I'm a British expat who moved to the US. Navigating credit scores, guns, and grocery shopping the American way has been an adjustment.

• Karen Osman moved from Dubai to New York City when her husband received a promotion in the US.
• Osman, a writer, had a golden visa in the UAE but sought stability in the US.
• Adjusting to NYC involved navigating the US tax system, housing, and building a credit score.

This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Karen Osman, a 45-year-old author based in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My family didn't plan to leave Dubai . We'd just renovated our apartment near Dubai Marina, and the UAE government had awarded me a golden visa as a writer, meaning I could live in the country for 10 years as an expat.

But in May 2022, my husband, who works for a tech company, was offered a promotion to a role based in the New York office.

While I was thrilled to be awarded the golden visa in the UAE, relying on a visa that covers a certain period can be a precarious way to live. We knew we'd have more stability if we moved to New York City.

It was a big decision but also a no-brainer. I wondered, Will we regret not going? Three months later, we were living in New York City.

When I moved to Dubai from the UK 18 years earlier, I was a single woman who almost moved there on a whim

I initially moved to Dubai to work in sales and marketing for a hotel chain. Now, as a mother of two, there was much more to consider.

I did a lot of research, but one of the most useful sites I came across was the "British Mums NYC" Facebook group. One mom recently moved from Dubai and shared many useful tips, including school information.

During our first year in the US, there was a lot of paperwork

I had to sort out many things, from getting a Social Security number to finding a doctor. My husband's company managed the applications to obtain the correct family visa and residency.

What surprised me most about New York was how friendly the people were. I didn't expect it to have such a sense of community. I thought it'd be a bit like London, where nobody talks to each other.

I quickly made friends with other mothers at school pick-up and drop-off, in the PTA, at a writing conference in New York City, and through book clubs.

As we didn't pay income tax in Dubai, we also needed to understand the US tax system

It was certainly an adjustment after living in Dubai for so long. We also needed to create a plan to build up our credit score, which included getting credit cards and opening bank accounts.

Apartments in New York City are more expensive than in Dubai. We had an apartment in Dubai, which we sold before we moved. We paid triple in New York for a fraction of the space we had in Dubai. As we didn't have a credit score in the US, some landlords wouldn't rent to us.

We also had to ensure we lived in the school zone for the school we wanted to send our kids to. Yet, while housing was more expensive, schooling was free. As expats, we had to pay for schooling in Dubai.

When we first arrived, we moved to an apartment in the Upper West Side as the area has really good schools, but then we decided to move out of the city to get more space. We now have a four-bedroom house with a backyard for the boys to play in 30 minutes outside the city. They saw snow for the first time in New York and loved building snowmen in the backyard.

One of the nicest things about living in the city is its walkability

On a weekday, I walk the kids to school. When I get home, I start writing. New York City is a writer's paradise. There's always something bookish going on in the city, whereas in Dubai, I never really felt like part of this community.

Our weekends are focused on the kids. When we lived in the city, we had a membership to the American Museum of Natural History and regularly visited Central Park . We were like tourists. When we lived in Dubai, we spent our weekends at the beach. I had a Privilee membership, which is like a ClassPass for beach clubs in the city.

Dubai is super safe, so the first year we lived in New York, I was hyper-vigilant with my kids

You'll see kids as young as 11 walking to school alone. My sons are 10 and 7, and I want my children to be this independent. I do have a concern about guns, but we've tried to reduce the danger as much as possible by choosing the safest neighborhoods in which to live.

I found the food confusing in the US, from huge portions to grocery shopping . The supermarkets here are massive and have so many options. The ingredients, which are more expensive than in Dubai, are also quite different. Some of the food additives they contain are not allowed to be sold for human consumption in Europe.

I spent a lot of time reading the ingredients and finding the right brands. For the first three months we lived in the US, I ordered HelloFresh meal kits so I didn't have to think about what to serve the family every night.

I've finished writing my fourth book and am now job-hunting

I've never worked in the US before, and when you move to a new country, work is such a community builder. Writing novels is great, but it's quite isolating, particularly in a new country. As I have a background in marketing and writing, I'm looking for editorial and marketing positions.

I miss a lot about Dubai, but it was my home for 18 years. I miss our family and friends who live there. When I see all the trash on NYC's streets, I miss the cleanliness of Dubai, but we don't have any plans to move anytime soon.