jbanya

I hear you!

I once met a VP of Marketing in a job fair, he interview me on the spot then invite me to fill up application through their website. The next day someone from their HR called me for an official interview. In my resume stated that I have pre planned event so will be away for 10 weeks, she told me the VP knew about it and my unpaid leave are pre approved. Everything seems fine, we started some personal chat and she asked about my plan for the 10 weeks vacation, I told her I'm in my 6 weeks pregnant and I need maternity leave by that time. She then a bit shock and told me I'll have second interview and she will call me. I feel that she is quite rude...and stupid by saying that after interview, during our chat...

So I didn't follow up the status, after 2 weeks we decided to move back to WA from IL, so that we can stay closer to the family.

4 weeks later the VP who first interview me, sent me an email and apologized for the delay on this hiring progress, and told me he would like to have me join his team.

Seriously I'd love to join the company, as they just celebrated 120 years anniversary! If they confirmed my employment before we make decision back to WA, we will really stay in IL and build our family there.

Daycare is very expensive! $230 per week for infant 0-12 months; you can't simply to trust those without license and advertised in Craigslist (lot of scams too). To pregnant, to give birth & to raise a child is very expensive here in US, that caused the local production decreased and import increased (look at the immigrants, refugees & lottery Visa the country bringing in, each year).

My boy just turned to 3m and I hv hard time to back to work. Lol... wish my hubby can effort to have me as full time mom instead of working mom.

I found that easy to get job in US. I secured first job in my first interview at Chicago, but soon I resigned and followed my hubby relocated back to WA, to stay closer to family. My arrival to Seattle on the 6th Aug, start looking for job on the 20th Aug, went to 3 interviews and on the 2nd Sept I received employment offer, 6th Sept my first job at WA started.

Is an international sales position to cover South East Asia, need bilingual skills with exports experience, quite similar to the job in my home country.

Not hourly paid, follow Chinese company a monthly basic salary. Time flexible, don't know the bonus yet but company subsidized lunch to all employees.

I don't remember how many years they give you after you Adjust your status after K-1. Maybe 10 year green card. either way my husband now decides he doesn't want to be in a marriage, which makes me think he has used me. there is no real reason of why he doesn't want to be married, but said he will be with me still. just not live together or be married. what kind of mess is that. one time we get in a dispute and the first person he calls is an immigration lawyer. what can I do now about his green card since I think he used me. I don't think it is right he stays in the country now, with a job and car etc. living a free life after all the paperwork, money and time I have spent in this relationship. anyone have any ideas???

I can understand that feeling of missing things you used to have. My husband goes through these emotions, especially when something doesn't go right here, where he just feels like everything was so much better for him back home (and personally I would like to move to his country myself because I enjoyed the slower pace of life).

It makes me sad to think that he came here for me and gave up a lot of things. However, it isn't good to keep feeling sad about that. Then I also think that he came here because he gained something he didn't have there. It might not be something tangible, like a swimming pool , but something more abstract like seeing life more clearly, because when people haven't been somewhere else, they tend to look at other places with rose colored glasses and are always looking for greener pastures and it takes leaving home to find out there aren't greener pastures. They say, wherever you go, there you are. Ultimately, we have to deal with the dissatisfaction within ourselves and find peace wherever we are.

I feel bad sometime when I know he have hard feeling about my complaint, he feel guilty too, especially when I suggested to back to my home-country to give birth our baby (I'm in my 25th Weeks pregnant). Everything is so easy and simple there and living expenses VERY CHEAP, you don't find any problem to raise up 3 or 4 kids (people in cities may only have 2 kids because they look for QUALITY LIFESTYLE), and I myself come from a family size 10 members with 7 siblings, a big family. (Imagine childbirth only RM5 for 1 or 2 nights stay + consultant & medication at that time (all expenses below $2 for childbirth))...

Hubby worry that I'm not coming back if I back to my home-country, and we have some argument on this too.

Seriously I really love him, and I don't want to see him feel sad again because I can't fit to the environment and lifestyle here. I really enjoy my life in Malaysia, with a stable job, reasonable paid, happy family... I know I need to sacrifice since I failed to get him a job, and I understand there is no-way to make uturn at this stage.

I hope, and still praying for this, that we able to raise our kids here till they finish their college, then we can back to my home country for retire, lol... This is the only thing he can promised so far.

But I understand the pay suxs compared to USA salary in both Malaysia and Singapore.......

Paid sucks? Singapore's paid is higher than US, Malaysia certain jobs have better paid although the currency is weak but both countries have reasonable living expenses. In Malaysia free education system to all citizens till 18 and if they have good result then government subsidies college; for medical all states and cities have government hospital, you just need RM1 (30 cents USD) for medicines and consultant, you don't need insurance as protection can still living in happy life.

EXAMPLE: (not to show off or complaint)

Income in Malaysia is RM6000 per month + 11% retirement funds contribution from employer (USD is about $1800+ per month) last year Sept. My breakfast RM5 (>$1.8), lunch and dinner below RM10 (>$3), gas is RM7.5 per gallon ($2), car wash RM7 with workers done all vacumm for you ($2.2), and also walking distance you can get public transportation in very low fees and convenient, but here in US you need a car to survive in most of the cities, for rental RM500 suburb and RM800 city you can get a 3 bedrooms apartment, here suburb $800 and city $2000 and above only you can have 2-3 bedrooms apartment. I can have up to RM50,000 saving in bank + RM100,000 saving in retirement funds over 10 years working in Malaysia, I don't know what is the average saving for American family, but I know many families need food-stamp and low income subsidize to support their living (based on my few months volunteering experience here in US).

not to compare here but just give an example how much is the earning vs living. You may see lot of immigrants come to US, but hardly to find a single Malaysian who are illegal here... and you will surprise how many illegal immigrants to Singapore and Malaysia around the world. Singapore have lot of expat from US, in Malaysia, you can see lot of American restaurant and expat working, driving and partying around the country too... and sad to say, non of them want to back to US after they enjoy the living in our country.

Reply to the people who ask "If xx country is so good why are you coming to US??" I am sure some answer is because they have hard time in their home country, but I believe most of the people who sacrifice themselve to left their home country and come to US, is because they really love their partner.

My answer, if American easy to get job aboard, why I come??

I knew my hubby since 2009 and really want him to be there so we can live in a country that in a "slow and steady" economy + Malaysia is a developing country, average 6% grow on Economic per annum. Seriously I really reluctant to come but my hubby unable to get any job offer in Malaysia since ENGLISH is the only language he can speak, in my home country you must know both Bahasa and English, certain company will required for Chinese language as well, if not you can't survive in the work place where most people will use 2-3 languages to complete a sentences, and many organization using Bahasa as their official memo notices and etc.

And yes, I do agreed America is a "labor" market for people to come here to work without benefits, one of the reason is because of the currency is strong, and this country is all about quantity and convenient, not quality and lifestyle, but this is not the life we, as American's life partner will really enjoy..

I'm still trying to love the environment and lifestyle here, because my hubby is here. You can't expect a person who used to enjoy swimming in a private pool, suddenly change their mind to swim in a public pool without minor compare...

if you are terminated without cause you can file for unemployment.

Can we also file complaint for compensation funds from the employer fired employee without any reason?

Very common. I have an acquaintance whose wife has been here for over 20 years and still does not pronounce his name correctly. I tried to help her with pronunciation, but she refused to try.

Most of the cases is because their partner love them, never give them stress and learn to be independent, just like what my hubby done for me, until I started my volunteering at Foodbank, I found that my hubby is the only one who can communicate with me in the US, so I force myself to learn from listen, speak and understand.

Immigrant who yet to get any offer, or have problem in English, can consider to be volunteering, many non-profit organizers here need volunteering, is a good time to build resume and learn "American Slang"..lol.

So you can visit Malaysia and as soon as you land you are single?

Interesting.

Yes, I am still single in Malaysia's record, and if I back Malaysia with my kid, they don't allowed my kid to have birthcert unless we apply for marriage certificate. I'm shock when they told me the US marriage cert is not valid in Malaysia!!

In Malaysia a Muslim man can have 4 wives.

Yes but Muslim women in our country will choose to divorce if her man request for second wife

Hi,

Their US marriage will be legal. It will be legal in their countries.

Not all, in certain countries (Malaysia) they only recognized the marriage cert issued from their local government.

congrats got a job too from my first interview... youre right God is good to those who wait...

Amen!

Congratulations on your new job and baby.

Thanks!!

Welcome to America! hehehe

I believe it didn't hurt that you managed to show how valuable asset you could be to their company.

I wish you the very best on this new endeavour. And of course, congrats on the baby!

Best,

UnaMexicana

Thanks!

I will said that because of the upset from the first company who ignored me, lol... I didn't know that message can get their attention

Congratz!!! I wish the very best for you!!

Thank you so much!!

How exciting it is to all us for picking up another tax payer!!!

Big congrats, and wish you much success...and smooth delivery at work

and with baby later.

Is ok to be tax payer if the government use the $$$ to help the poor

Thanks! Next things to do is find for confinement lady in Illinois, seems difficult to get one lol...

Husband has been here for a year, but hasn't been working yet, first due to no being legally able to, then do to my health situation and our desire to move out of state. We currently live with my parents in FL. We had been planning to move to NYC, where I was living before my health issues started. We are both looking for jobs at the moment, although I still have contacts (my old employers) up in NYC.

Husband worked in tourism in Morocco - I would say in a semi-professional environment. He has a degree from an accrediated college. He has intermediate web design skills and speaks multiple languages (French, Arabic, Spanish and Italian) fluently or at least relatively well. His spoken English is good, although people have a hard time understanding him when he speaks fast and he tends to get flustered on the phone. His written English and reading comprehension is not so good.

He's convinced that he's not qualified for anything but minimum-wage jobs! Or he'll decide he needs to go to trucking school and become a long-haul truck driver because someone told him it pays well. I know his choices are somewhat limited because of his reading/writing issues, but there's still options that are not minimum wage and won't keep him on the road for months at a time. But it seems like he's already decided that because he wasn't born here, those options are already closed to him and he won't even try.

I feel stuck because we want to move out of my parent's house and put this whole ugly chapter with my health behind us and start anew. But he doesn't want to move without a job because he's scared of the cost of living/not being able to find anything. But he's also not applying for jobs within his skill set because he's afraid he's not qualified.

Has anyone had this problem? How do we move past it?

He has degree is better than a lot immigrants who came without any certificate and start with GED, with his bilingual skills I'm sure many service industries like banking finance needs him, they are many teller or personal banker service jobs need talents like him... He must make the first step by sending job application, as much as he can... don't be afraid for all the rejection, take all the bad experience as learning curve.

And start with min wages job is not problem too because if he can show good performance then his salary will increase, better than he have "0" working experience in US from his resume.

I have over 10 years of working experience with MBA too but I willing to compromised to start with entry level, I can't speak well English too but I decided to enrol in ELS program as long as I have my Green Card.

and either way is good, if you plan to move to NYC then should take action asap so that he can apply jobs in NYC too, if not you may stuck in FL after he able to get a job.

Yes, truck driver earn good money too, my father in law is earning $70,000 per annum as long-haul truck driver, is above average.

God bless and keep up!

Here and there I have this conversation with my wife. We are already at the NVC stage so I guess in this year my Wife and I are going to live there. She is 19 and always lived with her mom and never worked before, when she turned 18 she came to live with me in Brazil where I already have my stuffs, like an apartment, car and some savings.

We are always wondering how life will be once we move to US.

I work with IT, and I am guessing in the worst scenario I will end up getting, after a couple of months, once I am there, a full time job at a Help Desk or something like this, getting around a minimum wage. That being said I will get per hour 8.25$ and working 40 hours a week I will get at the end of the month around 1.300$ right?

She will start college as soon as we get there and will only be able to get a part time job, at a retail store or something like that. So her income will be around 660$.

I hope this will be a temporary situation, and by the time goes I will get something better than a minimum wage job, because I already have a graduation and years of experience here in Brazil, and I am not bad at what I do. But like I said, I hope this is the worst scenario.

We have been looking at prices, apartments, car and a few other stuffs here and there.

Those are the prices in Vegas of a few stuffs:

Apartment rent: 750$ ~ 900$

Internet: 60$

Mobile: Pay as you go 100$

Groceries: 250$

Medicines: 50$

Gas: 150$

Power: 150$

Water: 50$

Clothing: 70$

Transportation: 250$

This is around 2.000$

Am I forgetting something major? Are those prices realistic? My point of view is that you cannot live comfortably with a minimum wage plus a part time job, but you can live and not go broke!

Don't worry about job as Helpdesk usually start with base paid not hourly, try to find some recruiters in Vegas and ask them to refer you to a job with average paid.. Lot of hiring at the moment too

http://www.indeed.com/q-Help-Desk-Technician-l-Las-Vegas,-NV-jobs.html

$3500 per month is the average paid for helpdesk technician.

http://www.simplyhired.com/salaries-k-help-desk-technician-l-las-vegas-nv-jobs.html

If you have kids then you need an apartment, if no then can consider to rent a room, the rental is about $350-500 per room, and some house owner will provide utilities + internet access in the rental too, just like us, we are staying in a house with utilities + internet included in our rental is $300 bi-weekly ($600 per month). Once you able to find a house owner that provide all things then you can save your gas, power, water...

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/search/sha

As for your wife she can take some classes in very low investment once she have Green Card, the fees is half of the international student. She can also back to ELS classes with just $5 + some admin fees and then go for exam, then upgrade to TESOL get a certification about $2000+ so she able to teach English to some schools here. (well this is my plan too lol...)

Many call centre jobs offer with min $10 per hour for entry level, your wife can try too if she have no intention to continue her study and you can also try to apply for call centre jobs as your part time in night shift

You need insurance to cover you & your wife in US as medication and childbirth is crazy! Highest in the world and caused many American declared bankrupt too!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148

Good luck & keep up!

Congrats!i went for CNA class also and i finished it successfuly?i had my first interview today and it went well..i have another one tomorrow,i applied for two companies and they both invite me for interview,GOd is so good and i'm 5 weeks pregnant too?

Awww!!! Congrats and good to hear that!!!

Baby doesn't stop our contribution in work place! In fact, it's healthier to move around than stay home doing nothing!!! May GOD bless your interview and hope you can get the offer! Keep up!!!

Hello everyone,

I would just like to hear everyones experiences when it comes to finding a job without being 100% fluent in speaking and understanding English.

My husband is feeling pretty down right now because we found him a stable job where he wouldn't have to speak English at all and it was at a local restaurant where he would play piano (a repertoire that the restaurant owner wanted and he worked on for months) and last night was his first performance, unfortunately the owner of the restaurant turned down his piano, disrespected my husband and insulted his musical abilities. My husband got frustrated and said he would no longer be playing for the restaurant. So now we are back at step 1…

I would say my husband is at maybe a 40 - 50% speaking and understanding English. I helped him out with his resume and want to send it out to a few places, however, he's really nervous about an interview and if employers will be willing to speak more slowly or reiterate with easier words. I understand each employer is different but does anyone have any experience in this? He really wants to do something where he is speaking English and we are working on his English, he's in classes which he attends 2x per week, plus we try to speak English as much as possible and my family always speaks English with him.

Thank you!

Everything will be fine, what he needs is "CONFIDENCE!!!"

I am here in US about 6 months, not everyone can understand what I'm talking because my English is not fluent with asian slang, but I understand what everyone is talking (might say "pardon" when they talk too fast lol...)

Some direct sales called me & try to promote their products and services over the phone, end up they dropped off the line because they can't understand my English

From now on let him write everything in English by himself, is ok to have mistake from writing!

Speak only English at home, practice is important. My hubby bring me to Church all Sundays, and fellowship once a week so I'm able to communicate with others people, I can't speak that well is because my hubby love me so much, he able to understand my English and didn't spot my mistake for the past 5 years, that actually lead me have no improvement at all... in fact, try to talk to stranger more often can really improve his English speaking skills!

I have no problem in my job interview although I know the recruiter or hiring manager feel disappointed as my English is not up to their expectation, but I able to secured a job today, in my first job interview...

Many office assistant, administrative job, data entry, or even Music and Spanish teacher jobs he can try to apply, many bilingual (English + Spanish) skills required too in the market, go search from Career builder, Indeed, Glassdoor (Monster is ok too but will have lot of insurance or MLM companies offers job that no base paid fully on commissions).

Good luck & keep up!!!

Do not compare Europe to America when it comes to work-related benefits. No, they are not a right here. Labor laws are not even close to being as highly regulated as in many European countries. The employer has a lot more freedom, and oftentimes benefits are negotiable. While I agree that this company is not a desirable work place, you always have the choice to work somewhere else.

That being said, my employer gives me ten days of paid vacation time and five days of paid sick leave per year, and that seems to be quite the norm around here, at least for smaller companies.

Not just Europe, can't even compare with some Asian countries too (Malaysia & Singapore for sure!), we have 21 days paid sick leave per annum, and all medical expenses subsidized by employer as long as we past the 3 months probation period and become full time staffs, +14 days annual leaves/paid vacation days for the first 3 years and 21 days from 4-5 years then 25 days for employees that have up to 5 years services in the company.

For women, we have 60 days paid maternity leaves + 30 days unpaid (optional) depends on how long you would like to rest after childbirth.

I'm very surprised after I found out the benefits from American companies is like this

Questions are...

1) Today my wife's EAD and AP were approved.

How long does it usually take to receive the EAD card?

2) Also, is this EAD/AP combo card?

In other words, when she travels out of country, is passport and EAD/AP combo card sufficient?

Or does she have to have AP letter and other documents like marriage certificate, etc. to be extra safe?

3) How long is this EAD card good for?

4) Once she gets the Green Card, is it correct that EAD card is no longer needed?

5) And do we have to send the EAD card back to USCIS?

Thanks in advance!

Our approval date quite close! My EAD & AP approved on 12 Feb and I got my card on 23 Feb. Awaiting for GC interview

Good luck & keep up!!!

OMG - Congratulations ! I do hope you eat some curry laksa to celebrate ! [Penang Laksa BU HAO LA]

Lol... I went to Asian Noodle House in Hoffman Estate, IL for Malaysian foods, and it's YUMMY!!!!

How you know about Curry Laksa?? Penang Laksa HAI KE YI LA

Congratulations! Its a really good feeling to get that all important first job in the US. Hope it goes well

Yeah, I so amazing as it seems too easy for me to get back to the same firm and this is my FIRST job interview!!! I made research on lot of pregnancy discrimination and how hard for new immigrant to get job here in US and I didn't put any hope for first few round (and expected to learn from all the rejection!!). I'm glad that this company still giving me opportunity for interview, and even hired me in the end!

I hope my testimonial can encourage more members here! NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

Congrats and congrats!

Thanks!! I'm just too happy, overflow with all the appreciation!!!

I have a BA in Communications and moved to the US on a K-1 visa pretty much immediately after graduating. I was super anxious about the job search thing because I figured it was going to be difficult finding something without much relevant work or any internship experience.

I got a few interviews for internships even before I received my EAD but had no luck actually getting one. I then signed up for an account on ODesk and found a full-time contract job as a translator the same week I got my Green Card. I was initially excited about the idea of working from home and didn't care about not having benefits since I had health insurance through my husband. Unfortunately he lost his job that same week and things got very difficult because we suddenly had so much less money and had to pay so much for health insurance (it was one third of my salary!). So I had to start searching for something better right away.

A few months later I was contacted by recruiters who wanted to place me with one of the Tech giants in the Silicon Valley because of my language skills. I got a job but never started it because the conditions were actually far worse than what I had with the ODesk job. Little did I know that Google, Apple, et al. are known to exploit new immigrants by hiring them for sh*tty contract jobs with graveyard shifts, low pay, etc. Just because they can. Aren't all of us immigrants desperate to gain work experience in the US somehow?

I felt horrible for turning down a job being in my situation, but eventually I was also proud of myself for not letting anyone exploit me. Half a year after receiving my Green Card I finally got a real job with a company I had always wanted to work for. I get a decent salary, I have full benefits and the job itself is awesome. Funnily enough, this opportunity came up just when I was about to give up on my job search. It had stressed me out so much and I had serious health problems because I couldn't deal with all the pressure, and then BAM!, dream job comes along and it all suddenly seems worth it I was especially glad for all the disastrous interview experiences in the previous months, because as horrible and upsetting as they were, they taught me so much! I wouldn't have gotten my current job if I hadn't done so much research about how to apply for jobs, how to present myself online, how to be a good interviewee, etc. But one thing that was definitely obvious to me from the start is that it really is SO VERY HARD to find work in America (and it's certainly wayyyyy harder than in my home country). Competition is huge and electronic job application filters are ruining everything. The only comfort for me during this time was knowing that it was not just me but that it is difficult for almost everyone. Hang in there, everyone, the right opportunity will pop up eventually!

Your testimonial very encouraging Thanks!

The reason we decided to have the birth in the US is so that our baby's US citizenship will not be compromised. Malaysia doesn't recognize dual citizenship and my wife has had difficulties with our local CBP. Its a political and Immigrational mess. So to avoid all that, we were thinking of having the baby in the US.

Hei Gan, understand your situation. It seems impossible for you to have B2 (visitor visa) approval as I personally experienced it, unless you have significant documents (business, strong financial statement backup, properties and reasons that you will come back for goods, and not to overstay in US). if her due date on May you can try to start your spouse visa (not K1 - Fiance, as you both married!).

You can still try to apply visitor visa to be witness for child birth after you filed your K3 (Spouse visa).

and yes, try to check with your wife if she is under insurance cover for childbirth, I don't know which states she from but here in Illinois natural birth is about USD7-8000 and section C can be up to USD13K, you may need to pay out from pocket about 10-20% although with insurance cover... (depends on the policies).

Another way is your wife can still give birth in Malaysia and then apply for status change for the child and bring the child back to US before the kid turn to 2 yrs old since she is American Citizens..

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html

Your kid can get both US and Malaysian citizenship until he/she turns to 18, then need to surrender one.

Hope my info could help. GOD Bless!

Great questions and you might never get the answer... I first applied visitor visa to visit my boy friend in US (Now husband) and rejected, forced to apply fiancee visa (which I really feel reluctant as I have lot of things yet to settle in my country), we both travel to several countries included EU, England and Asia, I myself consider hardcore tourist like to travel a lot too, but guess what? I have to compromised to get into K1 (now awaiting for status change) and now stuck at home, not allowed to work (without work permit) and not allowed to travel too...