• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

40 and applying for DV

HereICome

HereICome

New Member
Hello everyone ,

After applying more than 10x and with no luck, I forgot all about it and decided to live @ home (Africa) with my wife and 3 little kids. Four years passed but this time (I dont know why) I tried again: ) The question is what if Im lucky this time? Im already 40 with 3 kids under 10 and established my own small company. I have Msc but I dont think it is accepted there unless its Americanized. Shall I give it a try? Any suggestions?

 
Wait and see how you feel if/when you read that selected leter. At your age it is harder to start over, but actually your motivation is the three kids. If you do it, it will probably because you want them to grow up in America...

By the way - you are 10 years younger than me - so age is not the issue....
 
Britsimon said:
Wait and see how you feel if/when you read that selected leter. At your age it is harder to start over, but actually your motivation is the three kids. If you do it, it will probably because you want them to grow up in America...

By the way - you are 10 years younger than me - so age is not the issue....
Click to expand...
Thanks Britsimon. Yeah, let me see. What makes it harder is to start over in a new land.
 
I'm 40 too @HereICome, so I'm in the same boat as you!

I figure we're old enough to have the assets and life experience (which will make the transition easier from a financial perspective) but still young enough to want to really 'live' our lives and not just exist like mice on a treadmill.

I want to get to 80 and say 'You know what? Life? I totally nailed it' not 'My life was safe'.
 
EmilyW said:
I figure we're old enough to have the assets and life experience (which will make the transition easier from a financial perspective) but still young enough to want to really 'live' our lives and not just exist like mice on a treadmill.

.
Click to expand...

Exactiy this. Yes, it's more difficult starting over and if you have kids, you don't want to mess them around so, it's scary. But in some ways it's easier than doing it when you're younger for the reasons emily said. And especially if the motivation is greater opportunity/quality of life/safety for your children...
 
SusieQQQ said:
Exactiy this. Yes, it's more difficult starting over and if you have kids, you don't want to mess them around so, it's scary. But in some ways it's easier than doing it when you're younger for the reasons emily said. And especially if the motivation is greater opportunity/quality of life/safety for your children...
Click to expand...
Alright then, let me warm up for the Big Change! at least for the kids sake @EmilyW, good perspective.
 
Yes this is my boat too. Three young kids, 40 and life going at home.
I wake up everyday and can't help really feeling how hard it is to tear myself away from this land, wondering if I have'nt lived my life already.
But as Susie said it's all about my kids' brighter tommorow,escape from poor govt services and a bit of insecurity too.
At least you and I have a fall back plan should need arise but do not wish yourself this mark timing at this at all!
You have time to think through and convince yourself.
I guess that Americanizing one's education must be the stepping stone here.
 
Last edited:
HereICome said:
Hello everyone ,

After applying more than 10x and with no luck, I forgot all about it and decided to live @ home (Africa) with my wife and 3 little kids. Four years passed but this time (I dont know why) I tried again: ) The question is what if Im lucky this time? Im already 40 with 3 kids under 10 and established my own small company. I have Msc but I dont think it is accepted there unless its Americanized. Shall I give it a try? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Hope you will be lucky this time, I think you feel it already :)

What do you mean by americanising your MSc ?
 
Thought they say that life begins at 40. Am in the same age group. My kids welfare is my key motivation in desiring life in the US. However, I also believe that at our age one is more focused in life. You've probably seen it all by 40 and are likely to settle down more easily. All the same it's good to prepare for some turbulence too in relocating. First thing though, the horse must go before the cart...you must be selected!
 
Joela said:
Hope you will be lucky this time, I think you feel it already :)

What do you mean by americanising your MSc ?
Click to expand...
I can already feel it :)
Documents from Africa are not usually accepted there equivalently. They prefer American papers. I think its better to take some additional courses to fill the gap they feel.
 
HereICome said:
I can already feel it :)
Documents from Africa are not usually accepted there equivalently. They prefer American papers. I think its better to take some additional courses to fill the gap they feel.
Click to expand...

This is not true for all of "Africa". I know you said "usually" but please don't make blanket statements about an entire continent. What is true of your country mates is not true of mine.
 
SusieQQQ said:
This is not true for all of "Africa". I know you said "usually" but please don't make blanket statements about an entire continent. What is true of your country mates is not true of mine.
Click to expand...
Are you ok? Whats all about it? I have classmates from many african countries who live there. Doctors, engineers, accountants... 9 out of 10 of them are not working with their african degrees. So, am I not supposed to say ' usually'? Next time i will list their countries. Anyway Im sorry if im wrong.
 
HereICome said:
Are you ok? Whats all about it? I have classmates from many african countries who live there. Doctors, engineers, accountants... 9 out of 10 of them are not working with their african degrees. So, am I not supposed to say ' usually'? Next time i will list their countries. Anyway Im sorry if im wrong.
Click to expand...

On this forum we don't needlessly alarm people with blanket statements that sound like they apply to everyone when they don't.
Look at the professions you listed there. Every country has their own boards for registration for those. Why did your doctor and accountant friends not do the appropriate conversion to practice in the US? I have friends in both professions with African medical degrees and African accounting degrees, working as doctors and CPAs. I have friends with African engineering degrees in senior management positions, in NY, Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
I have friends with other African degrees like finance, economics, microbiology, computer science, physics (that do not require conversion like fields of medicine/accounting/law) that didn't have to do anything special to use them to get decent jobs. Yes usually they start off less senior than where they came from, but work their way up fast.
 
Last edited:
I don't think it's right to tell people not to discuss the very real problems that educated Africans face when migrating to the US. It's misleading, because 9/10, the immigrant is more likely to face challenges getting a professional job than not. What's the use in telling them otherwise?

I'm all for staying positive, but I'm not ok with outright denying truths. There's a reason that immigrant doctors and engineers are driving cabs instead of working in their fields. The OP said something that really is of concern to him, and I think he deserves real answers. Instead of discouraging discussion on that front, it would be a lot more useful to provide suggestions on how to succeed in spite of the likelihood of facing that issue. I started a thread on it months ago, but I don't know if it was lost when the forum migrated.

SusieQQQ, I assume you are from South Africa. That's the only country that I know of where people are routinely able to get jobs in the US with degrees earned in Africa.

I know a few people who work in the US with degrees earned in Ethiopia, but ALL of them arrived in the US during the mid to late 90s, when the economy was booming and there was a shortage of qualified workers. For instance, one person works in a scientific research lab using a biology degree earned in Ethiopia, and got that job within two years of arriving in the US back in 1998. He got a Master's in the US just recently. In recent years, all the people I know working in the US with foreign degrees (not Ethiopians), work in IT, where there are tons of jobs.

I can tell you in my personal experience, that even if you earn a degree in the US, your foreign work experience is going to be a handicap if it's outside of the developed world. I have not one, but TWO American degrees, but most of my experience is outside the country, and I can tell you 100% that it's been hard to get interviews. I'm working now, but it's a job that's WELL below my qualifications, and it took months to get it. I'm going to have to heavily network my way into something that's at my education and experience level. That is reality, and we should be able to discuss that.
 
Please read that link, it lists the countries people got their medical training. Yes a lot from SA but many from other countries too, including Ethiopia and Liberia (which only has one medical school apparently). I agree a realistic discussion is useful, but saying that 90% of African immigrants aren't going to do much better than minimum wage jobs despite being highly trained is not realistic either, and I think its unnecessarily disheartening.

It's been discussed a lot that immigrants usually start off below where they were 'at home'. That's common in many countries that don't have skills shortages. And it's still a long way away from doing menial work. You sound confident that with a bit of hard work and networking you'll get where you want to be. That's realistic, and still not the same as saying your prior degrees and experience are useless.

An obvious caveat will be people's English ability. Nowhere will you get a senior or a responsible job like a doctor if you can't communicate easily in the local language.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top