Single Mom move to Hawaii?
Hello all, I currently live in Chicago and have lived here all my life. I want to get away from the ridiculous societal expectations that this city offers. I don't want to live anywhere near rich people. I want to make a change. I have a six year old daughter and I feel all of what we are subjected to here needs to change. I want her to be able to walk into our backyard and look for lizards and frogs. I am currently in my fifth year of college. I am graduating in may 08 with a BA in Special Education. I plan on staying here through spring of 2009. I then want to leave. I plan on getting my grad degree while I am there. I first want to get a teaching position so my daughter and I am able to survive. I am a poor white woman, and my daughter is mixed with black and white, will we have any problems with race? I have heard that the cost of living is high, I don't really want to live the high life, I don't want to drive I rather take my bike or ride the bus. I just want to be happy? Help?
HOW is a Single Mother supposed to make it in California?
I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how hard it must be. I'm a 24 year old mom in LA county. I do have my husband and it is hard enough. Stick with the schooling, and take help from family if you can. There is WIC which helps a little, low income housing, and you should seek a larger support system. If your family isn't an option, and the father's family isn't an option, you may want to consider a church family or finding a different kind of support group to help with the stress and to help you brainstorm ways to make things easier. Everyone needs help sometimes, and it sounds like now is your time. It takes a strong person to admit that things aren't they way they want them to be, now you just have to take the next step and reach out for help to make the situation better. Message me if there's anything else I can do. xo
I'm interested in moving to the UK. I'm a single black American female and I have a child. My greatest concern about moving is racism. Is there a lot of racism towards blacks and other minorities in the UK?
Britain is not a paradise, and especially not since Brexit. But it’s so far as I can tell a vast improvement on America. Off the top of my head:To the average British person you will be seen as an American first, Black second after you have opened your mouth. This will be completely different from your normal experience. It also almost certainly puts you outside the British class system until you’ve been here a while.We do have a significant amount of racial segregation in practice, even in London. But it’s a lot softer than in America; it’s a matter of “that’s not the hobby I grew up with” rather than “You can’t do that”.Our cops are racist. But they don’t carry handguns (most don’t carry guns at all), jaywalking isn’t a crime, plea bargains aren’t such a thing, and there’s no serious equivalent of Civil Asset Forfeiture (asset recovery is mostly used against foreign crime and money laundering). And cops frequently handcuff you to them to stop you running; they aren’t half as worried about fighting. British cops also can’t lie to you in the interrogation and the entire interview is recorded (but still get a lawyer!) If you are worried about being stopped and frisked/stopped and searched Britain isn’t an improvement either in chance of it happening or the disproportionate rates of being stopped by skin colour - but the rest of what the police do over here is a massive one.Rural Britain is even more white than Rural America. But in Britain’s case it’s because no one has tried to move there. We don’t have the legacy of Sundown Towns and you’re probably going to be an exotic foreigner in almost any of them.London is the most multi-cultural city in the world by most measures (with NYC in second) but has its issues. Including some almost entirely white suburbs (personally I’d avoid Eltham for one).Or in short if you were coming from somewhere other than America or possibly South Africa I’d say to worry about racism. We’re no angels and we definitely have a class system. If your baseline experience is of being black in America? It’ll be a vast improvement and most of our own systems of oppression (“She doesn’t know her place”) will slip right past you.
Can a single mother move to Dubai (to work) with her child? What is it like in terms of the law, sponsorship, immigration and stigma (if any)?
Yes, single mothers can sponsor residence visas for their child. For that you should first obtain a valid employment visa for yourself and can sponsor the visa of your child if you meet the minimum salary requirement to sponsor your dependents in the UAE. You should make an application as a special case to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in the UAE and attach the birth certificate of your child stating your name as the mother. This birth certificate should be attested by the Ministry of Foreign/external Affairs in your home country, UAE Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE.A minimum salary of 10000 Dirham or a salary of 7000 Dirham plus accommodation provided by the employer is required to sponsor a dependent visa.Now as far as stigma concerned people are not generally judgmental here, everyone is busy in their own professional life and barely gets time to give a space in their mind about the other person and their status so I think you would not face any problem regarding this issue.Note: It is best to contact the Immigration Department to find out the exact requirements, as these may change or you can ask your employer about it.Thank You for A2A.
I am a Single Mother considering moving to the US from India with a 3 year old child. What are the things i should consider?
Not sure if you have already made your decision or if you are already in the US. If not, I think people have covered most of the things but I can add my 2 cents..I think you can try and plan this and make it work really well..Let's assume you move here on a H1B / L1 visa. Depending on how your manager / company treats you once you land here you should request them to start your green card process (If you are managing people there, it works for your green process because then they can file for EB1 and you can get your green card faster (like within a year). You can then look for an American software company and join them. This will ensure you dont have late night / early morning offshore calls. From them on you can chart your own career in either that company or a different one...The other thing you need to watch out for is the place in US where you land.. Typically if you land in a small city, it is easier to get setup (get an SSN, license, bank account etc.) The other thing is about weather. If you are from a place in India where harsh cold weather (snow) then you should be ok living in the north east / midwest cold places otherwise that is another thing you have to get adjusted to..The best deal would be to get a project in bayarea (of course it is expensive) but salary wise you will get a better package from your existing company and therefore easier to negotiate for a higher jump when you move..Single parent should otherwise not be an issue at all. It would be ideal if you ensure you come here and settle down and bring your kid after that..If you work in the bay area you will feel very close to home because of the Indian population that is in large numbers here...The other option for you is Canada but now sure if your company has any projects / openings there..I will update with other things I can think of ..Good luck!
I am a single Mom applying for Canada immigration I have 3 kids the older is 17 and younger is 9, I am 46 years old, the lawyer says I have no chance?
If you don't have Canadian family to sponsor you, it's most likely that you're talking about the Express Entry program.Express Entry is based on a points system. They give points for your age, so you get fewer points as a 46 year old than someone in their 20s. However, if you have education or job experience you can still have enough points to get PR. You can also apply as a provincial nominee or get a job offer to increase your points.So long as you have 450 points under Express Entry and the minimum amount of funds for someone with three dependents, it doesn't matter that you're a single mom.If you found the CIC website confusing, I wrote about how Express Entry worked for me.
Trying to move out of my parent's house as a single mom?
I am 21 year old single parent who has a two year old girl named June :)...I'll try to keep this short and sweet! Bottom line, my parents do not like me very much. I live in their house as of now and my mom helps me tremendously because she loves and adores June very much. Most of the time, living here is fine, but sometimes living here is taking a toll on me. There are days when my parents don't even talk to me, days when they yell at me (for illegitimate and nasty things, i.e. "Why are you looking in the mirror? You can't fix ugly."), or tell me to get out (and leave June behind...) it's just a bad situation. Also, June and I share a room and I feel like she needs more space. I've been dating my boyfriend Hunter for about a year now, and he was talking about maybe getting a place together in July. I'm very serious about this guy, he loves me and it RADIATES that he loves June as if she were his. Even my family says so (although you may say they're sort of invalid...),,, I'm still hesitant though. I am going to school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-1 Hunter works 9-6 M-F, I'm sure my mom will be upset if I tell her that I'm leaving (she'll feel like I'm taking the baby away from her) so I think if I asked her to watch June those three times a week she would be happy. But I was thinking maybe June could spend the night at my parent's house Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday night so that I didn't have to wake her up at 6 to take her over there before school? Am I doing the right thing? Does anyone have any advice for this stuff?
Should I move out, leaving behind my single mom?
There’s no right or wrong answer here. When you say “help buy a home”, you’re not really being clear as to what you mean. Are you going to buy the home yourself, and pay for it, or let her pay you to stay in the home? Do you mean you’re going to give her the down payment that she needs? Are you going to apply for the loan along with her, because she doesn’t have the necessary credit? Is the issue her income alone won’t qualify her, so you need to include your income as a co-applicant? It’s hard to answer with any certainty when you haven’t provided any pertinent details. If your mom hasn’t been able to save on her own to buy a house, how do you know she can afford to pay the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance once you’ve helped her buy the house? I would say if you are sure she could afford the house by herself if she only had the down payment, first see if there are any programs that she can take advantage of to assist with the down payment, so that you can keep saving your money for your own home. If the issue is her credit, and it’s because she is terrible at managing finances and paying bills on time, having a long term commitment such as a house is only going to make things worse, especially if you’re a co-applicant on the mortgage, in the event she can’t pay her portion and you’re stuck carrying the full burden on your own. If this is the situation, and she finds herself not able to make the payments at one point, are you going to be able to step in and help out, so she doesn’t lose the house (and your hard-earned money along with it)? It sounds like you make a promise to your mom that you didn’t fully think through, and now you’re on the hook and don’t want to feel bad about going back on your word. If it means that much to you, find a way to make it happen without keeping yourself stuck living at home, without jeopardizing your own credit, and without emptying your bank account. Again, it’s hard to answer when you haven’t really explained much. Helping her buy a home can mean many things to many people, and nobody can know exactly what it means to you unless you say it.
My mom wants to follow me to college??
I'm a junior in high school, picking colleges to apply to in the fall. Anyway, most of the colleges I picked are out of state and one is in state. My mom insists that if I move, she will follow me and go with me. She is a single mother. I understand where she's coming from, the main reason she wants to move is because she is worried about my safety and because my paranoid grandmother (who lives far far away) always tells her that I'm still a little kid (I just turned 18) and that she should follow me to college wherever I go. I know how selfish it is of my grandmother to say this to my mom but my mom listens to everything the woman tells her to do. Keep in mind, I feel like I am more response than my peers and actually know what the world is like and have more experimence since my mom and I basically act like roommates, I pay for a lot of my own expenses and have been driving since 16, I feel fully capable of living alone (besides minor finances such as phone bill, which she said she will pay for) Also, my mother is Russian and she didn't go to college here, she doesn't know what it's like, it's scary to her that kids leave their parents and move across the country to go to a college. I understand that, but how do I convince her that she's just going to ruin her own life by moving there with me? I mean, I won't see her much and I feel as if she will be disappointed with me if she goes with me because she will see more of me and the way I am with friends? I don't know