Before you start

A valid visa or other admission category, and work authorisation from DHS for anything paid
An electronic I-94 record from the CBP website
Proof of legal presence, which Louisiana requires for a driver licence or state ID
Two proofs of a Louisiana residential address
A Social Security number, or documentation of ineligibility

Step-by-step

1
Download your I-94 in the first few days
It records your admission class and 'admit until' date, and it is what employers, the OMV and the Social Security Administration will ask for. Retrieved electronically from the CBP website, free.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
2
Wait about ten days, then apply for a Social Security number
The SSA verifies your status against DHS systems that lag entry by one to two weeks. File Form SS-5 in person with your passport, visa and I-94. There is no fee.
In personWho: YouFrom ~day 10Free
3
If you cannot get an SSN, file for an ITIN
IRS Form W-7 produces an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for tax filing, accepted by many banks and landlords. It grants no right to work.
OnlineWho: You
4
Book the OMV rather than walking in
Louisiana's Office of Motor Vehicles runs a mix of state offices and privately operated public tag agents, and the queues at the state offices in and around Orleans Parish are the local complaint. Appointments and several transactions are available through the OMV's Expresslane service; check which of the two kinds of office your transaction needs before driving anywhere.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
5
Convert the licence and register the vehicle within 30 days
Louisiana's window covers the licence and the vehicle. Bring legal-presence documents, two proofs of Louisiana address, and the out-of-state title if you brought a car. A REAL ID-compliant credential needs the full document set in one visit.
In personWho: YouWithin 30 days
6
Use a Louisiana notary for anything that needs executing
Louisiana notaries are commissioned by parish after an examination and may draft and execute authentic acts — sales, powers of attorney, affidavits, successions — without a lawyer. Nowhere else in the US works this way. It makes getting a document properly executed here unusually cheap; it also means a document executed as an authentic act is much harder to attack later, which cuts both ways.
In personWho: You
7
Keep a copy of every immigration document in two places, and in the cloud
The I-94, visa page, approval notices and SSN card are asked for repeatedly across the first year. In a hurricane-evacuation city the second copy has to be somewhere that is not your flat: scan the set once and keep it reachable from a phone.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with valid visa
I-94 admission record from the CBP website
Form SS-5 for a Social Security number, or IRS Form W-7 for an ITIN
Two proofs of a Louisiana residential address
Certified English translations of any non-English documents
Evidence of legal presence — required for a Louisiana licence or state ID

Things most newcomers don’t know

Louisiana is the only civil-law state in the United States, and you will meet that in ordinary paperwork.

Private law here derives from the French and Spanish codes, not from English common law. Leases, property, servitudes and inheritance all run on the Civil Code, forced heirship still exists in a limited form, and terminology diverges from the rest of the country. Advice from a lawyer or an internet forum in another state is frequently just wrong here — check that anything you rely on is Louisiana-specific.

Source: Louisiana Civil Code / Louisiana State Legislature

A Louisiana notary can do things a notary anywhere else cannot.

Elsewhere in America a notary only verifies a signature. A Louisiana notary is commissioned by parish after an exam and may draft and execute authentic acts, including sales of immovable property and successions. For a newcomer this means many documents can be executed properly for a small fee without engaging a lawyer — genuinely one of the cheapest bits of bureaucracy in this app.

Source: Louisiana Secretary of State — notary commissions

The visa sticker's expiry is not your permission to stay.

A visa authorises travel to a port of entry; the officer there decides how long you may remain and records it on the I-94. People routinely plan around the wrong date and discover the error at renewal.

Source: US Customs and Border Protection — I-94 record

Scan your documents before hurricane season, not during it.

A mandatory evacuation comes with roughly 72 hours' notice and people leave with a bag. Passports, I-94s, approval notices, the lease and the insurance declarations page all need to exist somewhere that is not the flat. This is the one piece of newcomer admin here that is genuinely different from every other US city.

Source: Ready.gov — hurricanes

Common mistakes to avoid

Relying on legal information from another US state. Louisiana's private law is different in kind, not in detail.
Visiting a Social Security office in the first week, before DHS records have synced.
Letting the 30-day window pass on the vehicle registration, which people forget is included.
Turning up at an OMV office for a transaction only a public tag agent handles, or the reverse.
Keeping the only copy of your immigration documents in a ground-floor flat below sea level.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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