Day 0–7 Checklist — The Bay Playbook

Day 0–1: Land and stabilize

☐ Activate your US eSIM. Buy it before flying (T-Mobile/Mint/Airalo etc.) so you have data the moment you land. Why: everything below needs a working phone. → See: SIM & Phone guide.
☐ Verify Indian OTPs work. Keep your Indian SIM on international roaming (Jio/Airtel roaming pack) and test an OTP from your Indian bank. Why: your Indian bank, Aadhaar-linked services, and UPI all still send OTPs to that number — losing it strands you.
☐ Withdraw cash — $200–300. Airport ATM is fine despite the fee. Why: security deposits on keys, some Indian grocery stores, tips, and card-machine failures. The US is less cashless than urban India.
☐ Check into your pre-booked short-term housing. You booked weeks 1–4 from India, right? → See: Landing Pad Playbook (#12).
☐ Take BART from SFO, not a $60 Uber — unless it’s past 11pm or you have 3+ bags. → See: Getting Around (#11).

☐ Add Clipper to your phone wallet, load $20. Why: one card for Muni, BART, Caltrain — everything. Do it in Apple/Google Wallet in two minutes. → See: Getting Around (#11).
☐ Grocery run — including an Indian store. SF: New India Bazar or Mission stores. South Bay: India Cash & Carry (Fremont — 39175 Farwell Dr; Sunnyvale — 1032 E El Camino Real) or Namaste Plaza (Sunnyvale/San Jose), both deliver. Why: dal, atta, masalas on day 2 make week 1 feel human, at half the price of ordering in.
☐ Download the app stack. Transport, food, money, community — the full annotated list is in Apps to Download (#15). Do it on hotel/co-living wifi.
☐ Walk your neighborhood. Learn the 9pm feel of your block. Why: this calibrates your long-term housing search.

☐ Apply for your SSN (if visa-eligible). Go in person to any Social Security office with passport, visa, I-94 (your electronic arrival record — print it from the CBP site). Official guidance: wait ~10 days after arrival so DHS systems show your entry, then apply; card arrives in ~2–3 weeks (SSA). Why now: everything downstream — payroll, credit card, some banks — wants it, and the clock only starts when you apply. If you land on a visa without work authorization, skip and see the ITIN note in the Banking guide.
☐ Open a bank account in person if your online option failed. Chase/BofA branches accept passport + visa + US address (your co-living counts); no SSN required at many banks. Why: you need a US account for rent, Zelle, and getting paid. → See: Banking guide.
☐ Start marketplace health insurance. The 60-day clock started when you landed. Moving to California is a qualifying life event — jargon for a life change that lets you buy insurance outside the annual window — and it gives you exactly 60 days from your move to enroll via Covered California. Miss it and you wait until November’s open enrollment, uninsured. One ER visit uninsured runs $1,500–3,000+. → See: Health Insurance guide.

☐ Attend your first founder event. Browse luma.com/sf and luma.com/ai-sf — SF’s tech life runs on Luma calendars. Also Cerebral Valley events and the Bay Area Founders Club newsletter. Why: your first 10 relationships here compound more than anything else you do this week. Say yes to everything in month 1.
☐ Explore 2–3 neighborhoods you might live in long-term. Daytime café work session + evening walk. Why: weeks 2–4 are for signing a lease you’ve personally vetted. → See: Housing & Neighborhoods (#9).
☐ Send your week-1 update. Message your network (investors, mentors, the WhatsApp groups you joined) that you’ve landed. Why: “I just moved to SF” is the best cold-outreach line you’ll ever have — it expires.

The insurance deadline is the sneaky one: nothing hurts at day 7, so people defer it — then discover at day 70 they’re locked out until open enrollment. Book the Covered California session in week 1 even if you feel invincible.
Applying for the SSN too early backfires: if DHS hasn’t synced your entry record, the application stalls in verification. Day 10–12 after landing is the sweet spot — which conveniently is week 2, so book the appointment in week 1.
Keep your Indian number alive on roaming for at least 6 months. Every returning founder’s horror story is the same: deactivated Indian SIM → no bank OTPs → a trip to India just to fix it.

SSA — Foreign Workers and Social Security Numbers (PDF) — official SSN application rules.
VisaVerge — SSN for F-1/H-1B — the 10-day wait explained.
Covered California — qualifying life events — the 60-day special enrollment rule.
Luma — SF events calendar — where the week’s founder events actually live.
Cerebral Valley events — AI meetups, hackathons, summits.
India Cash & Carry — Fremont/Sunnyvale Indian grocery, delivers.
Namaste Plaza — Sunnyvale/San Jose Indian grocery, online ordering.