Migrating to USA as a russian

[May90]

I moved here to Indiana from Russia a couple of months ago, but I've been to the US before as an exchange student. From my experience, once you've crossed the border, you become an American an as welcome here as any other immigrant or as a native American. People will sometimes ask you where you're from, of course, but it will be just a question of curiosity, they won't treat you in some special way no matter where you are from.

One thing to consider: you really need a good spoken English to feel incredible here. I consider myself an excellent speaker (for a foreigner), and yet sometimes I have some difficulties expressing my thoughts, although I understand 99% of what people here say. Without good language, you really are going to feel out of place: people won't treat you any differently, but you yourself will feel a little bit alien, like I did in Japan when I lived there knowing only a few Japanese words.

Another thing: once you've moved in, you want to change your behavioral pattern from Russian to American, just to better fit in. In Russia, for example, smiling at strangers is almost a taboo, people will think you mad if you do that - but here it is completely normal, so if you will walk here with that sad expression they typically walk in Moscow, people will think that something tragic happened in your life, or you are just in a very bad mood. It is not just smiles, of course, you want to learn all the differences between cultures.

All in all, the USA is an amazing country, it is the most welcoming to immigrants country I've ever been to, together with Canada and Australia. People here are great and friendly, career opportunities are limitless (provided you are willing to work hard), life quality is very high. You will definitely like it here!

[Xires]

Hello everyone.

Well as the topic suggests, I'm a russian and I wanna move to USA, most likely to Pennsylvania state (not sure yet where to exactly). How friendly is USA to russian immigrants if they are not, well, ignorant and rude? Also, is it possible to make for a living in USA if I don't really have any friends there?

I'm planning to move with my wife probably in ~3-5 years, when we have some money saved up.

Yeah, I know there are plenty topics like this out there in Google, but I thought I'd ask here since I'm mostly communicating with, well, "outer world" via WoW.

If you come here legally and have loyalty to the US then you are more then welcome. As far as I know the cold war has been over for a long time so nobody has any problems with Russians in the US, lol.
One of my best buds I served with was Russian and he actually got his legalization through serving. One of the best peeps I have ever known. Now he is in Ohio as a state trooper or some shit.

[mmokri]

Haha be ready to compete with mexicans for a job in McDonalds/Wallmart/Military

[Pull My Finger]

I wanted to go the the US, great for my line of professional work, but then I figured I had to die if I got sick because they don't have healthcare. Dying sucks. Is private health insurance affordable in the US?

[mmokri]

I wanted to go the the US, great for my line of professional work, but then I figured I had to die if I got sick because they don't have healthcare. Dying sucks. Is private healthcare affordable in the US?

You know about american way of taking credit, right?
"work, buy, consume, die"

[Gothicshark]

Why try and turn it into a race thing? Seriously?
And now the "loudest group" of Russian immigrants are in organized crime syndicates?
I honestly have no idea what the ever-loving fuck you are trying to say.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/russian-mafia/

I live in LA, and every non-taxi driving Russian I know, and I know a lot, claim to be Russian Mafia. It's like some sort of badge they claim to be ex-KGB Mafia. Honestly I think they are full of it.

[May90]

Agree with this, as a Russian.

Though one thing I would like to point out, the smiling part, In Ohio, saying "Hello; Good Morning".. etc and smiling at strangers on the sidewalk was normal, and I got used to doing that. As soon as we moved to Chicago, I got strange looks from people... I think this is more of a community thing, its ok in some places, not in others.

Well, Chicago is a major city ("megapolis"), where many people are cramped in a tight space. In such cities it is different: if every time you turn your head you see 10 new people around, you certainly aren't going to smile at each of them, so there this habit is not so popular. But the majority of the US population lives in smaller towns, where you walk and see a few persons every few minutes and that's it - easy to smile at everyone. At least that is my explanation. But I observed this effect all around the world: in Japanese small towns people also smile at each other while in Tokyo - not at all; in Australia, people in Sydney were not particularly "smily", while on Gold Coast they were; in Canada - same thing between Toronto and nearby towns.

By the way, I live 100 miles east from Chicago.

[Gothicshark]

Agree with this, as a Russian.

Though one thing I would like to point out, the smiling part, In Ohio, saying "Hello; Good Morning".. etc and smiling at strangers on the sidewalk was normal, and I got used to doing that. As soon as we moved to Chicago, I got strange looks from people... I think this is more of a community thing, its ok in some places, not in others.

Yah Chicago...one place I try to avoid. Winters are too cold, and summer is when everyone likes to shoot each other.

[Xar226]

Not sure how true that is, but it would be pretty fucking ironic seeing as how bad our illegal immigration problems are in the south.

He's right. You need a college degree to have a shot.

Essentially, the US allocates X number of immigration slots per country. I have no idea what X is for Russia. In any event, the more likely you are to be a significant contributor to the American economy--judged by your level of education, your job/field, etc--the higher on the list you rank.

It's not IMPOSSIBLE to get in without a degree, but it may be functionally impossible if there a lot of people with better qualifications waiting too.

[Ihnasir]

I wouldn't care at all where you're from, but going to PA... you're probably more likely to meet tolerable people in Pittsburgh than Philadelphia from my own experience. There's plenty of other, nice small towns near Harrisburg (the capital) if you'd rather go there than the larger cities.

[Gothicshark]

I wanted to go the the US, great for my line of professional work, but then I figured I had to die if I got sick because they don't have healthcare. Dying sucks. Is private health insurance affordable in the US?

No, however technically if you are low income there are special programs to ease the cost. Although if you move to a red state good luck finding the info.

[Tirivaria]

I wanted to go the the US, great for my line of professional work, but then I figured I had to die if I got sick because they don't have healthcare. Dying sucks. Is private health insurance affordable in the US?

But chances are, your best chance of getting a visa being sponsored by an employer. Any employer that goes through that process will probably be supplying health insurance as part of the compensation package. How good it is can vary, but most Americans get health insurance through their employer.

[manypillars]

Agree with this, as a Russian.

Though one thing I would like to point out, the smiling part, In Ohio, saying "Hello; Good Morning".. etc and smiling at strangers on the sidewalk was normal, and I got used to doing that. As soon as we moved to Chicago, I got strange looks from people... I think this is more of a community thing, its ok in some places, not in others.

I'm not sure about other countries, but this is a fairly common thing in the US with suburban compared to urban. NYC is fairly well known for it. It's not really that people in Chicago or NYC are less friendly, so much as the higher the population density goes the less outward greeting we do to strangers. I don't think I ever said hello to people I saw in the mobile sardine cans every morning; if I spoke to them it was either because they asked me something or I had accidentally bumped into them.

And here's a mandatory NYC subway story: Once some lady couldn't tell what my gender was, but decided that whatever it was that I was gay. So she sang a song to all of us in the car about how she hated gay people. Oh, New York.

[Reeve]

Hello everyone.

Well as the topic suggests, I'm a russian and I wanna move to USA, most likely to Pennsylvania state (not sure yet where to exactly). How friendly is USA to russian immigrants if they are not, well, ignorant and rude? Also, is it possible to make for a living in USA if I don't really have any friends there?

I'm planning to move with my wife probably in ~3-5 years, when we have some money saved up.

Yeah, I know there are plenty topics like this out there in Google, but I thought I'd ask here since I'm mostly communicating with, well, "outer world" via WoW.

The US has tons of Russian immigrants, and we generally get along with them very well. I know several Russians here in Houston who love living here and would never want to go back.

[truckboattruck]

Hello everyone.

Well as the topic suggests, I'm a russian and I wanna move to USA, most likely to Pennsylvania state (not sure yet where to exactly). How friendly is USA to russian immigrants if they are not, well, ignorant and rude? Also, is it possible to make for a living in USA if I don't really have any friends there?

I'm planning to move with my wife probably in ~3-5 years, when we have some money saved up.

Yeah, I know there are plenty topics like this out there in Google, but I thought I'd ask here since I'm mostly communicating with, well, "outer world" via WoW.

move to the south east
much lower cost of living

and better communities as long as you get farther from the coast

[NewOrleansTrolley]

This is a tough, tough question. It has variables but..

Short answer: If you're not trying to be a jerk and you make an attempt to fit in, you'll be welcomed. The only immigrant group I know seeming like they're having a hard time of it in New Jersey are the Indians (actual Indians). >.<

However, the USA isn't a free ride. It's tough for an immigrant the first couple years if you aren't rich. You might have some broken expectations.

[Warpaladin]

Pretty sure that New York City has the largest population of Russians in the U.S, as for job opportunities kinda hard to say depends on what you're looking for.

[NewOrleansTrolley]

Pretty sure that New York City has the largest population of Russians in the U.S, as for job opportunities kinda hard to say depends on what you're looking for.

Immigrant enclaves aren't always the best, esp in New York. The Russian / employers of your ethnicity who hire you expect you to work hard and for little pay. Although they do offer security and the Eastern European enclaves are crazy safe. I should know. I live in the Polish enclave of Maspeth and Ridgewood. lol

Side note? Darn dirty hipsters ruining Greenpoint.

[Snakeseye0]

Dude your freaking white, you will have privileged as soon as your feet hit the ground. No one will be able to tell unless they ask or you have an accent. If you have a degree, job, or support you will assimilate better into America than most other immigrants. Welcome to America.

[Mongo42]

Having lived in this hell hole called New Jersey for a few years, I'll give some insights into the behavior here.

New York City is a major point where immigrants from around the world come into the country. Much of the actual "work ethic", that means people actually caring about doing their jobs right, comes from the immigrants. Without that foreign work ethic, most of this part of the country would collapse amid cries of "It's not my job!!!" and "It's not in my contract!!!".

A problem is that the cost of living is very high anywhere around New York City in general. In northern New Jersey, it's still damn high compared to much of the rest of the country. Our dollar is worth a good bit in other countries. It's said that you can take a good bit of American money and live like a king in some other countries. So when people move to America, particularly New York or New Jersey, they have to already have a good bit of money to make the transition. That means they're used to being relatively rich in their own country, and bring that sense of entitlement over to NY and NJ. NJ should change their logo from the "Garden State" to the "Entitlement State", but that wouldn't make for a good bumper sticker.

Pennsylvania is pretty much where civilization starts past the edge of this cesspool called New Jersey. I wouldn't call it a great state to get a job at this point, but if you're able to get outside of NY or NJ and want to stay close to the large immigrant population there, then eastern PA might be a good bet. The people I've dealt with on the east side of PA have been friendly helpful people. Mostly white folks too. That whole "Pennsylvania Dutch" thing still playing out.