Immigration to the US

[AwakeAndFree]

As someone who considers (legal) immigration to the US, I am curious about how many people here are immigrants to the US, where from, and how did they do it.

Are many employers willing to sponsor a candidate for a Work Visa?

What are the pitfalls to be aware of in the process of immigration?

How long does it take?

Please - tell us your story of hardship and triumph against an oppressive bureaucratic system. (Or surprise us with how fast and easy it all was )

[i have consciously separated this thread from another thread that focuses on the morality/immorality of illegal immigrants]

[Betsy]

As someone who considers (legal) immigration to the US, I am curious about how many people here are immigrants to the US, where from, and how did they do it.

I have assisted many immigrants get visas, green cards, and citizenship and the one thing that matters most is having a good immigration attorney. The law is strange, its enforcement is inconsistent, and navigating the obstacles are hazardous. You need someone who knows what he is doing and has friends in the bureaucracy.

Another thing which helps is having a support network among American Objectivists. It helps in finding jobs and sponsors, romances with American citizens, attorneys, etc.

[AwakeAndFree]

I guess I should start spreading my resume around if I want to find something soon.

I will need to find some good attorneys - but finding a job comes first.

BTW - this is probably the place to say that if anyone has a job for a journalist/editor with a B.A. in History, or knows of such a job, he should contact me ASAP.

[Betsy]

I guess I should start spreading my resume around if I want to find something soon.

I will need to find some good attorneys - but finding a job comes first.

BTW - this is probably the place to say that if anyone has a job for a journalist/editor with a B.A. in History, or knows of such a job, he should contact me ASAP.

Send me your info by e-mail, with a link to your resume, when you plan to come to the US, and other preferences and I'll put a notice in my CyberNet.

[jimmay]

Green card holder here.

The actual answer spans nearly all but the last entry; for some people it's a slamdunk, for others it can be a nightmare, for most it's in between. The paths to citizenship can vary wildly.

I took the employment sponsorship path, which took about three years to GC and will end up taking eight years (total) to citizenship. A friend of mine here in LA married an American, and will beat me to citizenship by two years. If you have a U.S. parent, you can go straight to citizenship in relatively little time; if you are sponsored by a U.S. relative other than a parent, it can take a very long time, >5 years.

The two big things that I can point out that matter the most are these: DO have a degree OR analogous work experience (this would include being published, and having your work lauded by peers), and DON'T have a criminal record.

Past that, there's a lot of odd loopholes and difficulties; if you are a leftist intellectual who pillories America left and right *but is applauded by other intellectuals*, it counts in your favor; if you lack a degree and have not yet made a splash in your industry, getting in can be quite the legal hack (in my case, I had to spend $12kCDn on some classes in the States to upgrade my degree, and that was *with* a job offer from a well-respected company. And before 9/11).

Once I had the visa and had proven myself to my employer, the Green Card process was long in the paperwork and legal fees (not borne by me, thankfully), but the actual entry interview was a trip to Montreal (consular processing, usually the best bet), three hours of waiting and then two simple questions in a small room, and done! (the agent actually said that this was going to be his shortest interview on record). Then some final extra processing at the entry point to lock in the new status, and fini.

Regarding visas, if you are a Canadian or Mexican, there are certain special visas issued under NAFTA that do not have quotas. These are a good initial step, but a good attorney can guide you around the pitfalls.

Absolutely, positively, have an attorney. One bad step can get you barred for a year or more.

As for the bureaucrats, there is always the risk of tangling with one who sees terrorists under every rock or simply feels like throwing some weight around that day and he doesn't like your nose. But most of them simply do not like being knocked out of their routine by having to process exceptions. They don't like that. That means, don't forget to dot your i's and cross your t's, have every bit of documentation that is required, and be sure of every fact you give them. Help them pigeonhole you; that way their ass is covered if anything goes awry, and that's all they want as a minimum. I found that out the hard way going into Detroit, and that was just a business trip.

[AwakeAndFree]

Thanks Betsy!

The e-mail is on its way.

Jimmay, thanks for the good advice! I'm curious: besides political rights, what is the difference between a Greencard and a citizenship?

[AwakeAndFree]

*bump*

[Tom Rexton]

what is the difference between a Greencard and a citizenship?

The Greencard is your permission to reside permanently within the United States; I believe the current law generally requires that you reside within the United States as permanent resident (with a greencard) for at least five years in order to qualify for naturalization.

[AwakeAndFree]

Well, I know that.

But what is the practical difference? Is it just the right to vote, or are there other rights included in the citizenship and not in the greencard?

Anyway - this is a bit of a digression. Aren't there any other immigrants who want to share their story?

[softwareNerd]

Aren't there any other immigrants who want to share their story?

Diana Mertz asks this same question (link) in her Egosphere post, which was cross-posted from her blog, called "NoodleFood" (link).

(Aside: Now... where should I comment? Here? Egosphere? NoodleFood?)

I'm a naturalized citizen who came through the Work-Permit --> Green Card route.

1) My experience with the system is that for a person in my situation it is tediously bureaucratic. What does this mean? It means that you have to plan certain aspects of your life differently because of the uncertainties involved. Until the process is over, there is always at least a theoretical possibility that you can be rejected.

The impact of this depends on how long you have to be in the process. In my case, given my profession (software), my educational qualifications and my country of origin (India), put me into a process that lasted about 4 or 5 years. That is about average for that profile, though I have friends who did some step wrong and it's taken them about 7 years.

In my case, my wife's qualification and profession allowed her to get a work-permit too. If she was in a different profession or had different qualifications, she would not have been able to work. I know that 5 years without a job would have been unacceptable. We might not have pursued the process under those circumstances, and I will not say that she would have been willing to work illegally.

The bureaucracy also means a little kow-towing to an occasional bureaucrat. Fortunately, these encounters are rare. The bureaucrats one meets are: the person at the U.S. Embassy, the immigration officer at the airport, and the immigration officer who interviews you for the Green Card. None were overly polite, but all were tolerably so if one takes into account that their job consists of trying to ferret out and reject certain people (i.e., their job-role has been defined to have an adversarial component.

The only slightly rude remark I remember is at the U.S. Embassy. I had returned and had been married. Now, my wife and I were at the Embassy to get her visa. One has to take proof of marriage: marriage certificate, wedding invitations, wedding photographs. Typical Indian marriages have a lot of yellow flowers and garlands and colors and deco that was missing from ours. The immigration officer looked at the photos and said: "Not much of a marriage, was it." Perhaps it was friendly conversation.

2) If one falls into the right group (classified by job-type and education), the system is something that you can live with. I took the attitude that I was making 5 years of changes in my life in order to get my Green Card. On the other hand, for people who are not in the right profile, things can be very different. I think those people who do not fall into one of the "required skills" categories (people like "laborers", restaurant workers and so on) are the one who really bear the brunt of the system. People who have to live their entire lives in fear of deportation. [i do not want to turn this into a "rule of law" thread, there is already one of those (link) that specifically addresses Immigration].

[got go1]

When I had first visited US, I was so surprised that too many Mexican were there.

It seems to me that Mexican people are taking over the USA.

Now that is happening.

Actually, when I talked to a guy who was Mexican descent said to me that Mexican will take over the US eventually.

In the near future, people will identify US with Mexican country having hispanic president.

Edited September 15, 2005 by got go1

[JMeganSnow]

Hey, if they look like Antonio Banderas I'm all for it.

[Al Kufr]

It seems to me that Mexican people are taking over the USA.

It doesn't matter that they are Mexican, what matters is that they have no ideological allegience to the U.S and are mostly Catholic, the type that actually listen to the Pope, so say bye bye to abortion in America. . .