Arriving to USA: You’re Admitted! Got your Visa, too, but what is next?

First of all congratulations on your admission! If you are reading this blog/article entry you are most likely admitted to a U.S. school and got your student visa! Making travel arrangements to come to the United States can be easier than you think as long as you do your homework well!

Find out! Make sure you know where your school is located. What is the nearest airport, train station, or even bus station that your school advices you to arrive to. Remember that each airport has a unique airport code associated with its name. Make a note of this. For examples, let’s say you are making travel arrangements to attend University of Cincinnati, which is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The code of the airport you wish to travel to would be CVG and the name of the airport you wish to travel to in this case would be: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. There are many cities, towns in the United states with the same name.. if you are admitted to let’s say University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia you must make sure that you are arriving to the Charleston-Yeager Airport (CRW) and not traveling to Charleston, South Carolina. I have personally had an experience when in the past a student in fact traveled to a city that is about 600 miles (nearly 950 km) away from the city where his university was located, you know why? Because his travel arrangement was made for this other city with the same name! This type of occasions are sure rare but by making sure that you know where your school is located, where your school advices you to arrive you can save yourself from a major headache!

Now that you know which city’s airport, bus or train station you are traveling to (which by the way you may be a little bit surprised that the quality of bus or train transportation is well below in the US compared to some other countries.. I personally recommend you to stick to air travel! ) now you need to make sure that you are boarding on the plane from your home country with everything you need!

But what do you need to bring with you? Besides your valid passport (MUST be valid at least six months beyond your intended period of stay. Make sure that your Visa is also valid, you have your I-20/DS-2019 as well as other acceptance documents with you. Do not carry your passport, I-20, other identification documents in the same place. Keep them safe, but in the hopefully unlikely event of a theft/robbery you will probably still have an additional documents that may help you prove who you are.

You have purchased your plane ticket ! and have your passport, I-20, DS-2019, acceptance letter(s) and all other things with you! Please remember NOT to open any immigration documents placed in a sealed envelope by the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. But do you know where you are going to? Where will you stay? Live for the next few days if you haven’t made arrangements to reserve a dorm room, or rented an apartment?

If you are lucky you will have some friends who can allow you to stay with them for a few day when you first arrive! It is very common that international students from the same country, even if you never met each other before, may let you stay with him/her for a few days and help you adapt to the new environment. If you have not reserved an on-campus housing (i.e. dorm room) an apartment or let’s say a friend to stay with for a few days or more, well where are you going to stay? How about a hotel! That is a great but possibly an expensive alternative. Especially if you haven’t booked your hotel room! Not only you may not be able to find any vacancy, you may also have to pay hundreds of dollars a night for a hotel room because of your last-minute demand. Again make sure to arrange either a temporary or longer-term accommodation before you get on the plane, so you will have no surprises upon your arrival!

Please remember that you may not want to carry things like pillow, blanket, comforter, towels, cloth hangers, as you may buy these things upon your arrival to the states and that these items would take so much space in your luggage.

I would on the other hand highly recommend you to bring personal hygiene products such as tooth brush, toothpaste and possibly even shampoo and soap. These items will not take too much space in your luggage. Please make sure to check with the airlines you will be flying with about what you can carry in your luggage.

Most schools will offer airport pick-up service for their international and even domestic students.

Find out from your school if they offer such service, and if so make sure to sign up for it as early as you know your trip details (arrival time, airline’s name, flight number etc.) this way you know that there will be someone waiting for you at the airport to take you to your hotel/apartment/dorm room when you arrive to the States. Make sure to ask the driver if he/she would stop by at a local convenience store for a few minutes or so, so that you may purchase items that you did not bring with you but you need immediately. For example your dorm room may not have pillows, so you may buy this on your way to the dorms.

If you are bringing a laptop computer, a hair-dryer, a cell-phone, or any other electronic equipment remember that the electrical system in the U.S. uses (most commonly) 110 Volts, which may be different than your home country. You may need to but a special electrical converter/adaptor before being able to use your appliances.

I cannot stress enough how risky it is to walk around with a money full of pocket. Remember to bring enough cash with you but not more than what you need. Lost or stolen cash cannot be replaced, however lost or stolen credit cards, travelers checks can! You may also check with your school and ask for a bank account to have your parents/financial sponsor to wire some money directly to your school for your tuition, fees and even on-campus accommodation. Some schools require pre-payment/advanced payment of tuition and fees, so if you had already submitted the required payment while you were in your country it is even better, you will have one less thing to worry about.

Remember to check with your international students office about how to open a CHECKING account at a local bank, which is if possible, within walking distance to your school campus or your residence (apartment, dorm room etc.) You must open a bank account as early as possible, especially if you arrived to the U.S. with large sums of money in your pocket. Do not wait and deposit your money into a bank account, this will prevent you from losing your money or getting it stolen …

There are a lot more to do upon your first arrival to your new temporary country. Checking-in with your school, arranging a place to live, opening a bank account, purchasing an international student health insurance package, and many more. Communicate with your friends who went through the process, ask your school’s international office for help/assistance, in time, you will learn it all! And be ready to help others who will follow your foot-steps.

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