United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently published an updated version of its guide for new immigrants, titled “Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants.” The updated guide is now available in 14 languages, including:
- Arabic, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), English, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese
The updated Guide also includes the following updated features:
- Updated information about policies, programs, and resources;
- A new layout;
- An additional chapter about personal finance, taxes, and financial scams, titled “Taking Care of Your Money”; and
- An additional chapter about the education system, adult education programs, and health insurance, titled “Understanding Education and Health Care.”
The Guide for New Immigrants
The Guide for New Immigrants incorporates a wealth of practical information addressing as many challenges as possible that new immigrants will face settling into daily life in the United States. The Guide covers issues like:
- How to find a place to live;
- Obtaining a social security number;
- How the United States government system works;
- and much more helpful information.
Chapters of the Guide for New Immigrants
The Guide for New Immigrants includes nine chapters, each briefly summarized below.
- Opening welcome to immigrants: information on the United States Government Departments and Agencies, an overview of the United States today, federal holidays, and contacts for the United States Customs and Immigration Service.
- About the guide: a complete summary of United States Customs and Immigration Services Resources.
- Immigrant’s rights and responsibilities as a permanent resident: maintaining permanent resident status, what is required if an immigrant is a conditional permanent resident, how to find legal assistance, and the consequences of criminal behavior for permanent residents.
- Getting settled in the United States: how to obtain a social security number, finding a place to live, searching for work, to receiving child care, and transportation options.
- Taking care of your money: issues of personal finance, paying taxes, and how to protect yourself and your money.
- Understanding education and health care: critical issues of education and healthcare are addressed with a summary of education opportunities in the United States, including information about colleges and universities and the opportunities for learning English as a second language. This section also discusses information about the United States health care system and additional federal benefits’ programs.
- Home and family safety: issues relating to keeping your home and family safe, such as being prepared for emergencies, being informed of climatic and other conditions that may create emergencies, and what to do in case of an emergency.
- Valuable information about the United States. “We the People; The Role of the Citizen of the United States,” is discussed, along with a history of the United States, and creating “A More Perfect Union.” This section also covers the Legislative and Executive Branches of government, the Supreme Court, local and state governments, and general experiences to be gained in the United States.
- Becoming a United States Citizen: information on why you should become a citizen if living in the United States and the U.S. naturalization process.
The Guide for New Immigrants is a helpful resource for helping immigrants gain a better understanding of all phases of life in the United States, where they can turn for help, and what opportunities are open to them.
Read the Guide
To access the newly updated Guide, read the English Guide for New Immigrants or read the Guide in your language by clicking on the appropriate language here.
For more information about United States Citizenship and Naturalization, visit our U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization section.
