Moving to Wichita, KS

CompositeJohn

Well have my H-1B in the passport and heading over at the end of the month to start work in Wichita, KS.

Anyone in the area? US definition of area - Next state over!!

Looking forward to heading over now, my girlfriend is from Lewisburg, PA so am at ease with life in the US from our many trips back and forth! Although I have a feeling Kansas will be somewhat different to the east coast....well maybe not central PA!!!

Any advice is welcome, I will of course have lots to get sorted so have plenty of questions:-

Herself isn't much help!!

What's the quickest way of applying for the SSN, can I do that now or do I have to wait?
Any recommended banks, considering I have no credit score or do people find credit unions better to start with given my zero credit rating? (car loan is likely needed)
Can I get a mobile plan straight off or do I need to wait to build credit and get a prepay one that nobody uses over there? Who's the best provider of plans, are they the same countrywide?
Much hassle/wait getting a US driving licence?
Anyone know the ins and outs of buying a car out of state?
Will be renting initially, any opinions on eventually buying a house given I only have a H-1B? They seem pretty cheap in Wichita but haven't a clue of hidden costs and resale in the US.
Finally any forums similar to boards?

Any recommendations on what I NEED to do before I leave? Have got my Irish soda bread baking down to a fine art now!! Thanks Mam!

Its a shame there seems to be no real Irish community there but at least there are other Irish lads in the company to have the craic with.

Thanks
John

spideog7

Good luck I don't know much about Kansas but I'd say it'll be a bit different, although as you said central PA can be a bit... ahem... rural!

Have to wait until you're there to get the SSN, go to the social security office take a number wait around for an hour go to the desk and then they'll mail it out to you in a week or two.

Hmm, banks tend to be regional, to avoid ATM fees go with a bank that has a high density in your area. Might be very tough to get a car loan without any credit history, my bank eventually gave me a credit card based on having a decent balance for at least 6 months. Then after a while with that credit card every stupid credit card company in the country started sending me pre-approved offers in the post!! It eventually got so annoying that I had to specifically get my address removed from that list.

Never signed up for a plan to be honest just used prepay as I was more used to it from here, apparently they like to persecute you for not taking their credit and it's way more expensive. You will most likely be able to get a plan but it might require a hefty deposit that you'll get back after 6 months or a year. Providers tend to be the same countrywide with the occasional local provider, check who has good coverage locally (best way is to ask people who live there) they'll all screw you IMHO mobile phone plans are much more expensive here than at home.

Dunno about the driving licence depends on the state, you will probably have to sit a test though, see here: http://www.ksrevenue.org/vehicle.html

Once you have a driver's licence from the state buying a car there is basically the same as if you were a regular state resident, you might also require a lease or electricity bill to prove your address/residency.

You're over my head on buying a house, might be tough as a non-resident.

Couldn't find anything as good as boards.ie

There you go I think I've covered everything (slow evening). You sound excited I hope you have fun, post photos of tornadoes

firefly08

Well, welcome to Kansas, for what it's worth. Don't know much about the Wichita area. I live in Lawrence, although I just moved here a few weeks ago. I'm not that gone on the area myself so far, although it's nice being near KC. You just missed an unbelievable heatwave.

Anyway, a few points...

-I wouldn't buy a pre-pay phone. I did, and I'm stuck with it now, but they're ****e. They all work the way the Irish ones used to years ago - you have to keep putting credit in every month or you get cut off, and then you can't even use the leftover credit you have (you can once you top up again though). All phone contracts over here are 2 years so if you're going to be here for most of that, I'd say go for it. Almost everyone here has a smartphone & data plan, I think I will switch to something like that myself soon, even though I have hundreds of minutes unused in my "trac" phone (that's what they call pre-pay over here)

-driver's license: couldn't be easier, in most states. Typically you do a theory test and a very simple road test, and you're sorted. You can drive on your Irish license, but my advice is get the KS license ASAP as your Irish license complicates things. Don't tell them you have an Irish license. I did this before in another state, and they then insisted on an exchange, where they kept my Irish license, which turned out to be a pain in the ass for me every time I went back to Ireland. And I still had to do the test in the US!.

-buying a car: in state or out of state, no hassle here. Just turn up with the money, drive away with the car. If it's out of state, you will eventually have to "title" (read: register) it in your state. That means you pay them sales tax and a yearly registration fee (probably about 1/10th of what you pay now in Ireland). Then they'll give you KS plates. However, you can typically get away with out of state plates for a good while.

-boards: I have come to the conclusion that there are no forums anywhere quite like boards. Wherever you go in the world, you'll find yourself coming back here

-as regards banks and credit etc. I don't know I'm afraid - I was told on boards a while back that you have no chance of credit if you've just moved to the country, but anyway I never looked for it. I got a debit card that works as a credit card, and saved up for my car. And that's what I'd recommend to anyone especially in this day and age. I think you can get a special 'credit card' that doesn't actually give you credit (you can only spend your own money) but it does count towards your credit rating (typically debit cards don't do that). Phone plans and apartment leases etc. usually involve credit checks, and they might want a larger than normal deposit from you when they find no credit history, but I haven't had any significant problems myself. I use US Bank, which I have no complaints about. Just remember that there is no nationwide bank in America - they are all regional at best, and state-specific at worst.

Hope that helps some bit...PM me if there's anything else I can help ya with!

Ruu_Old

Hiya, check this thread on good tips to build credit and start out. Best wishes.

phatrat1982

I used to live in Kansas, and everything was so much easier there than anywhere else. It's a nice state to live in if you don't mind stepping back in time a bit.


Unfortunately here in the US easy credit is a thing of the past so there is no easy way to get credit anymore and with all this occupy wall street going on things are looking to get worse not better in that department.

I don't know about getting a drivers license from another country but when I moved from Idaho to Kansas all they did was take my old license with my check and give me the new license easy as pie no test no hassle. Nebraska did the same thing when I moved here.

Really as far as banks go verses credit unions and such you are better off going with a national branch like Wells Fargo or US Bank than one of the local banks because sometimes, especially in KS and even here in Nebraska too, local banks can have higher fees and can be harder to get a debit card with sometimes. And there is the matter of ATM fees a national bank has higher fees but it is easier to find a branch ATM where there are no fees than it is a local branch where your more likely to have to pay the ATM fee because their bank only services one area.


That is my experience probably not very helpful.