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I have dozen plus family members joining us in USA. My mom applied for 4 sibling immigration 14 ago & they are finally crossing over. It is up to us to get them settled and established here. I am wondering if any of the members here have going thru this experience or noticed anything among successful immigrants vs. struggling immigrants especially in context of migrating here with a family.
We want to set them up for the best possible outcome. Any tips/suggestions you have will be useful. But there is so much help we can give before we are burned out.
My uncles/aunts are in their 50's - 60's. They all have kids most are 17-21 years old with few (3) young school age kids. The elders will have to find any job they can and start working. They don't have highly specialized skill, at least not something I know of. The really young once will be in school. I am mostly concern about putting the teenager/young adults in right track so they can have a career in long run & survive today.
just curious, how does that work with health insurance and who is the sponsor for so many people? Don't you need to show the government that you have $$$$$ to sponsor them?
Sponsorship requires only 125% of the federal poverty rate. That means a $51,112 salary could sponsor 8 people. And applicants can have more than 1 sponsor.
and health insurance? Especially for the old people?
They can get insurance through the ACA (Obamacare) right away, but they will not qualify to apply for Medicaid for 5 years.
As for Medicare, to qualify they will have to be in the US for 5 years, AND either have to work for about 10 years full-time (lots of people do it even in their 60's) OR they can "buy into" Medicare.
Get the adults into ESL classes which are often free. Children/teens have to get enrolled in school. Get details about testing for placement, potential ESL classes, lunch programs, ...
Please do get them 'out'. Do not let them grow into a family nucleus living isolated within itself.
How are they doing for clothes, transportation, funds for the start? Yes, they can enroll in Obamacare and some states offer programs for children.
What city and state are they coming to? And do they speak English?
We are in the greater Detroit, MI area which has some benefit and challenge. The cost of living is fairly low here, which means we can provide more help for the same amount of money & the money they brought with them can last them longer than it would in high cost area. Also the manufacturing industry in Midwest should help with finding job. But lack of public transportation will be very challenging in terms of getting to a job or seeing the world outside of my parents block.
The young adults (19-22 year old) speak acceptable English.
The adult male speak broken English
The adult female most don't speak English, one of the aunt can speak acceptable English
Get the adults into ESL classes which are often free. Children/teens have to get enrolled in school. Get details about testing for placement, potential ESL classes, lunch programs, ...
Please do get them 'out'. Do not let them grow into a family nucleus living isolated within itself.
How are they doing for clothes, transportation, funds for the start? Yes, they can enroll in Obamacare and some states offer programs for children.
Check with local immigration organizations.
Thank you for the information. We have not had to deal with new immigrants in decades so not sure what needs to be done. Your bold bit is interesting. They been here a week so far & are bit frustrated because they are more or less "isolated" at this point. They don't know their way, we don't have public transportation here. We are not in big city as they expected us to be in. They don't even see people in the street. Unless someone from my family takes them out, they have no where to go. I showed them the local park that is walking distance & they have been walking there everyday but really want more. It is hard when we are in a city where 90% of places are accessible via car only. I might print out a city map & tell them to walk wherever they want. But a week is not that long & I want them to take their time so they don't feel rushed but they need to mingle
Schools are ending and will not open until August. Is there anything the kids can do in summer so they are not struggling when school year starts. And what do I do with these college age kids?
Clothes & Funds - they have some, we will provide as needed.
Transportation will be an issue and will be limiting factor in finding job or starting college. we need to find people they can car pool with for certain fee
Learning English is the #1 priority. Especially with possible changes to immigration laws, getting citizenship in 5 years may be critical, and they need English for that.
Put them into American clothes, especially the women and girls (if you are in Dearborn, you know exactly what I mean). This is more important than you may think. That will provide more acceptance out of the house and it will be easier to make friends.
There are many summer classes offered by school districts for the younger ones. Also, local parks and recreation departments offer things. Start calling!
For the college age kids, they need to find out if testing is required for them to enroll, and if their High school diplomas are equivalent and accepted here. Call the colleges. Note: they may need to wait 1 year to establish residency in some schools or else they will have to pay very high non-resident tuition rates!
Use Uber or Lyft as transportation for them when you can't drive them. Consider bicycles for now for as long as the weather permits.
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