Easing the Transition to U.S. Life...

[Anginafrica 12]

Hello fellow VJers, my fiance and I have been approved for our K-1 Fiance Visa and he is arriving here in 6 days. I'm looking for ways to help ease his transition to life in the United States. I've researched African Immigrant groups in our state (unfortunately they're limited), as well as places that my fiance can volunteer at until he's able to legally work. Being a teacher, he does not like to sit around and do nothing. I would love to hear any and all advice others can offer from their own experience. Thanks!

Edited August 20, 2011 by Anginafrica

[Pman's Wife 0]

Hello fellow VJers, my fiance and I have been approved for our K-1 Fiance Visa and he is arriving here in 6 days. I'm looking for ways to help ease his transition to life in the United States. I've researched African Immigrant groups in our state (unfortunately they're limited), as well as places that my fiance can volunteer at until he's able to legally work. Being a teacher, he does not like to sit around and do nothing. I would love to hear any and all advice others can offer from their own experience. Thanks!

Congratulations! In our experience, it takes a while for the culture shock to subside, but it's been fun for the most part. Enjoy it...

[patient2010 93]

Congrats on the approval! I know to ease my husband transition I filled the house with all Nigerian food. I also made sure he could call home as much as possible......other than that there was lots of teachable moments and I enjoyed every moment....they made for great memories.....Goodluck to u guys!

[mishellibelli 1]

Hi Anginafrica, what state do you live in? If you are on Facebook, you might be able to do a search for African social groups in your area. Luckily we live in the San Francisco area, which is very diverse. Unfortunately, I only know of 2 Malawians that live here and they live fairly far from us, but we did end up joining the Bay Area South Africans social group here. They are very welcoming even to non-South African's, and I joined them even before my husband arrived as I used to live in both Botswana and Malawi. It has been great - we have big braai's and other events every month, and sometimes soccer games. My husband met a lot of new people this way.

My husband volunteered here also. He was an electrician in Malawi, so he started volunteering some of his time here with an organization called Habitat for Habitat for Humanity (who builds low cost housing for low-income families) to pass the time until he could start his electrical courses here.

Food-wise, we would take his Malawian staple food, nsima, a couple of nights a week when he first arrived. This area is also really diverse food-wise as well, so now he really enjoys sampling foods from all different cultures. We haven't had nsima for at least a few weeks now and he doesn't seem to be wanting it at all at the moment!

One of my first priorities when he arrived was showing him how to get around the neighborhood and all of the transit systems so that he felt comfortable going places on his own.

He also still talks to his friends and family in Malawi 1-2 times a week and keeps in touch with everyone via Facebook. Of course he miss everyone, but overall he tells me he is very happy and comfortable here already, no complaints from him whatsoever.

[Popo's Lady 2]

The transition has brought so many mixed emotions for my husband. He left Nigeria to go to school in London, his family was going to follow. The love of his life (at that time) and mother of his children passed away right after leaving Nigeria. That as we all know made things for him very hard. His daughters in Nigeria were now with his parents and it is a very hard to travel back and forth while on the student visa and limited money to travel on as we all know it cost so much to fly back and forth. We met through a mutal friend and started a relationship, I flew back and forth to London while we were waiting on the visa for him to come to the U.S to be completed. Once he arrived here in the U.S. things were hard at first, he could not just start driving becasue he did not have a U.S. license yet. We live in the country so public transportaition means calling a cab or being dropped off somewhere. For me working full time and him setting home all day while I worked and he did not know anyone but my family and one other friend at the time. So the first months were tough. WOW once he was able to drive I had the life he drove me back and forth to work everyday just so he could have the car during the day until we could get another car. As for his traditional food I was willing to learn how to prepare whatever it was he wanted. His sister's helped me through it and now he also enjoys all types of food. We are currently in the process of bringing the girls here to live with us, they go for their interview on September 9th. PRAISE GOD we will finally have all of our family together, all of us together at last..

My girls + his girls=our girls, happiness and family..

Just a note***For those that are already here in the U.S. and are bringing your loved one over it is up to us to make the journey easier and happier.