.jpg "My 3 stars tattoo")
gcseeker2002
12-06 11:58 AM
I was at USCIS this morning, followed every thing you suggested. My IO officer was actually a desi guy.
1) They completely refused to look at the received date, I had my EAD (765) receipt, but the IO said he only cares about the receipt date. I even has the print out from USCIS.gov in which they have mentioned that they will honor the date on which applications were received in the mail room but he did not budge. His argument was " That update is in the over all scheme of things, but for EAD they have specific instruction to follow only the date they entered the data in the system"
2) I was not allowed to see a supervisor, the IO did talk to the supervisor but did not let me see her.
I am probably waiting for the longest here for EAD, my app received on July 2nd at NCS. Called numerous times, sent form 7001, emailed senators twice, 3 infopass appointments, still no progress. I submitted expedite request based on humanitarian grounds last week, have been calling daily to check status of expedite and still remains pending. My case now pending about 157 days. Anything more that I need to do ?
1) They completely refused to look at the received date, I had my EAD (765) receipt, but the IO said he only cares about the receipt date. I even has the print out from USCIS.gov in which they have mentioned that they will honor the date on which applications were received in the mail room but he did not budge. His argument was " That update is in the over all scheme of things, but for EAD they have specific instruction to follow only the date they entered the data in the system"
2) I was not allowed to see a supervisor, the IO did talk to the supervisor but did not let me see her.
I am probably waiting for the longest here for EAD, my app received on July 2nd at NCS. Called numerous times, sent form 7001, emailed senators twice, 3 infopass appointments, still no progress. I submitted expedite request based on humanitarian grounds last week, have been calling daily to check status of expedite and still remains pending. My case now pending about 157 days. Anything more that I need to do ?
wallpaper My 3 stars tattoo
bskrishna
05-21 12:57 PM
I can also see only April dates...
rajesh_kamisetty
08-13 09:03 PM
I will do the #3 and #4 by tomorrow EOD.
It is nice to see that the senior leadership is taking notice of the 'pain' some of us are going through right now.
Disclosure : I have already received 2 year EAD (thanks to IV). I have taken initiative to bootstrap the effort to help others who haven't been so fortunate. Since we are all in the same boat let us watch each others back for a change, instead of trying to backstab each other at every available opportunity.
This is NOT a yet another case tracker /EAD tracker thread. I don't believe that just tracking stuff will change anything. Be it EAD issue or any other, real world action is needed to solve it.
I have started this thread to guage the impact this issue has had on our community , how many members are affected, what actions have been taken by them, so that next steps can be taken. If a large number of members are impacted IV may decide to take up the issue.
Here are the options available to applicants
1) Call National Customer Service Center and create a Service Request (SR) to expedite the case
2) Fax and mail a letter to Service Center requesting to expedite the case due to possibility of job loss. Since the burden of proof is on the applicant - a letter from the company that EAD is necessary for continuation of job may help.
3) If steps 1 and 2 don't produce the results and CRs refuse to open SRs citing silly reasons, USCIS Ombudsman may be approached.
Here's how you can do that - http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/programs/editorial_0497.shtm
4) Approach your US Congressmen/women Representative/Senators. Every office has a different form for requesting Immigration help. They can open an inquiry with USCIS on your behalf.
Following the above (4) steps is no guarantee that your case will be resolved. But it is necessary that we follow all possible avenues before the issue needs to be escalated. We shouldn't feel embarassed at the question "Did you follow up with all these avenues available to you?". Our answer should be - "Yes. We did all that and it didn't help". And we should be able to produce the proof that we did do all the four steps mentioned above.
If you have done all the four or after you have exhausted all avenues, AND are willing to take it further - speak to the media, participate in possible IV campaign etc., post your details. We need members ready to go public with the issue if we want to succeed.
Right now, I have started this as an individual initiative. But I am sure that IV will get involved once it's proven that a large number are impacted and there are enough members to turn it into a campaign.
It is nice to see that the senior leadership is taking notice of the 'pain' some of us are going through right now.
Disclosure : I have already received 2 year EAD (thanks to IV). I have taken initiative to bootstrap the effort to help others who haven't been so fortunate. Since we are all in the same boat let us watch each others back for a change, instead of trying to backstab each other at every available opportunity.
This is NOT a yet another case tracker /EAD tracker thread. I don't believe that just tracking stuff will change anything. Be it EAD issue or any other, real world action is needed to solve it.
I have started this thread to guage the impact this issue has had on our community , how many members are affected, what actions have been taken by them, so that next steps can be taken. If a large number of members are impacted IV may decide to take up the issue.
Here are the options available to applicants
1) Call National Customer Service Center and create a Service Request (SR) to expedite the case
2) Fax and mail a letter to Service Center requesting to expedite the case due to possibility of job loss. Since the burden of proof is on the applicant - a letter from the company that EAD is necessary for continuation of job may help.
3) If steps 1 and 2 don't produce the results and CRs refuse to open SRs citing silly reasons, USCIS Ombudsman may be approached.
Here's how you can do that - http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/programs/editorial_0497.shtm
4) Approach your US Congressmen/women Representative/Senators. Every office has a different form for requesting Immigration help. They can open an inquiry with USCIS on your behalf.
Following the above (4) steps is no guarantee that your case will be resolved. But it is necessary that we follow all possible avenues before the issue needs to be escalated. We shouldn't feel embarassed at the question "Did you follow up with all these avenues available to you?". Our answer should be - "Yes. We did all that and it didn't help". And we should be able to produce the proof that we did do all the four steps mentioned above.
If you have done all the four or after you have exhausted all avenues, AND are willing to take it further - speak to the media, participate in possible IV campaign etc., post your details. We need members ready to go public with the issue if we want to succeed.
Right now, I have started this as an individual initiative. But I am sure that IV will get involved once it's proven that a large number are impacted and there are enough members to turn it into a campaign.
2011 tattoo Star Tattoo Leg star
WaitingForMyGC
08-26 10:17 AM
In Michigan they don't even look at your visa to renew your license.
more...
virtual55
03-02 11:13 AM
I am working with an Indian Organization and asking them to send a mass mail to all its members and also asking them to contribute money to IV.
I request all members of IV who are members of any Indian Organizations to do the same.
I request all members of IV who are members of any Indian Organizations to do the same.
bah9422
08-26 08:13 AM
I have got renewed my NJ license while my H1 extension was pending. I did it at eatontown location. They asked for original receipt notice. Trenton location also does it. Probably there should be a location in north jersey which accepts the original receipt notice.
hope this helps.
thanks
hope this helps.
thanks
more...
grupak
03-18 10:06 AM
oh yeah ...well atleast it helped someone. btw did you get your $2.00 payout :-) from bear stearns. the problem comes when senior members have the my way or the high way attitude. and for ordinary folks like us the "My way" attitude is not producing any visible results. and I guess since you are out of work now since BS is no longer there --can you come up with a better approach ??
albertpinto, "Senior Members" are just ordinary members like everybody else except they have posted more than 100 times. IV has an agenda and list of action items, and we all members need to actively participate. The outcome no body can guarantee because there are so many political interests and people pulling and pushing the immigration debate everywhere. However, the more we keep on pressing for our needs and educating the general population and the lawmakers about our situation, the more likely we will get help.
Its not like the IV core has things written on stone. They do listen to ordinary members like us but there isn't enough resources to engage in every "good idea". They best way to participate is through state chapters, and let the IV core know through the state chapters. At the end, we need volunteers to do the things we want to do.
albertpinto, "Senior Members" are just ordinary members like everybody else except they have posted more than 100 times. IV has an agenda and list of action items, and we all members need to actively participate. The outcome no body can guarantee because there are so many political interests and people pulling and pushing the immigration debate everywhere. However, the more we keep on pressing for our needs and educating the general population and the lawmakers about our situation, the more likely we will get help.
Its not like the IV core has things written on stone. They do listen to ordinary members like us but there isn't enough resources to engage in every "good idea". They best way to participate is through state chapters, and let the IV core know through the state chapters. At the end, we need volunteers to do the things we want to do.
2010 images leg Popular Star Tattoos star tattoos leg. Arm Star Tattoos
glen
04-03 12:09 PM
I would say to core group to not spend any of their valuable time and energy replying to negative posts.
It will be great if IV gets relief this time, if not we are prepared for the long struggle.
It will be great if IV gets relief this time, if not we are prepared for the long struggle.
more...
gc_nebraska
01-13 05:04 PM
Guys ! I know couple months ago a lot of us got RFE's and the status says " response received and cased resumed" but nothing after that , do you'll think that they might look into our files even with different PD dates.
hair Jess Foreman#39;s Stars Thigh
singam
09-07 03:48 AM
US economy is designed this way, everyone will get their own share. No one bothers about optimizing the chain and reducing the cost. If they do that whole economy will collapse. If people started sticking to one marriage and stop taking the divorces, these lawyers will not have work and that portion of economy will collapse. If you have time please watch this video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4343898391323537541&hl=en
you will know more about US economy.
:D
Awesome lecture by Mr Venkatesh.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4343898391323537541&hl=en
you will know more about US economy.
:D
Awesome lecture by Mr Venkatesh.
more...
saileshdude
02-11 03:29 PM
Even if the Labor cert says "Masters" then as long as you had BS + 5 years experience before you filed for labor, to qualify for EB2, this should be ok. Unless the BS was a three year degree and you did not have the required experience.
From USCIS perspective to qualify for EB2 you should be Masters or BS +5 experience.
I think if this is true you have a good chance to fight this.
Looking at the Labor cert , it says "Masters degree" and NOT "Masters or equalent". that might be the caused the I140 denial .
Any one had this situation before ?
Thanks
-vinod
From USCIS perspective to qualify for EB2 you should be Masters or BS +5 experience.
I think if this is true you have a good chance to fight this.
Looking at the Labor cert , it says "Masters degree" and NOT "Masters or equalent". that might be the caused the I140 denial .
Any one had this situation before ?
Thanks
-vinod
hot Star tattoo art leg
needhelp!
05-07 12:48 PM
Well said.. we, who have not yet made up our minds, have no excuse NOT to support IV.
Right now, there are several things we all can do:
1) write to congressman/woman
2) meet congressman/woman
3) Join Team IV fitness/fund raising group
4) Contribute in the current funding drive
5) Become active and then tell your friends to do the same.
Why are we discussing this subject when it will do nothing to take us closer to getting the GC? In almost each social event, I have heard this subject being talked by my fellow friends. But discussing it on IV forum does not serve much purpose.
To me, it seems in the conversations about this subject (not just this thread, even in social events), each person is trying to find a group of people that agree to his or her thoughts. That makes the group then feel better. But what do we all do the next day, pray that we get the GC fast. People who want to really go back to their country do not take much part in these discussions. They just pack up and go.
If we are spending any time on IV, it should be focussed on our effort to get the GC. Or to help someone of us facing an immigration related issue.
Right now, there are several things we all can do:
1) write to congressman/woman
2) meet congressman/woman
3) Join Team IV fitness/fund raising group
4) Contribute in the current funding drive
5) Become active and then tell your friends to do the same.
Why are we discussing this subject when it will do nothing to take us closer to getting the GC? In almost each social event, I have heard this subject being talked by my fellow friends. But discussing it on IV forum does not serve much purpose.
To me, it seems in the conversations about this subject (not just this thread, even in social events), each person is trying to find a group of people that agree to his or her thoughts. That makes the group then feel better. But what do we all do the next day, pray that we get the GC fast. People who want to really go back to their country do not take much part in these discussions. They just pack up and go.
If we are spending any time on IV, it should be focussed on our effort to get the GC. Or to help someone of us facing an immigration related issue.
more...
house Leg Corset Piercing
gccovet
09-05 03:52 PM
Sorry to hear your story dude. You just met a jerk of a law enforcement official - they are in the minority. Most CBP officers are better than this. Several years ago i too met a jerk like this in an airport in the southeast. I was entering on H1-B, he kept saying that my employer (a reputed american company) was disloyal etc... as he was processing our paperwork. First he grilled my wife, then he started with me, i just responded to him with a disgusted facial expression.. answered his questions rather curtly when asked, did not respond to his rants. His rants were not framed as a question - so i don't have to answer it. All this lasted a total of 5 to 6 minutes as he was checking and stamping our passports.
BTW, not seeing your family for several years is a "humanitarian" cause. Technically the AP is supposed to be used as a travel permit for difficult situations, but most good Americans know that not seeing family for years is a good enough reason. There are jerks everywhere and type A's, thankfully they are not in the majority.
I had similar experience 4 years back, the officer was a A$$$#^%, I answered all his questions, gave EVL (I was working for Fortune 10 company). He kept on grilling me, I asked him to call his supervisor and also offered him to call my lawyer and then he backed off. I noted his name and his ID number etc.
But screwed me big time, he entered wrong I-94 number in his system, after a year when my company applied for extension, the application got RFE for non matching I-94 number etc. Everything went fine(lawyer had to file I-121 for lost I-94, but the extension took about 6 months to get approved.
While the extension process was going on, I with the help from my company lawyer filed a complaint to CBP against the officer and later the officer was transferred (As per my lawyer) to some other desk duty.
GCCovet
BTW, not seeing your family for several years is a "humanitarian" cause. Technically the AP is supposed to be used as a travel permit for difficult situations, but most good Americans know that not seeing family for years is a good enough reason. There are jerks everywhere and type A's, thankfully they are not in the majority.
I had similar experience 4 years back, the officer was a A$$$#^%, I answered all his questions, gave EVL (I was working for Fortune 10 company). He kept on grilling me, I asked him to call his supervisor and also offered him to call my lawyer and then he backed off. I noted his name and his ID number etc.
But screwed me big time, he entered wrong I-94 number in his system, after a year when my company applied for extension, the application got RFE for non matching I-94 number etc. Everything went fine(lawyer had to file I-121 for lost I-94, but the extension took about 6 months to get approved.
While the extension process was going on, I with the help from my company lawyer filed a complaint to CBP against the officer and later the officer was transferred (As per my lawyer) to some other desk duty.
GCCovet
tattoo hot butterfly and star tattoos star tattoos on legs. star tattoos leg
ganguteli
04-01 10:55 PM
Why are trying to wake up folks who are pretending that they are sleeping?
Let them pretend.
This was the same guy who said FOIA can be hung on wall like an art frame because he does not need the data. He does not care a rat's ass if you care about the data or not. When I mentioned that FOIA can also be used for making a presentation to the lawmakers on how deep the retrogression is, FOIA is ok and good. Because, it will possibly benefit him
Me! Me! Me! Me! Alllll ME!
Give me my GC IV! I will give you 25-50$ depending on my mood. What ever!
In his latest post he said he owns 8 houses in USA.
.... and cannot even contribute $25!! But wants everyone to hear his whines on the forum. Dude if you are serious then show it in your deeds.
Let them pretend.
This was the same guy who said FOIA can be hung on wall like an art frame because he does not need the data. He does not care a rat's ass if you care about the data or not. When I mentioned that FOIA can also be used for making a presentation to the lawmakers on how deep the retrogression is, FOIA is ok and good. Because, it will possibly benefit him
Me! Me! Me! Me! Alllll ME!
Give me my GC IV! I will give you 25-50$ depending on my mood. What ever!
In his latest post he said he owns 8 houses in USA.
.... and cannot even contribute $25!! But wants everyone to hear his whines on the forum. Dude if you are serious then show it in your deeds.
more...
pictures leg Popular Star Tattoos
chi_shark
10-03 04:37 PM
i asked the exact same question to my lawyer... she had no evidence or past precedents... i doubt if any lawyer will have it...
the thing to note here is this: more often than not, your 485 will get approved (if your case is approvable) without any issues in the normal course... the question of denial comes ONLY IF there is an RFE and then ONLY IF IO is not satisfied with your RFE and he calls you over for an interview and then ONLY IF he is not satisfied with answers you give in interview. Taking a wild guess, we are talking about maybe small percentage of folks going to the RFE stage and fraction of that going to interview and a fraction of that actually getting denials... if people have other complications such as basic legalities in their business/self-employment or any other issues such as no pay for long time etc... then i suspect they may get denied whether self employed or not.... but if all is clear, then it should be very minimal...
GREAT I SAY! What do you think?
Do we have any conclusive evidence of these cases? Have we seen prior cases being approved using this approach?
the thing to note here is this: more often than not, your 485 will get approved (if your case is approvable) without any issues in the normal course... the question of denial comes ONLY IF there is an RFE and then ONLY IF IO is not satisfied with your RFE and he calls you over for an interview and then ONLY IF he is not satisfied with answers you give in interview. Taking a wild guess, we are talking about maybe small percentage of folks going to the RFE stage and fraction of that going to interview and a fraction of that actually getting denials... if people have other complications such as basic legalities in their business/self-employment or any other issues such as no pay for long time etc... then i suspect they may get denied whether self employed or not.... but if all is clear, then it should be very minimal...
GREAT I SAY! What do you think?
Do we have any conclusive evidence of these cases? Have we seen prior cases being approved using this approach?
dresses star tattoos on legs. star tattoos on legs. star tattoos on legs.
casinoroyale
07-01 05:45 PM
1) what is the best way to attach photos when sending supporting docs so that they won't get lost or mis-placed. What goodies are avaialble in Staples for this?
2) As part of AP e-file process, is it possible to do all the work on a machine which does not have printer and later retrieve the confirmation notice and print it?
2) As part of AP e-file process, is it possible to do all the work on a machine which does not have printer and later retrieve the confirmation notice and print it?
more...
makeup makeup makeup star tattoos
sonia_sd
05-08 02:37 PM
Try Tri Valley
Try to respect others and feel sorry about their situation.
Try to respect others and feel sorry about their situation.
girlfriend side tattoos for guys. side
Michael chertoff
07-31 09:19 AM
EB2 Indian will be Aug 2006.
hairstyles Megan Fox Leg Star Tattoo Up
CADude
05-28 01:42 PM
Sent thank you message to author Spencer Hsu for great work.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701118.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR
Quite the same text in WP ...MSNBC has used WP text.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701118.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR
Quite the same text in WP ...MSNBC has used WP text.
msp1976
03-03 08:29 PM
Legal Immigrants in Limbo
It is that time of the year again. Immigration reform is in the air. Recently, there were raids on many businesses and the resulting arrests were given wide publicity. The Bush administration is showing its zeal to pursue the 'illegal immigrants' and 'Undocumented workers' and enforce the immigration laws. The pro-immigration and anti-immigration organizations are ratcheting up their activities. One of the common refrains of the anti-immigration groups is 'If they want to come to this country, let them come legally'. So let us examine what the people trying to immigrate legally face.
A significant number of the high skilled immigrants who immigrate to the United States are categorized by the existing immigration law as 'Employment Based' immigrants. We would refer to this as the EB immigration in this article. The EB immigrants constituted almost 22% of the total immigrants to United States in year 2005. The EB immigration process consists of four steps. There might be minor variations but the time periods for the processing described in this article remain very close to reality.
1. Labor Certification - The US Department of Labor (DOL) administers this program. This process takes anywhere from 3 to 5 years. There are people in this queue who had applied for certification in 2001. Now imagine waiting that long for the first step. However, to its credit, the DOL has implemented a new program which has significantly reduced the time required for this process to less than 6 months. However, this program is beneficial to only those applicants who filed after December 2005.
2. Immigrant Visa application - After obtaining the Labor Certification, the employer petitions the USCIS for approving the certified immigrant for permanent residency. This process can take anywhere between 1 to 10 months.
3. Adjustment of Status - If a immigrant visa is available, (and there are only 140,000 that are available each year, with a cap of 7% of these per country) the USCIS then allows the immigrant to file for adjustment of status and if approved, formally grants permanent resident status more commonly referred to as the Green Card. It is during this stage that the immigrant is subjected to background checks by the FBI and medical checks by USCIS approved physicians. Currently, the FBI background checks are taking anywhere from 8 months to a whopping two years. Also, immigrants from countries like India and China which are the main source of high skilled immigrants find themselves unable to even file for the adjustment of status because of unavailability of visa numbers. Given the current scenario, it is unknown how long it will take for these immigrants to be able to file for adjustment of status, but it is very likely to exceed 4 to 5 years
4. Citizenship – Five years after the Green Card is approved, the immigrant may apply for citizenship to the USCIS. At this stage, he has to undergo an additional background check, take a citizenship test before being eligible for approval.
As can be seen from the description above, the whole process can take 5 to 10 years just to obtain the Green Card and an additional 5 years after that to obtain citizenship. There are people waiting to be sure of their status for even more than that. Given the uncertainty and lack of action from Congress to address the backlogs, some of the EB legal immigration applicants have come together and formed the organization http://immigrationvoice.org/. The goals include reduced waiting time for green card applications for EB immigrations, increased numbers for employment based green cards and ability to get certain benefits if the visa numbers are unavailable.
Let me make clear what this wait entails. When you are working on a work permit like H-1B, your employer sponsors you for a particular position in the future as a part of the EB immigration process. What that means in reality is that your employer cannot promote you even if you are capable and the employer is willing. In the convoluted logic of EB immigration, if you get a promotion you have to start from step 1 again. That means you are back at the end of the 5 to 10 year queue. Also, spouses of the applicants are not allowed to work even if they are qualified until the primary applicant can file for adjustment of status. Now keep trying to explain to your spouse to keep his/her career on hold for 10 years. The net result of these impediments is that a large number of these people prefer going back to their countries of origin or other countries that offer easier and faster ways to obtain permanent residency and citizenship. That is a big loss to this country.
And this is just for high-skilled and skilled workers, so our question and challenge to the anti-immigration lobby is ‘Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and pressure Congress to pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform to ensure that people can immigrate to the United States legally in a reasonable amount of time?’
United States is undergoing an unprecedented change in demographic situation. The Baby boomer generation consists of 77 million citizens born in the years 1946 to 1964. The leading edge of this generation is entering their 60s in 2006 and a large number of the baby boomers would start retiring soon. This is a double whammy to the US economy. Even now, the employers ranging from small businesses in the north-east to big corporations like Microsoft are facing serious labor shortages. When a large chunk of US labor force starts retiring every year, businesses are going to be even more hard pressed to find suitable workers. At the same time, the demands for social services from this large retiree population would keep growing. The US economy would find it harder and harder to support an ever larger population in need of Social services support. Unless something is done to deal with the coming labor crunch, United States is facing a huge economic and social services meltdown. The businesses would either fold in face of global competition or go where they can find labor that would allow them to be competitive leading to additional job cuts in the US. The immigration policy this country adopts would determine the future of this country. The only solution to deal with the labor crunch is to allow more employment based immigration.
As mentioned earlier, the total number of Employment based immigrants allowed per year by current law is 140,000 and it also includes the dependents of these immigrants. This limit was established in the early 90s when population of United States was smaller and a lot younger. This number has to undergo a sharp upward revision to account for the coming demographic challenge this country is facing.
The current immigration law has rules that prohibit immigration from any country in excess of 7% of the overall immigration. As far as employment based immigration is concerned, this limit is of 7% is illogical. Skills are not evenly distributed in the world and companies do not hire people based on the country they come from but for the skill set they possess to get the job done. As president Bush aptly described "It makes no sense to say to a young scientist from India, you can't come to America to help this company develop technologies that help us deal with our problems". This cap of 7% has caused the applicants from large countries like China and India to wait for years on end. As we all know, these countries are undergoing rapid growth. If the United States does not make an effort to retain this valuable human capital, those countries are going to benefit at United States’ cost.
Every year, thousands of students from various countries come to the United States to pursue higher education. In a fairly large number of cases, the universities and various endowments provide financial aid to these students. It would make sense for United States to make an effort to retain this talent that has been educated in a large number of cases by the American taxpayers. It is a reality that the talent is sorely needed. Abolishing the country limits on the employment based immigration would make it easier to retain this talent and help ease the skilled labor crunch.
The USCIS has serious issues in dealing with the magnitude of immigration benefits processing expected of the service. The Bush administration has made some not entirely successful attempts to improve the workings of the troubled federal agency. The United States does not become safer if an immigration benefits application sits entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare for years on end. The USCIS should be mandated to process all existing backlogs in a reasonable time frame and provided the resources and leadership to accomplish this goal.
In the cacophony of anti-illegal immigration rhetoric, no one seems to be paying attention to the plight of the legal immigration applicants waiting for years for their applications to get processed. The United States is supposed to be the land of opportunity. The Congress should make an effort to ease the hardships of the people who have followed the law and are trying to immigrate legally so that these deserving immigrants also get a chance to pursue their American Dreams.
It is that time of the year again. Immigration reform is in the air. Recently, there were raids on many businesses and the resulting arrests were given wide publicity. The Bush administration is showing its zeal to pursue the 'illegal immigrants' and 'Undocumented workers' and enforce the immigration laws. The pro-immigration and anti-immigration organizations are ratcheting up their activities. One of the common refrains of the anti-immigration groups is 'If they want to come to this country, let them come legally'. So let us examine what the people trying to immigrate legally face.
A significant number of the high skilled immigrants who immigrate to the United States are categorized by the existing immigration law as 'Employment Based' immigrants. We would refer to this as the EB immigration in this article. The EB immigrants constituted almost 22% of the total immigrants to United States in year 2005. The EB immigration process consists of four steps. There might be minor variations but the time periods for the processing described in this article remain very close to reality.
1. Labor Certification - The US Department of Labor (DOL) administers this program. This process takes anywhere from 3 to 5 years. There are people in this queue who had applied for certification in 2001. Now imagine waiting that long for the first step. However, to its credit, the DOL has implemented a new program which has significantly reduced the time required for this process to less than 6 months. However, this program is beneficial to only those applicants who filed after December 2005.
2. Immigrant Visa application - After obtaining the Labor Certification, the employer petitions the USCIS for approving the certified immigrant for permanent residency. This process can take anywhere between 1 to 10 months.
3. Adjustment of Status - If a immigrant visa is available, (and there are only 140,000 that are available each year, with a cap of 7% of these per country) the USCIS then allows the immigrant to file for adjustment of status and if approved, formally grants permanent resident status more commonly referred to as the Green Card. It is during this stage that the immigrant is subjected to background checks by the FBI and medical checks by USCIS approved physicians. Currently, the FBI background checks are taking anywhere from 8 months to a whopping two years. Also, immigrants from countries like India and China which are the main source of high skilled immigrants find themselves unable to even file for the adjustment of status because of unavailability of visa numbers. Given the current scenario, it is unknown how long it will take for these immigrants to be able to file for adjustment of status, but it is very likely to exceed 4 to 5 years
4. Citizenship – Five years after the Green Card is approved, the immigrant may apply for citizenship to the USCIS. At this stage, he has to undergo an additional background check, take a citizenship test before being eligible for approval.
As can be seen from the description above, the whole process can take 5 to 10 years just to obtain the Green Card and an additional 5 years after that to obtain citizenship. There are people waiting to be sure of their status for even more than that. Given the uncertainty and lack of action from Congress to address the backlogs, some of the EB legal immigration applicants have come together and formed the organization http://immigrationvoice.org/. The goals include reduced waiting time for green card applications for EB immigrations, increased numbers for employment based green cards and ability to get certain benefits if the visa numbers are unavailable.
Let me make clear what this wait entails. When you are working on a work permit like H-1B, your employer sponsors you for a particular position in the future as a part of the EB immigration process. What that means in reality is that your employer cannot promote you even if you are capable and the employer is willing. In the convoluted logic of EB immigration, if you get a promotion you have to start from step 1 again. That means you are back at the end of the 5 to 10 year queue. Also, spouses of the applicants are not allowed to work even if they are qualified until the primary applicant can file for adjustment of status. Now keep trying to explain to your spouse to keep his/her career on hold for 10 years. The net result of these impediments is that a large number of these people prefer going back to their countries of origin or other countries that offer easier and faster ways to obtain permanent residency and citizenship. That is a big loss to this country.
And this is just for high-skilled and skilled workers, so our question and challenge to the anti-immigration lobby is ‘Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and pressure Congress to pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform to ensure that people can immigrate to the United States legally in a reasonable amount of time?’
United States is undergoing an unprecedented change in demographic situation. The Baby boomer generation consists of 77 million citizens born in the years 1946 to 1964. The leading edge of this generation is entering their 60s in 2006 and a large number of the baby boomers would start retiring soon. This is a double whammy to the US economy. Even now, the employers ranging from small businesses in the north-east to big corporations like Microsoft are facing serious labor shortages. When a large chunk of US labor force starts retiring every year, businesses are going to be even more hard pressed to find suitable workers. At the same time, the demands for social services from this large retiree population would keep growing. The US economy would find it harder and harder to support an ever larger population in need of Social services support. Unless something is done to deal with the coming labor crunch, United States is facing a huge economic and social services meltdown. The businesses would either fold in face of global competition or go where they can find labor that would allow them to be competitive leading to additional job cuts in the US. The immigration policy this country adopts would determine the future of this country. The only solution to deal with the labor crunch is to allow more employment based immigration.
As mentioned earlier, the total number of Employment based immigrants allowed per year by current law is 140,000 and it also includes the dependents of these immigrants. This limit was established in the early 90s when population of United States was smaller and a lot younger. This number has to undergo a sharp upward revision to account for the coming demographic challenge this country is facing.
The current immigration law has rules that prohibit immigration from any country in excess of 7% of the overall immigration. As far as employment based immigration is concerned, this limit is of 7% is illogical. Skills are not evenly distributed in the world and companies do not hire people based on the country they come from but for the skill set they possess to get the job done. As president Bush aptly described "It makes no sense to say to a young scientist from India, you can't come to America to help this company develop technologies that help us deal with our problems". This cap of 7% has caused the applicants from large countries like China and India to wait for years on end. As we all know, these countries are undergoing rapid growth. If the United States does not make an effort to retain this valuable human capital, those countries are going to benefit at United States’ cost.
Every year, thousands of students from various countries come to the United States to pursue higher education. In a fairly large number of cases, the universities and various endowments provide financial aid to these students. It would make sense for United States to make an effort to retain this talent that has been educated in a large number of cases by the American taxpayers. It is a reality that the talent is sorely needed. Abolishing the country limits on the employment based immigration would make it easier to retain this talent and help ease the skilled labor crunch.
The USCIS has serious issues in dealing with the magnitude of immigration benefits processing expected of the service. The Bush administration has made some not entirely successful attempts to improve the workings of the troubled federal agency. The United States does not become safer if an immigration benefits application sits entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare for years on end. The USCIS should be mandated to process all existing backlogs in a reasonable time frame and provided the resources and leadership to accomplish this goal.
In the cacophony of anti-illegal immigration rhetoric, no one seems to be paying attention to the plight of the legal immigration applicants waiting for years for their applications to get processed. The United States is supposed to be the land of opportunity. The Congress should make an effort to ease the hardships of the people who have followed the law and are trying to immigrate legally so that these deserving immigrants also get a chance to pursue their American Dreams.
chanduv23
10-05 10:16 AM
Great news :). Go IV go :)