What to do when arriving to the United States

You should arrive to the nearest airports to your work and housing accommodations. There are two airports that we recommend you fly into.

1. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): 53 miles away from Orange County and is approximately a 50-minute to a 1.5-hour drive (depending on traffic and time of day).
2. John Wayne Airport (SNA): 15 miles away from Orange County and is approximately a 20-minute drive.

Additionally, the best days to fly are from Monday to Thursday due to traffic and flights will be cheaper than traveling during the weekend.

You must check if your health insurance is available in the United States, or if you need to get one when you arrive. In some countries, it is possible to upgrade your health insurance plan, to ensure that when you travel you are covered. However, this is something that must be arranged by each participant prior to arriving to the United States. It is crucial that you have an active health insurance plan available in the United States. Check with your sponsor company to see if they have recommendations for insurance providers.

As mentioned in the Job Offer section, all participants must know if their bank account (from their country of residence) receives international currency, in this case dollars ($). If your bank accounts is not able to receive a different currency, you will need to set up a bank account in the United States to receive a direct deposit payment. There are several different banking institutions locally to choose from and we would be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

This decision is up to you! You are not required to have a SIM card to work with Premier Aquatics, it just may make your experience in the United States easier. We recommend checking with your current provider to see if they have options for the United States.

You also have the option of getting a U.S. sim card from one of the many different cell phone providers. You can then change your number to a U.S. number to receive and send calls/texts. This will also give them internet connection, regardless of if they have a WIFI connection. If not, they can still use their country’s number and have internet access but only through Wi-Fi. This means that if you were to leave and drive to work you wouldn’t have internet because you left your Wi-Fi source.

There are some companies that offer prepaid plans depending on the amount of time the participant is going to be staying in the US. There are plans for 1 month or less (Holafly or Ultra Mobile), others for 1-3 months (Tello or Holafly) and others for 3+ months (Mint Mobile or Tello). Each participant can choose whichever they’d prefer and best adapts to their necessities and budget.

The Form I-9 is a document used to verify the identity and employment authorization of anyone hired for employment in the United States. All US employers must complete the verification for the Form I-9 for every person hired for employment in the US, including both citizens and noncitizens.

Participants will need to provide the acceptable documents for I-9 verification purposes in person. The list for acceptable documents can be found at the following website.

After arriving in the United States, you must apply for a Social Security Number (SSN). It can take 2-4 weeks after applying to receive your social security card, so we recommend this being one of your first tasks. You will need to bring some documentation from Premier to assist in your application, so be sure that you are communicating with the team of your arrival. The Social Security Office closest to your accommodation can be found using the following website.