# i need urgent advice to move to USA



## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

hello everyone .

i am in extrem need for information and advice from any one who have experience and practical analysis of life in the us . i am 37 years old and father for afamily of 5. i currently live in sweden and have residency . i have BA in english language and tought english for 8 years and also worked as translator for several years. all my live i have been dreamimg of moving to the usa , but unfortunately now when i the dream is coming true , i have a big difficulty in deciding wether to move from sweden to USA or not . i tried so hard to compare the too countries , but never found satisfaction in the search. sweden is beautiful country . and health care is great also social support is satisfying . the problem here is the difficult language that i must learn before i can look for any job thats if i ever found one . also what is killing me here is the high wall between the swedes and immigrants . its very pity that some societies are still like this . i ve met some immigrants who lived here for 17 years but never had swedes friends . for me its difficult and sad to spend the rst of my life like this , but i keep thinking about what is best for my children since no one know how long one can stay alive . we have no relatves here and we have no relatives in usa too . i keep hearing about the difficulty of live in the states and i am so uncertain about what is waiting for me in the states , what chance i would have , possible salary , and wether it would be enough to support my family with all live costs e.g schools , kindergartens, health care , medicaltreatment , housing ...etc. if i move to the states i would evetually lose my residency here in sweden , and if my move was afailier in the states , then it would be the biggest disaster . i do not wanna go back my old coutry ( in the middle east ) . i understand that my english language is not enough to survive in the states . i dont have much time to think for i have only this week to think about and send my papers to the us autorities to issue my green gard . my application is already approved by the us immigration .
is there any one who can help me with this problem , is there any one who is familier with both countries .

respectfully


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## YaGatDatRite (Aug 7, 2008)

*Expect more of the same*

Sounds like the one problem that keeps most immigrants out, a resident alien visa or green card, does not apply to you. So thats good.

You need to think about -- a) career/job change, compare prospects in both places, where your job will take you in 5 years etc b) cost of living and adjustments you and your family will need to make c) climate and weather, varies widely from coast to coast in USA d) community, how you'll settle and adjust in your new place, if you already know which city/state you're moving to.

Be warned that the USA is not such a cultural melting pot as its made out to be. More like self-styled urban ghettos is what you'll find in most large cities and suburbs. That will hardly be a solution to the "cultural isolation and assimilation" problem you seem to be experienceing in Sweden.

Most americans are not as welcoming these days to all those friendly folks from the mid-east. Plus its an election year and right in the middle of a major recession.

This is not to scare you, but like they say, it always _appears greener_ on the other side.

Good luck either ways


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

that was aquick and intellegent answer . thanks , yes you are right about ( it always appears greener on the other side) this saying reminds me of avey dear friend of me in florida . where i plan to move . i hope to get more detailed answers about the difficulty of living and other things that i mentioned earlier in my first request .



respectfully


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

ezidkhan said:


> i dont have much time to think for i have only this week to think about and send my papers to the us autorities to issue my green gard . my application is already approved by the us immigration .
> is there any one who can help me with this problem , is there any one who is familier with both countries .


This is the part I don't quite understand. Have you "won" the green card lottery or something? You say you are approved - usually that's quite difficult without a job or family tie to the US.

In any event, you need to be willing to assimilate into the US culture, which is, I suspect, a bit easier than assimilating into the Swedish or other European culture. They say that the best way to get involved in US culture is to take a class or to volunteer. There are lots of casual and inexpensive adult education classes in the US, as well as lots of opportunities to volunteer in the community. It sounds trivial, but it's a great way to meet people and get yourself involved.
Cheers,
Bev


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## RICHNTRISH (Jun 4, 2008)

The bit i dont get , apart from the visa , is you have a BA in English langauage and have taught English for 8 years yet you say your English is not that good and not good enough to survive in the states .
What do you do to support your 5 kids in Sweden and how long have you lived there ?


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

RICHNTRISH said:


> The bit i dont get , apart from the visa , is you have a BA in English langauage and have taught English for 8 years yet you say your English is not that good and not good enough to survive in the states .
> What do you do to support your 5 kids in Sweden and how long have you lived there ?



dear 
i never said my English is not good enough to survive in the states . i said (i understand that my english language is not enough to survive in the states ) , which means that language alone is not enough to survive there . please do read thourghly in between lines . and if how i live in sweden is important to you , i will answer you , who knows may be swdes also read the lines and realize that not everyone like to live on the socila support . i arived last year and took me 5 months to get residency as refugee , then it took me 2 months to get social security number ( without you cannot do anything ) then it took me 2 months to get involved in a swedish language school ) . that was in the city that i first settled. then the family arrived and we were homeless for till last january , we caouldnot find anappartment to live in that winter because no company would give or help those who live on the social support . we were obliged to move to another place . and that place as awelcome to us the cut a full month payment for moving in to that city . then i had to wait till August this year to get involved in a language school again so you can say that all the time i learned the language was 4 months only . you will never get ajob here if you donot speak the language ( thats fair ) but till one of us learn some language , we have no choice but to live on the social support ( which i hate myself for depending on it ) . and this is the reason that the swedes fight the immigrants . they have the right to do so , because so many immigrants for 10-15 years were doing nothing but depending on the social payments . the swedes do not differenciate among peoplelike us who just arrived and have big difficulties to understand the comunity and the language . and there is no way that you can get ajob without language and even if get ajob they will give a ( praktik ) practicing for 6-8 months and then they would say sorry we dont have ajob for you . in the united states the government would support the new commers for 8 months till they stand on their feet. and provide all the facilities in that period so that the new commers can focus only on finding ajob . its rather complicated here with all the respect to the swedes . for not all of them like that , but unfortunately you have no choice but to accept the social allowances . i hope no body get me wrong for ny suffering comes from being of sensitive feeling . i would like to start working as soon as possible so that i feel i am something in this world , useful in the society . 
and by the way , i was the most hard ( worker ) in my country and succeeful til i started working with us army . then they were late to save me . till i arrived here . now they granted me a special immigrant visa . i saved the lives of hundreds of american soldiers and my fellow citizen civilians and finshed hundreds of projects for the us gov. that worthed miliones , now i ma here all by my self and have to justify everything .

all i wanted is an advice about what might face me in the states o wether its better to stay or moveout . if i have to stay then i have to live with my suffering for ayear or more untill i learn some swedish .


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## RICHNTRISH (Jun 4, 2008)

In which case it sounds like you are slowly getting a foot hold in Sweden so my advice would be to stick where you are and work at it to make it work there , after all Sweden is supposed to be a fantastic place to live (never been there mind ) .
Presumably , trying not to read between lines, if you moved to the States you would have to start all over again , trying to get social housing and benefits which i believe would be a mamouth task as i dont think there is much of a social security system in the States especially for immigrants ,even if you have managed to get a visa , did you win the diversity lottery ?
Richard.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

>>in the united states the government would support the new commers for 8 months till they stand on their feet. and provide all the facilities in that period so that the new commers can focus only on finding ajob .<<

I'm not sure where you heard this, but if it's true, it's true only for a very limited number of new arrivals in the US. The US is rather notorious for its stringent refugee policies, so if you're planning on going there as a refugee, prepare yourself for trials at least as tough as those you're running into in Sweden.

They have only just recently raised the quotas for bringing former US employees into the US from the war zones. If you have the opportunity to come over to the US, try to contact some of the people you used to work with. They are probably your best bet in terms of finding assistance for getting a job, housing, etc.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

Having read your posts, I'd make Sweden my home. With a large family, the social services and free health care mean there's always a safety net there. Start learning the language and getting into the community would be my advice.


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## nonie (Aug 4, 2008)

ezidkhan said:


> dear
> i never said my English is not good enough to survive in the states . i said (i understand that my english language is not enough to survive in the states ) , which means that language alone is not enough to survive there . please do read thourghly in between lines . and if how i live in sweden is important to you , i will answer you , who knows may be swdes also read the lines and realize that not everyone like to live on the socila support . i arived last year and took me 5 months to get residency as refugee , then it took me 2 months to get social security number ( without you cannot do anything ) then it took me 2 months to get involved in a swedish language school ) . that was in the city that i first settled. then the family arrived and we were homeless for till last january , we caouldnot find anappartment to live in that winter because no company would give or help those who live on the social support . we were obliged to move to another place . and that place as awelcome to us the cut a full month payment for moving in to that city . then i had to wait till August this year to get involved in a language school again so you can say that all the time i learned the language was 4 months only . you will never get ajob here if you donot speak the language ( thats fair ) but till one of us learn some language , we have no choice but to live on the social support ( which i hate myself for depending on it ) . and this is the reason that the swedes fight the immigrants . they have the right to do so , because so many immigrants for 10-15 years were doing nothing but depending on the social payments . the swedes do not differenciate among peoplelike us who just arrived and have big difficulties to understand the comunity and the language . and there is no way that you can get ajob without language and even if get ajob they will give a ( praktik ) practicing for 6-8 months and then they would say sorry we dont have ajob for you . in the united states the government would support the new commers for 8 months till they stand on their feet. and provide all the facilities in that period so that the new commers can focus only on finding ajob . its rather complicated here with all the respect to the swedes . for not all of them like that , but unfortunately you have no choice but to accept the social allowances . i hope no body get me wrong for ny suffering comes from being of sensitive feeling . i would like to start working as soon as possible so that i feel i am something in this world , useful in the society .
> and by the way , i was the most hard ( worker ) in my country and succeeful til i started working with us army . then they were late to save me . till i arrived here . now they granted me a special immigrant visa . i saved the lives of hundreds of american soldiers and my fellow citizen civilians and finshed hundreds of projects for the us gov. that worthed miliones , now i ma here all by my self and have to justify everything .
> 
> all i wanted is an advice about what might face me in the states o wether its better to stay or moveout . if i have to stay then i have to live with my suffering for ayear or more untill i learn some swedish .



From reading your post above it's clear that things have not been easy for you. I have heard wonderful things about Sweden (have not been there) though. 

I live in the midwest (United States) where agriculture is the basis of most everything. We have a large immigrant population in my town of Mexican & Bosnian descent. Most of the Bosnians have done fairly well. Most own homes and have started their own businesses here. The Mexican population does not live as "well off" as the Bosnians do...most seem to be on some type of government aid and are working low paying jobs. We find that the older the Mexican or Bosnian is, the less English they have even if they have been here for many years. But my goodness they are brave...coming over here and starting their lives over and working diligently to have a better life here. So, for you to come here to the U.S. is going to take some hard work, no doubt about it. But it doesn't mean it can't be done. The economy is not good here right now. Not sure how the economy is doing in Sweden. 

As far as work & the language goes...let me give you an idea.....I am a former bank executive and spent many years interviewing/hiring people. I lived in a university town where we had many different nationalities as it was a state university. I received many many many resumes from people studying at the university and looking for work. They had good credentials but they often struggled in the interviews because their conversational language was lacking. Since I was in need of people to be able to interact with bank customers I couldn't hire these people. We would have had a block in customer service. I was hiring for good paying jobs... $30,000 a year and up. I would assume these folks although they had good resumes where often left to work night shifts in factories etc until they could improve their conversational language. Does that make sense? 

If you come here, your best bet is to land in a university town where people are accustomed to other nationalities. You will find work there in varying forms of pay and requirements. There will also be a better chance to find housing that ranges from low to very high in a university town. 

I don't think Americans dislike immigrants, and I doubt Swedes do either. Sometimes we all make assumptions about the other. I do think for immigrants to come to the states it's harder if you keep to yourself and do not immerse yourself in the culture. But hey, I'm not one to preach I'm headed to Cairo Egypt and have only been out of the U.S. twice....both for less than two weeks! )


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## Pasanada (Feb 5, 2008)

ezidkhan said:


> dear
> and by the way , i was the most hard ( worker ) in my country and succeeful til i started working with us army . then they were late to save me . till i arrived here . now they granted me a special immigrant visa . i saved the lives of hundreds of american soldiers and my fellow citizen civilians and finshed hundreds of projects for the us gov. that worthed miliones , now i ma here all by my self and have to justify everything .
> 
> all i wanted is an advice about what might face me in the states o wether its better to stay or moveout . if i have to stay then i have to live with my suffering for ayear or more untill i learn some swedish .


Hi!

I'm presuming you're an Iraqi who was employed by the coaliton forces? You have my deepest respect and understanding; life must be extremely difficult for you being so far away from home.

Good luck in your new life and please keep in touch.


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

nonie said:


> From reading your post above it's clear that things have not been easy for you. I have heard wonderful things about Sweden (have not been there) though.
> 
> thanks to all who commented on my story . all are right in their point of views . in the end its me who has to decide and take the risk . life is an adventure .
> 
> ...


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

Pasanada said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm presuming you're an Iraqi who was employed by the coaliton forces? You have my deepest respect and understanding; life must be extremely difficult for you being so far away from home.
> 
> Good luck in your new life and please keep in touch.


 thanks pasanda .

yes you are right in all what you said . i am one of not many people who extremly suffered and paid very expensive price. till now i am paying for being loyal to the Americans . i have many american friends who are still in touch and encourage me to come to the states . and they say that i should not worry about anything . but this is not me . i dont want them to support me in the states for thinking that they owe me for what i did for them in iraq .

dear Pasanda . i wish i could talk more to you here , but unfortuately i cannt for security reasons .
i would always love to come to the states .


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## Pasanada (Feb 5, 2008)

I understand, I've worked with the British military for many years, including in the Middle East, so appreciate what you're saying.

Please contact me by private message if you ever want to chat, not about your work, of course.

All the best.


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

Pasanada said:


> I understand, I've worked with the British military for many years, including in the Middle East, so appreciate what you're saying.
> 
> Please contact me by private message if you ever want to chat, not about your work, of course.
> 
> All the best.



thanks . of course i would love to contact you and be friends . just tell how to do so .?

respectfully


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

taybe smiler said:


> wish you a happy trip


thanks to you


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## Pasanada (Feb 5, 2008)

ezidkhan said:


> thanks . of course i would love to contact you and be friends . just tell how to do so .?
> 
> respectfully


Just click on my name and you will see a list of options; as you've made more than 5 posts, you can selct the private message option.

Let me know if you're having difficulties.


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## nonie (Aug 4, 2008)

ezidkhan said:


> nonie said:
> 
> 
> > From reading your post above it's clear that things have not been easy for you. I have heard wonderful things about Sweden (have not been there) though.
> ...


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

nonie said:


> ezidkhan said:
> 
> 
> > You are right that entry level jobs start at the $7.00 range....many around $8.50/hour but for you to raise a family on that wage is like starvation. You would absolutely need government aid to survive on a wage like that. If you are educated..with a degree you will probably be able to get on with a university. They will pay better and the benefits will be good. Health care is expensive here. I know it can be done...thousands of others have made the move and been successful.
> ...


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

ezidkhan said:


> nonie said:
> 
> 
> > this is exactly what i am worried about . eve though i have BA in english language and literature . that would not help alot as i believe . and of course i would not be able to work 24 hours for i have afamily to take care of like schools , medical treatment ...daily life issues . i think for somebody like me to live well , i must have like two jobs or one full time job plus some kind of small investment or something untill the wife is able to speak some english and start work to and share the burdens .
> ...


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## ezidkhan (Sep 5, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> ezidkhan said:
> 
> 
> > Unless you find a niche job with your skill set, the prospects are not good. The American dream started dying with Reagan, and is now in the death rattle stage. Most refugees I know (well-educated or not!) seem to work the airport cab ranks. Most US university graduate will be lucky to start with a salary greater than $30k/year.
> ...


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