A welcome team
Named people in your city who answer within days u2014 not a form that disappears into an inbox.
United Africans in America
You shouldn't have to figure out America alone.
The hardest part of the journey isn't the work it's the isolation, and not knowing who to ask. UAIA connects African families to a real chapter in their city.
1,400 +
Members across Texas
8
City chapters
310 +
Soft landings supported
36 hrs
Median first reply
The Hub
Wherever you are in the journey, start there.
Every guide, contact and clinic is filed under one of three stages u2014 so you are never reading advice meant for someone five years ahead of you.
01 u2014 Arriving
Moving & Settling
Housing without US credit, a driver's licence, school enrolment, a bank account, a car that won't fail you.
02 u2014 Building
Career & Finance
Getting your degree recognised, rewriting your CV for US recruiters, building credit, filing taxes with income back home.
03 u2014 Rooting
Business & Legacy
Registering an LLC, finding your first customers, buying property, and setting your children up for what comes after you.
What membership gives you
Not a group chat. A working support system.
Every chapter runs the same four things, so wherever you land you know exactly what you are getting.
A vetted directory
Realtors, immigration attorneys, tax preparers, mechanics, African groceries u2014 checked by members who used them.
People a step ahead
Matched with someone who arrived three years before you and did the exact thing you are trying to do.
Things to show up to
Monthly meets, welcome dinners, business clinics and family days.
The Soft Landing
Tell us you're coming. We'll be ready.
If you are relocating from Africa, send your city and your arrival date. Your chapter welcome team gets it before you board.
- 01 A welcome call before you fly u2014 what to pack, what to expect, what not to pay for.
- 02 Airport pickup and a first week that doesn't start in a hotel lobby alone.
- 03 The 30-day checklist: SSN, phone line, bank, licence, school, insurance u2014 in the order that actually works.
- 04 An introduction to three members in your line of work before your first month ends.
Chapters
View the full map → Find the city you're landing in.
Each chapter runs its own site, welcome team and calendar. Pick yours u2014 or start the one that is missing.
Your city isn't listed? If there are ten of you in it, there's a chapter in it. We'll give you the playbook, the site and the backing.
Start a chapter →Life in the chapters
See all photos → This is what the help actually looks like.
Welcome dinners, business clinics, airport runs, family days. Photographed by members, shared with permission.
Every photograph here is published with the written consent of the people in it.
The heart behind the hub
The hardest part of the American journey isn't the work u2014 it's the isolation, and the lack of reliable information.
UAIA began as Killeen Social, a local effort to make sure no African family had to navigate life here alone. But the need was bigger than one city.
The Founder
Founder, UAIA u00b7 Killeen Social Flagship Chapter
Guides
Browse the Hub → Answers written by people who've done it.
Plain guides for the things that stall everyone in their first three years. Free to read, no account needed.
Voices
What it's worth, from people who used it.
Join UAIA
Somebody helped us. This is how we pass it on.
Membership is free and always will be. Tell us your city, and your chapter will find you.
Where we are
Rooted in Texas. Open to every state.
UAIA is a national network. Texas is where the chapters run today, and the map fills in as members start chapters in their own cities.
- Live
- Forming
- Opening soon
- Open to a founding member
0Live chapters
0Forming
0States with a chapter
0States still open