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DV 2019 Oceania Selectees

My wife and I arrived in San Francisco this evening! Immigration was a bit of a zoo, but a reasonably well organised one, none the less. We were processed at first by a regular immigration official, then we were escorted to an office for secondary processing. The officer endorsed our visas, and sent us on our way! The process is now officially complete. So, that’s the end of the beginnin

Jim ...
 
Mijoro said:
Did you open the Us one in America or can you do it online. I have a Citibank account here and was think thinking of doing the same. The instant transfer is very tempting as is their transfer exchange rate.
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I opened my account in the US when I was last there. As far as I know, all countries Citi operates in uses the same system for retail customers (unfortunately, it means that their online banking is equally as poor as Citi Australia). The fact that the rate was slightly better than other Australian banks and that they didn't charge a conversion fee was appealing enough though.
 
Second day here - Bank of America agreed to give us a proper credit card - albeit with a $2K limit - but its a start! And AT&T changed my prepaid SIM to a postpaid plan with a ‘local’ area code - so we are making progress ! Looking at houses tomorrow and have an appointment with the BofA loans housing loans manager Monday. We are planning on buying a house with our own money - but with the exchange rate like it is we may borrow some USD for a while.. So far so good..
 
Bob22 said:
I have a Skype interview at 5am in the morning in a few days. Cannot wait to wear a suit up top and only a codpiece down below.
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HAHAHA I had a few video interviews... business up the top, pajama pants and ugg boots on the bottom!!!

Must have done something right, I start my new job on Monday!!! And had 2 other job offers after I accepted that one :)
 
Aidyn said:
HAHAHA I had a few video interviews... business up the top, pajama pants and ugg boots on the bottom!!!

Must have done something right, I start my new job on Monday!!! And had 2 other job offers after I accepted that one :)
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Wow, so quick. You seem on to it, already got your drivers licence too by memory??

Banks....I don't have a US bank account. Anyone suggest a particular company that is easier on immigrants or are they pretty much all the same??
 
Bob22 said:
Wow, so quick. You seem on to it, already got your drivers licence too by memory??

Banks....I don't have a US bank account. Anyone suggest a particular company that is easier on immigrants or are they pretty much all the same??
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For check/savings pretty much all the same. Depending on your needs you may prefer a regional or national bank.
For credit cards many immigrants find CapitalOne easiest.
 
Bob22 said:
Wow, so quick. You seem on to it, already got your drivers licence too by memory??

Banks....I don't have a US bank account. Anyone suggest a particular company that is easier on immigrants or are they pretty much all the same??
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Yes drivers license was one of the first things I did!!

I opened my bank account with Bank of America once I got my SSN. I also got a secured credit card to start building my credit file. Once I get settled in my job I'll apply for a real credit card
 
EmilyW said:
If you're with BoA, they often automatically change your secured credit card to an unsecured credit card, along with a limit increase.
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I’m assuming limit increases for good credit records is a pretty universal thing, mine keep going up every year.
 
Agreed, but I didn't realize they would automatically move the card from secured to unsecured without me asking for that to happen. But maybe it's a common thing.
 
EmilyW said:
Agreed, but I didn't realize they would automatically move the card from secured to unsecured without me asking for that to happen. But maybe it's a common thing.
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I had an unsecured card from the get-go, so can’t comment on that. But it was a fairly low limit, then they raised the limit, then they just gave me another card at some point, and kept raising both limits, and of course this makes it easier to have a better credit record (assuming of course you don’t raise spending to the limit) as the % utilization falls every time they raise the limit.

Edit: my husband started with a secured card (different bank) and they automatically moved it to unsecured after a year. So maybe it is common?
 
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