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You are able to work, drive, rent and pay taxes.
You did not inform yourself on how to apply for a SS# and now it is everybody else's fault
No you cannot drive for around 90 days on a foreign license! Is it so hard to google DMV?
Don't know about you, but I'm fully informed mate. I had to tick a box - wasn't that hard so I don't know why you're trying to make me out to be an idiot. Maybe you've come across some people who forgot to tick a box?
Nah, it's not 'if' - it's a fact that it does. Appreciate your contributions.
I will try to find my rant - it started along the lines of "Atlanta? Rather Atlantis hidden in plain view ...". It is something you have to work through. Living with in-laws, limited privacy, being on display like a fuzzy hamster, the void after all the paperwork/interviews/dealing with last minute loose ends and friends and family, ... Start networking if you have not done so and lined up a job.
I will try to find my rant - it started along the lines of "Atlanta? Rather Atlantis hidden in plain view ...". It is something you have to work through. Living with in-laws, limited privacy, being on display like a fuzzy hamster, the void after all the paperwork/interviews/dealing with last minute loose ends and friends and family, ... Start networking if you have not done so and lined up a job.
Sounds just like me. I'm frantically shooting out emails to apartment blocks to see who would 'take me in' as a new immigrant with no USA ID, no SSN and no credit. I'm having some luck, and I'm not sure how much longer our current living situation can last with the in-laws. I'll soon start trying to talk with an American accent just so I don't feel like a zoo animal whenever I ask for help in a shop.
Go to get drivers license - told to come back when I have a SSN and 2 forms of ID with proof of address. Also told I will need to take a driving test despite having driven for 15 years. Ok ok, I drive on the wrong side of the road and don't mind taking a test as a formality, but the documentation is the frustrating bit.
I won't get my SSN for apparently 3 weeks? Arrived 2 days ago. I'm working on 2 forms of ID which is my next vent.
Go to get bank account - had to 'fight' for it for about 1 hour. The bank didn't think I had a visa, even though it was stuck right there in my passport. They finally 'agreed' that I have a valid visa but insisted on using my Australian drivers license as proof of address - so my belief that a bank account could act as 1 form of new USA ID was kind-of crushed. They put the 'mailing address' as my USA address which might be OK...
In any case, I'm basically in limbo until this SSN arrives because I need it for absolutely everything.
Surely there could/should be a Social Security rep at ports of entry who can print off or whisper in your ear your SSN to help get things started upon arrival.
I know, I know, it's hopefully only 3 weeks to wait... but what do I do for 3 weeks? Sit around...
I won't even go into my bewilderment upon being told at the port of entry that the actual green card can take up to 12 months to arrive.
Please, someone, tell me it's not 12 months!
Trying to 'Americanize' myself is difficult! I'll feel much better with a US drivers license as it will all feel a bit more official... and being able to spend money will be great... then it will all come into place from that point onward.
You are not going through anything different than what everyone else goes through and it can be worse for US Citizens who were actually born here.
In answer to your question "what do you do, sit around until things arrive". Yes, and if you need to go to the grocery or just want to go out and about use public transportation, call a taxi or a friend/relative and have them take you.
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