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bukawbukaw

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Posts posted by bukawbukaw

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

     

    Exactly. I've been long out of the military now; but before the interview I took a loan out of my 401k to ensure I had extra money to spare for him to transition easier,  maybe some new furniture, extra clothing, down payment for car eventually, ect.

    That is nice. But we do not have 401k. We have SSS and PagIBIG. And the most we could get barely covered airfare! :P

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, doggieandsam said:

    I am confused. In order to get CR1, the sponsor / petitioner has to be a US citizen. OP has been asked if the husband was staying with her in the PH prior and moved to the US with her? But she hasnt answered that. But even then, how did the USC husband not have an SSN, knowledge of how renting works, no credit history etc? And then, the claim of landlords not renting to immigrants might be true but again the husband is USC. Some parts are missing in this story.

    I have. And of course my husband was living with me. He is my husband. Of course he has a SSN. That is the law. But he did not know there would be an issue, becasue he never married an immigrant before. Neither of us knew. I guess everyone knows this. OK. But how did YOU deal with it? I think that is important to share. Not bash us for being stupid people. Why did we not know about this? I don't know. But what options are out there for others?

     

    We got now:

     

    1. AirBnb

    2. Buy a trailer and land

     

    Not sure what else was listed.

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

    I am trying to understand how her husband had no credit whatsoever and what was he doing during the Visa process, was he in the Philippines as well and didn't have job to go back to? If that is the case then it's poor planning on his part. I was in Afghanistan during the process and I had a job lined up outside Los Angeles, that's why we moved literally 4 days after getting married from NC to Ca. 

    How was your asawa supporting you during the process? There is no housing sponsor.

    Why do you want to know about my husband's credit? Or his job? I don't think I was talking anything about those things?

     

    Someone mentioned a housing sponsor.

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, nightingalejules said:

    We were lucky... my husband's mother let us stay with her for the first while, as we were setting up and getting jobs etc (I came here on a CR1 but my husband and I had been living together in Canada before that, so he didn't have much US credit/rental history either.

     

    He did have some old credit history, so we were able to get a credit card with a small line of credit and start building up our US credit history. Yes, we had to make a fairly large security deposit on the apartment we got, but by that time we were both working and could prove income, at least. 

     

    And on a CR1, you are eligible to get a SSN as soon as you arrive, so if you didn't get yours you need to contact Social Security and get one ASAP. 

     

    Sorry your arrival was so difficult.

    I did not get an SSN as soon as I arrived. It took a couple of months before I had the card. The number helps. But in some places, not much without credit and references.

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

    Can definately say never have seen anywhere say "Only US citizens". There are tons of places to look. Craigslist, apartments.com , rent.com , apartmentfinder.com and endless other places where you can specifically search criteria that you desire and can afford.

    You can search on those sites for "immigrant friendly"? Maybe that is new. We used all those sites and never saw that.

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Trellick said:

    In which case - why did he not know how to find a place to rent? As a USC he would be able to rent anything even if there are some places who won't rent to immigrants - I've never seen this myself. 

    Does he not have any family or friends in the USA you could have lent on for help? 

     

    Now you are a USC and have been here for years have you done some research on different States you might like to move to? Perhaps there is a better place with quieter more rural communities that would be more suitable.

    No he did not know how to find a place to rent. No one told him. Well he was not going to get a place for himself and make me live in a homeless shelter with our baby all alone. He is too noble for that. Oh we have moved around a LOT. I am a citizen now. And have had a SSN for a long time. We are looking for quieter places, but I am not allowed to talk about that on here. Got in trouble in another thread for asking. :whistle:

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

    So your husband's never lived anywhere on his own then? I'm not understanding this part.

     

    If he already lives somewhere, especially if he already resided somewhere with his name on the lease/mortgage/whatever, it should not be such an issue to add his legal spouse to that residence contract. I've already added my fiancé to the lease on my house with his move in date in May and had ZERO problems with this. People have zero problems adding their immigrant spouse/fiancé all the time, to utility bills, bank accounts, etc.

    Sure.  But it is not easy. First you need a US Social Security Number, a high credit score(750+), credit cards, rental references, personal references, professional references, and so on.

     

    Utilities are a bit easier. But you still need SSN and good credit. But that is not an issue. The utility companies do not care if you have a spouse. Still working on a bank account though. I don't drive. So I only have a US passport. And you can't use that as ID in America! lol

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

    I think this question has been asked previously but not really answered, but it is a good point.

     

    However, in that case, I still feel better research could be done prior to moving so it isn't such a shock. At the very least, have a better understanding of the financial responsibilities of where it is you are moving to. Moving blindly can lead to a lot of disappointment, as it appears is the case here.

    Well we were shocked. And I hope someone else comes on this thread that needs it. We survived, but I have little in the way of advice. But others here seem to have a few good ideas!

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    Just now, Trellick said:

    It's possible that the husband had never lived in the USA before, or only as a small child, and was still a dual citizen. In that case it would be exactly like two new immigrants arriving together and that can be very tough with no family to fall back on.

    No my husband grew up in the US. Is it common knowledge that immigrants can't rent in most places? I thought that was only me. No one ever told me this. That is why I wanted to discuss it. I never read it here either.

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted · Edited by TBoneTX
    to remove drama imported from other thread

    11 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

    You said you had a sponsor. You also said you came here on CR-1, which means you married a US citizen, correct? Neither of those outlets provided any viable options? Why wouldn't you look into housing before moving over to a new country?

     

    I have no idea where you're looking, either, but must not be a very broad spectrum. There's plenty of apartment and housing complexes that work with people, including legal immigrants. Sorry to hear you haven't come across those neighborhoods. According to your other thread, you think we're all just a bunch of gangsters or rednecks anyhow, so again, it doesn't seem like you've given yourself a very broad perspective of a VERY big and diverse country.

     

    Best of luck to you.

    Being married to an American did not seem to matter to anyone renting, no. Why didn't I look into housing before I moved? I did not know I needed to. Even my husband did not know. It was his first time being married to an immigrant. I don't know why people were offended at that thread and told me to get out of America. I am sorry if I am sometimes not good with my English. I do not mean to be mean. I am just thinking lately about my struggles here. Maybe I am venting too much? I am venting I admit. But I also want to prepare others. I am an American now so I don't have to "get out". But I also do wonder if there is a such thing as finding some peace and quiet here. I thought it was going to be quiet in America. Instead of karaoke at 3am here, it is gangster rap and I don't know what is worse! lol :jest:

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted · Edited by bukawbukaw

    5 minutes ago, Iwo_Jima said:

    Didn't you try to find apartment or at least room via Craigslist?

    Yes. Not a room though. A family with a baby can't live in a room in a house full of partying college kids. Besides, it's just as hard. Same requirements. And a room usually costs as much as an apartment. I never understood that one. I guess you share utilities. We mostly used craigslist. But finding rentals was not hard. It was finding ones that would rent to immigrants. In fact, some places said "US CITIZENS ONLY! NO IMMIGRANTS!" lol Wow OK.

     

    Someone mentioned AirBnb. I don't think that was around then, but it is great advice!

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

    How could you not know it's cold in the USA po? My asawa wanted to see snow asap when she got here so luckily we went up to Big bear and played in the snow. Where in Pinas are you fron?

    I know it's cold. I wanted to see snow. But there is no way to REALLY know until you experience it. I rememember when I get off the plane in California in the Spring it's 60F degrees! I was not expecting it would be THAT cold! lol :jest:

    Where do you live when you arrive?

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

     

     

    Sounds like, as @TBoneTX had said, you needed to really do a lot of research to know what you were getting yourself into.

     

    While my husband had been to the US before on two J-1 visas, he still knew it would be a huge transition to live here full time.

     

    Cali is one of the most expensive places, least in like L.A. and surrounding areas, so naturally what you can there for say $3000 a  month, in Houston it would be half that price.

     

    And come on, really? You didn't expect it to be "cold"? I know my husband thinks cold is 50 degrees but of course there are areas where it get's really cold, negative 20+ in some areas even. 

     

    You really needed to do some research. And no one is "putting you down", and saying places don't rent to immigrants is ridiculous. If you can afford it, most places I've ever been to will gladly rent to you. 

     

    Some have criteria, like you stated, rental history; but of course you start off with none so that doesn't automatically deny you eligibility.  Most have financial requirements of 3-4x the amount of rent in monthly income. So you have to make $4k a month to rent a $1k a month apartment. That's just common sense , the apartment complex and management company want to know you can pay rent without issue. 

     

    Research ahead of time is key. And you could have done it from abroad also. Contacted people, asked questions, ect.

    We were not in LA. We were 700 miles away from there. Is the rural areas, where we thought it would be cheap and easy. We traveled in hundreds of miles and no one would rent to us. Actually, we had to move to Idaho to find a place. Started at a hotel there for $700 a month. By then I also had a SSN. But still no credit or rental history. But we found places to live there.

     

    Yes, California had that 3-4 times the rent! WTH? How is that even legal? If you are renting a BASIC place for $2,000 a month, you need an income of $6-8,000! They also want a $10,000 deposit! Ha ha. I can't believe people pay that. Especially when it seems like so many Americans are not millionaires.

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