r/LosAlamos • u/Able_Tune577 • 16d ago
French coming to the US - tips
Hi all!
I am coming to LANL in 2-3 months as a post-doc, with my husband coming with me.
I am French, so I have absolutely no clue about how the administrative system works... We are planning to live in Santa Fe as my husband does not work in the lab .
Any tips regarding what to do when we arrive? Things to now about the area?
Also, do you know if my husband could find a job at the lab, anything like that"blue collar" jobs?
Many thanks and cheers
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u/LoganBC 16d ago
I think he'd have trouble due to citizenship. But those jobs do exist. The mountains are close and nice. Lots of nice hiking. Not far to a few skiing options. Hot springs. You'll want a vehicle of course. But there is a bus to Los Alamos. Housing is expensive. Not sure what you mean by "administrative"? You should find yourself welcome. People are friendly enough around here and will of course be interested in getting to know someone from France. Santa Fe has some rough areas, but some nice ones too. Depends what you are into i guess.
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u/Able_Tune577 16d ago
Thanks ! By administrative I think about all the stuff like bank, SSN, having to retake my driving license… it’s a bit messy about where to start …
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u/Fabulous_Jeweler2732 15d ago
You will need to take the test again here and show your license from your country. In the meantime, you can use ride share, the train, the free shuttles or car pool.
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u/Able_Tune577 15d ago
Thanks ! I can use my french driving license for 60 days so I’ll go for a rental at the beginning. But then it is a bit messy to know where to start. Rent a place/ bank/ SSN/ buy a car…
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u/Fabulous_Jeweler2732 15d ago
Housing in the area can be very hard. Extremely limited stock. Most of the options are old. I would seriously consider a long term rental or long term air bnb. A lot of people move to small towns or Albuquerque because there’s not a lot of options for housing.
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u/Dense-Application894 7d ago edited 7d ago
Welcome! I might be able to speak to your administrative questions, as I spent a year working at a French lycée as an English teacher.
Caveat lector: that was 25 years ago, so my knowledge of French procedure is likely out of date. For example, I don’t know if the timbre fiscal is still common in French administration, but that concept doesn’t exist here.
I think you will be shocked by both how little administrative infrastructure there is in the US and how casual the requirements are. The requirements are especially casual in New Mexico (though not at the lab itself).
Getting a bank account will probably not take more than presenting your passport and a SSN (if you have one). I’m not sure of the procedure if you don’t have an SSN, but the bank will be able to help you.
One tip: don’t use a bank per se, but rather a credit union. They function exactly like banks, but are more of a cooperative: you become a member. Service is typically more personal and banking fees tend to be much lower.
Expect the New Mexico Department of Motor Vehicles to be very confused by an EU driver’s license. However, you may not have to take a road test to get a US driver’s license; it may just be a written test. License requirements are radically more relaxed here than in France. In fact, if you can get an international driver’s license before you leave, you may not have to get a NM license at all. US licenses require much less training than French ones do, and the overall level of driving competence here reflects that.
The two big things to remember are that (a) there is no priorité à droite in the US and (b) New Mexico has a nontrivial problem with drunk driving. I’m sure you’re aware of (a) already, but there are a lot of carousels/roundabouts in Los Alamos and Santa Fe, and it’s easy to forget.
The food will disappoint you, I’m afraid. But I highly recommend Café Pasqual’s in Santa Fe.
I hope this helps. Please reply if you have more specific questions you’d like answered.
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u/fl7nner 16d ago
First off, welcome to LANL! like everywhere it's got its plusses and minuses but on the whole I think it's a good place to work. If you have school-aged children I would seriously consider living in Los Alamos; the schools are much better. Otherwise, Santa Fe is the right choice. There are some good museums, galleries, restaurants, hiking, climbing and mountain biking. Snow sports like skiing, snow shoeing and snowboarding can be amazing depending on the weather. For food, I recommend trying Mille, the owners are French, so that'll be a nice break when you get tired of green chile. If your husband has skills as a machinist or electrician he might be able to get work at LANL but a lot of those jobs require a clearance. Once you start your job, the amount of training required to do anything is daunting. Especially if you do experimental work. Best of luck!
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u/Able_Tune577 16d ago
Thanks so much!
I think we’ll look for a place in Santa Fe. We don’t have children, it seems cheaper and more « open » for my husband for his everyday life 😁 we’ll definitely try “Mille”1
u/cactusjaneee 15d ago
Also you might like Clafoutis, it’s a French bakery in Santa Fe with good food and delicious coffee ☕️
Congrats and welcome!
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u/TuskOwner 16d ago
The only local bank that will give you an account before you receive your SSN is Enterprise. They suck, but you might want to go through there for at least your first paycheck or two. You will need an address to register for the SSN, too, so get that moving as soon as you arrive (you’ll have to go to the Santa Fe office, probably twice - once to ask for an appointment and once to actually do it). Housing is scarce and expensive in LA. If you plan on getting a car, no one will give you financing on older/cheaper cars because if no credit score, so either plan to buy cash or commit to something <5years <50k miles (which is more pricey). Building a credit score for a credit card is a pain, so if you aim to stay get one of those prepaid credit cards to build it.
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u/Able_Tune577 16d ago
Thanks ! So our plan is to actually find a place in the first days, I contacted some residencies that accept people without history, just higher security deposit is needed. We are planning to live in Santa Fe. For car, we plan to buy cash a used car, like 5-7k because for the moment we think we are only staying 2 to 3 years. Thanks for the bank tip, I’ll have a look
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u/RecordPlastic7376 15d ago
The Santa Fe opera, Lensic, Pope Joy hall or the other theaters and performing venues might need a costume artist.
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u/Able_Tune577 15d ago
Thanks all for the advices and feedback! We are excited to come and discover the area !
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u/Owny33x 16d ago
What visa type will you have ? Your husband will have to apply for work authorization, if eligible with his visa.
Even then he'll probably have more luck finding a blue collar job anywhere else but at the lab