Believe it or not, our social nature is being redefined in response to a changing earth and society. Earlier, parents used to hope that their children would care for them in old age. The anticipation included that friends or family would care for each other in difficult moments; however, today nearly everyone is passing through some kind of complexity either working to make ends meet or struggling with other things in a bid not to hit the end.
This has reduced social availability and as a result, survival today is tougher than it used to be. In this case, there’s no longer an assurance that our aging population will be cared for by their children nor is it guaranteed that children will be given 100% attention by parents. Several young parents battling with student loan repayment, and meeting basic needs like accommodation and feeding can no longer afford to spend much time at home as they work even longer hours to afford bill settlements.
Aging parents are left with struggling young adults who are finding it tough to cope in a world that’s getting tougher. But something must be done, those in need of care shouldn’t be ignored and for that reason, caregivers are allowed to come from overseas to care for the US elderly and other dependents.
Why Caregiving Jobs Are Considered Essential and Qualifies for Sponsorship
For such a supply of caregivers to be effective, the ease of migration of such individuals willing to look after elderly Americans or other dependents must be assured. Queuing employees and other Visa applicants may undermine the necessity which a sponsorship visa is aimed at addressing. This is the importance of the employment visa sponsorship which elderly care job applicants can leverage for easier migration.
The Visa Process
The visa process starts when the migration of employees is initiated. This means a visa-sponsoring establishment must have employed an applicant. The visa process involves the employing entity and employee and their associated responsibilities. For the employer, the following responsibilities apply:
- Proper assessment of the employee: Properly assessing the employee will make the process easier for the employer and authorities to better understand the employee. Such assessments should be able to unravel employees’ abilities which include the capacity to deliver on the job, experience, and temperaments.
- Respect for employment and immigration laws: The employer is of primary focus to the authorities because such an employer being allowed to migrate a foreigner is in a position of privilege that must not be taken for granted. The employer must ensure that employment provision is respected by first notifying authorities of the intention to migrate a foreigner.
Notifying employment authorities is important so that an examination of workers’ unavailability can be done. It is only in situations where local or resident workers are unavailable can employees migrate foreigners.
- Guidance and support: Eventually, the migrating caregiver will support care recipients but before then, such foreign employees will need adequate support. Understanding the US system is not going to happen out of the blue, same as the ability to adapt and survive in American society.
Supporting and guiding the Applicant is also important to shield such individuals from the arms of the law. In return, proper guidance also protects the employer as the long arms of the law may also catch up with such employer when an employee breaks the law.
Migrating caregiver’s Responsibilities
Not only does the employer have obligations, but the employees also have responsibilities. An applicant must meet visa and employment requirements.
Visa and Employment Requirements
Individuals applying for caregiving jobs remotely must be ready for migration. To cross the migration stage, Visa procedures apply. Applicants must predetermine their abilities to see to visa requirements including associated fees. Official documents provision is part of the employment and immigration process and among other things, applicants are to provide the following:
- Passports: A valid passport is undeniably one of the most essential documents of international travel as it is an official request from your home country for the passage of its citizens on international travel.
- Health assessment result: Health challenges can strain a country’s resources and put the population at risk. Migrants are often subject to mandatory testing against target conditions to avoid importing a public health-endangering ailment into the country.
- Police issued a report: Focus on character is a priority given US migration. For individuals to be allowed into the country. They must prove to be law-abiding.
- Tendering of educational and experience supporting documents: This may include the tendering of educational qualifications, skills, and experience through a detailed CV or resume
- Mutually acknowledged employment contract with employer
- Birth certificate for background confirmation
- Passport photograph
- Proof of visa and associated expenditures affordability
Finding a Sponsor
Migrating to the US on caregiver employment implies that a sponsor is willing to facilitate your migration. In situations where there’s no such sponsor yet, the applicant must first secure employment before visa and other immigration procedures can be initiated. To find a sponsor while still in your home country, follow these remote approaches:
- Apply remotely on the employer’s platform: Several US employers utilize a website as a means of giving out vital information. Such information may include job application procedures. Several care jobs in the US utilize such web portals.
First, you need to find your potential employer possibly through their social media handle, web search, or via local advertisers with an online presence. When you find your potential employer through any of these channels, you can proceed to their website for application information.
Eligibility
- Effective communication skills: Caring for people requires social skills. Applicant must be able to communicate in basic or advanced English. Sometimes a language test like IELTS may be required.
- Compassion: Whether you are caring for elders or other dependents, exhibiting humanity is important at all times.
- Respect: Respect involves treating people with dignity and protecting their privacy. With caregiving jobs, often caregivers access care recipients’ confidential information, and such caregiver is expected to be professional.
- High school diploma: Education is not the priority in caregiving jobs but intelligent and educated people tend to be better at what they do especially when passionate. The US is a highly educated country and most individuals needing care may need help with reading and responding to letters, emails, and text messages, such a caregiver must either be educated or intelligent to be able to conduct the caregiving role effectively.
- Basic health knowledge in common ailments of care recipients: Elderly individuals are usually prone to dementia while children may be prone to bronchitis, if you are to care for elders, understanding common illnesses of the age range is important. Such understanding is necessary when caring for children.
- Be an effective driver: Often, elderly care requires assistance in mobility. Apart from assisting such elders while walking, you may need to double as their driver. In this case, it becomes an essential skill for potential caregivers to be experienced drivers with a valid driver’s license from their home country. Such caregivers must obtain US issued license upon arrival.
- Relevant experience or knowledge in caregiving or related fields.
Benefits
- Healthy relationships: Caring for people usually inspires positive bonds that often translate to healthy friendships.
- Good salary: There are not many requirements to become a successful caregiver aside from holding a good heart behind your chest, having basic knowledge about home or elderly care facility devices, and broadening your mind to accommodate these often lovely aging individuals. Workers in the sector often make an average of $15.2 per hour.
- Time flexibility: You can observe your care recipients for a while to understand how timing works for them. If your care recipients like to take a nap after a morning meal, you understand you may earn an extra 40 minutes all to yourself. With care recipients’ jobs, the timing of your care recipients can be instrumental to time management.
- May include accommodation: It is often common for caregivers to be sheltered in the home of their care recipient. If you are to work in a care facility, provisional accommodation may be provided by such facility.
- May include insurance coverage: Depending on if you offer your services at the recipient’s home or in a care facility, care jobs usually include Insurance. Some home care may have your employer arrange a form of insurance, especially regarding health.
- Occasional tips and other gifts: Caregiving especially when service is rendered at the care recipient’s home or family house is a fast way to be informally adopted into your care recipient’s family. Such adoption usually comes with tips and gifts especially if you are good at what you do.
- Sense of belonging in the US society: The most treasured aspect of the US is the citizens. And when you care for the citizens you don’t just become valuable, you become a part of the society.
Caregiver Opportunities and Application Process
We have discussed earlier how you can utilize remote channels to secure caregiving jobs in the US. You can find vacancies online.
When you find such vacancies, the application process will certainly be unraveled as you inquire further. If you want to try your hands on some renowned US caregiver employers that sponsor visas, check out these two senior living firms:
- Brookdale Senior Living Inc: As more Americans live longer, care homes are becoming a booming business. While the United States has not yet been hit by reducing fertility, the necessity of standard life is making time more costly in the country thereby limiting the number of locals available to take care of the aging population.
This is increasing the number of individuals resorting to elderly care homes. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is a leading enterprise in the sector. You can apply for jobs or access information about the care facility here.
- Welltower Inc: Real estate is not complete if the people living in such houses don’t get the required care. Welltower is not just a real estate corporation, the firm also has some caregiving initiatives. While the birth rate is still high in the US, the aging rate has been higher in recent times.
If the US elderly care market has to entirely rely on locals or residents, then several seniors will be left without care. Welltower as a significant player in the care sector employs and facilitates foreigners’ migration. Learn more about careers in the corporation here.
Apart from Welltower Inc., Brookdale Senior Living Inc., and other elderly care facilities, hospitals are other viable sources of caregivers to several American care recipients. Since many families turn to their hospitals to assist in migrating caregivers or employ individuals who have already migrated to the US by these hospitals, trying your hands on some hospital establishments may improve your chances. Such a US hospital that sponsors visas is UAB Hospital. You can find career opportunities in the facility here.
Sometimes families and other establishments employ the services of dedicated staffing companies to sponsor migrant caregivers for their dependents. You can follow such staffing companies for updates on caregiver jobs in the US where they may be willing to sponsor your visa upon employment.
Note that individuals and families constitute a bulk of the caregiver employers. They mostly employ caregivers in the US. Such caregivers may be migrants sponsored by other sectors. With the difficulties often associated with individuals sponsoring visas, most US private citizens or families requiring caregivers often turn to staffing companies or individuals they are familiar with. Such individuals may be migrants who moved to the US through other employment.
As an applicant, you can increase your chances of migration by exploring different means of entry into the US. Upon arrival and when you are familiar with the people, it will be easier to secure a care-giving job.
Viable Visa option
Our visa suggestion will most likely be inadequate at this point. This is given a limited understanding of your qualifications or other aspects of your potential employment. Note that the visa option is determined by the nature of your employment and qualifications. While a typical caregiving employment may not require advanced education, several employees in the sector could be RN nurses.
For such individuals, with advanced education, a H-1B visa may apply. Individuals with educational standards like a high school diploma or lower may explore the H-2B visa class.
- Visa recommendation scope: This recommendation is limited. You may consult experts in US immigration matters for further guidance.
Conclusion
The bigger a civilization becomes, the greater attention to the needy. Special needs individuals now include our elderly population. Caring for them can be an adventurous career path as it not only presents judicious pay but also comes with learning, fulfillment, and other benefits.
Migrating to the US to care for its elders is even proving to be a focus of the government hence, a friendly approach to employment and migration is becoming the case. You are more likely to be successful in migrating through the care-giving opportunities in 2025.