Moving to US as J1 Scholar

After living in Italy for more than 5 years, I decided that it was the time for another adventure and start searching for a postdoc position in USA (and I found the best one!). So in this post, I would like to pass my experience with all the paperwork before and moving to US. It is important for me to emphasize that this is my personal experience and it might be different for others and therefore I am not here to give legal suggestions! I am sharing my experience so understanding certain concepts could help you create yours!


Finding a position: 

I was interested with a postdoc position right after finishing my PhD, so this made my life easier for finding a position (I was searching for a short-term experience, so it was easier to get hired) and for visa terms. Me and my husband are extremely lucky, since we have similar background with similar experience. We discussed a little bit, I wanted to move to US basically anywhere and my husband asked for California. So one afternoon we sat down, took our laptops and searched literally every university in California to find the right professors who have similar research interests as ours. We made a list and we sent our application kits (CVs, cover letters, some major publications and references). And we started waiting. 

After certain negative replies (especially due to the lack of funding), we got a positive one, leading to a video interview and an offer, luckily from the same professors for both me and my husband. We accepted right away. Then, the paperwork begins!

DS-2019:

The first thing to expect is the official offer letter, which states the annual income, terms of health insurance, the duration of the program, etc. In our case, we got offered a postdoc position, which counts as an exchange program and we were told that we are eligible for J1 type visa, individually. With J1, you can work ONLY for the  program stated on your DS-2019 form and need to be covered by a health insurance, which might be provided by your institution or not. If you are married or have children, you can have them travel with you or go to school. However, keep in mind that you are not a permanent immigrant in this country and you are expected to leave or find a new program to cover your state once your visa expires. 

In order to apply for the visa (in our case, J1), our sponsor institution or organization (in our case, our university) need to file the application form in our behalf (in our case, a form called DS-2019). We were constantly in contact with our international office and department administration to provide them all the necessary documents. For me and Fabio, the process DS-2019 worked slightly different: my DS-2019 form was ready almost a month earlier since I had my PhD diploma ready, even though I had to prove my permanent address and my permit of stay in Italy. Fabio was in the process of completing his degree, so he was asked to provide a letter from his doctoral institution reporting the official possible dates for his degree, as a proof that he might receive his degree upon the start date of his exchange program. In either case, for me the whole process took about a month, while for Fabio it was almost 2. 

As I mentioned earlier, the DS-2019 form was filed by the institution in America and for us to ask for a visa in Italy, we needed the original forms, Based on the urgency of your situation, you might ask for a regular post, courier or fast courier options for such a delivery. 

Application: 

Once your DS-2019 form arrives, find a way to store and carry it around with you in a safe way, since this will be one of the most important documents you might ever need in US! Now, you are ready to book your appointment in the embassy. 

There are a couple of steps for this: first, you should register and pay your SEVIS fee online. It is important to do this as soon as possible, since you need a couple of days for this payment to be actively available during your appointment in the embassy. Make sure to print out a copy of your payment. 

Then, you need to register to the official US visa website as a non-immigrant visa, file your application form (DS-160) choose your country or residence (where you will apply for the visa from) and choose the best day for you. If you have any sort of help, you can always write an email to the embassy you would like to visit about all your problems and I experienced that they are quite helpful about all sorts of issues. 

When we finally received our DS-2019, we didn't have too much time to spare, considering that we also needed to leave our home in Pisa, move to Fabio's parents' house, I needed to squeeze a trip to Turkey and Fabio needed to finish PhD. We compiled all the registration forms and got the appointment for a date, almost 3 weeks away! We started to panic, considering why and how and when!  We realized that there is a concept of "emergency appointment", which you can request if you have any sort of limitation or constraint and you need to move your current appointment date to an earlier one. From the website, we compiled an expedite appointment, claiming all the reasons why we needed to move the appointment date and when we prefer having it. The day after, they moved our appointment to the very next day! It was amazing. 

During the appointment at the embassy, we were asked to show only the essentials:

-  DS-2019 form
-  DS-160 form
-  proof of payment for SEVIS
- a photo (specifically for American visa)
- proof of residence (if you are applying outside your home country) 
- passport. 

It is important to emphasize that we were not asked any type of travel arrangements, such as flight information or accommodation details. We were also asked to show a wedding certificate since we were applying individually with my husband. The appointment took less than half an hour. In the end, we left only our passports and left. After two days, our passports were ready with our visas stamped on them from the pick-up location.  

Let me explain a little bit what you might see on your J1 visa: most likely it has the duration of your program and multiple entry. Based on your home country and country of residence, you might be asked to return home and share your experience after completing your program for 2 years. On your visa, there should be a section regarding this 2-year home rule, stating whether you are subject to it.  Know that once your visa expires, you actually have the right for a "grace period", allowing people to stay 30 days more in US legally without leaving the country.  

Upon Arrival: 

the Guardian
Once you arrive to America, the frontier police might ask you some questions, such as your accommodation details, your workplace and ask you to show your passport, your visa and DS-2019. The frontier police should be registering your information and filing an I-94 form for you. Even though previously this used to be given also in the paper form, you can reach this form online. On this form, all your information when you enter and leave country will be registered, so it is highly recommended that you confirm the details after all of your international trips. 

You will need to confirm your arrival by filling the SEVIS confirmation form through here unless stated otherwise by your institution within 16 days from the beginning of your program date. Please note that this process might be different for each visa type so try to do it as soon as possible. 

Furthermore, after the start date of your program, you will need the international office, who prepared your DS-2019 in the first place, to sign your DS-2019 approving your arrival and presence. It is important to know that you can start travel internationally (I wouldn't risk domestically as well honestly) only AFTER having this final signature. 

Social Security Number:

U.S. Government
Social security number is one of the key items to survive in America! Unfortunately, you cannot apply for it as soon as you arrive. Once you confirm your SEVIS record online, you need to wait about 16 days before you apply for one. Technically, you can also go earlier but the whole procedure might be slower if your SEVIS record is not updated yet. You can find the closest Social Security Office online and go with the following documents: 

- passport
- DS-2019
- I-94
- offer letter from your institution
- SS5: you can download it here and print it out before going there. 

Please keep in mind that you will not find empty SS5 forms flying around the social security office once there, so you are responsible bringing your own copy. Also, try to go there as early as possible, since there is always a huge waiting line. 

Once you complete your visit to the Social Security Office, your SSN will be posted to your address stated on SS5 within 2 weeks. 

Bank account: 

For almost all of your activities in America, you will be asked for SSN. You can get a checking account easily in almost every bank even without one, but you will need it for a credit card. We decided to use HSBC, since we were offered credit cards even without an American SSN but using our Italian tax number (codice fiscale) as a proof of credibility. You will be asked to show a permanent address, which can be in US or anywhere in the world, as long as it is an official documentation in English. If you already have a leasing contract, that should be fine too. 

Having credit cards in America seems to be extremely easy! In fact, in most of the shops we visit, they have their customized credit cards, which offers better deals in the long run. However, you cannot have one without SSN. Moreover, being new in the country means having low (even unknown) credibility score and this is why it is likely that you will be declined if you try getting one. Before even considering one of these deals, try to get a legit credit card from your bank and increase your credibility by paying your debt on time for a couple of months. 

Housing: 

You will be asked for SSN also for renting a house or having an internet connection. At this point, we chose to rent a house in a residence complex, which was quite helpful in the beginning since we didn't need SSN as long as we pay a reasonable amount of deposit and we didn't have to deal with electricity or water bill registrations before moving in. We were asked to have a renter insurance against burglary or natural disasters, which happens to be in our favor in the end, so it turned out just fine. We had a similar deal with the internet provider as well, we had to pay a certain amount of deposit and it was functional the very same day. 

I was hoping to get an apartment with furniture, since we will be around only for a limited amount of time. But, keep in mind that furnished apartments cost actually much more than renting an empty apartment and separate furniture. Try to check craig's list or student forums of your institution to search for second hand items if you need. 

Sim Card: 

Without SSN, you cannot get a SIM card with billing options, but you can get prepaid SIM cards. AT&T or T-mobile are the best options for new arrivals, since they provide micro SIM cards that can be used by any Unlocked phone. However, our European phones cannot reach the speed of 4G, so our internet connection is extremely slow. You can enroll with a monthly deal with unlimited call, unlimited SMS and different GB options. 

I believe this is all you have to do to come and settle down in America. Did you have any other experience than what I tried to cover here? 



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