Essential survival tips for new employees at Georgia Tech
Social Security Number:
Absolutely the first thing to
get (if you do not have one) is
a Social Security Number - someone will take you to the
Atlanta Social Security Office to get the process started - may take something like
3 to 4 weeks until it is received. Until you have it, you cannot open a
bank account, get a driver's license, sign a lease, etc, etc.
You will need to bring with you:
passport, visa, Form I-94, for J-1 visa the form IAP-66. Make sure you get
a receipt.
Go to the Georgia Tech HRO
(Human Resources Office) to start the paperwork at Georgia
Tech. You need to bring your passport and visa and your PSF-file with you.
To get on payroll may also take two or three weeks or maybe even longer.
IMPORTANT!: As you will not be able to borrow money from the bank here in
Georgia without a credit history, remember to bring your VISA card and keep
a healthy bank account in your home country.
VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure that you are receiving a folder which will tell
you about the medical insurances options you have, the tax options (if they
do not tell you this, ASK!) and the pension schemes. You may attend an
orientation session organized by the OHR about the health insurance,
pension etc. IF, for any reason your employment conditions changes, make
doubly sure that your insurances etc. remain unchanged.
Driver's license
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: If you have a foreign driver's
license, you HAVE to change it
into an American/Georgia State one. There is an unusual rule in Georgia which states
that you have to
hand in your international/local driver's license in order to obtain an
American/Georgian one. What you
have to do thereafter is to contact your Embassy IMMEDIATELY and ask them to return your
driver's
license to you when they have received it from Georgia State - otherwise the Embassy
will return it to your home country, making it all so complicated when you return to
your own country.
Guides, tourist info: There is a bunch of Atlanta and Georgia tour books in the CNS library, Predrag's office. Small fliers and maps are in Dorte's office.
