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So,I have been playing with the Idea of Migrating to the USA.Have been living in Germany for 4 years now.But this country isnt really for me.
Just theoretically,how much money would one need to get started in the USA and what would be a good starting city?
(I know,the whole VISA thing has to be taken into account,but lets just pretend I had one)





PS: my 1000th Post! yey!

Alas, I would say Dallas!! BUT, seriously? you would need to find a job first before even thinking of coming here. Jobs are scares (too much competition for skilled labors). Depending on cities, "starting" cost can be a bit high.

Rent: you can go as low as 400$ a month to 1200$ a month in Dallas
Food: I survive on 100$ a month when I was single and alone
transportation: Dallas public transportation sucks we do have rail, but very limited. It cost 4$ a day for all day pass. Getting a car is at LEAST 10k start + gas (avg 3.65 a gallon right now)
Misc: 200$ a month

so lets go low end and get a Bus pass 120 a month (regional that allows you to use all buses and train in DFW area)
500$ rent (average for decent place)
200$ on food
200$ misc
that is around 920$ a month spending
I would say at LEAST 4 months of stash in case you don't find a job, but safe side 6 months.
5520$ to start.

Of course you can always cost cutting, go cheaper food, low income housing/renting etc etc.

Do you have any immigration status in the U.S.? Because getting through that is much more expensive.

Wow, this is a complicated question!

Let's just break it down into your basic monthly costs, including housing, food, and travel costs. I'm assuming you won't choose a place like New York City that has a much higher cost of living. If you chose St. Louis or Portland, and were willing to living a little outside the city, then it would be much easier to get started. All of my estimates will be on the high side so that you get a very conservative total. It is very possible to live more cheaply than this. People will nitpick my numbers but I am aiming high to give you a worse case scenario here.

Rent (solo apartment): $700/Month
Utilities (water/sewage/garbage/electricity/gas): $100/month
Phone (assuming a cell phone): $50/month
Food budget (eating out/groceries): $250/month
Commuting (bus/subway costs): $50 or so per month
Entertainment (optional, obviously, but who wouldn't want to explore?): $50/month

On top of that, you might want to consider health insurance, long-distance phone calls, security deposit for the apartment, higher grocery and travel costs for the first couple of months, etc. Let's call all of that an extra $1000 in startup costs (not counting health insurance). If you could get a decent paying job within the first two months, you would want to make sure you had a good $3600 in the bank when you showed up here. If you didn't get a job right away, you'd want an even bigger cushion than that available.

As for a good starting city, I'm partial to the west coast myself. Portland or Seattle would be the recognizable big cities in the Pacific Northwest. But it really depends on what you like/are willing to tolerate. Big city? small town? Cold winters? Dry, hot summers? Wet, hot summers? If you have any ideas about what you would be the most interested/comfortable with then I think people would be able to point you towards some options that fit those preferences.

LordRendar said:

So,I have been playing with the Idea of Migrating to the USA.Have been living in Germany for 4 years now.But this country isnt really for me.
Just theoretically,how much money would one need to get started in the USA and what would be a good starting city?
(I know,the whole VISA thing has to be taken into account,but lets just pretend I had one)





PS: my 1000th Post! yey!

Click to expand...

emigrate? birds migrate.


DON'T MOVE TO PHILADELPHIA! Worst city ever!

My suggestion is actually NYC. There's tons of diversity and culture in NYC. The cost of living is higher in, say, Manhattan, but there are cheaper places to live in Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island.

Wait, wait.... are you coming to... take ma job?

Yours specifically!

LordRendar said:

So,I have been playing with the Idea of Migrating to the USA.Have been living in Germany for 4 years now.But this country isnt really for me.

Click to expand...

In order to answer the following question, you should really consider the reasons you think the US might be a good place to migrate to, and the reasons you find Germany to be lacking in what you need/desire.

The reality is that there are several places in the US where you could move to that you might feel aren't any different than what you had in Germany, depending on what's important to you.

So before you can really expect any advice we give to be useful, you'll probably have to give a little more information on what you like (work, hobbies, etc), what you are missing out on, what your expectations are if you move to the US, etc.

LordRendar said:

Just theoretically,how much money would one need to get started in the USA and what would be a good starting city?
(I know,the whole VISA thing has to be taken into account,but lets just pretend I had one)

Click to expand...

You need anywhere from $100 and a friend you can live with who will help you get started (ie, food, board, rides to find work taken care of) to $4,000 to get started on your own in an expensive city where you would have a hard time finding a job for 2 months or more.

So, really, it depends on where you want to take your life.

If you have a college degree, it will be easier to find a job than without one. If you have multiple friends you can crash with in the same locale you could probably live for some time without a real job and with little cash, finding where you want to fit in.

The answer is different if you think you want to attend school, and will depend on what you want to study.

If you have a particular field of work you can do, location can matter.

So... yeah, there's just not much advice I can offer without more information.

Thanks for the feedback guys.It has been really enlightening.At the ealiest i would migrate in 3 years,but i wanted to know now,so I could save money.Im studying to be a Chemist (im not sure how they call the exactly in english) and i think it would be best to finish that first.Since I heard alse that to migrate one has to have a education in a STEM (Science,Tech,Education or Medicine) field.

Dallas seems like a really good location for me to start. It's dry and hot and it has an abundance of Steaks, also it seems there is a small Filipino community

The Reason for wanting to move to America is kinda complicated,so lets just chalc it down to me wanting to have a fresh start.

Cool. Since you've got some time, start looking at specific positions at companies in the US that might fit your field. It can be hard to get a work visa, but if you start connecting with companies now, and getting to know people in the business you want to work in, it can be much easier. Forming a network of colleagues will make it a lot easier to find and get a job that will work with you on the visa. If you do plan on becoming a US citizen, start investigating the emigration process now, and start doing it - figure out all the paperwork, connect with people who have gone through the process, and avoid the scammers.

Advice: When you do want to come here, come legally, and once you're here, DO NOT leave until you're a citizen. DHS/CIS will fuck up somewhere along the lines, you'll come back and be thrown into removal proceedings because the permission you thought you had didn't get filed right, or you violated the terms of your visa or permanent residency. It doesn't matter what family back home is sick, dying, having a baby, whatever. Do not exit until you're a citizen.

Chemist in america could mean someone who studies and applies chemistry, or it could mean a pharmacist.

stienman said:

The reality is that there are several places in the US where you could move to that you might feel aren't any different than what you had in Germany, depending on what's important to you.

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THIS. A lot of people outside of the US seem to think that America is pretty much the same throughout... which is patently untrue. Every state is like a mini-country as far as demographics go, not to mention that things like weather and prices on stuff can vary wildly between areas.

Even within the big cities, different neighborhoods can be incredibly different cultures from their neighbors not two blocks away.