By Moutushi Islam & Tonima Das.

Nila, her husband and their two years old daughter have landed in the United States of America, with the dream and hope for a new life of success, stability, and solvency. However, the reality speaks differently. All they have encountered are a very new culture, different climate, and a range of foreign foods. Nothing is similar to home. Nothing gives the comfort of the home they left miles away.

During this process of settling down, Nila and her husband have started looking for a regular income - a first step to a secured life in the US. They look forward to a decent job, something better than what they have done in Bangladesh. While her husband looks for a full time job Nila hopes to get a “good” job with the “green card” in her hand. With a graduate degree and months long working experience as a teacher in Bangladesh Nila expects either a teaching opportunity or may be a part time position in a bank while she can also look after her toddler. Unfortunately the “green card” turns out to be a mere entry pass to the US and does not ensure a regular job in this foreign land. For many immigrants, the dream of having a stable income usually turns into a dreadful journey of doing ‘odd job’ at ‘odd hours’. Besides, many other daily needs like a car to commute or a driving license gets into the way and stops one to take up a good job in the US. In addition, the primary information for getting training and starting a job are essential and many of them who come here for the first time are not aware of those needs.

NGOs who are working on immigrant issues reported that in most of the advanced-level, sophisticated managerial or accounting jobs are usually saved for the actual citizen of the country; whereas the functional level jobs are stored for the new comers who are the experienced workforce from another territory. Under such situation, many immigrants like Nila may seek the answers to the following questions: What are some of the first steps an immigrant needs to take to find a job in US?

  • What are the US government rules and employment options for the migrants? Where to get that information?What are some of the first steps an immigrant needs to do to find a job in US?

  • What are the US government rules and employment options for the migrants? Where to get that information?
  • Who are the NGOs working on such issues and can be of help? Can the NGOs provide a checklist for them?
  • Can a Bangladeshi/Bengali online support group or a website or information hotline for the migrants help and bring a change? How they can access those?

Hope our readers can share their experience and tell girls like Nila what worked best for them.