Cutting Ties Long before you come, you should begin to save money, and pay off your credit cards the best you can. There's a bit of an oxymoron here. You want to cut ties to Canada as much as possible, so that you're not considered a resident (in case Revenue Canada decides you need to pay the taxes that you didn't pay to the IRS while in the States, unlikely but possible). But the context of a TN-1 VISA is that it's a temporary one year gig, so the INS wants you to have ties. Not like anyone checks, but just to be safe. Credit History and Credit Cards The largest drawback to coming to the States is that you start fresh. Which may be a good thing if you have high car insurance, and bad credit. Bad if you have excellent credit, because in the United States no company could care less what you did in Canada. It's all computerized, they ping your social security number and see nothing there, so you're less than a high school student even. Once you've had a phone (and other utilities) in the U.S for awhile, then your credit rating starts going up, takes about a year. DO NOT APPLY for any kind of credit when you first move down. You will get rejected, and everytime a rejection shows up your credit rating gets worse. I didn't know this, and I applied for like 4 or 5 (hoping that one would give it to me) credit cards, your salary is irrelevant. Even if you give the numbers of your VISA/Mastercards, you'll get rejected, because there's no history on your brand new social security number. There are work arounds however. Apply for an American Express in Canada and/or get a TD GM VISA card, you'll get one easily. When you come down to the states, you call up American Express and say you want to transfer your Canadian American express to an American American Express. Also call up the GM Card and do the same thing (1-800-947-1000). They also have these secured cards, where you put a deposit of $x amount of dollars and $x amount is your credit limit. Lastly, your bank will have a U.S Visa. It's intended for people to who travel to the U.S frequently, so charges to the card are in American and stay in American, and you pay in American. This way there's never a conversion to Canadian currency, and you don't get burnt. You have to get this kind of card before you move down, otherwise your bank will reject you, because they feel with you living in another country with the delay in the mail you won't be paying in time. With you living in the U.S, you're also a risk that you won't pay at all, and it's much more difficult for them to try getting the money back if you decide to shaft them. ATMs vs Check Cards The U.S is pretty retarded when it comes to ATMs. In Canada EVERY corner store, fast food joint, drug store, gas station, everyone takes a debit card/interact. In the states very few places do, such as TARGET, WALMART, and large grocery chains. Their solution is a "check card", which is a debit card with a VISA logo on it. Which works the same I guess, but they usually have like a low limit of $600-800 per day. Which is ok, but when you need to buy something major you're stuck. I actually initially got declined on a check card, and I was furious and called up the bank and said I need something with a VISA logo on it. If they gave me a debit card why can't I have a check card (they're the same thing). They agreed and gave it to me. American companies are also paranoid of being burnt, so if you try to pay something with a check, good luck. They have a system that scans in your check and verifies your account has the funds available. Even if you do, if you don't have a California drivers license (identity verification), they'll deny you (which I had the unfortunate luck to discover when I was trying to buy a computer). Documents to Acquire A lot of this stuff you have to do as early as you can, because it takes time. Get reports from any car insurance you've been with about your driving history. Get your bank to give you a credit report about yourself. If you rent an apartment, get your land lord to write up a blurb on your rating as a tenant (ie that you kept the apartment in good condition, were timely with your payments, and the time period you were a tenant). If you have a loan on your car, make sure to have the address of the bank involved handy. Car registration papers. If you are planning on moving your car, contact the Canadian HQ of the manufacturer and tell them to mail you a letter verifying that the car passes U.S EPA emission standards. The movers will need this document to bring your car across the border (unless you drive it yourself). You will also need it to register your car. If you're moving to California, also ask the manufacturer if it will pass California Emissions (and if not, what it will take to do so, sometimes it's just an attachment to your catalytic converter). Honda was very helpful and faxed me a letter within 30 minutes, and mailed me a hard copy. Get your records of employment from all the companies you've been with, and signed letters from your ex Managers on company letterhead of your duties, responsibilities, and skills while employed at that location (what I call an employment verification letter). You most likely will not need this for your TN-1 VISA, but will come in very handy when you go for an H1-B and/or Green Card. It's a difficult letter to get, because there's no incentive for your previous managers to produce such a document. What I did, is I wrote the letter and I got letter head from my friends who were still at those companies. After printing it out on the letter head, I contacted my managers asking if I can come by and get them to sign it, I also emailed a copy so they could read it in advance. I've had the fortunate luck of having really cool managers, the only difficult part was just trying to get a slice into their busy schedule. Document Examples Employment Verification Template EV Letter that I used for Bell Sygma EV Letter that I used for PSINet EPA Letter From Honda Tips from Users Gleb Esman writes: I also went to http://www.efax.com and opened a free FAX / voice mail number for me. The area code is actually somewhere in CA, the service is free and faxes and voicemail messages are being delivered by email, which is the best for connected people. I have laptop and will open mindspring account soon so I'll be able to check my incoming mail everywhere in North America. I guess that will be point of connection to me, after we cancel our cellphone and all other phones.