I Moved to the USA, and I Didn't Like It,” Said the Green Card Winner 0 33

Ivan Volkov (surname changed at the hero's request) is 41 years old, he is an engineer and psychologist by education, but works in IT. Together with his wife, they won a green card, but when they arrived in America, life there turned out to be different from what they imagined from movies and stories of other immigrants. Therefore, after a few months, they returned to Serbia, where they lived after leaving Russia.

Sudden Win

"My wife and I decided to participate in the U.S. green card lottery back in 2021 when we lived in St. Petersburg. This was our first attempt, and we didn’t take it seriously, as we weren’t thinking about moving to another country at all. After we submitted our applications, we didn’t really follow the results. We remembered about the lottery in the fall of 2022 when we realized that we would not be returning to Russia.

It was a period of great uncertainty; we felt fear and confusion, so when we learned that we had won the green card, we weren’t very happy. My wife and I never dreamed of living in the USA, but I always wanted to see New York and that America from the movies. And we decided to take advantage of the opportunity that had opened up.

While we were building a new life in Serbia and applying for residency, we started gathering documents for the green card. On the official website, we had to fill out a large application and collect a whole package of certificates — about criminal records, education, income, as well as their translations. The process turned out to be monotonous and exhausting and ultimately stretched over more than six months. First, we needed to obtain immigration visas to enter the USA, where we were supposed to be issued green cards. In all the documents, we wrote that we should be invited for an interview at the consulate in Istanbul, but we were still sent to Poland. Fortunately, by that time, our Schengen visas were still valid, so in June 2023, we flew to Warsaw.

In Poland, before the interview at the American consulate, we quickly underwent a medical examination — X-rays, tests, and vaccinations (medical documents are required for entry into the USA — Note from "Kholoda"). After that, the doctor issued us certificates. The wait at the consulate was also not long, and a few days later, my wife and I received our visas. The entire trip took a week.

Since June 2023, we began preparing in a calm manner. Six months before the move, my wife went to Russia, where she sold our mortgaged apartment in St. Petersburg, and we closed the loan. In Serbia, I applied for another residency permit. All this time, we were haunted by the fear that we would be lonely in the USA, as the country is very far away and difficult to reach. All our friends live in Russia and Europe, and in Serbia, it was convenient to meet everyone, but in America, we didn't know a single person. Despite this, at the very end of 2023, we flew there.

One-Story America and Car Cities

At the airport at the border, they took away the sealed packet of documents that we were given in Warsaw and said that the green card would arrive in a few months. In the end, we received it after three months. During all this time, we could freely leave the USA and return.

We decided to stay in Denver, Colorado, because my wife's office was located in this city. Moreover, it is not so expensive to live there, and taxes are lower than in some other states, especially California. Almost immediately, we began searching for long-term rental housing, but quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to rent something right away. In the USA, landlords often require a high credit score, which Americans build over the years. My wife and I simply did not meet the requirements of the apartment owners, so we decided to rent short-term on Airbnb.

At first, I was very interested in the new place. It was very clear that this is not Europe. Because the difference between St. Petersburg, Barcelona, and Paris is not that big, in any European city, you feel more at home than in the States. In the USA, many cities are arranged differently: you immediately see that one-story America and a small multi-story business center. The streets are laid out like on a ruler, and in one direction, they are called street, and in the other — avenue.

In Denver, I liked that it is adapted for walking, as many American cities have no conditions for pedestrian movement — they don’t even have sidewalks. One of my acquaintances in the USA was suspected of something by a police officer because he was walking, which is supposedly not characteristic of a law-abiding citizen.

As in all of America, in Denver, in my opinion, it is practically impossible to live without a personal car. Public transport is available, but the intervals between buses are huge, and they are usually used by low-income residents. In such buses, my wife and I immediately stood out.

Expensive and High Taxes

When we moved to the USA, we were prepared for high prices. And it turned out to be true. The main part of our budget went to rent. For our Airbnb apartment, we paid about two thousand dollars a month. Even if it had been long-term housing, it would have cost about one and a half thousand, which is also very expensive. For comparison — in Belgrade, we managed to rent an apartment for 300 euros.

After moving to Denver, my wife's American company hired her. Because of this, she started paying huge taxes, about 30–35%. My taxes as an IT freelancer were also about 30%. This was considered a low percentage, as taxes are even higher in California. Taxes and the high cost of living lead to the migration of Californians to Colorado.

Medical insurance was also very expensive for us — over 500 dollars a month for both, despite the fact that my wife's company compensated part of the costs. The average bill in cafes and restaurants was much higher than in Europe or Russia. Also, in the USA, there is a tipping culture, where 15–20% is added to the bill for service even in a small pizzeria.

At the same time, I personally did not find food prices in the USA to be inflated compared to Europe or Russia, especially considering inflation. However, ready-made food was very different from what we were used to: it often contained a lot of sugar, and this was noticeable in taste. Therefore, we preferred to buy regular products: chicken, beef, vegetables — and cook at home.

Chicago Reminds Me of St. Petersburg

In the USA, we didn’t manage to make friends with anyone. We mainly communicated with my wife's colleagues. The locals we encountered were quite friendly. At the same time, my stereotype that Americans are not interested in the world outside their country was shattered. It turned out that many know history well and understand everything. For example, I met people who could list all the former republics of Yugoslavia.

Our main goal in the USA was to travel and see the country. Almost immediately after we moved, we took a car and headed to the Grand Canyon through three states. In Colorado, the nature is stunning, so first, we crossed the Rocky Mountains, and then in Arizona, we saw Martian landscapes. The Grand Canyon itself was also incredibly impressive.

On weekends, my wife and I constantly tried to fly somewhere. First of all, we visited New York. It turned out to be a big, noisy, crowded city, where there is a lot of advertising that weighs down on you. The most beautiful place in the city, I would say, is Central Park. I thought it was a boring place with just grass, but there are ponds, rocks, winding paths, and even birds. It looked like a landscaped forest.

I liked Chicago much more than New York. We even found something St. Petersburg-like there: a large lake from which you cannot see the opposite shore, like on the Gulf of Finland, as well as rivers with drawbridges. The public transport system in Chicago is well developed, and there are many convenient places for walking. The free zoo particularly stood out to me — a spacious green area by the lake. In the city center, of course, there are also classic American skyscrapers. Perhaps if we had stayed in the USA, Chicago would have become an option for relocation.

I also went to Las Vegas because my friend was flying there. And my wife visited San Francisco to see a friend. In three months, we traveled a lot, and this became the main positive impression of the USA. We were very interested, and the world seemed absolutely new.

Homeless Everywhere

One obvious downside of the USA is the very large number of homeless people almost everywhere we went. In Denver, it looked particularly frightening, but it was not even about safety. People lived in tents on the street when in winter the temperature could drop to minus 25 degrees Celsius.

One man lived in a car right next to our house. There he slept, ate, combed his hair in the morning, shaved, and went about his business, and in the evening he returned. He had a generator that kept him warm. He even had a laptop and a phone in the car. Passing by him, I couldn’t help but imagine such a fate for myself.

In three months in the USA, I got the impression that people there seem to be constantly fighting for their lives. You understand that if at some point you lose your job, you can easily end up on the street. And it is easy to imagine because you have many examples in front of your eyes. Perhaps we felt this so acutely because we had just moved, and we had no close person in the USA who could help in a desperate situation.

In the spring, as we planned, we flew to Serbia to pick up our residency permit. Initially, we did not anticipate that we would not return to the USA. We left with the thought that we had everything to go back.

However, time passed, and we constantly compared life in Belgrade and Denver, and we never once had the desire to return. Over the year, relatives and friends visited us in Serbia about ten times, which is unimaginable in the USA. Moreover, living in Serbia was much cheaper and a little closer to home.