Careers for New Americans: Global Professionals, American Dreams

The Careers for New Americans Guide is a resource to show foreign-educated professionals the steps they need to follow to qualify for a professional license or credentials in different states. Each state has different rules and criteria for licensing. One goal of the Guide is to make licensing and credentialing processes for foreign-educated professionals easier to understand. Another is to collect important resources to help these new Americans succeed in rebuilding their careers in the US.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 1.3 million legal immigrants in the US hold a Bachelor's Degree or higher, but are unemployed or seriously underemployed in unskilled positions and earning less than $19,800 a year. Even though these new Americans arrive with university degrees and professional experience, they find it very difficult to rebuild their careers in the US.

Survival jobs to pay the bills may be necessary at the start, but they should be a first step in a process to restore immigrant professionals to the careers that make best use of their education, skills, and experience - for the benefit of all.

It can be a challenge to understand the process when licensing is required to work in a profession. Upwardly Global and the State of Illinois have partnered to create the Guide as a tool to help immigrant professionals help themselves, their communities, and the economy while filling shortages in highly-skilled jobs.

The term "New American" means different things depending on the context. For the purposes of the Careers for New Americans Guide, a New American is an adult immigrant to the United States who has permanent legal status as a citizen, permanent resident, refugee or asylee. The Guide speaks directly to a smaller group of New Americans: foreign-educated immigrant professionals.

This Guide makes some assumptions about the site user to give more focused information on different careers. You should check with official agencies listed under each profession's Important Links section to make sure that the information described in the Guide applies to your case.

The Guide was written with you in mind if you:

• Have permanent immigrant status in the US, including full work authorization. This means that you are a legal permanent resident ("Green Card" holder) or are a refugee or asylee with an I-94 card
• Reside in the state where you want to get licensed
• Have not been licensed anywhere in the US before
• Have a level of English high enough to pass English exams such as the TOEFL
• Have a university degree that is equivalent to a US Bachelor's degree or higher
• Graduated from a university that is not accredited in the US for your field of study
• Want to give priority to getting your existing education recognized, rather than going back to school for a US degree
• Have an interest not only in professional licensing, but in practical advice about working in your field without licensing, either as an alternative to licensing or as a way to work while completing the licensing process

This means that the Guide does not discuss:

• Immigration status or visa sponsorship
• Opportunities to take exams internationally
• Ways to get your current professional license from another state accepted in your new state
• English language exam costs or strategies
• Licensing options for graduates of technical programs with only a high school or 2-year college degree
• Canadian or other foreign university degree programs that may have US accreditation
• US degree programs for people who want to go back to school or change careers

These are important subjects but fall outside of the goals of the Careers for New Americans Guide.

Links appear in the Important Links section.

Important Links is the last topic in the Guide for each profession. If an organization or program is mentioned in the text, you should find a link to it there, including links to:

• State and federal regulatory agencies and associations
• Accepted foreign degree credential organizations
• Official testing organizations

The Licensing Guide covers these specific professions:

• Accountant (CPA)
• Architect
• Attorney
• Dentist
• IT - Information Technology Professional
• Nurse (RN)
• Pharmacist
• Physician (MD)
• Professional Engineer
• Teacher (Kindergarten to 12th Grade)

Upwardly Global launched the Illinois Guide in April 2009 in partnership with the State of Illinois. The California guide was added in April of 2010, and the New York guide will arrive in July 2010.  If your profession or state is not currently listed in the Guide, please contact us to show your interest in expanding the Guide to your area.