What is country of origin? There are many people who come to live or work in a country where they are not born or raised. their country of origin plays a part in their work lives, that is how they might approach problems and how others approach them.

Now, who exactly are we even talking about? We are talking about all the many kinds of immigrants, documented people like work visa holders, study visas, refugees, permanent residents like green card holders, new citizens, and even undocumented people too. When someone's come from another country to work, study or find a better life, you can assume there are many challenges, but they are a lot more complicated than you might think.

Let's start with US perspective. Immigrants in the US may face cultural barrier like communication, language barrier, accomodation of religious holidays, difficulties with cross cultural adjustment, and even social isolation. And they also have to deal with precarious legal barriers like protection of assets, proper adequate medical care, even suddenly losing legal status. Can you imagine that? Cultural barrier are a big deal from small things like knowing what grocery stores are reputable to the large things like knowing how to communicate effectively in the workplace. Just the process of trying to assimilate to a new culture while working or going to school can have a strong negative impact both on productivity, but even on their health and well being. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Regarding legal status, there can even be a lot of legal uncertainties around visas in the US, you can be working legally in the US for years, paying your taxes, contributing to the company you work for, and then boom, suddenly, you're told you have to leave the country.

Again, this creates a huge problem for both the individual and everyone relying on them - including the employers. These challenges greatly affect a person's ability to invest and think about their future. And that means lost value for the companies and people they work with. Let's be real - we are not talking about a stranger here. Immigrants alone represent nearly a fifth of the overall us civilian workforce. Can you imagine that? We are probably talking about a person in your life. It's a co-worker, a doctor you visit a business advisor, employer, or even your friend.

Now in this module, we will begin to dive deeper into these cultural challenges and legal disabilities, and real experiences on how these issues affect someone's ability to come to work and how you can support and understand your co-workers, friends and neighbors.