Moving to America! How much money should I bring?
Emigrating is stressful, but the excitement of a new place, new people and new culture will soon cancel that out once you are there.
I moved to the East coast in June 2016, and the main consideration when moving was how much money should I take? Now the maximum is $10,000 as per the immigration rules. I do not recommend more than that, remember the 3rd rule (fairness…and do not upset the higher powers!) I personally brought as much money as I could which was around $8,000. I didn’t want to run the risk of them including my belongings in that $10,000 limit. My father would end up coming a few weeks later with more money to give me some sort of security in the first few months (deposits, accommodation, fees etc)
Now this is a lot of money! Plan your flights carefully, you do not want to be trying to get to a hotel room or Airbnb at night with all this money. Sometimes an extra 50 dollars for an arrival at more appropriate hours is worth it. I landed at JFK at 13.25, and I planned my route to meticulously in terms of safe areas and minimal disruption. I didn’t have Uber or Lyft at that point. I ended up getting the LIRR from Jamaica to New York Penn and then caught the NJ Transit to my destination. I ended up in New Jersey at around 4-430pm, which in the middle of June as bright and many people around (also has its risk however).
The next part is, prepare a bank for the deposit. I flew in on a Friday, which was a mistake, as the bank closed at 5pm. I selected a Bank of America because it was right across the building I would be working. I wasn’t sure where I was going to rent at the time, but at least I had a constant location due to work. I had to wait till Monday morning to deposit this large amount of physical cash. This also meant any deposits for apartments had to wait till I had a bank account. I had initially done the right thing, due to free calls to USA, I was able to prepare everyone in advance for my arrival (the apartment complex and the closest bank).
With google, I was able to explore what shops were near my Airbnb to get me through the 7 days I would be staying there. The plan was to spend on basics for now until I had set up base. I paid for my Airbnb in GBP to maximize how much dollars I would have.
Lastly, I had my credit cards, the UK Barclays credit card and my Natwest credit card. These would be for emergencies, I will be reviewing them in a separate article.
In conclusion, take as much money as you can, but be wary of where you will be staying and how you will get there. Most importantly have a plan how you will deposit that large amount of cash quickly and safely.
Adios, penny pinchers!