buy a new phone. But, the employee offered a promotion - you pay for communication for 2 months at once ($ 50 / month - $ 100) and give out a work phone for free and forever. Dali Samsung A7 in my opinion, I distributed WiFi to an old phone and use it.

On the subject: Where should an immigrant look for his first job in New York: the personal experience of a Russian

How to get insurance

Everything is simple here. With a tourist visa, you can get free insurance for the duration of Form I94. This form lists your authorized period of stay in the United States. The stamp in the passport corresponds to the form, but the stamp is not always put. I know they don't play in Miami. It is easy to view this form on the Internet.
Restricted insurance, but I think even a dentist is included in it. It is enough for first aid, and for the first time.

Hospital address where to get insurance: 2601 Ocean Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11235.

On the first floor, as you enter the main entrance, there are insurance agents sitting at tables on the right and many signs / advertisements of their insurance companies. It is impossible not to see them.

What will be required of you: a passport and an address where a letter with cards will come.

Important! You will need this letter for the bank, so keep it. In general, keep all correspondence.

The whole procedure took me about 10 minutes. A couple of days later, a letter with a card (insurance) came to the mailbox.

Bank account/card

There are two banks that open accounts and cards for tourists - TD Bank and Bank of America (BofA).

TD Bank - issues a card on the day of application, but requires documents confirming the address. In our case, this is a lease agreement. If you need to open two cards for yourself and for your spouse / ha, then both of you must be registered in the contract.

Important! Everything in America is decided by the human factor. Even if there are problems in some department, feel free to go to another department and there, most likely, you will solve your problem. And all because you will communicate with another employee. If the employee is in good health and mood, you can open cards for everyone, even if only one person is registered in the contract. But, it’s better not to rely on it, it’s better to prescribe everyone in the contract.

I did not have a lease agreement, so I could only confirm the address with a letter from the insurance company. Here BofA was in a hurry to help me.

There is a BofA branch in Brighton and at the nearby Sheepshead Bay station.

Brighton - Russian-speaking employees, but the eternal queue. The record, in my case then, was already in 2 weeks. Yes, I also thought, as you are now: do not wait 2 weeks for Feng Shui, when there is already a lot to do! I found another branch on Sheepshead Bay on the map, it's right next to the metro and went there.

There are few people there. I waited for the consultant, who also speaks Russian, to be released. He took me to a Russian-speaking employee, I gave him a passport, a bank card of the Russian Federation, a letter from the insurance company as confirmation of the address, and a $100 contribution. We opened a debit account, the card came by mail within 10 days to the postal address.

How to make a driver's license

This is tin. We go to the DMV website, I turned on the translator in Chrome and calmly found the necessary sections. You attach a photo of a driver's license of the Russian Federation, a passport, confirmation of addresses (letters from an insurance company and a bank). They also asked me to make a bank statement. You start an online theory test. Questions, in my opinion, about 20 pieces and 99% of them are about alcohol and drugs.

I remember this question: In a state of extreme intoxication, what should a person do to recover:

• Take a cup of strong coffee.
• Take a shower.
• Go to sleep.

Not verbatim, but the meaning and answers are as follows).

Having passed the theory test, you sign up for the DMV itself (traffic police) for a photo and filling out paperwork. There you pay the fee of $73. And after 2 weeks, Permit arrives in the mailbox. According to the Permit, it is already possible to drive a car, but there must be a person with full rights in the car. To get full rights, you need to watch a 5-hour video and pass a road test. How does this happen. I had an instructor's contact, he gave me a school that shows this video on Zoom. I called the school and they booked me in for a screening. I watched this video on the phone for 2 hours, then the person asks: is it still clear? We are all zoom - of course! Well then, that's all.))

Next, you need to pick up a certificate from this school that confirms that you watched this video. The certificate costs $55.

Then the instructor signs you up for a road test. There are 2 options where you can take a road test: Staten Island and Brooklyn itself. Staten Island is a village, traffic is minimal or non-existent. I asked to go to the Island. Island costs $30 more, but it's cheaper than failing a test in Brooklyn with a full move and then doing it all over again. Signed up.

What is the cost: $ 270 gave for the Island and rent a car for delivery. We arrived before the start of the test. So it was possible to get used to the car and generally to the road. The car is a new Lexus, a small crossover. The test itself lasted 5-7 minutes. An inspector sat down next to me, we drove off, stopped at the stop line, drove through an intersection, parked, reversed, and returned back. It is necessary to hand over “backwards” as in films)) you need to look into the rear window, it’s wildly not convenient.

Then I ask the instructor, so everyone here passes on the right? Even who did not have rights? He replied that yes, of course there are schools, but you can pass without them. I then thought - how do they ride here, if such a surrender is going on. But somehow they ride. Here, by the way, everything is sharpened on safety. A pedestrian, wherever he crosses, is always right and you are obliged to yield to him. A school bus, if it put a stop sign on the sides, everything must stop, even the oncoming lane.

After 2 weeks, the mail came already full DL.

Honestly, our training system, in my opinion, seems to be more correct. Still, a car is an increased threat to both the driver and pedestrians. Accordingly, one must be able to handle it. Knowledge of theory/practice is a must. I do not take into account the corruption component in the traffic police. Here, by the way, corruption is still the same.

Opening a company in New York

A tourist can open a company. He cannot work in it, i.e. receive official income as an employee. But a tourist can hire people, conduct activities and receive dividends. Opening a company takes 3-4 days. But since the tourist does not have an SSN, the opening period may increase to three weeks. The opening cost is $350. You can open yourself.

I wanted to open it myself, but somehow everything quickly happened with the work, so I entrusted this business to my company.

Tax reporting. Reporting once a year, in March. You can pay with a business card everywhere, products, services, etc. The main thing is to collect checks. These checks are used to write off taxes. The cost of an accountant's work is $150 once a year.