Canada & US Immigration Challenges: Iranians

Many people who intend to emigrate from Iran mostly choose Canada and the US as their travel destinations. One of the problems for Iranian immigrants in this situation is the changes that take place in the immigration laws of Canada and the US.
These changes and laws are constantly occurring and are strongly influenced by social, political, and other events.

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world leave their homelands and travel to other countries. Many are fleeing places of war, hunger, famine, and persecution. However, refugees and immigrants, especially, are faced with many barriers once they arrive in a new country.

Depression in a New Country

You will find it exciting and interesting to migrate at the beginning and early stages of the process. If you plan to move to Canada or the USA, take this into consideration. After this period, you will find it difficult to adjust to the new environment and will experience psychological damage.
The psychological term for this type of injury is a crisis of incompatibility or rejection. If you experience this, you will become isolated. As a result, you should understand that you need time to adapt to the new environment.
Moving can be mentally and physically exhausting, with a negative impact on well-being. Making a life adjustment can be a difficult task. It can be stressful to live abroad due to the multitude of issues and leaving them unresolved could cause severe depression.
Additionally, moving to a brand-new house is known to be stressful. Moving to a radically different city multiplies that stress several times over, and moving to an entirely different country is the most stressful.

Over the course of an immigration process, a person may experience a wide range of changes, including changes in living conditions, moving homes, moving countries, losing a job, finding another, losing or being separated from friends and family, making new friends, learning a new language, changing working hours and conditions, and changing schools, activities, and churches. It is normal to feel down after all of this. Those who have been in such a situation usually recommend you to change the atmosphere of the house with objects and accessories that might make the place feel like home, childhood toys, homeland traditional accessories, for Persians that mostly hand-knotted rugs, large area rugs, and kilims, then come blue turquoise decorative objects, decorative wall plates, a platter of Minakari, vases and stuff like that. Actually, anything that could comfort you and reduce the stress and feel like under the pressure.

School, Work, & House Challenges

Although these are probably the most basic needs for any human being, they are also the ones that cause so much trouble for every Iranian immigrant and their family, so the following section will discuss some serious problems that can be solved if spotted correctly.

Scholl Challenges Every Immigrant Face in the US & Canada

Raising their children in a culture they do not understand is one of the biggest obstacles that Iranian immigrants report in Canada and the US. In many cases, parents find their children quickly become "Americanized & Canadianized" and thereby alienated from their own culture and way of life. As well, kids seem to pick up English more quickly than their parents do. Obviously, this creates a negative dynamic between parents and children, and teens, especially, will take advantage of this.
The difficulties that many Iranian students face in school are due to their cultural differences, and many parents report their children being bullied or discriminated against due to these shortcomings. For kids who cannot speak English, it is virtually impossible to keep up. They are often placed according to their age rather than their ability. A parent's lack of education or language skills could further insult the injury as they may be unable to assist their children.

Job Challenges that Trouble Every Immigrant

While most Iranian immigrants are happy to take whatever job is available when they first enter the USA or Canada, finding a job, and slowly moving up the ladder, is incredibly difficult. Even if you ignore undocumented immigrants who face additional challenges securing work, trouble speaking English is a major problem in positions you might not expect like labor. Iranian immigrants who are educated and who formerly had strong jobs back home, find it frustrating that they can’t obtain the same jobs here. Employers typically prefer work experience within the US and Canada, and certifications outside of the country usually don’t transfer. That’s why it’s not uncommon for your taxi driver to have formerly worked as an educator or engineer.

Iranian Housing Challenges in Canada and the US

I don’t have to tell you that safe housing is expensive. So imagine trying to achieve that with low-paying jobs. For that reason, large families often choose to live together, creating stressful, noisy environments that are hardly conducive to studying or resting.
Again Iranian immigrants fall victim to exploitation, this time from their landlords. The way Iranians treat their houses is different from Americans and Canadians. Even if Iranians can find themselves a decent house that meets what they envisage as home, they still have difficulty with their home decor, as they cannot find the home accessories they used to have in Iran.

Food Sources Are Hard to Find

The foods of Persian cuisine are famous for their unique ingredients and recipes, which are challenging to find, especially in Canada and the United States, and include a range of snacks such as Gaz, Baklawam, Sohan, etc. These Persian snacks are very popular with Iranians. However, despite the fact that most dishes take quite a bit of time to prepare and cook, they are very healthy and truly taste great. After a week has passed, Iranians miss these foods and snacks very much.

Iranian nuts, Iranian honey, and extremely high-quality saffron are among the edibles Iranians miss the most because their tastes are so different.
In less than a month, Iranians grow sick of eating Canadian and American foods. One thing they always say is that traveling to the States and Canada will probably leave you hungry for days!

Cultural Problems

Cultural barriers transcend all aspects of life for refugees and immigrants of Canada and the United States, just as they do with the difficulty of speaking English and the other mentioned problems. Furthermore, Some traditions only belong to the United States and some Canadian traditions that you'd better know before immigration.

You have to face many uncertainties when you move to a foreign country. When you are adjusting to a new culture, you can begin to question almost everything you thought you knew, including your identity, strengths, accomplishments, and value systems. Cultural and communication barriers can even affect well-established immigrants. Isolation, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress, mental problems, family violence, and addictions are among the issues that affect immigrants. Cultural challenges can make immigrants feel hopeless, discouraged, overwhelmed, or even helpless. Unfortunately, settling in can be so stressful that people forget about their mental and emotional well-being, becoming preoccupied with the practicalities of settling in. Shame or a sense of failure prevents many from asking for help. Therefore the situation might get even worse.

Maybe many thoughts you had before immigrating are not like that in reality. For example, in many places, Muslim women are worried that they will not be allowed to wear hijab in Canada when this is not the case, and they can dress as they wish, just like other people.

So you might think cultural differences are much deeper than they are. In this situation, you should remove the glasses of pessimism.