When we archetypal moved to Raleigh successful North Carolina, we had a batch of radical scope retired to america to inquire america however we did it.
Moving overseas to the US is not easy, and usually requires immoderate signifier of visa – whether it’s a enactment visa, a pupil visa, oregon if you’re fortunate similar we were to beryllium fixed a greenish card.
As I person moved overseas 5 times before, I recognize however scary and confusing it tin be. There is simply a batch to see and signifier erstwhile you determination abroad.

Relocating to Raleigh tin beryllium highly stressful, overwhelming, and an exhausting experience, particularly if you person kids to deliberation about.
But if you travel our tips and proposal based connected our experience, it volition beryllium a overmuch smoother venture. If you don’t cognize wherever to start, here’s what you request to know…
Side note: If you’re moving to Raleigh, you’ll besides privation to cheque retired our different tract dedicated to Raleigh, which besides has a amusive assemblage attached to it. Go to ThisIsRaleigh.com for everything astir Raleigh!
What You Need Before Relocating To Raleigh
When moving to a caller city, you request to program what you request to bash earlier you move, and what you request to bash erstwhile you’re connected the ground.
We’ll archetypal speech astir the things you request before you move, and aboriginal connected successful this guide, we person what to bash erstwhile you’re really successful Raleigh covered.
Read More: Things to see erstwhile surviving abroad
The close visa
This applies to planetary relocaters, of course. You cannot determination to the USA without having the due visa successful place, which for astir radical is simply a enactment visa.
Usually, a enactment visa comes with an employment declaration and is often dealt with wrong your company.
Raleigh is location to the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle Park, wherever determination are tons of tech companies, specified arsenic IBM and CISCO, who are ever hiring.
Look for occupation opportunities connected platforms similar LinkedIn oregon Indeed.com. These are the champion occupation hunting resources we’ve recovered successful caller years.
Relevant Reading: How to get a non-immigrant O1 visa for the USA and however we yet got our greenish card! Thanks to our bonzer quality successful the creation of question blogging. Click present to work how we got a US greenish card.
Get a impermanent address

If you person friends successful Raleigh, inquire if you tin usage a friend’s code earlier you determination to your caller state – this volition assistance you immensely.
So overmuch of what you privation to bash you can’t do without a section address. If you person employment lined up already, possibly your institution has a solution successful spot for this.
Are you reasoning of buying a location successful Raleigh? Do not effort that connected your own! Our realtor spouse Chuck is an experienced and knowledgeable buyer’s cause who volition assistance you find the champion location for you (and astatine nary outgo to you). Click present to larn more
U.S. Phone Number
If you can, get acceptable up with telephone accounts from the opening – we could due to the fact that we had a friend’s code and societal information numbers and a decent recognition people – but if you don’t, bargain a Skype number.
We utilized this for the archetypal mates of weeks earlier we got our caller Verizon compartment telephone accounts.
It was hugely adjuvant arsenic everyone wants your telephone number! When you are flat hunting oregon searching for a car to buy, radical volition privation to telephone you.
Social Security Numbers
This is conscionable for USA relocation, but immoderate state you are moving to consider this from the position of their taxation numbers.
Social information fig is fundamentally your taxation ID. It’s tied to everything successful the US and truthful hard to bash thing without one.
We were fortunate to have social information numbers already from erstwhile we moved implicit successful 2004. My leader was capable to supply each the documentation to get 1 easily. (This time, however, we’ve had to get an EIN fig for our present LLC.)
Note: if you don’t person a societal information fig oregon a bully recognition score, you whitethorn person to wage a batch of deposits for security. Have wealth successful your savings to screen you getting acceptable up.
For example, without our bully recognition score, we would person had to wage a enslaved of $1,500 connected our flat alternatively of $300. And past clip we moved to the US with atrocious recognition past we had to enactment down an $800 enslaved to get a compartment telephone plan.
Getting recognition history

Everything successful the US relies connected recognition history. It fundamentally runs your life!
So having a bully recognition past and FICO people tin bring immense benefits. But, it’s hard to get a recognition past if you can’t get recognition successful the archetypal place!!
As mentioned, you whitethorn person to wage deposits for things similar telephone plans. This volition assistance you commencement getting the recognition history, truthful wage them.
Then marque definite you wage each your bills connected time. Set up automatic payments truthful you don’t miss them. All this gets reported to 1 of oregon each 3 recognition reporting agencies; Experian, Equifax, and Transunion.
If you person an American Express recognition paper from your location country, they marque it beauteous casual to transportation that implicit to the US. If you tin bash that, you are connected your way.
The different enactment is to get a secured recognition card. This is erstwhile you enactment your ain wealth connected the paper and usage it arsenic if it is simply a recognition card.
Again, guarantee you marque your payments each period and your recognition people volition build. We had our archetypal secured paper years agone from Chase Bank. That helped maine get the Chase Sapphire Preferred recognition paper this clip around.
Be patient, it takes time, but it’s worthy it.
Enrol your kids into school
You should enroll your kids into schoolhouse earlier moving to Raleigh truthful there’s nary disruption to their education.
However, this isn’t arsenic casual arsenic it sounds, arsenic you request to cognize astir wherever you’re going to unrecorded permanently to cognize which schoolhouse your kids volition spell to.
The Wake County Public School System assigns children to a schoolhouse based connected wherever they live, truthful beryllium definite to probe the schoolhouse districts you are funny successful earlier moving.
There are galore large schools successful Raleigh, and it’s besides been noted arsenic a highly educated city, truthful you won’t person problems uncovering a bully school.
Things To Arrange After Relocating To Raleigh
Once you person the supra boxes ticked, present are immoderate things to see erstwhile you’re connected the ground…
Finding an flat erstwhile relocating to Raleigh

You mightiness deliberation you request to person an flat sorted earlier you move, but I deliberation you request to spot a spot successful idiosyncratic earlier you perpetrate to a year-long lease oregon more.
Get yourself a bully Airbnb oregon a edifice successful the interim, and commencement your flat hunting afloat erstwhile you’ve landed successful Raleigh.
Be definite to prime a rental successful 1 of the neighborhoods that your kids volition spell to schoolhouse in, arsenic if you determination to a antithetic portion of Raleigh, they volition person to determination schools.
Also see your enactment commute. If you’re moving successful downtown Raleigh, effort to prime 1 of the suburbs wrong the loop enactment truthful you don’t person to question excessively acold to the downtown area.
What you request to rent an flat successful Raleigh is:
- Photo identification – adjacent erstwhile you are touring apartments oregon rental homes with an agent. It’s a information precaution and they won’t amusement you otherwise.
- Proof of income – Being self-employed we couldn’t bash this. So we provided slope statements to amusement the wealth being deposited into our account. They volition privation to spot 3 times the rental magnitude successful income each month.
- Renter’s Insurance – we could not determination into our flat until we had renter’s insurance. You tin easy get it with 1 telephone call. We got ours with All State.
- Electricity on – make definite you link the energy earlier you determination in.
- Security deposit/bond – depends connected the argumentation of wherever you rent. We paid a tiny deposit + the first month’s rent successful advance. They lone accepted wealth orders, which was a symptom for america to get specified a ample magnitude of wealth successful currency from our Australian slope accounts. We wrote a station sharing that communicative on how to transportation wealth overseas.
- Application fee – This volition beryllium connected wherever you apply, but it was $50 per adult. This covers your constabulary and information inheritance check
- Administration fee – to screen the costs of getting you an apartment.
How we recovered our flat successful Raleigh
Apartment hunting is simply a headache and determination are truthful galore factors to consider and truthful galore options.
Trying to find the close spot successful the close country utilizing online sites similar Realtor.com was time-consuming. When you find an flat you’re funny in, you person to acceptable up appointments to spot the places, which takes a batch of juggling around. It was wasted clip we didn’t like.
We decided to spell backmost to however we recovered an flat the erstwhile 2 times we moved to the USA – get successful the car and thrust astir to the areas we privation to unrecorded successful and speech to the radical successful the leasing office.
You tin easy presumption apartments erstwhile you sojourn arsenic astir complexes person amusement apartments, truthful you tin get a bully thought of the layout.
We primitively didn’t privation to unrecorded successful an apartment, but decided it was the easiest short-term option. There’s much availability, amended amenities, and little for america to manage.
We spent 2 days visiting flat complexes earlier uncovering 1 cleanable for what we wanted. We loved it and it’s was successful our favourite determination adjacent to everything we love.
The girls loved cooling disconnected each time successful our flat analyzable swimming pool. It’s was a large archetypal location basal earlier we bought our house.
WE person immoderate apartments successful Raleigh in our directory.
Beware the regular rental rates
The magnitude per period for flat rentals changes each day, astir similar hose prices – it’s bizarre. I don’t cognize however they enactment this out, but it tin mean a immense quality successful the terms you pay.
Due to a messiness up with our application, our rental terms went up an other $30 a period the adjacent day. We were besides flat hunting astatine a engaged clip for rentals, truthful the regular rental complaint was higher than what it would person been successful April.
We signed a 10-month lease. Rental rates are cheaper the longer the lease you sign.
If you don’t privation to renew for a longer play of time, and privation to rent connected a period to period basis, you person to wage immoderate the regular rental complaint volition beryllium astatine that clip for the month-by-month rate.
For us, that meant an other $300+ rent a period for us. If we renewed for a twelvemonth agelong lease, it could person been $200 cheaper a month!! Go figure!
Getting furnishings and homewares

Deciding to rent an flat meant we’d person the added disbursal of furnishing it.
We’ve done this aggregate times erstwhile we’ve lived overseas and we’ve ever utilized Craigslist oregon adjacent the Salvation Army because each determination has had the volition of temporary down it.
If you’re present to stay, past you tin find inexpensive furnishings connected those sites, arsenic good arsenic Facebook Market Place.
You tin besides wage for furnishings successful monthly instalments with sites similar Rooms To Go.
I emotion involvement escaped repayment deals similar these. I usage them each the time. You immoderate times person to wage a small much for the products arsenic the prime is higher, but it saves maine having to usage recognition oregon wealth I don’t have.
This is simply a large strategy to usage if you are starting retired and you’re buying thing you truly need. I’ve utilized them earlier erstwhile my computers person died and I can’t enactment and don’t person spare cash. It helps maine get backmost successful business.
With Rooms To Go, you bash person to wage income taxation and transportation up front. The ace annoying happening astir the US is that income taxation is added astatine the end. It’s thing I ever hide to cipher truthful extremity up with receipt daze astatine the currency register.
IMPORTANT – if you travel this strategy, marque your repayments each period and wage it disconnected earlier the extremity of the term, otherwise, you’ll beryllium stung existent atrocious with hefty involvement fees.
After we bought the large items, we purchased astir different worldly connected Amazon oregon astatine Wal-Mart and Target.

Sort retired your banking and finances
What a headache sorting our your banking and finances is! I swear, trying to transportation my wealth overseas was highly stressful and required a batch of problem-solving.
You’d deliberation with today’s modern online satellite sending wealth overseas would beryllium easy. Not so. I had that galore roadworthy blocks to navigate astir and everything took truthful overmuch time.
We’ve changed concern structures arsenic good and acceptable up our concern nether a US LLC, which made the transferring of funds hard arsenic we had to see taxation implications.
And online outgo systems similar Payoneer, Wise, and PayPal person antithetic rules to navigate arsenic to wherever and however you tin transportation definite money.
I person written a abstracted station for you connected the champion mode to transportation wealth overseas with the champion speech complaint and nary fees for you. I saved $200 connected my archetypal transportation by utilizing this and not the banks. I’ve saved hundreds much since.
Finding adjacent services
I usage sites similar Groupon to assistance maine find the close services specified arsenic hairsbreadth salons.
You tin get inexpensive deals and usage that arsenic an accidental to determine if you similar the salon oregon not. Better than paying a precocious terms to commencement disconnected with and hating it!
We were successful the cleanable determination erstwhile we archetypal moved to Raleigh. Everything was wrong a abbreviated driving region to us, specified arsenic each our favourite market stores: Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Harris Teeter.
You tin besides usage Facebook communities and forums to find recommendations for eating options, buying places, wherever to spell for nightlife, and different things to bash successful your escaped time.
Our Facebook community for our Raleigh tract is beauteous progressive astir sharing section recommendations, truthful beryllium definite to cheque retired our societal media pages for section tips. See much connected our Instagram here.
Get wellness insurance
Most radical get wellness security provided by their company, but these whitethorn not ever beryllium the champion healthcare plans.
It’s ever a bully thought to get a bully healthcare plan, particularly if you’re caller to the USA.
Chat to Raleigh residents oregon colleagues astir which healthcare security providers they usage and take wisely. We emotion Ronee Greene from Carolina Insurance Professionals. She volition usher you to the champion security argumentation for you astatine nary cost.
Get retired and research Raleigh

Relocating tin beryllium overwhelming and stressful, truthful don’t conscionable walk each your clip worrying astir the things you request to benignant out, and walk immoderate clip exploring the city.
Raleigh is besides known arsenic the City of Oaks, owed to its colonisation of oak trees.
If you emotion nature, you’re successful the close city.
Get retired of the metropolis and research the galore greenways and biking trails, spell for a hike astir Lake Johnson oregon research Dorthea Dix Park.
Go and ticker a Carolina Hurricanes game, the hockey squad for North Carolina State University, and acquisition the ambiance of a wolfpacks game.
Go cheque retired the North Carolina Museum of Art, ticker a amusement astatine the reddish Hat Amphitheater, oregon sip trade beers astatine 1 of the galore breweries successful the city.
Don’t beryllium shy to spell further afield and cheque retired different towns and cities successful the Raleigh-Durham area, specified as Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Chapel Hill, Morrisville, and Wake Forest.
Final Thoughts

Moving to Raleigh was 1 of the champion decisions we’ve made. The debased outgo of surviving (lower than the nationalist average, anyway) and the prime of beingness marque it an casual metropolis to unrecorded in.
It provided a ton of acquisition opportunities for our daughters, who are present nearing the extremity of precocious schoolhouse and looking towards college, and there’s a batch of enactment opportunities for young professionals – truthful it’s casual to spot wherefore much and much radical are moving to the city.
We besides emotion the climate, the North Carolina charm, the welcoming atmosphere, and the information determination is ever thing to do.
We truly bash deliberation Raleigh is the champion spot successful the USA to live, but of people we are bias.
We anticipation this relocation usher helped you program your determination to Raleigh and helped you recognize what your steps are.
Pin To Save It On Pinterest

Are you readying connected moving overseas oregon relocating? Let america cognize if you person immoderate questions successful the comments!