Yew Jin's Sometimes Blog

Don't pass Go, but do go to the bank

After all that adrenaline rush of being interrograted by border officers, I got my rental car and got on highway 101. Whoopie. I left the airport at 12:30pm and I managed to make it to corporate housing in Sunnyvale by 1:30pm.

I learnt that when the corporate housing confirmation letter says check-in time is 4pm. They do mean 4pm. As the apartment was locked and I had no where to go, I figured I would go to Citibank and withdraw money from the ATM (you know, the plan)

But despite having no social security, I still managed to open a Citibank account just with my Singapore passport and driving license. Nice. So I got my checking account on the first day in USA, while waiting to move into my temporary housing. I still need a social security number before I can get a savings account, but hey, that's fine by me.

So anyhoo, I am currently living in Sunnyvale, CA, which is one region of Silicon Valley.

"Credit History Required" Really Means

"Give us money and we won't need credit history".

For example, renting an apartment without a social security number means you put up a larger amount of deposit. Getting utilities and gas without a social security number means you place more deposit.

My major reservations of moving to california have, fortunately, not been realized. However, this makes for terrible blogging inspiration, but I will try. As always.

The Non-Form

I arrived in California an hour early for a reason. This occurred for a reason. I mean, there must be a reason why tail winds were really pushing hard that day such that we would arrive at 11am instead of 12:30pm.

See, this extra hour gave me ample time to get stuck at immigration puzzling why I did not present an I-797 petition.

Me: "I'm sorry. What?" (Dazed look you give after 18 hours of flying)

Officer #1: "An I-797 petition - you must always bring it along with you everytime you travel as a H-1B visa holder"

Me: "??? - That's all I have." (Pointing to H-1B1 visa in passport)

Officer #1: "Go to secondary."

Me: "???" (yeah, I'm going to know that refers to a secondary interview, and that I have to walk to the end of the hallway)

So I trot down hastily to a separate office and got interviewed by another border officer, who kept grilling me about my non-existent I-797 form. Images of me getting hurled back to Singapore in handcuffs flashed by my eyes - all because I did not bring this piece of paper. Sheeesh. As the interview continued, I felt quite of bad, because, frankly, I just had no idea what an I-797 form even looks like. I get a sense the border officer was half-expecting me to be an illegal immigrant, but got stuck with ... well, me.

I must have worn him down, either that or because a queue of people needing to undergo secondary interviews was forming. This "must have" document all of a sudden became not completely essential - I managed to get my visa approved after receiving a warning to always carry my I-797 form with me. I was extremely curious at this time in point what a "I-797" petition is, and the first thing I did after getting internet connection was to search for images relating to "I-797" on Google. That got me to this page - which, if you enlarge the photo, is a I-797 for a H-1B1.

No. I do not have that. What the heck is that?

As I was freaking out, I searched for "i797 h1b1" and got this, which states, "Unlike a traditional H-1B visa, the employer does not have to submit Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (Department of Homeland Security) and you do not need to obtain a Notice of Action, Form I-797."

...

bah.

So yeah, I arrived early so that my schedule would not be disturbed by this non-form.