Moving to the United States: A First-Steps Guide for Expats

I want to start with the part that most guides soften: the United States is the hardest major destination to move to, and not because of paperwork complexity. It is hard because for most people there is simply no route.

There is no general skilled-migration pathway that lets a qualified professional apply on their own merits, as there is in Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Almost every employment route requires an American employer to petition for you, and the main one is allocated by lottery.

Understand that first, and everything else about planning a US move makes more sense.

The routes that actually exist

Employment-based nonimmigrant visas. The H-1B is the main specialty occupation visa, requiring a degree-level role and an employer petition. Registrations vastly exceed the annual cap, so selection is by random lottery. Being exceptionally qualified does not improve your odds. Many people register for several years running.

The L-1 covers intracompany transfers for managers, executives and specialised-knowledge employees who have worked for a related entity abroad - the most reliable route for people already inside a multinational, and worth pursuing deliberately.

The O-1 is for individuals with extraordinary ability, evidenced against defined criteria. It is demanding and genuinely attainable for people with a strong record of achievement.

Treaty-based visas - E-1, E-2 and the Canadian and Mexican TN category under the trade agreement, plus arrangements for Australian and some other nationals - depend entirely on your nationality, and if one applies to you it may be far easier than the general routes. Check yours specifically.

Family-based routes through a US citizen or permanent resident relative, with wait times that vary enormously by category and country of birth.

Study, on an F-1 visa, with limited post-study work through practical training - a common on-ramp, though not a guaranteed one.

The diversity visa lottery, open to nationals of qualifying countries, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Green cards - lawful permanent residence - are a separate matter from temporary visas, obtained through employment sponsorship, family, investment or the lottery. Moving from a temporary visa to permanent residence is its own multi-year process, and for people born in certain countries the queues in some employment categories are extremely long.

I have deliberately not given numbers, caps or processing times, because they change and because getting them wrong here is costly. Take them from the official immigration sources. The US visa section covers the structure, and the employer’s side is in how employer visa sponsorship works.

The Social Security number and getting started

Your first practical errand is a Social Security number, which functions as the de facto national identifier for employment, tax, banking and credit. Apply as soon as you are eligible.

Then a bank account and, critically, the beginning of a credit history. The US runs on credit scores to a degree that surprises almost everyone - they affect your ability to rent an apartment, get a phone contract, obtain a car loan, and sometimes your insurance premiums. Arriving with excellent credit elsewhere counts for nothing.

The standard opening move is a secured credit card, used lightly and paid in full every month. Start immediately; it takes months to build anything useful. The general approach is building credit history abroad.

You will also want a state driver’s licence, which doubles as the everyday identity document, and in most of the country a car - public transport outside a handful of cities is limited.

Health insurance, which needs its own section

There is no universal public system for working-age adults. This is the single biggest adjustment for anyone arriving from a country with one, and it is not a matter of degree - it is a different model.

Most people are insured through an employer plan, and the quality of that plan is a major component of a job offer, frequently worth more than a salary difference. Others buy on the individual market. Medicare covers people over 65 and Medicaid covers low-income people under conditions that vary by state.

The vocabulary matters and you must learn it: the premium is what you pay monthly; the deductible is what you pay before the insurer contributes; copays and coinsurance are your share of each service; the out-of-pocket maximum is your worst case in a year; and the network determines which providers are covered - going out of network can be extraordinarily expensive.

Ask about the health plan in detail before accepting a job. Medical costs are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US, and the difference between a good plan and a poor one is enormous. The general framing is public versus private healthcare, though the US genuinely sits outside the usual models.

Money, tax and fifty different countries

Federal income tax applies everywhere; state income tax varies from none at all to substantial, and there are local taxes in some places. Sales tax is added at the till rather than shown on the label, which catches every newcomer.

Two features that are unusual internationally. First, the US taxes its citizens and permanent residents on worldwide income regardless of where they live, which is a significant consideration if you ever take a green card or citizenship and later move away. Second, tax filing is genuinely complex compared with countries where most employees never file.

There is a treaty network and foreign tax credit machinery - see avoiding double taxation - and if you have income or assets outside the US, foreign account reporting obligations are strict and penalties for missing them are severe. Get a US accountant familiar with cross-border situations. Structure is in the US tax section.

The fifty-country problem

Cost of living, tax, employment law, healthcare access, education, weather and culture vary between states more than they do between some European countries. A tech salary in San Francisco and the same salary in Texas are entirely different propositions once housing and state tax are accounted for.

Employment is generally “at will” in most states, meaning either party can end it with little notice and few of the protections common in Europe - and since health insurance is usually tied to employment, that connection matters.

Paid leave is a genuine shock: there is no federal statutory minimum paid vacation, and two weeks is a common starting point. Parental leave provision is limited compared with almost every other wealthy country.

What catches people out

Assuming that being highly qualified is sufficient - the lottery does not care. Underestimating how much health insurance details matter. Arriving with no credit history and being unable to rent. Sales tax and tipping norms. And treating “the US” as one place when the state you choose determines a great deal.

For the regional comparison, moving to Canada has a genuinely different immigration philosophy and is far more attainable for most skilled workers, and moving to Mexico is the southern neighbour with a much easier residence process.

State-level detail, current visa routes and cost breakdowns are in the US country guide and the cost of living section. For current lottery and processing experiences, the visa and immigration forum is where people compare notes.