Departure NL, Arrival and 1st week NJ
I assume that you have found your way through the expat and/or visa procedures, and are now ready for the final step: the actual move to New Jersey.
Departure: A remark before you leave: If your belongings move with you, make sure that the packing of your household goods is done in the proper way, and that they are also stowed correctly in the container. Do whatever is required to assure yourself that your precious belongings are OK on the ship/plane. Otherwise, you may find some things broken that were precious to you. I checked most of the packing, but I did not check the stowing of the container, so a chair managed to lauch itself into a painting during the trip. It may take a bit more time to check everything, but it may save you a lot of frustration, and a long waiting period before the insurance aspect is settled.
Mail: Try to find a practical solution for your mail during the first month. Have it sent either to your home office, to relatives, or make a deal with the next person in your house. You will be in 'limbo' for several weeks. If you use a temporary (hotel or apartment) address in the US for registration or for relatives to send you mail, you may find that it will take a while before the mail is forwarded to your new address, and some mail has to be forwarded for months from a hotel or apartment complex because people (and companies) keep on sending your mail to the old address. The US Postal Service has a useful forwarding service, by the way. Fill in the moving form at the postoffice and any mail will be forwarded to your new address for up to six months. If you feel that this is still not enough: Fill in another form after six months. Unlike in many European countries there is no formal registration of your home address, so no one will be able to verify if you extend the service or that you moved again. Database integration is still a very weak point in the US, which is actually positive if you worry about privacy aspects. Only your credit rating will be watched very carefully, irrespective of any privacy concerns.
Arrival and 1st week: After arrival you will probably have the impression for some days that you are on a long vacation trip. This will soon be sobered by the fact that you have to do all the things you also did at home, that there is a challenging job waiting, and that there are personal things that need urgent action. My first suggestion: obtain a social security number by going to the nearest Social Security Office (SSO) the next day. I actually expected a long line of people, and consequently a long waiting period, at this office. This may be the case in New York City, but it took less than 5 minutes in the Raritan SSO where I went. And it's free, so that's excellent from my Dutch perspective.
The SSOs are distributed over the country on a per area basis, so if you call the free 800 number (1 800 772 1213) they will give you the address of the SSO that belongs to the zip (postal) code that you're in. The social security number is a national number, so there is no need to go to that particular office. In my case, I noticed that the suggested office was 25 miles away from where I lived, while there was another office less than 10 miles away, just across the 'border' of the adjacent area. So, you may want to check with the '800' person or with your new colleagues where the nearest office is.
All members of your family need a social security number. The SSO may have a different opinion about that: Officially you only need a social security number if you are/will be employed in the USA. Family members without a work permit do (officially) not need a number. However, everybody will ask for the number, for example, your physician, the hospital, banks, as well as the US tax office. So try to get a number for all the family members. This is a matter of perseverance. If the SSO is not willing to give your family members (including babies) a number, I can assure you that you will be back later (perhaps at another office), because there will be a moment that it can be of great convenience to have this number. The social security number will take about 10 days. During those days it is virtually impossible to do other things like buying cars (insurance, license plates), get bank credits, etc. Make sure that you are able to survive in this period (refer to the banking section). In our case, Karin and Xander had to go back a 2nd time for their social security number, because the first office refused to register them. The 2nd office (different from the previous) was an overcrowded one in Union county, and they had to wait 3 hours after filling in their data before they were 'interviewed'. Only at the interview the officer indicated that she needed my passport and papers as well, tore up the registration documents, and said good-bye. We needed a 3rd visit to finally settle the social security numbers.
Working in the US requires permits. This can either be the special visa that you probably got through your company, or it can be the "Green Card" (they used to have a green color) that US citizens have. The Green Card can be obtained by being born in the US or via several procedures that range from lotteries to being acknowledged as genius. Describing these procedures does not fall within the goals of this expat guide. Being tempted at some time to obtain a Green Card for myself and family I have spent considerable time studying these options. I will list some links at the Useful Link section of this guidebook. Mail me in case you are looking for further information.