US-based Guyanese launches book on navigating as an immigrant

Overseas-based Guyanese, Kinda Velloza-Monkhouse, MPA, Esq, an attorney-at-law, on Friday launched her new book “10 Things Immigrants Should Know Before Coming to America” at the Ultimate Image at Hadfield Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown.

This publication caught up with the author who said that she was inspired to write the book after she migrated to the United States and had no idea how to navigate its largescale system as an immigrant.
“So, the motivation behind me writing this book came from me migrating to the United States in 2009 and basically not having first-hand information or guidance on how I can transition successfully into the US,” she said.
She stated that the book was written with her personal experience as an immigrant and the knowledge of her being an immigration lawyer in the United States of America.
“…the book is basically my personal experience, and then with me being an immigration attorney, I would meet immigrants like myself who were facing challenges as well to transition into the US. That is what motivated me to create this one-stop guide, to inform everyone before they even get to the United States on how they can transition successfully,” she explained.
She further explained that she struggled when she arrived in the US but she stayed motivated and slowly self-taught herself about the American system as she was focused on getting into law school.
The attorney-at-law said that she plans on returning to Guyana to give back to the country, something she has already started doing. She is the sponsor of a law scholarship at the New Amsterdam Secondary School in Berbice (East Berbice- Corentyne) that is given out to one student, annually.
Velloza-Monkhouse was born and raised in Guyana and was also a freelance journalist before she migrated to the United States to further her studies in law.
In 2014, she enrolled into Charlotte School of Law and in 2017, she graduated and was admitted to practice law in the State of Georgia. Velloza-Monkhouse’s accomplishment of the American dream led her to the practice of federal immigration law, where she’s since devoted her time and career to helping other immigrants like herself from Guyana and all parts of the globe to legally enter the US and to navigate the US immigration system.
Recognising the numerous hardships her clients would face in transitioning into the US, Velloza-Monkhouse decided to write her very first book “Ten Things Immigrants Should Know Before Coming to America”, highlighting and educating newcomers and would-be newcomers on the 10 most important and unfamiliar territories 99 per cent of immigrants have trouble navigating and understanding, like the US income taxes, credit scores and the credit system filing for their us citizenship and where to go and what is needed to obtain important documents like a driver’s licence, social security numbers, and more.
Velloza-Monkhouse’s main goal is for every intending immigrant to the US, especially from Guyana, to personally own a copy of her book, a valuable resource that many consider a gem piece. (G2)