Our society is battling overpopulation, and with over 7 billion humans on earth today, some evolutionary principles may be discontinued. Initially, individuals have instinctive push where people contemplate giving birth to more children because of the belief that one’s children will care for them in old age.
The current population growth needs to be stabilized or slowed; however, before implementing such moves whether as government policies or societal sensitization, we need to ensure that there are mechanisms put in place to care for our aging population.
If we may maintain a stable population of humans on earth, we must assure our elders of available and workable care systems as that is the most effective way to reassure ourselves of available care for all in old age. That evolving reassuring mechanism is the elderly care initiative.
Modernization has the US playing a critical role in shaping the trajectory of our planet. It is no surprise that the US is one of the biggest markets for elderly care jobs. As the US society advances, more individuals are reaching old age.
This has created several opportunities in the elderly care sector where citizens alone cannot care for the country’s aging population and that’s where migrants are invited to offer extra hands. As a migrant, you can benefit from the country’s flexible visa sponsorship model for elderly care jobs to migrate to the US.
Connecting Visa Sponsorship to Elderly Care Job (How They Work)
While you may be in your home country contemplating migrating to the US to care for its beautiful aging population, the process requires more than that benevolent gesture. First, elderly care jobs require securing a job in an elderly care facility that sponsors visas.
Visa sponsorship is a means of moving to the US via an invitation. Such an invitation could be by a US-based family connection or an employer. In the case of the elderly care job, such an employer may be an elderly care home or the family of an elderly care recipient.
When such an elderly care facility employs foreigners, there will eventually be the need for such potential employees to migrate to the US where the elderly care job will take effect. The process of migrating to the US to undertake such employment purposes is known as visa sponsorship. In this regard, your employer is your sponsor.
Before proceeding with elderly care sponsorship, note that there is more about visa sponsorship than presented here. You can learn more about that here.
Responsibilities of sponsors and applicants regarding elderly care visa sponsorship
Visa sponsorship can be a complex procedure. It is a multi-purpose pursuit. First, there’s the employment aspect and the immigration aspect. Both the immigration and employment provisions must be satisfied before the process can materialize. While other requirements may unravel as you progress, listed below are some basic responsibilities for the sponsor and applicant.
Sponsor’s Responsibilities
- Merit the privilege by examining the applicant: The sponsor initiates employment visa sponsorship as such has the most crucial responsibilities. For the immigration authority, the visa is granted to a potential applicant based on the trust bestowed on the sponsor by the authority.
To whom much is given, giving much in return is expected. The visa sponsor must merit the privilege given to such employer to migrate foreigners as such is expected to examine the applicant properly.
- Provide essential support: Providing the much-needed support to the applicant during application processing is vital. Even when the visa is granted, the applicant still needs support which the employer is obligated to render.
- Subscribe to Legal provisions: To be able to merit such trust and privilege to migrate foreigners, an employer must have been operating under strict observation of US provisions for such enterprise.
- Subscribe to protectionist provisions: Even though the law is clear on what condition an employer may employ and sponsor migrants, an employer must not rely on the enforcement of laws but must be a promoter of the law.
The US practices a model where jobs meant for citizens are not to be taken by foreigners, except where there are no willing or qualified citizens. The employer must ensure that no citizen or resident is available before seeking workers overseas.
Employees Responsibilities
Elderly care job is a responsibility but before getting to that part, applicants must take care of immigration and labor responsibilities by doing or providing the following:
- Be a holder of a valid passport.
- Satisfy health risk assessment: Applicant must be a non-career of target health conditions or must be vaccinated against such target condition.
- Possesses means of background check: A background check document is important as it shines more light on childhood and upbringing. Documents like birth certificates remain critical to background checks as they offer crucial information like birthplace, age, etc.
- CV or Resume: Although elderly care jobs may be open to individuals without experience; experience in related fields like hospitality and nursing is appreciated. The CV or resume helps the employer to learn about the applicant’s experience and knowledge which will make such an applicant effective in a potential elderly care employment.
- Security Clearance: Elderly care jobs may sometimes give caregivers access to sensitive information. This could be the care recipient’s personal information or others’. To ensure that the applicant doesn’t abuse sensitive information or data within their reach, security clearance may be required in some elderly care jobs.
- Educational achievements: Although elderly care jobs prioritize a good heart, it is preferable when such good hearts are accompanied by a sound mind. Applicants are to present certificates or transcripts summarizing their educational pursuits.
- Tender a recent passport photograph.
- Tender a recent police character assessment: Safety is a huge treasure in the United States. Migrants on potential visa sponsorship must be proven not to have the potential to constitute a security threat. This is where a police character report becomes handy.
- Proof of employment: An employment sponsorship visa is primarily for migrating employees. Applicant must provide a valid employment contract.
- Indicate financial security: Apart from being able to afford a visa, the ability to afford a travel ticket is also an aspect of migration to put into perspective.
Authorities are interested in whether applicants can afford these costly aspects of US migration. This is why determining financial security through bank statement tendering or other means is often required.
Eligibility Criteria
- Indication of effective communication: Elderly care jobs can be demanding in terms of communication. In several cases, as people age, their circle diminishes. Several childhoods and younger years friends and family are gone, and families are possibly busier which is the major reason for employing caregivers in the first place. In such cases, the caregiver becomes a primary companion.
- Made of compassion: Individuals aiming to be elderly caregivers must not just show compassion, they must be made of it. Caring for elders requires individuals that are intentional and capable of genuine love and patience.
- Possess at least basic education or literacy: Elderly care jobs may require writing, reading, or executing instructions on behalf of care recipients. This needs at least basic education or literacy. A minimum of a high school diploma may be required for most elderly care jobs.
- Possess a driving skill: Elderly care jobs may have a caregiver doubling as a chauffeur, especially in the case of in-house elderly care.
- Have basic knowledge of health care: Elderly caregiving requires paying attention to the care recipient’s health. This may include ensuring that such elders maintain adherence to prescriptions and reporting vitality to doctors.
- Be able to assist and protect care recipients: As people get older, they may need help attending to basic activities, this could include activities like walking, crossing the road, and personal care like assisting such elderly individuals with feeding.
Also, note that there’s some illogical confidence that comes with aging that makes aging individuals not realize that they may be incapable of doing things that they were once able to do; such elders need protection to ensure that they don’t attempt those things.
Rewards of Being an Elderly Caregiver
A caregiving job is a multi-earning endeavor. First, you earn love, then financial and other benefits. The job is a connecting point between humanity and employment as such there is no accurate yardstick to measure the rewards one stands to gain as a caregiver; however, we still have to analyze the benefits of being a caregiver in the US thus:
- Financial: The financial reward for caregiving jobs is multi-faceted. First, you have your defined salary and then you may get the occasional tips and other tokens of appreciation especially when you do an amazing job. For caregiving jobs, the average defined salary is usually around $17.9 hourly pay.
- Emotional: The elderly care job is a tense atmosphere of emotions. Every picture frame in the room comes with its smiles and tears. Most times you become a part of these memories and sharing these relics of the care recipient’s younger days could be satisfying.
- Giving back: The elders we care for today, once cared for our society. Taking care of them is giving back.
- Sowing into the future: When we care for the aging, it mirrors us in time to come. It can be reassuring to care for the elderly knowing someone will care for us when we are aged.
- Insurance: It is often common for elderly care jobs to come with insurance
- Integration: Family is the foundation of American society. You become an American by being born into one, adopted into one, or finding your way into one. An elderly care job is one way to become a family which promises integration.
Reaching your Potential Employer
Things get to those who wait but faster to those who seek. To get a visa sponsoring caregiving jobs in the US is possible remotely. You can follow these tested steps to accomplish objectives.
- Connect with potential employers: With most firms relying on network infrastructures as a critical aspect of conducting business today, easier connections can be established. You may connect with your potential employer through social media via their handles; you may consider following such handles for vacancy updates.
- Get to potential employers through targeted search: Social media is not the only powerful aspect of the internet, search engines can be effective. Targeted search can help you reach potential employers. It can help discover even more opportunities.
- Recruiters and advertisers: Reaching recruiters can take a combination of social media and search; however if you already know a dedicated recruiter you can reach out directly otherwise you can use search, over social media or search engines.
Dedicated recruiters play crucial roles given elderly care jobs. Individuals still advertise vacancies on traditional publishing platforms, traditional publishers are other places to find your visa sponsoring jobs.
Distinction in Elderly Care environment
Understanding the care environment is important as it will shape employment and visa sponsorship. When it comes to elderly care jobs, it can be looked at from two perspectives: In-house care and in-facility care.
In-facility as used in this context is providing care for elders in an elderly care home, facility, or shelter while in-house care as used in this case is providing care in the home of an elderly care receiver or the home of a relative of such elders.
For in-house care, the focus is on a single elder or a few elders like couples; however, in the case of in-house care with more than one elder needing care, such elders may be a case of couples. In-house and in-facility care may impact employment and sponsorship approaches.
Visa Consideration
An ideal elderly care job visa sponsorship may work with a H-1B visa. This is intended to be an all-encompassing visa consideration. At other times, other visa types may apply depending on the applicant’s qualifications. This is something we expect you to discuss further with your visa agent or an immigration lawyer.
Elderly Care Jobs Openings with Visa Sponsorship
The nature of employment may be impacted by whether caregiving will be in-house or in-facility. Private homes or in-house care are more likely to recruit caregivers through recruitment firms or employ caregivers already in the United States; in-facility care is more likely to sponsor visas. Examples of US entities with openings that may sponsor visas are:
- Private homes (Families): Families remain the biggest market for elderly care-giving opportunities in the US. This is because family members usually recruit caregivers to care for their elderly family members.
- Dedicated Recruiters: Since it is difficult; however not impossible for families to sponsor migrants into the US, they often rely on dedicated recruiters like Indeed and Zip recruiter for caregiver supply.
- Dedicated Elderly Care homes: In-facility or dedicated elderly care homes take the largest responsibility of caring for America’s aging population. They facilitate the majority of the visa sponsorships in this regard. Such elderly care homes are Genesis Healthcare and Life Care Centers Of America, Inc.
- Hospitals: A bulk of elderly care recruitment is also shouldered by US hospitals. This is because some hospitals that provide other care for such elders like medicals are also in a great position to prescribe reliable caregivers. Some hospitals in the US that sponsor visas are North Shore University Hospital and Baptist Medical Center.
Conclusion
It is a beautiful decision when one chooses to be an elderly caregiver. The aspiration alone speaks of positive humanity. Now that you have chosen this career path, we love to see you succeed which is why we put together this piece. We hope it helps.