Guides
Every topic new arrivals ask about, organised by what you are trying to get done.
The handful of things to do immediately after you land: your I-94 record, documents to keep safe, a phone number, and a mailing address.
Find and print your I-94 arrival record
The one document that proves when you entered the U.S. and how long you may stay — and why you should download it the week you arrive.
The documents to protect from day one
What to keep, what to copy, and where to store it — before you need any of it in a hurry.
Getting a phone number and a mailing address
Two things that block almost everything else — and how to get both without a Social Security number or a credit history.
Create a USCIS account, check your case status, report an address change, and understand your work authorization.
Create a USCIS online account
The free account that lets you track cases, receive notices electronically and respond to requests without waiting for the post.
Check your immigration case status
How to read what the case status tool tells you, what the processing times actually mean, and what to do when a case is genuinely stuck.
Report a change of address to USCIS
A legal obligation with a 10-day deadline that most new arrivals do not know exists, and the missed notices that follow from ignoring it.
Track when your documents expire
Which date on each document actually matters, how far ahead each renewal can be filed, and why one lapse cascades into several.
Apply for a Social Security number or an ITIN, and get a state ID card if you do not drive.
Apply for a Social Security number
Who is eligible, what to bring, and why almost nothing else works properly until you have one.
Replace a lost Social Security card
Why you probably do not need the card at all, the limits on how many replacements you can get, and what to do if the number itself has been misused.
Get an ITIN if you cannot get an SSN
The tax identification number for people who must file U.S. taxes but are not eligible for a Social Security number, and the mistake that costs you your passport for two months.
Get a state ID card or a REAL ID
Why you want photo ID even if you do not drive, what makes a licence REAL ID-compliant, and the $45 option if you turn up at the airport without one.
Open a bank account (with or without an SSN), get your first credit card, and start building a U.S. credit history.
Open a U.S. bank account
What documents a bank actually requires, how to open an account without a Social Security number, and which fees to avoid.
Build a U.S. credit history from zero
Why your credit history does not travel with you, and the fastest honest way to build one in the first year.
Scams that target new immigrants
The five approaches that account for most losses, the rules that make all of them easy to spot, and what to do in the first hour after paying.
Get a driver's license, pass the written and road tests, register a car, and buy the insurance your state requires.
How to get a U.S. driver's license
What a new arrival needs to bring, which tests to pass, and how long the whole process takes at the DMV.
How to buy a car
What a car really costs to own, how to get a loan with no credit history, and the checks that separate a good used car from an expensive mistake.
Register a car and put it on the road
Title, registration and plates — what it costs to make a car legal to drive, and what to check before you pay a private seller.
Car insurance explained
What each coverage actually pays for, why the state minimum is a trap, and how to get a fair price with no U.S. driving record.
What to do after a car accident
The steps at the scene, how the claim works, and the mistakes in the first hour that cost the most later.
Look up and pay a traffic or parking ticket, deal with a red-light camera notice, take traffic school, or contest a citation.
How to find and pay a traffic ticket
Where to look up a citation, what happens if you ignore it, and how to ask for a lower fine or a payment plan.
Contest a ticket, or reduce what it costs you
Why paying is pleading guilty, what traffic school actually does to your record, and how to ask for a payment plan instead of losing your licence.
Parking tickets, towing and the boot
How parking enforcement works in U.S. cities, what escalates a $60 ticket into a $600 problem, and how to get a towed car back.
Red-light and speed camera notices
How a camera notice differs from a ticket an officer hands you, why some carry no points at all, and how to tell a real notice from a scam letter.
Rent an apartment, understand your lease and deposit, know your tenant rights, and set up electricity, gas and internet.
Rent an apartment
What the total move-in cost really is, what a U.S. lease commits you to, and the deposit rules that decide whether you get your money back.
Set up electricity, gas, water and internet
Why utilities want a deposit from you and how to avoid it, what a credit check has to do with electricity, and which bills are already in your rent.
Your rights as a tenant
What a landlord may and may not do, in every state — and where the rules differ enough that you must check locally.
Rent a place with no credit history
What landlords are actually screening for, the offers that substitute for a credit score, and the arrangements that leave you with no rights at all.
Get health insurance, find a low-cost community clinic, understand emergency care and medical bills, and get vaccinations.
Get health insurance
Why an uninsured hospital visit can cost more than a car, and the four routes to coverage.
Choose a health plan and enrol
When the enrollment windows open, why the cheapest premium is usually the wrong choice, and the subsidy most new arrivals do not know they qualify for.
Where to go when you are sick
Choosing between a clinic, urgent care and the emergency room — a decision that can differ by a factor of twenty in cost.
Find a doctor and get an appointment
How to find one who is genuinely in your network, why you should do it before you are ill, and what to bring to the first visit.
Understanding and reducing a medical bill
Why the first bill is rarely the real price, and the four steps that reduce most of them.
Claims, reimbursement and appealing a denial
When the insurer pays the doctor directly, when you have to claim it back yourself, and why a refused claim is usually worth fighting.
Find out whether you must file, understand W-2 and 1099 forms, file with an ITIN, and get free filing help.
Do I have to file a U.S. tax return?
How residency for tax purposes works, why it has nothing to do with your visa, and what happens if you get it wrong.
Check how much tax is withheld from your pay
What Form W-4 actually does, why a big refund is not good news, and the separate rules that apply if you are a non-resident for tax.
Filing your first tax return
The documents that arrive in January, what the numbers on your pay slip mean, and how to avoid owing money in April.
If you owe tax and cannot pay it
Why filing and paying are separate obligations, what a payment plan costs, and why the worst option is the one most people choose.
Form I-9, employment authorization, minimum wage, paychecks, and what to do if an employer breaks the law.
Form I-9 and work authorization
What an employer may and may not ask for when you start a job, how to prove you can work, and what to do when the system says you cannot.
Your rights at work
Minimum wage, overtime, breaks and safety — protections that apply regardless of immigration status, and the deadlines for enforcing them.
Find a job, and spot the scams
What a U.S. résumé is expected to look like, the free services nobody tells you about, and the recruitment frauds that target new immigrants specifically.
Apply for unemployment benefits
Who qualifies, why work authorisation is checked twice, and the mistakes that get a valid claim denied in the first week.
Enroll your children in public school, find free English classes, and start at a community college.
Enroll a child in public school
Every child has the right to a free public education regardless of immigration status — here is how enrollment actually works.
Free English classes and adult education
Where to find free ESL classes, what they are called in each place, and why nobody will check your immigration status at the door.
Community college and university
Why community college is the cheapest route into a degree, what in-state tuition depends on, and which financial aid your status allows.
Get a foreign degree or qualification recognised
Why the U.S. has no government body that recognises degrees, what a credential evaluation costs, and which professions need a licence instead.
Food assistance, help for mothers and young children, what 911 is for, and where to get free legal help.
Food and family assistance
SNAP, WIC and school meals — who qualifies, what the five-year bar does and does not cover, and what using them means for immigration.
Check which benefits your household qualifies for
How eligibility is actually decided, why immigration status rules differ from one programme to the next, and where to check without giving your details to a stranger.
Emergency numbers and free legal help
What 911 is for, what to use instead, and where to get a real lawyer for nothing.
Will using benefits hurt my green card?
Which programmes the public charge test actually looks at, who it never applies to, and why the rules are changing on 18 September 2026.