Before you start

A valid visa or other admission category
An electronic I-94 record from the CBP website
Work authorisation from DHS for a Social Security number
Proof of an Anchorage address for the DMV and the PFD

Step-by-step

1
Download your I-94 in the first few days
It records your class of admission and your 'admit until' date, and it is what employers, the DMV and the Social Security Administration will ask for. It is generated electronically and retrieved from the CBP website — check the details immediately, since corrections are far easier early.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
2
Wait about ten days, then file Form SS-5 in person
The Social Security Administration verifies your status against DHS records that lag entry by one to two weeks, so an immediate visit usually ends in being sent away. Bring passport, visa and I-94. There is no fee for the card, and Anchorage has the state's main SSA office.
In personWho: YouFrom ~day 10Free
3
File IRS Form W-7 for an ITIN if you are not work-authorised
Dependants and others without work permission cannot get an SSN. An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number covers federal tax filing and is accepted by many banks and landlords. Alaska levies no state income tax, so unlike most states there is no second tax registration to worry about. It confers no right to work.
OnlineWho: You
4
Transfer your licence within 90 days, but register the car within 10
Alaska's DMV gives a new resident 90 days to transfer an out-of-state licence and 30 for a commercial one, but requires a vehicle registration application within 10 days of entering the state or taking a job here. Get the registration deadline into your first week's calendar; almost nobody expects it to be the tighter of the two.
In personWho: You10 days for the vehicle, 90 for the licence
5
Start the Permanent Fund Dividend clock deliberately
Eligibility requires you to have been an Alaska resident during all of the preceding calendar year, to intend to remain indefinitely, and not to have claimed residency or residency-based benefits anywhere else since the end of the year before that. Arriving mid-year means your first full qualifying year is the following one. Keep your address, licence, registration and voter records consistent from the day you land — the Division looks at exactly those.
OnlineWho: YouApplications open in the new year for the previous calendar year
6
Get a REAL ID if you fly, which here you will
A standard licence has not been accepted for domestic flights since 7 May 2025. In a state where the road system reaches a minority of the population and Seattle is a four-hour flight, that matters more than it does almost anywhere else — Alaskans fly the way other Americans drive. Bring the full document set to the DMV the first time.
In personWho: 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
Proof of an Anchorage address
Original out-of-state or foreign driver licence, and the vehicle's title and registration

Things most newcomers don’t know

Alaska's residency test for the dividend is a calendar year, not twelve months — and the difference is expensive.

The 2026 application asks whether you were an Alaska resident during all of calendar year 2025. Arrive in February 2026 and you did not live here in 2025, so your first qualifying year is 2026, applied for in 2027 and paid in 2027 — and if you arrive in February 2026 your first cheque is nearly two years out. People assume a rolling twelve months and budget the money a year early. It is USD 1,000 a head at the 2025 rate, so for a family the mistake is not trivial.

Source: Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division — eligibility requirements

The vehicle deadline is shorter than the licence deadline, which is backwards from every other state.

Alaska DMV: 90 days to transfer the licence, but 'you must apply for registration within 10 days of entering the state or taking a job within the state'. Newcomers who have moved between states before carry the opposite instinct — sort the licence first, deal with plates later — and arrive at day 40 with an unregistered car. Note too that registration here is a two-year cycle, not annual.

Source: Alaska DMV — visiting or new to Alaska

The visa sticker's expiry date 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. Holders of five- and ten-year visas routinely assume that is the length of their residence, never check the record, and fall out of status without noticing. The I-94 'admit until' date is the only one that governs.

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

Claiming any residency-based benefit in another state can cost you the dividend.

The eligibility rules bar anyone who has claimed residency in another state or country, or obtained a benefit resulting from a claim of residency elsewhere, since 31 December of the year before the qualifying year. In-state university tuition, a homestead exemption or a resident hunting licence somewhere else all count. It is the single most common way a genuine Alaska resident loses a PFD, and it is entirely avoidable if you know about it in week one.

Source: Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating the visa expiry as your permitted stay rather than the I-94 'admit until' date.
Missing the 10-day vehicle registration deadline because you assumed the licence came first.
Budgeting a Permanent Fund Dividend in your first year — you will not be eligible.
Keeping an out-of-state resident tuition rate, homestead exemption or hunting licence while establishing Alaska residency.
Paying anyone a fee for a Social Security card — it is free.

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