Complete Guide for a happy pregnancy journey of Indian couples in the USA.

Well, I came to the USA, I got married, we are pregnant! Nervous, anxious, excited? Well, take a deep breath and get ready for an exciting ride. It is going to be a fun-filled and rewarding ride. I will walk you through steps to help you prepare for the little bundle of joy.

Mental preparation:

Prepare yourself mentally, life is not going to be the same anymore, there will be a lot of emotional, physical and relationship changes. It is for your good you should try to embrace this as soon as possible. For men, your wife is going to go through a lot of emotional and physical changes, suddenly they will start hating the favorite dishes, maybe they will stop eggs and meat, maybe they will never drink milk again, maybe they seem to be puking always. Please try to stand with them and not argue about all these, these are all first trimester problems and soon they are going to change. Try to take up household responsibility as much as possible. For women, pregnancy is as new as it is for you to your husband, the worst part? You get to feel it but they can’t even feel it all they can understand is through you and your emotional wrap with them. Though you go through a lot, try to be nice on them to make your first-trimester journey smooth. Also, as a couple, try to have good sleeping, eating and exercising habits. It might sound early but it is a good time to choose names, try to select a short name for the sake of simplicity. Being organized is the key for a successful and fruitful pregnancy. I have given a good amount of details in this blog to help you understand what needs to be done which will help you stay organized. Finally, try to spend quality time as couples, go out, have fun, take time off and go visit places. You will not have the same luxury after getting your bundle of joy.

Tip: Research about morning sickness and how to neutralize it.

Visa status:

The next most important thing to take care of is your visa status. Make sure your visa status is sorted out before the end of 5 months in your pregnancy journey. I have seen cases where couples got stuck at the end of the 8^th month due to rejection in petitions, denials, etc. Do not take stress on the visa status, sort it out as soon as possible and make sure you can stay at least 3 months after the due date for a safe transition if needed. If you see yourself in out of the status situation after the 7^th month of your pregnancy, immediately consult an immigration attorney and explore the options of extending your stay on the humanitarian grounds.

Worth exploring:

H/L visa premium processing

Change of Status

Staying in the USA on a humanitarian basis

  

Health Insurance:

It might sound funny, if you plan for pregnancy, the first thing to look out for is your health insurance. Make sure to get a top plan with very good maternal benefits. This is the best time to check your health insurance, try to get a very good plan to cover your expenses. Most of you might have an employer-sponsored plan and choose the plan with the highest benefit, you will be having 20 to 25 doctor office visits and an inpatient visit a typical course of pregnancy. If you have your own plans, try to enhance your plans.

Maternity support persons:

Do not take it alone, plan to have support persons like grandparents to be with you for the big day, it is a good idea to bring them at least 20 days ahead of the big day to cover pre-term scenarios. If the support person does not have a passport or visa, initiate it as soon as possible.

Apply For Indian Passport: https://portal2.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink

Apply For USA Visa: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

Getting help and Choosing hospitals:

If you don’t know your options, you don’t have a choice. Choose OB-GYN and hospital carefully,

·        Make sure to find an in-network OB-GYN.

·        Make sure you choose a hospital recommended by your OB-GYN, by this way you don’t have to be involved in the hustle of transferring medical records between OB office and Hospital.

·        Most of the hospitals will need registration ahead of the big day, get the registration in place as early as possible.

Getting prepared for the big day:

Now the ground is set for the big day, success is when preparation meets the opportunity, be prepared, have checkpoints in place to make sure the pregnancy is smooth, few of the checkpoints are

·        Travel arrangements of supporting person.

·        Health insurance to support person. https://www.insubuy.com/ 

·        Maternity tour with the hospital

o   I highly recommend this, you will get the first-hand experience of what is a triage room, where you will be admitted, what the procedure is etc. The idea is to make sure you get used to the environment and not struggle on the big day.

·        Birth classes with the hospital

o   This is different from the free maternity tour above, it is usually a paid class that covers all the aspects of pregnancy, usually, hospitals does this to educate couples and make them understand different procedures, emergency planning, C sections, etc. You will know everything you need to about pregnancy. The idea is to make you aware of your options for a rainy day. Getting baffled when the doctor says they need to give a Pitocin, an epidural is the last thing you want during the 11^th hour.

·        Birth plan

o   Create one, it is interesting and helpful for the mother

·        Pack and keep your bags ready and have a contingency plan

o   Keep the bags at least 4 weeks ahead of the big day and always have a backup plan on who will take the mother to the hospital in case of emergencies.

·        Speak with friends and neighbors

o   Hear their experiences and speak with them about their journey, it will be helpful to you.

·        If you are planning for a baby shower function

o   Plan it before the 36^th week of pregnancy.

o   Create a baby registry.

·        Browse and learn about preterm, post-term, late-term pregnancies.

·        Keep insurance cards and identification cards ready.

·        Choose a pediatrician and just schedule a friendly visit with them.

o   Ask them when to bring the baby for a visit after discharge from the hospital.

o   Ask if they can visit the hospital immediately after the baby is born.

At the Hospital:

This is the place where you are going to put the least efforts in the pregnancy journey, you will be taken good care of. Knowing things change will help, the day you go to the hospital might be a busy day and you might not have rooms, so the RN might decide on putting you in a triage room or you might be redirected to a different hospital, be prepared mentally for all this.

·        Cooperate with RN and doctors.

·        Ask if you don’t understand.

·        Make sure you know what is happening at all the times to eliminate the fear in you.

·        Make sure you have food, dress, stay plan for at least 2 to 3 days.

·        Consider newborn photography, they are worth every penny.

The important three for your baby (Birth certificate, proof of birth, SSN):

Usually, the hospitals are very well organized and reach out to you to get the necessary information for a birth certificate, SSN and proof of birth.

·        Have the name of your baby ready, it is much easy to fill out the forms at the hospitals rather doing it at a clerk’s office after a month.

·        Fill out the details with utmost care, make sure all the details are printed correctly.

·        Get the proof of birth from the hospital, this will serve as a very important document until you get a birth certificate

·        Ask the hospital clerk if they are going to forward the birth certificate application and SSN application.

·        Usually, certificates will be mailed to your address, if not, understand where to collect birth certificate and SSN

Passport and OCI are two important documents that a newborn will need. The link below will help you with the application process.

http://mithunkumarathinarayanan.blogspot.com/2018/10/end-to-end-steps-to-submit-succesful.html

End to End Steps to Submit a Succesful Passport and OCI application for a newborn

Passport and OCI are two important documents that a newborn will need. The steps below will help you with the application process.

Passport for the newborn:

Documents needed:

•  Birth Certificate
• SSN (Not needed during application, however, US passport office will contact you back to know the SSN before issuing the passport)

Do not wait, as soon as you have the required documents apply for the US/Indian passport online, it is simple and needs less documentation.

How to Apply for Indian Passport: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/how-to-apply.html

How to Apply for US Passport: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/apply-renew-passport/how-to-apply.html

Tip:

•       Find nearest post office which can do passport application, find out a post office that has photo machines, just to avoid photo rejections, take a photo in the post office itself instead of taking it elsewhere. You can consider Costco photo services for saving some bucks.
•       Carry checkbooks or cash, passport fee might not be payable by cash.
•       You can apply for a passport without SSN, however, be ready to receive a card from US  passport office to fill in the SSN.

OCI for a newborn if the child is a US citizen:

I strongly recommend visiting https://www.in.ckgs.us/oci/ for updated rules and documents needed. The steps and information below are for a typical case (US born kid for Indian born parents) as of 08/01/2018.

Basically, the OCI process is split into two, Part A and Part B.

Note: Never start Part A before starting with Part B. Begin with Part B and it will direct you to Part A at some point.

Part B – CKGS application you need to submit with the CKGS website https://www.in.ckgs.us/oci/

Basic steps:

0.      Fill up the questions on CKGS.
1.       Fill up the Additional particular form on CKGS.
2.       Fill up the Additional parental auth. form on CKGS.
3.       Have necessary documents and photo ready.
4.       Select the delivery method (Select the CKGS to pre-pay UPS/FedEx envelope) and Make payment to CKGS.
5.       Fill up forms on Ministry of External Affairs website. (Part B)
6.       Print out all forms and documents, arrange them in the specific order.
7.       Print out Web Reference and place it on the envelope.
8.       Send the documents to CKGS.

Fill up the questions on CKGS.

You will fill out a preliminary questioner to determine the documents needed and forms to be filled, It will look something like below.

Fill up the forms on CKGS.

Once the above step is completed, you will have to start filling forms online.

Step1: Fill Additional Particular Form online and save it (it is okay not to save as you will have all the filled forms to be printed at the end)

Step2: Fill Parental Authorization Form online, this form had to be notarized.

Notary public: Visit BOFA/ other banks or local clerk office.

Step 3: Photos and Documents

• Photo: Have 2 passport size photograph ready with baby eyes open. Do not use the same photo used for a passport.
• Documents Needed:
• Parents Marriage Certificate (Copy)
•  Birth Certificate of the baby (Original and Copy)
•  Legal Status Of Parents in the US (I797, Stamped Visa, etc - Copy)
• Proof Of Indian Origin (Copy of parents and grandparents passport)
•  Parents Current Passport (Copy of parents passport)
•  Proof of Address (Utility bill, lease agreement, etc. No credit card bills or bank statements)
• Current US Passport (Original and copy of baby’s passport)

Step 4: Select the delivery method and make the necessary payments

I recommend selecting pre-paid CKGS envelope for delivery as it is simple and easy. You don’t have to worry about hassles of weight and size of the package.

Make necessary payments as shown by CKGS.

Step 5: Fill OCI application form using the web reference number/ OCI number in the ministry of external affairs website

Part A – The application form you will have to submit with Government of India at https://ociservices.gov.in/

By this time, you must have been done with Part B and you should proceed with Part A. To fill OCI application form, you should have the following soft copies.

•         Current Valid Passport (Both the parents)
•          Photograph (a Same photograph that will be sent to CKGS physically)
•          Signature (thumb impression boys-left, girls-right 900X300px recommended, use MS paint to resize)
•          Proof of Indian Origin (copy of parents and grandparents passport)

Fill in the forms as needed and upload the soft copies, save the form in pdf after completion.

Step 6: Print out the following forms and documents, arrange them in the order mentioned below/. Or by CKGS.

Documents Needed:

01 Additional Particular Form (Form from step 1)

02 Parental Authorization Form (Notarized, Form from step 2)

03 Photograph (Form from step 3)

04 Parents Marriage Certificate (Form from step 3)

06 OCI Application Form (Form from step 4)

07 Birth Certificate (Original and copy, Form from step 3)

08 Legal Status of Parents in the US (Form from step 3)

10 Proof of Indian Origin (Form from step 3)

11 Parents Current Passport (Form from step 3)

12 Checklist (You can download and print it at the CKGS webpage after payments are made)

13 Affidavit In Lieu of Originals (Notarized)

14 Proof of Address (Form from step 3)

15 Current US Passport (Original and copy, Form from step 3)

Step 6: Print out Web Reference and place it on the envelope.

Be sure to print and place the web reference/ CKGS application number on the envelope

Step 7: Send the documents to CKGS.

      Upon sending them, you can check the status of the application at https://www.in.ckgs.us/trackandtrace/ by giving the OCI application number and passport number.
 CKGS will send back the passport and birth certificate (originals) after initial verification, so be sure to receive them back.
CKGS will contact you in case of queries, else they will send the OCI after it has been processed.

Good Luck!

#CKGS, #OCI, #H1-B, #newborn, #Indian parents, # india newborn, #DS11, #detailedOCIsteps

The New Gold and The New Thief

The New Gold and The New Thief

I wanted to photo blog and write a blog about data analytics, luckily the atmosphere around us gave a platform to combine both. Everyone must be well informed about the FB data leak and how Cambridge Analytica used millions of Facebook users’ data to influence one of the powerful elections in the world. That is all old story, we know Facebook is capable of even more. Let’s see what they are capable of enjoy the photo collage ahead!

Dear Facebook,

I am tired of you presenting me with my personal memories, my important moments, my life events, etc. Sometimes it feels you are much closer to me than my family and friends. Over a decade, we grew so close, I have been getting gifts and presents from you on my timeline. You remember things I forgot and would have never recalled in my entire life. I wanted to give you something, after all, relationships should be two ways, isn’t it? Take it!

We have made a timeline post – From rest of the world to all of you at Facebook😊

Aww! Well, we did not know that, we thought it is fun to share those data. I know, it was my decision to share it with you but I trusted you. Why don’t you trust me and share the same with me? But, I should say you are not alone, there is a guy called Google, you must meet him! He sends me a greeting card every month, he knows the places I go, he knows the cities I visit, he knows what I like, he knows how many miles I traveled, etc. You should see his monthly greeting card, it is so accurate and better than my memory.

Really! I thought you said you read my messages. It just sounds to me like, I have a computer and a mobile phone, I do not read my mobile phone just because I have a computer.

p.s My computer and mobile phone are different brands but owned by the same owner.

I know this is just a small piece, the big is yet to come.

Offline conversations lead to related ads! Genius!. I thought I saw these in some movies, passively linking the mobile phone cameras and mics to have an eye on the whole world, by the way, do you use the camera as well?

A guy who exposed bad data is a criminal. A guy who exposed good data is an entrepreneur.

At last, someone read it lol!

I know, you will pull it off!

Like what you did for the US? By the way, will you recommend me if I run for 2019 Indian election?

Okay, 500$ it is, price accepted. How about throwing up Facebook’s secrets and paying you guys $500 bucks? You say, we accepted agreements by signing into Facebook so there is a difference in we are using your data and you using our data. To me, it looks same.

Okay, giving away the data to someone so that they can run algorithms to find out target audience vs you running the algorithm to find out target audience. I get the difference! But what difference does it make to me?

You mean, Amazon – The guy who kills retailers, who knows what would I need every time I login, who always shows up lucrative items and make me to buy, who shows a different brand other than my preference as Amazon’s choice or bestseller and play mind games with me to make me buy it? Maybe it is true, maybe it is not, how would I know?

You mean, Apple – The guy who thinks iPhones are not mobile phones, who thinks left hand drive is the correct way to drive while the whole traffic is right-hand drive?

You mean, Google – Who collects everything else from me that you guys don’t get and does some super programming to tell me and others who I am?

You mean, Twitter – The small guy who is now the broadcaster of hot news?

You mean, Microsoft – No, I like Satya and Bill so he is not your friend, lol. Though, it makes me think if just a Facebook page running on Microsoft OS can do so much what will be the capability of Microsoft?

This is not a mistake, will you allow your employee back into Facebook if he says I did a mistake after stealing and selling data?

There you go, cool feature, isn’t it?

How about inciting WWIII?

I know, When I was in school I and my friends used to do notorious things, one gets caught, we will not give friends’ names. Be a gentleman😊

All the Images/ News Sources Above: https://www.inshorts.com/

The Data is the new gold and hot commodity with the power of computing and intellectual brains, the opportunities data analytics presents are endless. It is no different than nuclear science, you could use it to kill thousands are light up an entire city. The data science, data analytics and data mining know about you more than you think. How will you feel if a person knows

• ·         When you get up?
• ·         When you bath?
• ·         When do you eat?
• ·         When do you sleep?
• ·         How much do you walk?
• ·         What potential diseases you could have?
• ·         Who is your doctor?
• ·         Who is your boss?
• ·         Where is your office?
• ·         About your children, their school, age, interests, picture?
• ·         The phone you use, the car you have, the investments you do?
• ·         Your passwords, your pins, your account details?
• ·         Your annual dental visits and physical visits?
• ·         The last shirt you bought?
• ·         The last city you visited?
• ·         The next vacation of yours?
• ·         The wifis you connect to.

Would you panic? Then you really need to panic now, because there are search engines, algorithms, analytics, AIs better than humans in mining your data and do predictive analysis. Influencing human beings, I am not sure if it already happening or it is going to happen but the unfortunate thing seems to be certain, you are not buying what you want to, you are buying what your device and shopping platform thinks you need to buy. We are already surrendered to the underlying data world. Your Mobile phones are watching you, your computers are transmitting your data, your cars are listening to you. With the advanced devices around us, comes the advanced risks. Your data is all out there, no matter what, it is possible to be broken someday and can be used against you. A couple of years back, I did think that just not sharing data on Facebook with make me safe, I have not shared anything in quite some time but Facebook still knows what I am looking for, which car I would like to buy, which vacation spot I like to go, I wanted to close the gates and uninstall Facebook completely, wait what Facebook App is a default app for the mobile phone and I cannot uninstall it? I thought I had full control over the phone I have. Looks like it is the other way around. Do you know your average sleep time? You probably would give 8 hours but your devices will give an accurate figure. All the devices in your streets know when the street sleeps when the street is active. Imagine an advertiser approaching Google with a request on when to send his ice cream van to a street to have maximum ice creams sold? Will you be able to tell? But Google can! It is a simple cakewalk for google, probably a Google intern would do it, just collect the device's data in the street and find out what is the timeslot maximum people are at home, give it to the ice cream seller.  See the picture below to know what America does at a given time slot😊

Source: http://flowingdata.com/2015/12/15/a-day-in-the-life-of-americans/

So, what is the end to all this? Quit computer and quit mobile phones? No, not at all, there are too many positives to get rid of. I like maps getting me the directions and traffic alerts, but I don’t like someone else knowing my travel route. I like Facebook telling me tomorrow’s forecast is rain stay dry, but I don’t like someone selling me an umbrella based on that data. The best way to protect from a thief is to have your gates locked. Being cautious in sharing the data will help to certain extent. How to fight passive theft? Well, I don’t know the answer. The answer should come from both the parties involved. We have just touched the tip of the iceberg. This one fell off and we all are against Facebook, there are bigger things happening. We pay nothing for the services they offer, they take the payments in the form of our data. Hope we are not destroyed by this!

p.s Nice pictures, I need to share it on Facebook and Blogger with my friends lol.

#howsafeisyourdata, #Facebook, #Datatheft, #Analytics, #staysafe

The Fading American Dream

The American Dream, is doing MS in USA worth enough with the current situation on H1-B, F1, and EAD?

I have been interacting with my friends, colleagues, professional acquittances and students regularly on the professional education and employment streams. With the current cloud over H1-B visas and anti-immigration sentiments, one common question that comes up in every conversation is ‘Is doing MS in USA worth enough with the current situation on H1-B, F1, and EAD?’. There are a different set of answers people bring in for this question. Of course, there can be umpteen number of answers for a single question but shouldn’t there be an objective answer to understand if it is worth or not? I sat down with my drawing board to find out, based on my conversation with educationalists, professionals, professors, students, entrepreneurs, executives and hiring managers, I would like to sum up the whole MS-Immigration reform scenario to help all those curious and anxious minds.

Before even getting into the meat of the topic, let’s have the road set up for the audience. Just for standardization purposes, I am considering MS to be a 32 to 40 credit course that would cost somewhere around $60,000 to finish the course in 2 years. Typically, (Immigration)students are granted an F1 visa to study and provided with an OPT for 3 years for the internships which some people use it for full-time jobs. An H1-B visa sponsorship from an employer is needed beyond OPT to continue as a legal immigrant in the United States.

Sample MS Expense:

Source: Quora

Sample MS Data Analytics Structure:

Source: Quora

Coming to the interesting part, the answer to the question ‘Is doing MS in USA worth enough with the current situation on H1-B, F1 and EAD?’ is not going to be straight. I will have to split the question itself into multiple categories to tailor the answers for a different set of people. Here are the broad categories (at least for Indians) among immigrants who want to pursue a coveted MS degree in the USA.

1.  The Nerds we all know in our college days, who for sure will end up as an entrepreneur, research scholar or in Silicon Valley.
2.  The cash-rich kiddo who wants to add that one USA degree to his name.
3.  The hopeless professional who always thinks to go to the USA to pursue MS (and come back soon) is the end of the struggles.
4.  The USA affectionate person who always dreamt of settling down in the USA and wants to use MS as an entry gate.
5.  The mediocre who thinks he can make it to the USA and have the capability to come out with flying colors after completing MS.

Now that the categories are vetted out, let us step into each of the categories to find out how best the question can be answered.

      1. The Nerds we all know in our college days, who for sure will end up as an entrepreneur, research scholar or in Silicon Valley.

Short Answer: Yes, it is worth to do MS in any situation for these guys.

Long Answer: Forget about the anti-immigration sentiments, forget about Trump, forget about people, the elite is always on top of the world and are destined to drive the world. If you are reading this blog here to evaluate if you are in this category be sure that you are not. I am talking about those elite, creamy, weird, scintillating nerds who on any day can crack an interview or an exam or a computer.

A typical nerd would get admitted to elite institutions and it is going to be tough for them to not get an elite job or pursue good quality research. In spite of the anti-immigration/ anti visa sentiments, no one has the power to stop the likes of Google, Facebook, Oracle, Amazon, etc. from applying an H1B for a deserving elite candidate. These companies are not bound by a government or a country, they dictate the terms. So be sure that any law that is going to be drafted out will do no harm to these companies, just because the reciprocations caused by the companies will be huge for any Government to handle and never in the wild dreams a Government will wish for it. In addition to this, the ‘BIG’ companies always have an army of attorneys who will act as a strong firewall to their employees, protecting their needs and rights. So the people under this category have already figured out their path and they will break any barrier to reach the USA just because no barrier is big enough for them. A person who pursues MS from this category will settle up with a 6 figure salary job or go towards a high-quality research. The decision to do MS is justified monetarily and intellectually.

2. The cash-rich kiddo who wants to add that one USA degree to his name.

Short Answer: Yes, it is worth to do MS in any situation for these guys.

Long Answer: I am not going to speak more for you folks, you can hire a better writer to justify your point. In a nutshell, nothing has changed for you guys, you still can get the M&S appended to your name and do what you wish to do.

3. The hopeless professional who always thinks to go to the USA to pursue MS (and come back soon) is the end of the struggles.

Short Answer: No, it is not worth to do MS in the current situation for these guys.

Long Answer: Let us assume you are a 3-year experienced professional working for big corporations in India and getting a salary of 10 lakhs per annum with 5 lakhs net savings. If you are not happy with the current life, be it for lesser pay or because of micromanagement or because of the one shiny girl or boy who got the undeserved first bucket this time. I wish, you better be happy, the road ahead with the MS path is going to be bumpy and ugly.

Here is how it goes. You take up a loan or INR 40 lakhs to pursue MS, you take 2+ years for MS and spend 40 lakhs minus the savings you make in India, let us keep it as INR 50 lakhs in total.

Following are few statistics in this context

·         You need 3 years to repay this loan. Minus 15 lakhs savings in India for 3 years.

·         You lose 2 years of progressive work experience

·         No assurance that you will again gain a job in your interest area.

·         That means you need to start with your career again.

·         You come back to India and settle down for 15 lakhs per annum job. Just in case if you decide to stay back in the USA, read out category 4 and 5.

·         You will be 1 or 2 positions lower than what you would have been if you stayed in India.

·         So, this all means in 5 years of time you lose the 25 lakhs savings, 40 lakh MS fees, 2 years work experience, career hikes etc.

With all this, I would really say it is a good idea to stay back in India and concentrate on your career. You will naturally grow levels higher. If you are really interested in postgraduate, you can explore Work Integrated Learning Programs offered by many universities and corporates. If you are really interested in reaching the USA, sweat it out to compete with local pool, make it to top of your project, believe me, corporations always send people to the USA, you just have to find out the way and get what you want.

      4. The USA affectionate person who always dreamt of settling down in the USA and wants to use MS as an entry gate.

and

5.The mediocre who thinks he can make it to the USA and have the capability to come out with flying colors after completing MS.

Short Answer: No, not just no, this category will soon be removed altogether because of the current anti-immigration sentiments.

Long Answer:  You guys are the worst affected, I am sorry this route is going to be shut down soon.  Let me tell you about a couple of my friends who knew they are below mediocre and just wanted to sneak through the initial gate to get settled in the USA. Today, one works as a data scientist and one works as a strategist for a medium sized US corporation with a modest salary. Let me explain what they did and why you cannot do the same.

Step 1: Take up GRE, don’t worry about the score, you are going to think any score is a good score to get a Tier B/ C school.

Step 1 A: The wow moment, University of ‘Welcome to the USA’ accepted your application and you will be admitted to the Fall MS program.

Step 2: Gather papers and apply for education loan and if you are lucky enough ride on your dad/ mom’s back for a sponsor.

Step 3: Do some shopping for INR 50,000 and book your tickets to the land of opportunities. Do not forget to find out that one senior student you always fought with studying in the university you applied for.

Step 4: Enjoy your stay, understand that part-time job is the most important aspect of MS, find out a parking lot job just to encounter some very nice human beings and some utterly wired homo sapiens.

Step 5: Count your dollars and survive the 2 years, once you realize that you are close to completion of your course, you realize that there is no concept of campus placements and begin applying for summer internships.

Please note, there are changes from step 6 you should be aware of.

A couple of years back:

Step 6: After 1000 applications and 100 phone interviews, you get into a medium-sized corporation.

Step 6A: If you still don’t find an internship, either reapply for a fresh course to stay on F1 visa and spend few more $ towards education or find out a ‘Welcome to the USA Desi Consulting – A CMMI level 19 company’ to just sponsor your H1B and stay on legal books.

Now:

Step 6: After 10000 applications and 100 phone interviews, you get into a small sized corporation.  Most of them are going to hang up your call knowing that you will need a sponsor.

Step 6A: If you still don’t find an internship, either reapply for a fresh course to stay on F1 visa and spend few more $ towards education or fail in finding a ‘Welcome to the USA Desi Consulting – CMMI level 0.00019 company’. USICS is acting severely on such companies and the proof of client-employee-employer relationship is looked at seriously on H1B petitions. So, if you find such companies, please let me know, I have some of my friends who are close to their maximum legal stay period and want an H1B sponsor.

A couple of years back

Step 7: Find a contracting job finally and get into the immigration system to settle down in the USA.

Now:

Step 7: Realize that things changed and the only option is to regret the decision of doing MS which left you with a loan of INR 50 lakhs back home.

Just in case if you pass through step 7.

Step 8: Constantly live in a fear of losing the contract job, realize that Green Cards are eternal.

Step 9: With no secure job, your only full-time job is to just hang on. Nothing else is certain.

Step 10: Get used to technical H1B terms and realize that USICS is killing with ever-changing process changes, policy changes, RFEs, denials.

I personally have handful number of friends who are finding no jobs after their MS program and close to their illegal stay, who were working as contractors for close to a decade and had to leave USA just because USICS denied their H1B, who were promised by their employers for green cards but left in mid of nowhere. There is a flow chart summarizing all the categories and action points to be taken, the situation is good and bad, you will have to evaluate yourself before thinking about pursuing the so-called converted MS degree. The struggles undergone by non-MS H1B holders who were sent by their companies is another story worth a discussion. Good Luck!

# American Dream, #H1B-H1-B, #Anti-Immigration,#Buy American, Hire American,#Desi consultancies

 

The Real Women Empowerment

I was totally carried away by the recent women empowerment celebrations in corporate world. Right from greeting cards to organizing big events for women the corporate world had made a great justice to this year’s women’s day ‘celebration’. A deep thought ran into my mind when I read a news snippet last week about woman who threw her own child into a canal due to poverty. I really started thinking about what is women empowerment and who are the women to be empowered. All the women who wore dresses as per color codes during women’s day celebrations are the one who should be empowered?

First of all these women are the ones who are already empowered! They earn more; they have the capability of saying no to anything they don’t like, they can stand up for anything and stand on their own. There is no use in conducting events and celebrating the event of women empowerment among them. They are the ones who should pioneer the real women empowerment. If it had been a rural visit by those modern women with their men counterparts to eradicate child marriage, to improve sanitation, to educate women, to help overcome their day today challenges, etc. it would have been a fabulous gesture. Sadly majority of them just concentrate in what is the dress they should wear on women’s day, what is the event they should participate, debate on a thought on multitasking by women. Of course there is no doubt on the part of the great work done by these empowered women in corporates. They are real life winners; they manage family, work and what not.

Our laws support women, I am not against that but when we think deeply do an underpowered women know what a dowry law is? How many years a man can be sent to prison for eve-teasing? All the women who don’t know that laws can help them are underpowered women. It is sad that many underpowered women don’t know about these laws and all these are used by empowered women only. I don’t obstruct empowered women using these laws but I feel for empowered women not helping out underpowered women with these laws. There have been several instances where empowered women misused the laws but that is a separate subject and I don’t want to deviate by taking it up. The need for the hour is different.

What I am speaking about here is the amount of interest and participation these empowered women show in real women empowerment activities never matched these celebrations. In many corporates, women and men contribute some money towards these celebrations which ends up in cake cutting, sweet distribution, presents, etc. Won’t the male counterparts contribute to a cause that is really helping to empower women? Like a visit to rural areas to uplift sanitation, women health care, women education, women employment? Such activities and initiatives are so rare and if empowered women are not pioneering such activities, who else will?

I am not blaming the empowered women in corporates or individual persons alone.
Looks like the concept of women empowerment needs to be understood clearly even by big names. There are advertisements put up by banks which can explain the situation better. SBI gives home loan to women at 10.10% while it gives home loan to men at 10.15%. ICICI bank announced last week that it would double the loans given to women Self Help Groups. Now the difference is the former’s advertisement does not support women empowerment whereas the ICICI bank’s advertisement promotes women empowerment. How?  There is no point in giving a home loan in reduced rate to women who is capable of building or buying a home. She is already empowered and she is in a position to build a home which can’t be done by a normal woman and even normal man for that case. Whereas ICICI bank’s gesture should be welcomed as their loans will uplift many women who are in need of women empowerment. This is what really is needed for a country like ours.Not only to blame banks a premier newspaper which is seeked for loyal and straight forward news also seems to be off track when it comes to women's day celebrations. Treassure hunt events, cooking events,etc. are conducted by this news paper. What is the use in these events? do underpowered women take up treassure hunt challenge leaving her daily worries and challenges? Is she going to participate in cooking competition while her kids are starving? It is so sad and hurting that such big names are no pioneering 'The Real Women Empowerment' but just celebrations in the name of women empowerment

This is the difference people have to bring in for women empowerment. The women empowerment and celebrations which people are thinking now is not helping to attain the real goal. Real goal is to eradicate anti-social activities against women, educating women, making them in a position to say no for anything they don’t like. All these celebrations and events would matter then. Celebrating mother’s day and sister’s day is not the same as celebrating women’s day in the name of women empowerment. Women empowerment is a matter of social concern. It is a benefit for the needy women. Empowered women celebrating and enjoying on behalf of underpowered women is not only unacceptable, it is a social crime they do for their underpowered counterparts.

I am not raising a flag for women’s day celebrations or women’s day events. I myself was brought up by a working empowered woman (My mom) so I can understand what it takes for a woman to be in an empowered position. All I am saying is there are a huge part of underpowered women whom we should look at. I am strongly in support of women education. It is true that if a man in educated it only elucidates him; if a woman is educated it elucidates the whole family. Celebrations must always be there, women’s day celebrations in developed countries make sense because their women are empowered already. Celebrations in India must be different and they should help the underpowered empowered. All we need for the hour is 'The Real Women Empowerment' with a celebration.