EB3_SEP04
05-26 04:25 PM
While on the way back from White Mountains in NH, our car was stopped on I-93 south by the US border patrol. They were stopping every single vehicle to question. They had over a dozen Govt vehicles with 40-50 people in uniform. My buddy was driving.
Officer : Sir what is your status in the US ?
Buddy: I am on L1 visa
I: H1B
buddy's wife: L2
my wife: H4
officer: is anyone US citizen ?
I: my son is (he was sitting in the car seat)
Officer: (to my buddy) Is your visa still valid ?
Buddy: yes
officer: do you have documents to prove your status?
buddy: i have some papers in my bag which in the the trunk
officer: can you show me?
(buddy got out showed him tax papers and answered some questions)
officer: did they not tell you you are supposed to carry your papers while travelling?
buddy: I came over a year ago so i don't remember
officer: I am letting you go, but i could have fined you $2000; $500 for each pasenger with no papers.
I was so pissed off by this experience, clearly they are doing this to harrase immigrants. theoratically even if I am going for a walk i am supposed to carry immigration papers because a border patrol officer, in theory, could asks me for my papers ?
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/immigration_Border_flyer.pdf
I have decided that if anyone ask me such a stupid question again inside the US and i am just going to remain silent even if that means they detain me for some time.
Officer : Sir what is your status in the US ?
Buddy: I am on L1 visa
I: H1B
buddy's wife: L2
my wife: H4
officer: is anyone US citizen ?
I: my son is (he was sitting in the car seat)
Officer: (to my buddy) Is your visa still valid ?
Buddy: yes
officer: do you have documents to prove your status?
buddy: i have some papers in my bag which in the the trunk
officer: can you show me?
(buddy got out showed him tax papers and answered some questions)
officer: did they not tell you you are supposed to carry your papers while travelling?
buddy: I came over a year ago so i don't remember
officer: I am letting you go, but i could have fined you $2000; $500 for each pasenger with no papers.
I was so pissed off by this experience, clearly they are doing this to harrase immigrants. theoratically even if I am going for a walk i am supposed to carry immigration papers because a border patrol officer, in theory, could asks me for my papers ?
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/immigration_Border_flyer.pdf
I have decided that if anyone ask me such a stupid question again inside the US and i am just going to remain silent even if that means they detain me for some time.
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chetanjumani
03-13 12:10 PM
Thank You Googler, EB2 India in April is Dec 2003. Hopefully the logic to arrive at this is what you got to know from your Call with DHS employee.
Hopefully all EB immigrants would be treated equally irrespective of their place of birth.
Hopefully all EB immigrants would be treated equally irrespective of their place of birth.
meridiani.planum
03-03 06:13 PM
Consider this:
Even though IV has 25000 "registered" members. There are only 400-500 visitors. The same people visit the site often. The number of visitors dramatically increase, if there are newsworthy events that affects most of the people.
So the sample size is NOT 25K but around 500, based on the daily visits.
This of course is not a whole lot but Idea is not to be statistically correct but to feed newsworthy information to the Media, and here are the facts.
a) 1 MM people in the line for EB green card
b) All of them highly skilled with at least bachelors
c) Average income 75K +
d) Average family size: Slightly more than 2 .
e) Life Dream : The American Dream
f) Bottleneck to the life dream : The long ,excruciating backlogs.
thats even worse. you are taking a poll of 500 people (*IF* you get that many respondents to this poll, my feeling is you wont cross 250) and expanding that to 1 million people in line for EB greencard.
This is not extrapolation, its a joke.
For the sake of the immigrant community, please dont drag CNN to Immigrationvoice.org to look at a poll that 200 people took of which 50 claim they would buy a house if they got a GC tomorrow. We all lose credibility if we make such statements.
Even though IV has 25000 "registered" members. There are only 400-500 visitors. The same people visit the site often. The number of visitors dramatically increase, if there are newsworthy events that affects most of the people.
So the sample size is NOT 25K but around 500, based on the daily visits.
This of course is not a whole lot but Idea is not to be statistically correct but to feed newsworthy information to the Media, and here are the facts.
a) 1 MM people in the line for EB green card
b) All of them highly skilled with at least bachelors
c) Average income 75K +
d) Average family size: Slightly more than 2 .
e) Life Dream : The American Dream
f) Bottleneck to the life dream : The long ,excruciating backlogs.
thats even worse. you are taking a poll of 500 people (*IF* you get that many respondents to this poll, my feeling is you wont cross 250) and expanding that to 1 million people in line for EB greencard.
This is not extrapolation, its a joke.
For the sake of the immigrant community, please dont drag CNN to Immigrationvoice.org to look at a poll that 200 people took of which 50 claim they would buy a house if they got a GC tomorrow. We all lose credibility if we make such statements.
2011 Alison Brie Fashion For Life
srkamath
07-13 12:27 PM
But where are we getting these numbers like say 20k visas are available for EB2..
DOS / USCIS in their congressional testimony in May, stated that they have used up ~ 65% of the 140k EB numbers by April - that left us with ~ 49 k unused then.
Shortly thereafter, the VB said all the allotable numbers for EB3 had been used up and that all EB1 spillover and EB2 ROW leftovers will go to EB2 retrogressed countries.
DOS / USCIS in their congressional testimony in May, stated that they have used up ~ 65% of the 140k EB numbers by April - that left us with ~ 49 k unused then.
Shortly thereafter, the VB said all the allotable numbers for EB3 had been used up and that all EB1 spillover and EB2 ROW leftovers will go to EB2 retrogressed countries.
more...
rajuram
03-10 09:04 PM
I agree, when will the right time to recapture visa numbers???
We did not do it in the last government,
we did not do it when the economy was good,
did not do it when they were wanting ways for new people to buy houses,
did not do it in july 2007,
THERE WILL NEVER BE A RIGHT TIME, NEVER
Of all 4 the proposals made by vbkris77,
I would just stick with one and only one:
RE-CAPTURING VISA NUMBERS.
If we add any other item like re validating H1B inside US,accountability for USCIS etc, the message would bound to get lost. It will get bogged down by the details of implementing the other proposals. The devil is always in the details.
I think we need to stick to single target of visa re-capturing (with no mention of the word H1B in the legislation). There should be no crap about H1B workers stealing jobs nor granting pardon for illegals. Visa re-capture is for educated foreign-born professionals currently employed in US.
Many ask if this is the right time. When will be the right time?. Are we asking anything that has not been already granted by the law?. These past visa numbers have been already approved by the law but not used by the USCIS.
The time is RIGHT NOW.
It is interesting why IV team is not taking up this one item and start fund raising.
May be the team has some valid reasons for not doing so. I could only guess.
But waiting for the right time to take up this agenda of re-capturing visa numbers is not a valid reason. That is totally hopeless.
We did not do it in the last government,
we did not do it when the economy was good,
did not do it when they were wanting ways for new people to buy houses,
did not do it in july 2007,
THERE WILL NEVER BE A RIGHT TIME, NEVER
Of all 4 the proposals made by vbkris77,
I would just stick with one and only one:
RE-CAPTURING VISA NUMBERS.
If we add any other item like re validating H1B inside US,accountability for USCIS etc, the message would bound to get lost. It will get bogged down by the details of implementing the other proposals. The devil is always in the details.
I think we need to stick to single target of visa re-capturing (with no mention of the word H1B in the legislation). There should be no crap about H1B workers stealing jobs nor granting pardon for illegals. Visa re-capture is for educated foreign-born professionals currently employed in US.
Many ask if this is the right time. When will be the right time?. Are we asking anything that has not been already granted by the law?. These past visa numbers have been already approved by the law but not used by the USCIS.
The time is RIGHT NOW.
It is interesting why IV team is not taking up this one item and start fund raising.
May be the team has some valid reasons for not doing so. I could only guess.
But waiting for the right time to take up this agenda of re-capturing visa numbers is not a valid reason. That is totally hopeless.
GCneeded
10-25 01:52 PM
PD is Dec 2002 / EB3 India / I 140 Approved / 485 Pending
more...
Saralayar
03-09 06:48 PM
Both 1A and 2A category for Family Based (sons, daughters, spouse - of citizens and green card holders) has better dates (15th Aug 02, 15th Aug 2004) than EB-2 India, and EB-3 India.
This is so preposterous, words cannot even begin to describe this absurdity.
So those of us who have been in U.S. for almost a decade, have been contributing to this society, and have held our life in constant limbo, are being given a lower priority than those who are still back in their own country and living a happy life and who can now immigrate to U.S. based on family immigration.
Do the lawmakers have no common sense left atall??
Check my threads on Citizenship. Ask for citizenship directly if you are living here for more than a decade...
This is so preposterous, words cannot even begin to describe this absurdity.
So those of us who have been in U.S. for almost a decade, have been contributing to this society, and have held our life in constant limbo, are being given a lower priority than those who are still back in their own country and living a happy life and who can now immigrate to U.S. based on family immigration.
Do the lawmakers have no common sense left atall??
Check my threads on Citizenship. Ask for citizenship directly if you are living here for more than a decade...
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pappu
12-13 01:12 PM
Pappu has doused the fire..:(
Thanks for understanding. sorry though for disappointing you.
I must say that the motivation and drive in members is great these days. Last week's effort has had positive effect on all of us and united us. Let us all use this energy sphere we have created to help make this organization strong and take part in the current action items.
Thanks for understanding. sorry though for disappointing you.
I must say that the motivation and drive in members is great these days. Last week's effort has had positive effect on all of us and united us. Let us all use this energy sphere we have created to help make this organization strong and take part in the current action items.
more...
gvenkat
10-16 10:50 AM
At the risk of getting red dots. let me give my two cents. All the flower campaign and protests worked when USCIS did a screw up, this time around it's not USCIS thats screwing up it's the DOS that allocates the # of visas.
No point sending USCIS flowers. And honestly. Everyone except India EB3 and China EB3 are in good shap they will get their GC's within 5 years which is not a bad wait. Chinese people are not like Indians they come here and hardly go back to their home country so they dont care. It's only India EB3 that is significantly affected and in this uncertain times no one cares about a small chunk of India EB3 and That is the Fact.
And it's preposturous to think that DOS and USCIS are not aware of this. They are very well aware of this and they dont give a damn about us. I know certain people will come here shouting what did u do for that cause.. U can make calls write letters but INDIA EB3 is not the priority for anyone right now. we are the least in the chain.
Whoever has approved 140 can bite the bullet and switch jobs if they want to.. The best one can hope for is things could become different with the economy going up and a change of government.
Until then enjoy what u have and have fun.. :D:D
No point sending USCIS flowers. And honestly. Everyone except India EB3 and China EB3 are in good shap they will get their GC's within 5 years which is not a bad wait. Chinese people are not like Indians they come here and hardly go back to their home country so they dont care. It's only India EB3 that is significantly affected and in this uncertain times no one cares about a small chunk of India EB3 and That is the Fact.
And it's preposturous to think that DOS and USCIS are not aware of this. They are very well aware of this and they dont give a damn about us. I know certain people will come here shouting what did u do for that cause.. U can make calls write letters but INDIA EB3 is not the priority for anyone right now. we are the least in the chain.
Whoever has approved 140 can bite the bullet and switch jobs if they want to.. The best one can hope for is things could become different with the economy going up and a change of government.
Until then enjoy what u have and have fun.. :D:D
hair alison brie born. alison brie
GCVivek
03-21 02:37 PM
Unless you have clearly written promise that they will apply for GC, you cannot fight in court. Secondly, even if they did give you in writing, there is no time limit on when they can file.....they can effectively file labor a month before 6th year of H1 and have you out of status and therefore layed off.
In that case, employers should mention the following in the offer letter
" In case, in future, if economy goes bad and recession occurs,we cannot sponsor your green card since it is easy to find american citizens who has minimum qualification."
This should be mentioned on the offer letters given by big comapnies.Then it is up to H1B candidate whenter to take the offer(risk) or not.
Can these companies do this????
In that case, employers should mention the following in the offer letter
" In case, in future, if economy goes bad and recession occurs,we cannot sponsor your green card since it is easy to find american citizens who has minimum qualification."
This should be mentioned on the offer letters given by big comapnies.Then it is up to H1B candidate whenter to take the offer(risk) or not.
Can these companies do this????
more...
Legal
07-04 07:58 PM
EXCELLENT ANALYSIS. STILL THERE ARE PROBLEMS.
The rough estimation is about 500K to 700K new 485s and same amount of EAD and AP applications will be filed in July.
1. ARE YOU SURE THIS NUMBER IS ACCURATE? 700K? SEEMS TO BE EXAGGERATED.
When they took inventory in May, there are about 40,000 documentarily qualified 485 applications were pending due to non-availability of visa numbers. The �documentarily qualified 485 applications� mean the application filed long time back and processed by USCIS and cleared the FBI name and criminal check, and found eligible for green card.
2.IF THESE 40K WERE OTHERWISE QULAIFIED WHY WERE THEY SITTING ON THEM UNTIL MID-JUNE ....TO START WITH? IF THEY WERE SO EAGER TO FOLLOW THE OMBUDSMAN'S GUIDELINES WHY WERE THEY SO SLOW IN USING UP THE VISA NUMBERS UNTIL MID JUNE?
However, the available visas are more than 40,000 (60to 70K). Then they made with out consulting properly with USCIS they made �current� for all EB categories. This is how they determine �current� or �over-subscribed� and how they establish cutoff dates.
3.MORE PRECISE DESCRIPTION WOULD BE THEY WERE COMPLETELY RECKLESS..GIVE A S+I& ABOUT HOW MUCH THEIR ACTIONS AFFECT THE CUSTOMERS.
For example, an EB3-Indian whose LC approved through fast PERM on July 30th 2007, can apply 140 and 485 on July 31st 2007 as per July visa bullet. For his PD, it will take another 10 years for the approval of 485. During this 10 year period, he/she has to live in EAD and AP and need to go for finger print every 15 month.
4.OK..... WHICH PART OF THIS AFFECTED THE STAFF AT USCIS... THE FACT THAT MANY OF US WILL ONLY HAVE EAD FOR 10 YRS OR THE FACT THAT MORE EAD RENEWALS MEANS MORE CUMBERSOME WORK FOR THEM? I'M AFRAID IT IS THE LATER.
Now, they used all 140K visas this year.
5.AREN'T THEY REQUIRED BY LAW TO SPREAD THE NUMBERS FOR EACH QUARTER? DON'T THEY HAVE LIMITATIONS ON HOW MUCH THEY CAN USE FOR EACH MONTH ETC?
The constructive approach is getting an immediate interim relief by legislation to recapture unused visas in previous years to balance the supply vs demand difference.
6.I AGREE. THIS COULD BE THE ONLY >POTENTIAL <SILVER LINING. HOWEVER, OPPONENTS WHO FOUGHT THE PREVIOUS LEGISLATIONS IN FAVOR OF US WON'T LET IT HAPPEN THAT EASILY.
THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE OTHER THAN TRYING..
The rough estimation is about 500K to 700K new 485s and same amount of EAD and AP applications will be filed in July.
1. ARE YOU SURE THIS NUMBER IS ACCURATE? 700K? SEEMS TO BE EXAGGERATED.
When they took inventory in May, there are about 40,000 documentarily qualified 485 applications were pending due to non-availability of visa numbers. The �documentarily qualified 485 applications� mean the application filed long time back and processed by USCIS and cleared the FBI name and criminal check, and found eligible for green card.
2.IF THESE 40K WERE OTHERWISE QULAIFIED WHY WERE THEY SITTING ON THEM UNTIL MID-JUNE ....TO START WITH? IF THEY WERE SO EAGER TO FOLLOW THE OMBUDSMAN'S GUIDELINES WHY WERE THEY SO SLOW IN USING UP THE VISA NUMBERS UNTIL MID JUNE?
However, the available visas are more than 40,000 (60to 70K). Then they made with out consulting properly with USCIS they made �current� for all EB categories. This is how they determine �current� or �over-subscribed� and how they establish cutoff dates.
3.MORE PRECISE DESCRIPTION WOULD BE THEY WERE COMPLETELY RECKLESS..GIVE A S+I& ABOUT HOW MUCH THEIR ACTIONS AFFECT THE CUSTOMERS.
For example, an EB3-Indian whose LC approved through fast PERM on July 30th 2007, can apply 140 and 485 on July 31st 2007 as per July visa bullet. For his PD, it will take another 10 years for the approval of 485. During this 10 year period, he/she has to live in EAD and AP and need to go for finger print every 15 month.
4.OK..... WHICH PART OF THIS AFFECTED THE STAFF AT USCIS... THE FACT THAT MANY OF US WILL ONLY HAVE EAD FOR 10 YRS OR THE FACT THAT MORE EAD RENEWALS MEANS MORE CUMBERSOME WORK FOR THEM? I'M AFRAID IT IS THE LATER.
Now, they used all 140K visas this year.
5.AREN'T THEY REQUIRED BY LAW TO SPREAD THE NUMBERS FOR EACH QUARTER? DON'T THEY HAVE LIMITATIONS ON HOW MUCH THEY CAN USE FOR EACH MONTH ETC?
The constructive approach is getting an immediate interim relief by legislation to recapture unused visas in previous years to balance the supply vs demand difference.
6.I AGREE. THIS COULD BE THE ONLY >POTENTIAL <SILVER LINING. HOWEVER, OPPONENTS WHO FOUGHT THE PREVIOUS LEGISLATIONS IN FAVOR OF US WON'T LET IT HAPPEN THAT EASILY.
THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE OTHER THAN TRYING..
hot Community star Alison Brie has
leoindiano
02-19 09:33 AM
This bill has no hope to pass as long as it has that free pass for ANYBODY > 5 years.
Its amnesty when it comes to voting. Who will vote in this tough economy for amnesty....
Its amnesty when it comes to voting. Who will vote in this tough economy for amnesty....
more...
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alias
06-10 01:21 PM
EAD is not tied to an employer/company, it is your application. You may apply for EAD but not work at all, if you wish.
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chanduv23
09-28 05:18 PM
I have met a British guy here in New York who was like that. He loved the money, and always smiled to me for the money. But he never even want to lift a finger for the money he has been paid to do. And he despised me and was ashamed of having to talk to me because he was surrounded by some Southerners who were equally racist.
In fact, he even scammed me for money. And he was a businessman and now a CEO of a corporation.
This is a regular practice. This happens to everyone in their daily life. People tend to be nice to u and smile when you are paying money, but after that they let you know that they hate you for what you are.
In fact, he even scammed me for money. And he was a businessman and now a CEO of a corporation.
This is a regular practice. This happens to everyone in their daily life. People tend to be nice to u and smile when you are paying money, but after that they let you know that they hate you for what you are.
more...
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alex99
05-09 01:05 PM
bump
dresses alison brie twitter.
2ndJuly
09-11 11:53 AM
Here is the info from NumbersUSA:
Vote on Foreign-Worker Bills Postponed Amid Growing Opposition
Updated Thursday, September 11, 2008, 10:00 AM
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday postponed consideration of bills containing massive foreign worker increases (H.R. 5882 and H.R. 5924) after the committee's debate stalled during discussions on the armed forces amnesty bill (H.R. 6020). The committee is expected to resume consideration of all three bills on September 18
Vote on Foreign-Worker Bills Postponed Amid Growing Opposition
Updated Thursday, September 11, 2008, 10:00 AM
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday postponed consideration of bills containing massive foreign worker increases (H.R. 5882 and H.R. 5924) after the committee's debate stalled during discussions on the armed forces amnesty bill (H.R. 6020). The committee is expected to resume consideration of all three bills on September 18
more...
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immigrant2007
02-19 12:20 PM
in case someone has already raised tis point then please pardon my ignorance.
Not sure if anyone came across this in the same bill, for all those who will benefit by 5 year cluse they will be beneift but at the same time they will be excluded from the annual numerical limitation quota that means PD dates moving rapidly for as early as all who were here on 20-FEB-2004 (if the bill is passed today which we all know wont happen). So I guess not bad in giving it a shot for raising support for it
BTW did anyone also looked at the exact text
"It is 5 year of continuous physical presence"
My question and doubt is how different is it from "5 year of legal presence v/s physical presence". People who didnt go to homeland for vacation are less than 10%.
Not sure if anyone came across this in the same bill, for all those who will benefit by 5 year cluse they will be beneift but at the same time they will be excluded from the annual numerical limitation quota that means PD dates moving rapidly for as early as all who were here on 20-FEB-2004 (if the bill is passed today which we all know wont happen). So I guess not bad in giving it a shot for raising support for it
BTW did anyone also looked at the exact text
"It is 5 year of continuous physical presence"
My question and doubt is how different is it from "5 year of legal presence v/s physical presence". People who didnt go to homeland for vacation are less than 10%.
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yagw
07-13 10:06 AM
Thanks...Excerpt from the same document
Only persons with a priority date earlier than a cut-off date are entitled to allotment of a visa number. The cut-off dates are the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd of a month, since VO groups demand for numbers under these dates. (Priority dates of the first through seventh of a month are grouped under the 1st, the eighth through the fourteenth under the 8th, etc.)
It is not a contradiction to the previous statement.
Cut-off-date = 1 ==> PDs before 1st can file (i.e mar-01 cut-off date mean pds till apr-30 can file)
Cut-off-date = 8 ==> PDs before 8 can file (i.e pds 1 to 7 since they are in one bucket)
Cut-off-date = 15 ==> PDs before 15 can file (specifically pds in bucket 8-14 can file)
etc...
Hope it helps. As others predicted, I really think the numbers will not move back. You will get your GC soon.
Only persons with a priority date earlier than a cut-off date are entitled to allotment of a visa number. The cut-off dates are the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd of a month, since VO groups demand for numbers under these dates. (Priority dates of the first through seventh of a month are grouped under the 1st, the eighth through the fourteenth under the 8th, etc.)
It is not a contradiction to the previous statement.
Cut-off-date = 1 ==> PDs before 1st can file (i.e mar-01 cut-off date mean pds till apr-30 can file)
Cut-off-date = 8 ==> PDs before 8 can file (i.e pds 1 to 7 since they are in one bucket)
Cut-off-date = 15 ==> PDs before 15 can file (specifically pds in bucket 8-14 can file)
etc...
Hope it helps. As others predicted, I really think the numbers will not move back. You will get your GC soon.
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varshadas
01-23 12:18 PM
Welcome aboard Hemal.
So here is the deal. The congressman to whose district I do not belong will not entertain any requests.
I called up Mike Ferguson and Rodney P. Frelinghuysen office.
Mike Ferguson's office asked me to fax to the request to his office
and I have to write a letter to Rodney P. Frelinghuysen with details of the issue and who will be attending the meeting.
So I guess, you guys have to contact your local congressmen unlike what I had originally thought.
List of the senators and the congressmen
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=nj
To find your local representative
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
There is no schedule right now for ongoing conference calls. They are adhoc. There was a tri-state chapter call on 1/19/07. Whenever, there is a conference call, there will be a thread in the forums about it.
IV has suggested that the senators of NJ are pro-immigration and that the congressmen are divided. When you call up your local congressmen, just say that you are calling to request a personal meeting with the Congressmen to discuss the immigration legislation.
I am going to talk to IV and find out the exact contents of the letter/fax that we would be sending.
Here is the format letter that you should use to request appointment from your local congressman
Date: 01/24/2007
Dear Congressman XXXX,
I am a concerned constituent writing to you on behalf of ImmigrationVoice, a non profit organization working to get the problems of Employment based Legal Immigration to the attention of lawmakers. I would like to request for a meeting to discuss the problems that the legal high skilled immigrant community is facing.
Employment Based Legal immigration is currently facing some of the worst waiting periods in the recent past. Applicants have to wait to finish their final phase of immigration for as many as 6-7 years because of the lack of employment based green card numbers which is also called Green Card Retrogression. The reasons for these are certain bureaucratic delays, flawed practices and procedures and arcane laws which are not in tune with reality at all.
Please also note that there are more than 350,000 Labor applications pending at the Labor department to be processed. Some of them are as old as from year 2000. These applicants are waiting for certification from the US Department of Labor as high-skilled workers who are not displacing existing American workers in the market.
Subsequent to rigorous but unfruitful recruitment efforts by our employers and other processing stages by USCIS, we still have to face prolonged wait times. It is also to be noted that most of us are already working in the U.S. for the past 5-6 years and are contributing to the U.S. economy in the form of taxes etc - some of which we do not derive any benefit from. This also hurts the businesses in your constituency like my employer because they have to wait indefinitely to hire talented applicants on a permanent basis. This is a very important issue and will determine whether the United States of America remains competitive in the fields of science and technology and retains the best talent from around the world.
ImmigrationVoice is a nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers who are suffering due to these delays and wish to bring this important issue in front of their lawmakers. Hence I would request an appointment so that I can explain these problems and ask for support for some of the legislative measures that have been introduced to alleviate these problems.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
(Place holder for your signature)
Your name:
Your address:
Your email:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may have to make minor changes depending on how the Congressman wants the letter. One of the congressman contacted as for the number of people attending.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Varsha
So here is the deal. The congressman to whose district I do not belong will not entertain any requests.
I called up Mike Ferguson and Rodney P. Frelinghuysen office.
Mike Ferguson's office asked me to fax to the request to his office
and I have to write a letter to Rodney P. Frelinghuysen with details of the issue and who will be attending the meeting.
So I guess, you guys have to contact your local congressmen unlike what I had originally thought.
List of the senators and the congressmen
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=nj
To find your local representative
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
There is no schedule right now for ongoing conference calls. They are adhoc. There was a tri-state chapter call on 1/19/07. Whenever, there is a conference call, there will be a thread in the forums about it.
IV has suggested that the senators of NJ are pro-immigration and that the congressmen are divided. When you call up your local congressmen, just say that you are calling to request a personal meeting with the Congressmen to discuss the immigration legislation.
I am going to talk to IV and find out the exact contents of the letter/fax that we would be sending.
Here is the format letter that you should use to request appointment from your local congressman
Date: 01/24/2007
Dear Congressman XXXX,
I am a concerned constituent writing to you on behalf of ImmigrationVoice, a non profit organization working to get the problems of Employment based Legal Immigration to the attention of lawmakers. I would like to request for a meeting to discuss the problems that the legal high skilled immigrant community is facing.
Employment Based Legal immigration is currently facing some of the worst waiting periods in the recent past. Applicants have to wait to finish their final phase of immigration for as many as 6-7 years because of the lack of employment based green card numbers which is also called Green Card Retrogression. The reasons for these are certain bureaucratic delays, flawed practices and procedures and arcane laws which are not in tune with reality at all.
Please also note that there are more than 350,000 Labor applications pending at the Labor department to be processed. Some of them are as old as from year 2000. These applicants are waiting for certification from the US Department of Labor as high-skilled workers who are not displacing existing American workers in the market.
Subsequent to rigorous but unfruitful recruitment efforts by our employers and other processing stages by USCIS, we still have to face prolonged wait times. It is also to be noted that most of us are already working in the U.S. for the past 5-6 years and are contributing to the U.S. economy in the form of taxes etc - some of which we do not derive any benefit from. This also hurts the businesses in your constituency like my employer because they have to wait indefinitely to hire talented applicants on a permanent basis. This is a very important issue and will determine whether the United States of America remains competitive in the fields of science and technology and retains the best talent from around the world.
ImmigrationVoice is a nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers who are suffering due to these delays and wish to bring this important issue in front of their lawmakers. Hence I would request an appointment so that I can explain these problems and ask for support for some of the legislative measures that have been introduced to alleviate these problems.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
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Thanks,
Varsha
singhsa3
03-04 01:30 PM
Done, thanks for your comments
perhaps you want to make it even simpler?
- Remove all the LC/I-140 details, just say that we are at the last stage of a long and arduous process, and are stuck waiting because of very small immigration quota's that were set decades ago which are completely out of line with real supply-demand for the size of todays high-tech workforce. In addition USCIS inefficiency has resulted in them not utilizing even this tiny quota fully, in the past few years.
- instead of EAD and validity just say getting a mortage is a lot easier if your immigration status is permanent. In this final stage of immigration most of us have work authorization that needs to be renewed every year, and mortgage companies dont accept that.
copy paste the suggested fixes there (or add a link to the administrative fixes campaign post)
perhaps you want to make it even simpler?
- Remove all the LC/I-140 details, just say that we are at the last stage of a long and arduous process, and are stuck waiting because of very small immigration quota's that were set decades ago which are completely out of line with real supply-demand for the size of todays high-tech workforce. In addition USCIS inefficiency has resulted in them not utilizing even this tiny quota fully, in the past few years.
- instead of EAD and validity just say getting a mortage is a lot easier if your immigration status is permanent. In this final stage of immigration most of us have work authorization that needs to be renewed every year, and mortgage companies dont accept that.
copy paste the suggested fixes there (or add a link to the administrative fixes campaign post)
Jaime
09-10 01:04 PM
Process stops if you get laid off and No grace period - No matter whether you have a PhD or Masters from a U.S. university and have been stuck in the green card process for 10 years. If you get laid off after all your contributions and frustrations you are automatically "out of status" that very second, and are expected to LEAVE THE U.S. IMMEDIATELY, doesn't matter if you have kids in school, a mortgage, etc. You'd better leave immediately or you risk being deported and "barred from the U.S." for 10 years (didn't know? Look at the law)
