Disclaimer: You should treat this as an unofficial document that is not endorsed by the University of Waterloo or any of my employers. Please treat everything with caution.
Four months ago, for the first time in my life, I got to both work, and live in the US.
Like many others, I was both excited and nervous, and so I read many guides online, some of which include:
Unfortunately, these were written and last updated around 2017, and now, almost a decade later, I thought I'd provide my own thoughts and experiences on the entire process and what you need to look out for!
Obtaining a Visa
One of the biggest barriers to working in the US is just simply obtaining a Visa. Thankfully, Waterloo makes this somewhat simple for the employer and you. The school defaults to using Cultural Vistas, they will take care of basically everything, and all you have to do on your end is fill in a decent chunk of information about yourself.
They made the process somewhat simple (I imagine it would take a lot longer without them.)
Prepare to still provide a lot of documentation, this is what I remember roughly had to be filled in:
- Program Start/End Dates
- Total Available Funds/Compensation from your company
- You will have to list out general estimated costs here, e.g. rent, monthly entertainment, personal care, travel, etc.
- Previous Visa Info if you have any
- Short essays (1 paragraph) on why you want to work in the USA
- You may also have to provide proof of English Fluency
- Emergency Contact Information
- Education information (Program Details, expected graduation dates)
- Previous Employment
- Through the form of a resume/CV and regular inputs on a page
- Company contacts
- You will also have to either provide proof of insurance or simply use their plans, more on that below
- Throughout this entire process you'll also need to upload other documents here and there:
- Academic Docs: Proof of Enrollment, School Transcripts, Passport Images, Employment Letter
It took around 1 month for the entire process from start to finish, it may be shorter for you since I had to fix and update some other documents at their request. They were pretty good at communicating and responded quickly (within 24 hours), at the time of this writing it cost around $1,125 CAD which my company paid on behalf of me, you can find up to date prices here
If you need a visa urgently they do provide expedited services for a larger price tag.
Insurance
You do have to be insured by a recognized provider, I just went with the lowest default plan and it was more than enough for me. I did get sick over the term once, and honestly the process of getting diagnosed and treated was very quick when compared to Canada. I did end up having to pay around $300 USD in out of pocket fees for tests and medication for a sinus and ear infection... But otherwise everything was fine!
Paperwork
Once everything is all clear with your Visa, you should receive a multitude of documents, these will include:
- DS-2019: Certificate of Elibility for Exchange Visitor Status Non Immigrant, 1 Page
- This document needs to be signed by you, read carefully as certain sections need to be left empty
- This is probably the most important document
- DS-7002: Training Placement Plan, Lots of Pages
- This will be filled in by your employer and basically asks them to explain what you'll be doing and learning during your training, you do not have to sign anything here.
- It will be quite long
- SEVIS I-901 Payment Confirmation: Payment to participate in this program Cultural Vistas will pay this fee for you, but essentially you have to pay $220 CAD to participate in the program and this receipt proves that it has been paid by some entity for you.
Print all of these out, and keep them ready and with you when you prepare to enter the USA.
In addition, you should also print out:
- Offer Letter
- Resume*
- Proof of Funds*, I just asked for a "Personal Assessment" from TD which shows all my balances and accounts
- From what I remember these weren't examined by customs but you might as well bring these just in case.
Finally, you will need to pay the I-94 fee, to do this go to: link. It's $6 and can be done up to a week in advance of entering the country.
Make sure to check this frequently since it will tell you what you were admitted into the country for. You should see a J1 status, not entirely sure what you have to do if this isn't what you see but you can consult other guides.
Some guides do say you must "leave and re-enter" on the correct visa.
Traveling during your Internship
You do not have to worry about anything if you're traveling within the US, flights, busses, trains are all ok. However, if you're planning on leaving the country you will have to first notify your Visa sponsor and will likely need an updated DS-2019.
I did not leave the USA during my internship so I would just follow whatever general process your sponsor asks you to follow, I imagine it isn't too difficult.
Social Security Number
Apply for this ASAP! This has changed a lot from what other guides described from what I had to go through.
Cultural Vistas recommended waiting 2 weeks, but it should be fine to do this earlier so long as you wait a few days after entering the USA.
The general process looks like this:
- Get an Appointment
- I WASN'T able to fill in papers physically at the lower Manhattan Social Security Administration Office like the older guides recommended.
- Instead, I was turned away and asked to fill it in online and come back for my scheduled appointment.
- This happened to be 2 weeks later 😔, meaning I was without pay for the first month.
- The lower Manhattan office I went to had no security screening, but was hard to find as other guides mentioned. You should just ask around and they will direct you to the correct floor.
- NOTE you can actually get paid without an SSN on Rippling, it is an option for you so ask HR if you really do need the cash.
-
Bring all documents I don't remember explicitly what I was asked for during my appointment but they did go through many of my documents. Thankfully, it went by relatively fast (5 minutes) and the bulk of the waiting time was just waiting to be called.
-
Wait for your SSN!
- It should arrive in the mail within some time!
This SSN is for life! You do not ever have to apply for this again.
Housing
Probably the worst part. I might've had a worse experience because I was in NYC but you should probably invest a lot of time in this.
- 1 Month Deposit is Standard (Other guides mention first + last month + deposit though I didn't experience this)
- If the landlord is pressuring you into signing a lease quickly, be wary, places in NYC go very fast, and they really shouldn't be worrying about finding a tenant unless there's something wrong with the place.
- I would bring like 2.5-3 times your first months rent, you'll likely be required to pay first months rent plus the deposit which is the same amount as your monthly rent.
- As an example if your rent was $2,500 you will likely need to pay $5,000 total for first month rent and deposit. Along with that you need to take into account transportation and food.
- Most places do not accept reqular cheque's. Instead they ask for Cashier Checks or Certified Checks, these cost me $8 with a US TD account, these checks cannot bounce since they will directly take money out of your account at the time you receive them.
Other general tips for NYC specifically:
- Scams are common, be careful, if you can't see the place in person, don't trust it.
- Brooklyn/Queens will be cheaper, but you will likely be sacrificing commuting time. Most landlords will tell you it takes 15-30 minutes to get to Manhattan which is true, but you will likely need another 15-30 minutes to actually get to where you want to go within the city.
- Avoid going above 110 street, as many others say it isn't necessarily dangerous, but roughly uncomfortable...
- You can probably prorate for extra days if you need it, this just means you will pay an equivalent fee based on your rent for the extra days.
I've heard good things about Airbnb, but not Super.com if that helps, but apps seem to just be hit or miss most of the time.
I recently used liveohana.ca, it was ok, will likely not use again though.
Transit
Transit in NYC is nice! You can get basically anywhere within 30-45 minutes. It is a walking city and transit is capped at $32 per week. Each tap is currently $3.00 (previously $2.90).
Transit in SF is not nice! Prepare to be spending a lot on Waymos or Ubers. If you can look into getting a car.
Quick tip for travel is just check if stuff is going uptown or downtown, it's the easiest way to determine if you're on the right platform and all signs for trains going up and down should have it.
Also avoid empty subway cars, usually they have broken AC or something else wrong with them that should entice you to not enter.
Banks/Money
As other guides mention, you can do this without your SSN, however there's a bit more here.
I used TD and I needed:
- Passport + Driver's License + Student ID (Photo was enough for me) + Visa Docs
- Lease Agreement for my address (annoying if you do something like student housing since you won't always have this.) HOWEVER, I was also able to put a Canadian address down, this just means if you lose your card it will be shipped back to Canada first but otherwise you don't technically need your lease agreement.
It's important to note here TD Canada and TD US are separate entities, you need an account for both which will be separate!
Thankfully, TD made it relatively simple to transfer USD from my Canadian account to my US account, just call them once to link your separate accounts.
Then to transfer money as long as you also fit some general minimum requirements (IIRC it's 1.5k USD in your Canadian account for the cheapest plan), all transaction fees are waived, they temporarily take something like $25-50 but then they'll refund it after a few days if they even do take it.
At the end of the day, USD to CAD isn't very strong right now so I'm opting to keep my USD, especially since I'll probably need it for future terms. Thus, I don't really have anything on transferring either, although I would probably still just transfer USD to USD from my US account to my Canadian account and then just convert to CAD.
You can also look into Norberts Gambit for reducing transfer fees!
E-Transfer? Zelle? Venmo?
The US equivalent of etransfering someone is Zelle or Venmo, unfortunately if you don't have a US phone number you cannot use Venmo, to do Zelle you just need to add a US address on your TD account!
Taxes???
I am not a tax professional, this was just my experience. Please do not take anything I say here as advice of any kind, I'm not liable for anything here.
I just used OLT.com, it was free and quick, I didn't have to do much on my end :)
Living/Other General Tips
- Get the Amazon Student Offer 6 months free, very helpful
- Getting Uber One or premium Doordash can go a long way if you don't always have time to mealprep.
- Luma, Partiful, etc. Lot's of events are usually posted to these apps, very cool to check out
NYC Specific
- If you fly into JFK and are looking to get into Manhatten, look for the Jamaica Airtrain. It'll cost $8.50 and then just take the 3 line, which will cost ~$3.00. It's a lot cheaper than getting an Uber Shuttle/Multiple Busses/Ubers in general. It also takes around the same time for all options.
- Explore! There's actually too much to do in New York
- Get to know the locals and family businesses, got lots of free food just for being a somewhat regular!
- Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) is a nice area to study, nearby you can also study in the Rose Main Reading Room, very nice.
- This is a cool site recommend by coworkers for places to WFH
- Pasta and Pizza is amazing, a cheap place with good pizza is Pizza Slice on 23rd.
- If you really want reps go to Canal and Broadway, you can haggle with sellers
- Transit late at night should be fine and safe, same with walking around, just be alert and you should be fine, lots of homeless people everywhere but in my experience they won't scream or yell at you.
- During the winter lots of Christmas market stands will open in places like Bryant Park/14th street, go check them out, very fun!
- NYC is expensive, good rule of thumb is expect to be paying the same amount in USD and CAD without conversions. eg something 20 CAD in Canada will probably cost you 20 USD in NYC, maybe even more...
- Queen's night market is cool when its up
- Walk the Manhattan bridge at night, and Brooklyn bridge in the morning.
- Whole foods was the cheapest generally, except for salmon, I don't know why...
- If you play games I got 8 ping on Valorant on WiFi, lol.
- OS NYC was a really nice gaming cafe, its like $20 for the entire day, no hourly. Also got to see lots of events here.
- Find concerts, especially in the summer SO many artists come to NYC.
- Sadies has a nice outdoor bar with TV screens, I got to see the OG game winner for game 4 of Knicks vs Spurs live!
- Some events are 21+, some 18+, some all ages, you just have to read to see what you can and cannot go to...
- Cheapest food is unironically just in ChinaTown, try to find busier places, it's a decent indication that the food is at least good
- Harlem Shakes in Brooklyn was unusually good
- Visit the Pier's! You get the best sunset views and a lot of places have food and fun suprises!
- Times Square is overrated.
- Bring an Umbrella, it rains a lot.
- I'll add more later!
SF Specific
- Bottega is a nice restaurant, lol