EXCLUSIVE: Important Things To Take Along If You Are Relocating To USA For The First Time

Yes it’s finally going to happen. Your lifelong dream of living and working in America is finally coming to pass. Your employer is sending you to their U.S. subsidiary, you won a green card lottery, your relative has finally filed for you or you sold all your properties and inheritance and relocated anyway.

In my own case we were very excited about this opportunity and could not wait to relocate. So we left behind our friends, grandparents, nephews, nieces, co-workers and a job for me that just got comfortable with a promotion!

Any way in our excitement we forgot to do quite a lot of things which later became very stressful to obtain. So here are some of them;

International Drivers License/Permit

It’s definitely an option to get an international drivers license before you enter the US. Most cities in the US don’t have good public transportation and you may need to borrow, rent or buy a car in other to move from one point to another. But this is only a temporary solution for the first few months. After that you will still have to get a US drivers license. The police might start to give you a hard time about it especially if you get stopped for a traffic offence.

Get those Academic Transcripts!

You must have Your Secondary /University Transcript of Records. Especially if you plan to either school or work in the US. Request it from your University Registrar. Try to request as many copies as you can. Then have them evaluated by Credentials Evaluation Services. The CES is a government approved organization for those who are educated outside the United States but want to pursue further education in U.S. institutions of higher learning or work with their credentials. The cost I think is $385.00 and you can check out www.cgfns.org for more clarification. You can actually do this evaluation even before you travel!

A note of warning though….. Don’t be surprised if your Nigerian first class degree is evaluated to a second class lower. I beg that’s how I see am! Apparently our degrees no qualify! But just check it out before leaving before you find out that you left Nigeria a doctor and is only qualified to be an RN!

Take the Approved English Language Proficiency Examinations

If you want to further your education this is a must. As far as you were not born here and you did not begin your early education here, then yes you need this document.

There are three sets of approved exams; (1) Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) plus the Test of Written English (TWE) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE); (2) the Test of English in International Communications (TOEIC) plus TSE and TWE; or (3) the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Unlocked Cell Phones

Yes that your very expensive unlocked cell phone can be used here with another carrier. Most cell phone companies in the US sell locked cellphones. Although you can buy unlock codes and phones on places like Ebay when you arrive. it’s interesting but I found out its easier and sometimes cheaper to buy phones from Nigeria, then bring it here and just pick a carrier. All you do is insert your SIM and you’re good to go. Rather than paying for phones with 2 year service plans.

An Adapter for Your Various Electronics

The voltage in America is 110 while in Nija its 220/240! In those days, we needed voltage converters to either step up or step down the voltages or else our electronics would blow up.
But now that’s not really necessary since most electronics such as cell phones, iPads, tablets, laptops and cameras, all have the capacity to accept both types of voltage. All you need now is just an adapter with different plugs.

Photos and Contact Information of Friends and Family

Yep, I took this one for granted. Time flies really when you travel abroad. Before you can say Jackie Chan, you will have spent 4 years without even realizing it and have lost contact with a lot of your peers, friends and family! So please pack up as many memorabilia as you can!