Bringing Dependents FAQs

We are going to dive into the real life logistics and some lifestyle questions that matter most as you are preparing to move and settle into the United States. So a really big topic that I think everyone can confidently say that they hear a lot here is our nurses asking if they can bring their dependents, so their spouse, their children, and their family to the United States with them when they arrive. So from flight logistics to visa timelines and even education or employment questions, we know that there is so much for you to think through. So please join me in welcoming my team members, Elizabeth, our associate director of immigration and licensing, and Ryan from our International Deployment Advocate team. They are gonna be here to walk us through what to expect, how to prepare, and who you can turn to for support throughout this process.

So hi, Elizabeth. Hi, Ryan. Welcome. How are you guys doing today?

We're doing great. How are you, Courtney?

Oh, I'm doing great too. I'm excited to talk about these topics.

We are too. Thanks so much, Courtney.

We understand that moving to the US is a big step and so bringing your family makes it even more meaningful. This conversation is just a big part of our full circle of support, making sure that the guidance and resources to prepare for your life together in the US.

Perfect. Thanks, Ryan. Okay. Well, I think our viewers are wanting us to dive into these questions, so let's go ahead and get started. Our first topic is going to cover travel and arrival logistics.

So the first question that we hear a lot from our healthcare professionals is, will Health Carousel pay for my dependent's flights to the US?

Yeah, so this is a really good question. So the way this process works is that we have a travel and housing team who's going to work with you to get your flights prepared and get you all scheduled to arrive here. And we'll actually upfront the cost for you and your dependents. But it's really important to remember that you'll need to reimburse us prior to your arrival in the US for your dependent's flights.

Awesome. Thank you. And that is a good point. So definitely good to know kind of what cost to be prepared for when going through this process.

Another question that we get a lot is, can I pay for my family's flights through salary deductions?

Yeah. So the expectation is that you will be reimbursing your flights prior to your deployment. This is an expense that you're going to need to save in addition to your fee bills that you will reimburse.

So regardless of where you are in the process, even if you're retrogressed, it's really important to start saving up money now so that you can have a smooth transition once you arrive.

Yeah. Good point. Like we mentioned earlier when Florence was talking too, she had mentioned that it took her about five years to go through this process. So, you know, during that time that you're going through this process, definitely work hard on saving your money and saving up just as much as possible so that way you are prepared for maybe any unexpected costs too, once you get over to the US.

All right, so you may be wondering, what if my family can't arrive at the same time as me? So when should my family arrive at the same time or can they arrive after I've settled?

So whether or not to have your family accompany you or do a follow to join process is highly individual and it's based on your family's needs.

It is recommended as much as possible to attend the embassy interview as a family, as there are risks to the follow to join process, such as, you know, embassy scheduling, delays for family members, retrogression as dependents who are joining later will be subject to, what your priority date is and and thus retrogression should should your priority date regress before they can, attend the embassy, interview.

And then there's always kind of a risk of delays in getting the embassy to reopen the case to add the family members to an interview at a later date. So if you do attend the embassy interview together but choose to enter the US at different times, As long as each family member enters prior to the expiration date of the immigrant visa stamp, typically they're valid for six months post issuance. So as long as each family member's arriving within that time frame, that's something that you could do and you would wanna work back with your adviser on on on that and referring back to Ryan talking about travel, flight, reimbursement, things like that.

Yeah. Good point. And, you know, we're here. We've mentioned this before, and we'll we'll keep on mentioning it, but we're here to support you each step of the way. We don't want you to feel confused.

We don't want you to be afraid to ask questions. So just make sure that you're honest and talking to your current assignee about the needs for you and for your family. And, you know, we'll work with you to make sure that everyone arrives. We know when they need to and make sure that they're supported and you're supported throughout this process.

So our next topic is immigration, green cards, and appointments. So there's a lot that goes into your deployment over to the United States, and we get a lot of really common questions. So excited to move on to this next topic. The question that we have to start us off is what should I do if I miss an embassy appointment notice due to my work schedule?

So ideally you don't wanna miss your embassy interview as rescheduling can challenging, and it could put you at risk of facing retrogression should the visa bulletin fall back before, you know, you're able to get a new appointment scheduled.

If you are going to miss your interview, you should be proactively reaching out to the embassy to go ahead and cancel the interview and reschedule as soon as possible. It's generally not a good idea to do nothing and be considered a no show. Proactivity is key. If you think you're going to miss your embassy interview, you want to be contacting the embassy as soon as you know and as soon as possible and try to get it rescheduled before before the appointment passes and you're considered a no show because there can be risks and delays and challenges around that if that was to happen. And regardless, you know, definitely be working with your adviser on your situation.

Thanks, Elizabeth. Yes. Definitely want to avoid, you know, all risks at all costs.

What should I expect if my spouse or child needs to attend a visa interview?

All visa applicants will need to attend an embassy interview. So if your spouse and your children are intending to immigrate to the US with you, or again, as we just mentioned, follow to join, come later, they will be attending an embassy interview as well.

They may choose, you know, to attend with you at the same time. So you would all be scheduled for an embassy interview at the same time, or if you would prefer or need to, based on your family needs, do a follow to join case. We just kind of touched on those risks already. The dependent interview is gonna be very similar to yours, but rather than proving a job offer, they're going to be proving their relationship to you. They're also proving their eligibility to immigrate as well based on, you know, their background similar to you. But instead of, you know, having a job offer, they're going to be proving that they're eligible based on their dependent relationship to you. So just being a spouse or a child of meeting the immigrant eligibility requirements to be a dependent child.

They're going to be providing very similar documents. They're going to have the medical exam same as you. They're going to have the same civil documents that are requested of you.

It's very similar process, proving their dependent relationship as opposed to a job offer relationship.

Awesome. Thanks, Elizabeth. That was very clear in the way that you were able to break down kind of the difference of what, you know, the family should expect and then, you know, what the health care professional should expect when they attend their interviews.

What happens if we miss an interview or if there is a delay of some sort?

So if you miss your interview, as we mentioned earlier, you should reach out to the embassy as soon as possible to reschedule. Ideally you're going to reach out prior to missing but of course there are emergencies that come up and you may not be able to. So being proactive and taking initiative to reach out to the embassy as soon as possible as to why you missed the interview and trying to get the interview rescheduled. Depending on the type of delay, should reach out to your advisor for case specific inquiries.

And this might be a follow-up question that our healthcare professionals might be thinking of too and going through the process, but is there any sort of deadline where you have to cancel the interview before a certain point if for some reason you do have to reschedule?

There's no specific deadline. You might wanna check with your specific embassy or consulate that you'll be attending to see if they have any late anything listed on their website for their preferences.

But key is proactivity, early notification, and, yeah, just, you know, reaching out to the embassy based on what they have posted on their website because every embassy and every consulate is gonna be a little bit different.

Awesome. Thanks, Elizabeth. Appreciate it. Alright. And who can I talk to about my family's immigration concerns?

Yeah. So well, HealthCare Self is your employer, but we do provide assistance to your dependents to the extent that it pertains to your immigration process and as dependence on your process. So depending on the concern you have around your dependence, you can reach out to your advisor with your concerns or questions regarding your dependence, but there may be issues or situations that we can't advise on, or that we're not able to assist because they are outside of, you know, the employer employee scope of representation.

But then we can always refer you to a private counsel if if if that is necessary or needed.

Okay. Awesome. Appreciate your guys' insight and all of your advice. And I hope everyone that's online joining right now is finding this information useful.

You know, whether you're just starting in the process and maybe starting to do some research, it's all definitely good info to help you prepare and kind of be aware of what stages you're gonna come across when you are going through this process.

We're also gonna cover the topic of education and work for spouse or children.

We know when you're bringing your family over, you might be thinking of what schools are my children gonna be able to attend and what options are there.

Will my spouse be able to work? So we definitely wanna make sure that we're answering your questions.

The first question we have related to this topic is when should I submit my spouse's resume if they want to work in the United States?

Yeah. So you could begin to work on your resume and search for jobs after you've been selected at a facility. But then you're gonna have an idea of where you're going to be living so you can start to look at the job market in that area.

Most jobs do require in person interviews, so it may be best to wait until you're here in the US to start applying for jobs. But you can always take a look, like I said, just to look through the job market in the area you're in.

Like we have been saying, we're here to help you. If you want tips or tricks for how to best build your resume, you can reach out to your current assignee and we can help you with that as well.

Awesome. Perfect. All good information to know. All right. Our next question is, can my teenage children, so typically about ages sixteen to twenty one, work in the United States while on a dependent visa?

Yes. So this one is a little bit case specific depending on what type of visa you're here on. The majority of of our our nurses are here on their immigrant visa. They come over on their immigrant visa and obtain their green card, and all of their dependents also get their green cards.

That is work authorization. It's unrestricted work authorization. So, you know, as long as the child's adhering to the state, child labor laws, then yes, your dependent child can work on the green card. Now, if you're here on another type of non immigrant visa, for example, a lot of our medical technologists come over on an H-1B.

Their dependence will be what's on an H-four visa. Children do not have work authorization on an H-four visa.

And then if you are of Canadian citizenship and you come over on the TN visa while waiting for your green card, then again, all dependent spouse or children cannot work on the dependent.

What is it called a TD, dependent visa for the TN. But for the majority of our healthcare professionals coming over on their green card, yes, the children can work pursuant to their green card.

Awesome. Good to know. So just make sure you're doing your research and ask questions. If you're confused about whether or not your your child is able to work, you know, we would love to help you out. You'll have an international employee supervisor guiding you throughout your entire assignment on the US, so they can always, you know, guide you through any concerns or questions that you might have or be unclear on.

All right. And then what are the education options for my children in the United States? This is a big question that we get a lot from our candidates very, very early on in the process.

For sure. And it's a really good question.

We do have a lot of options for education in the US. I'm just going to go over a couple. It's really important to remember that every family has their own individual needs. It's really important to do the research to figure out which is going to fit best for your family's needs.

The most accessible option is going to be public school.

No matter where you are, you're going to have the option to send your children to public school and this is going to be the most inexpensive option for you as well.

We also have private schools. Depending on the area, there can be a lot of private schools or none. So that's going to be a more area specific option for you. This is going to be the most expensive option as well.

And then you also have the option to homeschool your children.

This would be a more hands on approach, but you would have to have somebody home with your kids, taking care of them and kind of being the teacher for your children. And each state kind of has their own requirements of what homeschooling looks like as well. So you have many different options, but it's really just going to depend on your family's needs.

And that's a good thing to put in to the research when you're looking up what area you're wanting to work in. You can look up what schools are in that area.

And, you know, a city that your facility might be located in, there might be a really good school district just right around the corner. So you could always look in the maybe living there, and it could only be like fifteen, twenty minutes away. I know the area I specifically grew up in, there were a ton of school systems, but depending where you lived in the area, you know, that's what school system you belong to. So my parents were very, I think, picky when it came to choosing what area they wanted to live in based on what school they wanted us to go to. So definitely make sure you're including that in your research early on if you do have children that will be attending school once you arrive in the United States.

And then a big thing is cost too. You know, we've talked about saving money. So the next question is how much does early childhood education costs in the United States?

For sure. I touched on that a little bit before. And again, education does seem to be very case specific, right, when you're looking at it, and it's going to vary on your location and also the type of school you go to.

Like Courtney said, it is really important to do your research to figure out what's going to work best for you. Like I said, public school is going to be your cheapest option and it's going to be your most widespread option.

Something to look into if you're looking into private schools, sometimes they have vouchers that you can use for private schools to bring down the tuition costs because private school tuition can get pretty pricey.

Again, I think that's probably your best bet is to once you have your selection, you're going to know your location. There's so many resources online where you can go in and see what your options are and also the prices of your options and what's going to be best for your family's needs, like I said.

And while we're on the topic just of the cost of everything and how different things can be a bit pricier in the United States. We've mentioned trying to save up money during the time that you're going through this process to make sure you're prepared. I thought it might be good for us to talk a little bit about the suggested savings.

That way our health care professionals can kinda have an amount in mind when they're preparing for the United States.

So do you have a recommended amount that our nurses should save if they are just traveling by themselves without dependents or if they are traveling with dependents and they do have a family?

For sure, for sure. So individuals without dependents, we definitely recommend around two thousand five hundred dollars to three thousand dollars and individuals Sorry, that was individuals without dependents. Individuals with dependents is going to be around four thousand to six thousand US dollars.

Again, this is really important to start saving now. So even if you think you have plenty of time, it's going to creep up on you and then all of a sudden you're going to be arriving in the US. And there's going to be a lot of expenses that you're going to have when you move here. So you might need new clothes. There's going to be things like gas, food, potentially a down payment for your security deposit for a rental that you have. And so there are a lot of costs that go into moving. Moving is expensive, but you wanna make sure that you're saving now to make sure that when you arrive, you have the smoothest transition possible and that you and your dependents all feel comfortable when you get here.

Yeah. Good point.

And it's always nice, I think, to have a little bit more saved up that you're planning for than to not have enough at Just as a little cushion to fall back on.

So you make a good point, especially if you are traveling with your family, You don't want to have the stress of anything else. You wanna be able to support each other and make that move go as smoothly as possible. So we've covered a lot of topics today, had a lot of great questions.

So hopefully, our audience was able to learn a thing or two or have their questions answered. Just a reminder too, if you have additional questions, you can always reply to that email that you'll receive after the recording is sent to you or reach out to your recruiter if you're still having some lingering questions that didn't get answered today. But I think it might be nice for us to kind of just go over the key takeaways and kind of sum up the topics that we talked about today.

For sure. Yeah. So the first thing is like we've talked a lot about consider the cost of flights and know that we will pay them upfront, but you will need to reimburse us prior to deploying and you can always be saving up now, like I said.

Another one, it's really important to be prepared to attend your embassy interview when scheduled.

And there can be delays that happen. Make sure you work back with your IDA to make sure everything's taken care of and everything goes smoothly with the process.

And the last one, we know every family situation is unique, and that's why we are here to help.

We're here to help you navigate these details with clarity and confidence to make sure that you feel good about the process and and arrive here in the US smoothly.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Ryan and Elizabeth, for walking us through such important topics. You know, whether those online are bringing dependents with you right away or you're planning for your family to arrive later, like follow to join when Elizabeth talked about that, just know that our entire team is here to support you through each and every step.

So from relocation logistics to immigration and beyond, you know, you're never gonna be alone in this journey, and that's exactly what our full circle of support is all about. We're helping you. We're helping your family. We want everyone to feel confident and cared for each and every step of their journey.