Congressional staff meeting

[Totoro]

As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.

PLEASE be brief - bullet points would be good.

Also links to articles to support your concerns are welcome. I will put together a package to hand out at the meeting.

I thought of posting a poll on this thread, but decided it would be better to leave the discussion open ended.

[gcformeornot]

1) Stop Counting dependents in annual limit.

[gc_dream07]

2) Remove the country limit
3) Capture the unused Visa

[snathan]

Remove the Country Cap....

[texanguy]

1. Eliminate EAD & AP, let I485 receipt notice be sufficient for travel and employment authorization.
2. Restart H1B visa renewal by mail. Let there be added scrutiny while the application is processed. It atleast wont let people out of country for unknown time.

[Totoro]

2) Remove the country limit
3) Capture the unused Visa

Can you give me some reasons why visas are unused and a percentage.

In other words, why would someone go through all the paperwork and then not get the visa?

[485Mbe4001]

Thank you for your effort. Recapture of unused visas will eliminate most of the backlogs (does it require a congressional approval or if anything can be done as a part of an admin fix). Anything that requires a congressional will be lumped with the CIR, we are a small group of people held hostage at the mercy of CIR.

[snathan]

We also would be happy if we can get the visa re-stamping inside the US rather going to Home country or any other country. We dont have to spend huge amount and struck for months outside the country and lose job...

[snathan]

Thank you for your effort. Recapture of unused visas will eliminate most of the backlogs (does it require a congressional approval or if anything can be done as a part of an admin fix). Anything that requires a congressional will be lumped with the CIR, we are a small group of people held hostage at the mercy of CIR.

It needs blessing from congress...

[gcformeornot]

Can you give me some reasons why visas are unused and a percentage.

In other words, why would someone go through all the paperwork and then not get the visa?

no idea why visas go waste? The annual limit of 140,000 is use or loose it. Processing delays is main reason visas are wasted every year.....

[arc]

Can you give me some reasons why visas are unused and a percentage.

In other words, why would someone go through all the paperwork and then not get the visa?

He meant that 140k Visa numbers allocated each year, out of which less number Visas are actually processed by CIS, all the unused visa numbers in the past which might be more than 300k should be used now to reduce the backlog.

[kchandooo]

It would be very good have an ability to apply for I485 for spouse or any other dependents for primary applicants whose PD is retrogressed.

[gapala]

He meant that 140k Visa numbers allocated each year, out of which less number Visas are actually processed by CIS, all the unused visa numbers in the past which might be more than 300k should be used now to reduce the backlog.
Totoro,

CIS did not issue all those 140K visas for past sevaral years despite of the fact that there were more than 140K applications pending with them during all those years. Those visa numbers were lost and the applications accumulated over the period of time due to inefficient USCIS process.

This is what ombudsman said about this issue and I quote

"For example, when employment-based visas are not used during the year they are authorized, they are lost and are not available for future use without special legislation. In FY 06, over 10,000 employment-based visas were lost, even though USCIS had an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 pending applications for employment-based green cards.36 Based on USCIS use of visa numbers as of May 2007, at present consumption rates approximately 40,000 visas will be lost in FY 07 without a dramatic increase in USCIS requests of visa numbers.37 As illustrated below, since 1994 there have been over 218,000 un-recaptured employment-based visas lost due to underutilization of the employment-based visas. " end quote.

Here's the link to all the issues raised by ombudsman in 2007 annual report.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CISOMB_Annual_Report_2007.pdf

[rick_rajvanshi]

USCIS keeps on changing definition of Backlog as per their convenience.
They should clearly tell how many cases in which category and which county are pending.

We don't need complicated Backlog definitions such as below. Just be transparent and give us Black and White figures as to ascertain where some one stands in line. They may have their internal targets but we need to know BACKLOG from our point of view not USCIS production point of view


The new definition in quantifies the backlog by basing the figure on the number of receipts during the previous number of months that corresponds with target cycle time (usually six) and the current pending count for a given application type. This calculated amount can then be used to assess and determine concrete production targets for backlogged application types and the resources necessary to meet those targets. Therefore, backlog is defined as the difference between pending and receipts for the number of months of target cycle time. (Backlog = Pending – Last Six Months’ receipts). This new definition of backlog better reflects the idea that as long as USCIS is processing its receipts within the designated target cycle time, there is no backlog for those applications as the pending count only reflects cases within [USCIS] target cycle time.



[U]Another issue is out of turn issue of GC . Last year hundreds of visas were given away to people from 2005 AND 2006 PD even though people from 2003 and 2004 were left waiting. Just because DOS and USCIS have to clear the 144k visas before 30 Sept does not mean that they 'll issue Green cards to people who entered line much later.

[wizpal]

You can request them for a separate fastrack queue for legal high skilled, currently employed, workers who can buy a house with a substantial down payment. This has been making rounds in various news papers except for IV. In this economic climate, it's worthwhile atleast to make a such a proposal.

[kate123]

File for AOS irrespective of PD... There are lot of people like me who have approved 140 but are unable to file for AOS since dates are not current.

[amslonewolf]

Citizenship countdown from the date of AOS application instead of after getting the green card.

Advantage to politicians is US Citizens = Votes; Win win situation for both :cool:

[claudia255]

-Visa Recapture
-File I-485 irrespective of PD
-Stop counting dependents against quota
-Require CIS to quarterly publish number of people that applied under EB and report the number of visas given by EB category and country of changeability (probably a dream)

[trueguy]

-Visa Recapture
-File I-485 irrespective of PD
-Stop counting dependents against quota
-USCIS backlog should be transparent so one can predict his turn.
-Remove Country cap. Its unfair for people born in india to wait decades while other nationals get their visa almost immediately.

Family reunion should be very important. I am separated from my wife for 3 years now because of Jul'2007 fiasco. Sent many letters to Senators, President, vice president but nobody is bothered to look at my case

[sanju]

Eliminate EAD renewals every year. This will reduce the paper work and hence improve performance. Unless people change their jobs, there should be no need to renew.



TravInd,

Consider that I am your angel and I just heard your voice. As of this moment, I grant you your wish. You no longer have to renew your EAD every year. From now on you could just renew your EAD every 2 years. Hope this makes you happy.

If you ask me something with your heart, I will listen and may grant your wish. Be nice.

Truly yours,

Angel # 4567


.

[Khujaokutta]

Oh Angel....please help me....i have been waiting in the Q for a long long time....can u kindly...expedite my GC......first i was a Kutta....now due to the itches all over....caused by wait for my GC i have become what my name indicates.....:D

[vactorboy29]

Oh Angel....please help me....i have been waiting in the Q for a long long time....can u kindly...expedite my GC......first i was a Kutta....now due to the itches all over....caused by wait for my GC i have become what my name indicates.....:D

Very funney.....

[snathan]

Set a meaningful standard time frame,based on employment category, within which all applications must be processed. If they could not process an application within the time frame and the application meets the all requirements, the applicant must be issued with green card irrespective of whether a visa number is available or not. Though time frame could differ, it would atleast help the applicants plan their future properly. Most importantly it makes the USCIS accountable.

Eliminate EAD renewals every year. This will reduce the paper work and hence improve performance. Unless people change their jobs, there should be no need to renew.


Come on....please wake up.

[ras]

It would be very good have an ability to apply for I485 for spouse or any other dependents for primary applicants whose PD is retrogressed.
Absolutely. Just for this reason there are hundreds of 485 folks not able to utilize EAD/AP and are still hanging on H1 just so that they can bring their spouse and keep the status.

[suriajay12]

1. Remove Quotas.
2. Make all categories current immediately for India.
3. Anyone 5 years with W2s: Greencard.
4. ,, 10 years ,, : Citizenship.
5. Once current backlogs cleared, remove all EB Categories and create a point based system, independent of employer with a processing time of 2-3 years.

[aa_ke_phas_gaya]

- Grant option to have citizenship or green card to those who have been working for US for 10years or more without getting out of status.
- Issue one time executive order to grant green cards to those who have Priority Dates older than 7 years.
- Visa re capture if above two are not issued.
- Count primary applicant as a visa number and not dependents.
- If none of above are done at least deny/approve I-485 application as soon as possible and issue green cards later so that applicants know what they should do with their lives.
- If none of the above are possible, please shut the immigration.

[pappu]

Oh Angel....please help me....i have been waiting in the Q for a long long time....can u kindly...expedite my GC......first i was a Kutta....now due to the itches all over....caused by wait for my GC i have become what my name indicates.....:D

Should it not be-- KhajuaKutta ?

[Nil]

As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.

PLEASE be brief - bullet points would be good.

Also links to articles to support your concerns are welcome. I will put together a package to hand out at the meeting.

I thought of posting a poll on this thread, but decided it would be better to leave the discussion open ended.

Issues that should be addressed:
- The lawyer-employer nexus determines the category of immigration, often to their advantage.
- Documents like labor and I140 are never shared with the employee.
- The unfortunate in the slowest category gets a shot at US citizenship far later (10-15 yrs) than their more lucky counterparts.
- Changing employment is very risky and an employee remains bound to serve the same employer for many years, or have the process reset.

[rego]

1. Administrative Fix to issue AP and EAD after I140 Approval instead of after I485 Filing
2. H1B Visa Revalidation by Mail

These have been discussed in detail by Immigration-Law.Com

[Totoro]

These are great points. They have helped me compile a list of issues and possible solutions.

Someone sent me a PM with a personal story that I thought exemplified some of the frustrations faced by skilled immigrants. I am going to include that story with my handout. If you have a strong story to tell about the broken system, feel free to PM me. You do not need to include any identifying information, but the story should be impactful. Remember this session is all about educating people who have influence.

One last point. One person mentioned about the proposal to offer green cards to immigrants who buy houses. This is a non-issue because if the backlog of greencards was cleared, many of those people would buy houses. I am sure many GC aspirants will not buy houses because they are uncertain if they will be here long enough to benefit.

[vbkris77]

Hello, Thanks for the help. Here is my list.

1. As CIS told Congress in a hearing last year, They indeed wasted visas due to administrative delays. Clearing such a backlog would make all EB current. - Best case scenario

2. Allowing people to file Adjustment of Status (AOS) after their immigration petition (I140) is approved but were unable due to their country cap. Relax/clarify the AC-21 rule for Same or Similar occupation. How much long wait is considered long enough to move-on? (in general terms) - Average Scenario

3. Let CIS publish the real backlog of the EB AOS applications (Backlog defined by common sense - should include all the EB AOS cases and not just what they think not backedup due to Visa availability) pending by country, and PD in 2-3 months. - Worst case Scenario. Atleast helps us plan our future by deciding to continue the wait or get back home.

4. Starting the Citizenship clock after I140 approved.

Thanks again for your help..

[snathan]

Dude,

I am not sure which point u did not like. For me they help every one in the line waiting for gc.
Having a tolerable time ensures that USCIS processes all the applications they receive in reasonable time. Eliminating renewals reduces lot paper work, money, time and energy. If this is considered as unacceptable I do not know what one should expect. I just wrote what I think is meaningful. If have a better idea, please feel free to comment. But stop commenting on other. That will only spoil the good spirit of the members in this thread


I am not saying that I don’t like your suggestion.. They already started issuing 2 year EAD. Where are you all these days...
:D:D:D

[Totoro]

I am not saying that I don’t like your suggestion.. They already started issuing 2 year EAD. Where are you all these days...
:D:D:D

My meeting isn't going to address tactical issues such as the ones you are disputing. It is more of a general meeting to educate staffers about the general frustrations we all experience and to offer some general suggestions on how to solve the problems. Hopefully it will lead to more meetings and perhaps at some point we can get involved in specifics when new legislation is proposed to address these issues.

[ncrtpMay2004]

Instead of 140K individual green cards change to 140K Family (Primary+ Spouse + Kid(s) ) green cards.
Ability to change jobs after 2 years of 140 approval. (H1 time + LC time + I140 Time + 2 year would easily be 8+ years)

[bobzibub]

Someone from the immigrant community should have a seat a the board level in USCIS. We are the primary stake holders in this system, yet we have to resort to public demonstrations to get a point across to them. Is it me or is there something wrong in this??
AILA represents their interests and they get regular meetings. Often ours are the same. Sometimes not.
I'm sure the business community goes golfing with them on weekends.

We need a seat at the table. Not just for the issues raised but for all the future ones too.

[Marphad]

2) Remove the country limit
3) Capture the unused Visa

Rather than saying remove country cap, I would suggest:

n) Applications more than 5 years old are not subject to country cap.

[whitecollarslave]

As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.


What was in "our" favor in the last stimulus bill? Which bill are you talking about?

[Totoro]

What was in "our" favor in the last stimulus bill? Which bill are you talking about?

They were going to deny immigrants the stimulus rebate in the 2009 bill, but we got them to drop the restriction just before the bill was signed into law. There is a discussion about it in the forum.

[Totoro]

I have received messages from people who have been here around 10 years without a GC. I wonder how common this is. What do you think about proposing a "fast track" for people who have been here legally for more than a certain amount of time?

[Harivinder]

2) Remove the country limit
3) Capture the unused Visa

Thank you, Totoro for leading this effort. My suggestions are same as gc_dream07, but I would like to reword the suggestion
2) Remove the country cap for employment based immigration (the argument we should put forward is that when it comes to employment based immigration the deciding criteria should be individual’s skills now where the individual was born).
3) Capture the unused Visa (Green Cards)

[Keeme]

As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.

PLEASE be brief - bullet points would be good.

Also links to articles to support your concerns are welcome. I will put together a package to hand out at the meeting.

I thought of posting a poll on this thread, but decided it would be better to leave the discussion open ended.

Totoro: I really liked the way you alone initiated and handled the fight against Stimulate Package - ITIN issue. You can be a true leader and helpful in many way to this/any community. People like you can make difference in people's lives.

There are so many issues we are facing as a community. Let's pick top 3 ( OR 5 )for you to discuss with them. If there is any room, you can discuss least imp. issues as well.

Issue NO 1: Retrogression / Backlog for EB3/EB2
How to solve it ?
- Visa Recapture
- Saving visa by not issuing visas to applicant who are not current as per "Processing Times' Currently, CIS is approving many I-485s with PDs having currant but are not currant as per ' Processing Times'. 'Processing Times' needs to be respected. This will save huge number of visa for retrogressed countries.
- Buying Visa for dependants and not counting towards annual cap. ( Easy way to reduce backlog - more than 50% visa would be saved. Will solve problem in 1-2 years. No other action required.)
- Removing per country limit.( Requires changes in law - tough task/long shot.)
- Buy a house and get a GC idea ( its been widely discussed in media ...)
- Any more suggestion ?
-


Issue NO: 2 Allowing people to file I-485 /EAD/AP even their PD is not current. - MUST BE DONE.
Let's help these guys who can't file I-485/EAD as their PDs are not current. These are the people who are likely to suffer most in case of a job loss/visa issue. Even, their LCA/ I-140s are approved, it will become useless if they get fired/companies run some in problems etc. which can happen to any one in current times. Personally, I say - this should be our priority - can be fixed easily. It would also attract them to join us. A dying soldier saves other first.

Issue NO: 3

Issue NO : 4

Issue No - 5 Allowing work-permit for H4/dependants ( Not that important but will change lives for many)

Issue No - 6 AC21 - Helps greatly to individuals in tough times in maintaining their status. Any further modifications for AC21 ?

[thomachan72]

Mostly repeating
1) H1b extension and visa stamping by post (very very essential)
2) Reinstate premium processing for I-140 (very urgent)
2) Preventing wastage and recapture of visa numbers (atleast atempt)
3) I cannot buy a house because of uncertainity
4) WE TEND TO SAVE MORE AND SPEND LESS WHEN THIS UNCERTAINITY PREVAILS. and lot of us have tremendous spending capability (cars, houses, tourism etc)
5) Canada and Europe needs me and lot of US educated/skilled people, so please USE us BETTER.

[vrkgali]

I have received messages from people who have been here around 10 years without a GC. I wonder how common this is. What do you think about proposing a "fast track" for people who have been here legally for more than a certain amount of time?

totoro ..Very good initiative.

My situation is like this.

I am here in usa for the past 10 years.my I140 got denied last year and the MTR wait time is 20months. The RFE before denial was "ability to pay" . Even after producing all the documents requested by USCIS the I-140 got denied.

I started my GC process again by joining other company but Since My I140 is denied I am in the queue again from the first step the labor process, losing , sept2002 -EB2 priority date.

The get the status of MTR we need to wait for 20 months. 13 months more for me.

1.If you are able to get fast track for MTR s for I140, that is great.Justice delayed is justice denied.

2.Is there any way getting the priority date irrespective of I140 status.

3.what about automatic conversion of EB3 into EB2 if the application is at AOS is pending for 3 years.

[mirage]

Even if one of the following items could be achieved, it will get us out of this mess. None of this increase any Green Card numbrs, even recapturing of unused Visa faced a stiff opposition last year, as they kept saying, you may call it visa recapture or whatever but for us it is giving 0.5 million new green Cards.

1. Remove Country Caps for Good
2. Remove Country Caps. Temporarily
3. Exempt people from Country Caps who have been waiting for 3, 4 or 5 years(You pick a number).

[mdumar]

Thank you, Totoro for leading this effort. My suggestions are same as gc_dream07, but I would like to reword the suggestion
2) Remove the country cap for employment based immigration (the argument we should put forward is that when it comes to employment based immigration the deciding criteria should be individual’s skills now where the individual was born).
3) Capture the unused Visa (Green Cards)

Exactly, it is okay to have country cap for those who are coming in through lottery or for those who come in through family based GCs. But for employment based GCs, it should be the skill that matters, not from which country he comes from.

[hsingh82]

Totoro: I really liked the way you alone initiated and handled the fight against Stimulate Package - ITIN issue. You can be a true leader and helpful in many way to this/any community. People like you can make difference in people's lives.

There are so many issues we are facing as a community. Let's pick top 3 ( OR 5 )for you to discuss with them. If there is any room, you can discuss least imp. issues as well.

Issue NO 1: Retrogression / Backlog for EB3/EB2
How to solve it ?
- Visa Recapture
- Saving visa by not issuing visas to applicant who are not current as per "Processing Times' Currently, CIS is approving many I-485s with PDs having currant but are not currant as per ' Processing Times'. 'Processing Times' needs to be respected. This will save huge number of visa for retrogressed countries.
- Buying Visa for dependants and not counting towards annual cap. ( Easy way to reduce backlog - more than 50% visa would be saved. Will solve problem in 1-2 years. No other action required.)
- Removing per country limit.( Requires changes in law - tough task/long shot.)
- Buy a house and get a GC idea ( its been widely discussed in media ...)
- Any more suggestion ?
-


Issue NO: 2 Allowing people to file I-485 /EAD/AP even their PD is not current. - MUST BE DONE.
Let's help these guys who can't file I-485/EAD as their PDs are not current. These are the people who are likely to suffer most in case of a job loss/visa issue. Even, their LCA/ I-140s are approved, it will become useless if they get fired/companies run some in problems etc. which can happen to any one in current times. Personally, I say - this should be our priority - can be fixed easily. It would also attract them to join us. A dying soldier saves other first.

Issue NO: 3

Issue NO : 4

Issue No - 5 Allowing work-permit for H4/dependants ( Not that important but will change lives for many)

Issue No - 6 AC21 - Helps greatly to individuals in tough times in maintaining their status. Any further modifications for AC21 ?

You mentioned Stimulus package and ITIN issue, as I remember people with spouses having ITIN didn't get any rebate...

[gc28262]

My suggestions:

1. Combine labor certification and I-140 into a single process. It doesn't make sense to have two stages for employment based petition.

Advantages:
Candidate will know the result in a single stage. Once that stage is cleared he will know he is good to go from an employer perspective. Right now even after clearing Labor stage one is not sure what happens at I-140 stage. This leads to more uncertainty, worst case he will have to restart the GC process again if 140 stage fails after waiting for couple of years.

2. Ability to Pay requirement should be only for a few years ( 2- 3 years) from the priority date.

Right now if DOL/USCIS takes its own sweet time in processing perm/140 cases ( as happened for July fiasco cases), employer has to prove ability to Pay for all the years from the priority date. A company can close down, can go bankrupt in a recession during these long years. We have seen big wallstreet firms go belly up in this recession.

3. Pre-adjudicate all 485 cases within 18 months from the day it is filed. Once pre-adjudicated, the case should be accorded a FINAL status which means all processing requirement for the case has been met and no further RFEs can be issued on the case. Online status of the case should reflect the FINAL status.

Right now backlogged country candidates has to wait for a long time in uncertainty due to the current process. Once this change is implemented, candidates can have a peace of mind and guarantee that they will get a GC once visa number are available.

[GT7481]

Drop the country limits atleast for some time (I think between 1998 - 2002 there were 190,000 H1's Allowed but there was not increase in the number of green cards issued it still stayed at 140 k anually) . Because there was need of immigrant work force in this country the H1 b # were raised. The immigration system is like a Pipe both the inlet and the outlet have to have the same diameter otherwise the pipe can be clogged(back logged). So during the 1998 -2002 the inlet was made broader but nothing was done to the outlet so now we have the clog.

Recapture the unsued Visas lost due to the adminstrative proccessing delays like name check, back ground check etc. For these visa numbers there were actaully people waiting for in the line but got pushed back due to adminstartive proccessing delays , but now all the paper work is ready after all the adminstrative processes but the visa #s are lost due to the policy of not carrying it over.

The other incentive may be green card for people buying a home ( Most people in the EB community have stable jobs and good income and clean back grounds).

Implementing these can help the economy and the housing market How?
More greencards -> More people from the Legal immigrant community start their own and implement their own ideas which have been bubbling in their heads for years . This could create more jobs.

More greencards -> More people from the legal immigrant community buy their own home which will drive up the demand in the housing market, which inturn will help stabilize the home prices.

These are some of my thoughts.

Gt7481

[tabletpc]

Great to know about your effort. Thanks a lot. Greatly apprecite if you could consider my request too...!!!

Dependent should be removed from the cap or the primary applicant should be able to bring the dependet to US with some kind of visa while the primary applicant is using EAD/GC(its ok if this visa does not allow the dependent to work in US untill the PD becomes current and his/her 485 is filed)

At present there are many singles/married who are not switching to EAD in order not to jeoperdize the spouse H4 visa.

Thanks again for your effort..good luck...!!!!

[Totoro]

You mentioned Stimulus package and ITIN issue, as I remember people with spouses having ITIN didn't get any rebate...

That is for the 2008 stimulus. They were going to do the same in 2009, but it was reversed at the last minute. I am sorry I could not get the 2008 stimulus overturned. The best we were able to do was the HEART Act, which only helps those who are active military. However, the 2009 stimulus is available for everyone. This time it is not a one time payment, but you will see a small increase in your monthly paycheck.

[Totoro]

I received a request to share my personal story with you.

I have been in the US for 10 years, have owned a home for the entire time, and I am currently on H1B. My employer will not sponsor me for no particular reason and all the horror stories about GC processing have discouraged me from pursuing it on my own. I am currently seeking opportunities in my home country.

[hsingh82]

That is for the 2008 stimulus. They were going to do the same in 2009, but it was reversed at the last minute. I am sorry I could not get the 2008 stimulus overturned. The best we were able to do was the HEART Act, which only helps those who are active military. However, the 2009 stimulus is available for everyone. This time it is not a one time payment, but you will see a small increase in your monthly paycheck.

Thanks for your efforts Totoro, I was confused because the guy said last year! Good going.

[sundarpn]

Pl. add this:

Adding / filing for Spouse's 485 should not be dependent on one's priority being current. This in turn forces the primay applicant to remain on H1b status to maintain spouse's H4.

(Above applies to those folks who got married after their primary 485 was filed but expected to remain pending due to retrogression.)


I would think that the above ties into the fact that dependents are currently being counted for visa numbers.

[Eternal_Hope]

I have received messages from people who have been here around 10 years without a GC. I wonder how common this is. What do you think about proposing a "fast track" for people who have been here legally for more than a certain amount of time?

Thanks for your efforts.

My suggestion is: those who have maxed out their 6 yrs on H-1B + have atleast crossed the labor and I-140 stage; should be automatically granted the green card.

These are the people who are really stuck, because if their green card does not get approved, they have no option but to return. Also, if they lose their job they are out of options as they cannot seek another H1B extension or transfer.

Typically, these people would have young children who were born here, and go to school here. These children sing the US national anthem and pledge allegience to the flag everyday at their school. Making these people wait and wait for their green cards helps no one. They are not taking anyones jobs, they are educated, civilized people. They have proved their usefulness to their companies and the society over the past 7~8 years.

[gapala]

Thanks for your efforts.

My suggestion is: those who have maxed out their 6 yrs on H-1B + have atleast crossed the labor and I-140 stage; should be automatically granted the green card.

These are the people who are really stuck, because if their green card does not get approved, they have no option but to return. Also, if they lose their job they are out of options as they cannot seek another H1B extension or transfer.

Typically, these people would have young children who were born here, and go to school here. These children sing the US national anthem and pledge allegience to the flag everyday at their school. Making these people wait and wait for their green cards helps no one. They are not taking anyones jobs, they are educated, civilized people. They have proved their usefulness to their companies and the society over the past 7~8 years.
First of, they (kids) would not require a GC as the children born in here are citizens. Now if your reference is to GC for parents, it would look like the famous "anchor baby" situation, which was raised by illegals in the past. It didn't cut it for them. I do not think this argument will get us any where close, long story short, we cannot win playing emotional game given that kids can come back to US once they grow up. politically, rest of the reasons are personal choices made by us.

Our strongest argument would be how can we help ease the situation that the country is in now?
It should be about our contributions to this society/economy and providing competitiveness at global level.

[syedajmal]

Just 2 simple things...

1, Green card to anyone who has been employed in the US for 5 Consecutive years( can provide W2 for the past 5 years)
2, Citizenship for someone who has been in the US for 10 years.

1.1, Once this provision kicks in normal approval within a specific time frame. say 6/12 months.
1.2, They can also tie the 5 GC years with some minimum salary/prevailing age with region of employment.

Advantages to us..
- Removes all the stuff to do with country impartiality.
- Makes us independent of employer.
- Makes us competitive.

Advantages for them..
- Simple
- Provides proof that the individual has been productive to the economy/country in the past.
- They may wanna tie Citizenship with the 40 Credits from Social Security or something if that helps.
- Removes loopholes which assists in driving down wages as employee would like to make sure he is employed enough to meet the prevailing wage for the year. (Drive the complain that we bring down rates etc)

There might be more advantages, but I just wrote down a few.

[gapala]

You might want to add some important words there. Otherwise you will be at the tail of 12 million people queue and god knows how long would that take them to clear.

There are a big disadvantage for them.
- They will not be able to milk us of those dollars on EAD/AP renewals year after year

Just 2 simple things...

1, Green card to anyone who has been "legally" employed in the US for 5 Consecutive years( can provide W2 for the past 5 years)
2, Citizenship for someone who has been in the US "legally" for 10 years.

1.1, Once this provision kicks in normal approval within a specific time frame. say 6/12 months.
1.2, They can also tie the 5 GC years with some minimum salary/prevailing age with region of employment.

Advantages to us..
- Removes all the stuff to do with country impartiality.
- Makes us independent of employer.
- Makes us competitive.

Advantages for them..
- Simple
- Provides proof that the individual has been productive to the economy/country in the past.
- They may wanna tie Citizenship with the 40 Credits from Social Security or something if that helps.
- Removes loopholes which assists in driving down wages as employee would like to make sure he is employed enough to meet the prevailing wage for the year. (Drive the complain that we bring down rates etc)

There might be more advantages, but I just wrote down a few.

[bsbawa10]

Very nice thread. Can somebody summarize/collect all these things ? These things can be used for all purposes..like to write to Zoe 2. To write to USCIS itself 3. To write to Mr. President. and many other places

[spi_50us]

1) Visa recapture
2) Eliminate country cap
3) Eliminate applicants with graduate degrees from annual cap

Item 3 may not help a lot of applicants directly, but it will free up visa numbers in the annual cap.

[joydiptac]

Thanks for your efforts.

My suggestion is: those who have maxed out their 6 yrs on H-1B + have atleast crossed the labor and I-140 stage; should be automatically granted the green card.

These are the people who are really stuck, because if their green card does not get approved, they have no option but to return. Also, if they lose their job they are out of options as they cannot seek another H1B extension or transfer.

Typically, these people would have young children who were born here, and go to school here. These children sing the US national anthem and pledge allegience to the flag everyday at their school. Making these people wait and wait for their green cards helps no one. They are not taking anyones jobs, they are educated, civilized people. They have proved their usefulness to their companies and the society over the past 7~8 years.


Thank you Totoro. People like you keeps the hope alive in our heart that someday justice will be done.
So far all the arguments and suggestions were really good. But Totoro seems to be looking for compelling stories. There are very depressing cases where people had to restart their GC process for no fault of their own. And some people have been here for more than 10 years still rotting in the queue hoping to get a GC and move on with their dreams to become a Citizen of this country.
However the collective compelling story is what Eternal Hope has expressed. This is exactly the situation for people from India/China.
Sure anchor babies is not a great argument for illegals cause it promotes illegal immigration. (In fact I heard in some countries Citizenship by birth only works if the parents are legals. But thats a different story.).
Let us say because of the reasons listed by Eternal Hope we are forced to go back to our home countries.
Firstly, How fair will that be for our children who are Legit Citizens of US.
These innocent kids know only US as their home. Just as much as any other US Citizen. Most of the kids can only speak english. They can barely understand their mother tongue. Point is they are just as American as any American kid.
If they are forced to go to a foreign country, far from their friends and familiar surroundings. Had the change been for the better, still they would feel they were wronged. My guess is they will hold a grudge against us, their parents, and their own country.
This to me is compelling reason, specially since I am a Democrat (sorry can't vote yet).
BTW, my moral support has always with Obama, and with Zoe Loefgren.
Many of us cried when Obama read his oath. That was the defining moment for all people who have been subjected to injustice, been told that they were not good enough because of their race or country of origin. Think about it... The Chinese and Indians having to wait so many years just to get a GC is injustice being done to a people of certain origin. Oh well!

[JazzByTheBay]

Having to wait 10 years for mere permanent resident status in a country in itself is ridiculous, compared to processing times in countries such as Canada, and Australia.

If anything, the period should be much shorter - about 3-5 years from entry as H1B (or any other work visa).

It's critical that the time start from date of entry with a work visa - not filing of labor certification/I-140/I-485. Many folks may have had to change jobs multiple times (for example, during and after the .COM bust) and the process would've restarted each time.

jazz

I have received messages from people who have been here around 10 years without a GC. I wonder how common this is. What do you think about proposing a "fast track" for people who have been here legally for more than a certain amount of time?

[JazzByTheBay]

We need to underscore this point over and over again with a sense of urgency. Having to wait ~5-10 years for permanent residence **just because of country of birth**, a discrimination practiced only against Indians and Chinese (well, I know it's country quotas and each country has one, but it only impacts Indians and Chinese) is nothing but a grave human rights abuse.

As the President has said many times over, "the time is now". This needs to be fixed.

jazz

Thank you Totoro. People like you keeps the hope alive in our heart that someday justice will be done.
So far all the arguments and suggestions were really good. But Totoro seems to be looking for compelling stories. There are very depressing cases where people had to restart their GC process for no fault of their own. And some people have been here for more than 10 years still rotting in the queue hoping to get a GC and move on with their dreams to become a Citizen of this country.
However the collective compelling story is what Eternal Hope has expressed. This is exactly the situation for people from India/China.
Sure anchor babies is not a great argument for illegals cause it promotes illegal immigration. (In fact I heard in some countries Citizenship by birth only works if the parents are legals. But thats a different story.).
Let us say because of the reasons listed by Eternal Hope we are forced to go back to our home countries.
Firstly, How fair will that be for our children who are Legit Citizens of US.
These innocent kids know only US as their home. Just as much as any other US Citizen. Most of the kids can only speak english. They can barely understand their mother tongue. Point is they are just as American as any American kid.
If they are forced to go to a foreign country, far from their friends and familiar surroundings. Had the change been for the better, still they would feel they were wronged. My guess is they will hold a grudge against us, their parents, and their own country.
This to me is compelling reason, specially since I am a Democrat (sorry can't vote yet).
BTW, my moral support has always with Obama, and with Zoe Loefgren.
Many of us cried when Obama read his oath. That was the defining moment for all people who have been subjected to injustice, been told that they were not good enough because of their race or country of origin. Think about it... The Chinese and Indians having to wait so many years just to get a GC is injustice being done to a people of certain origin. Oh well!

[Totoro]

We need to underscore this point over and over again with a sense of urgency. Having to wait ~5-10 years for permanent residence **just because of country of birth**, a discrimination practiced only against Indians and Chinese (well, I know it's country quotas and each country has one, but it only impacts Indians and Chinese) is nothing but a grave human rights abuse.

As the President has said many times over, "the time is now". This needs to be fixed.

jazz

Indeed, the visa process does favor white Europeans over Asians and Latinos.

Having to wait 10 years for mere permanent resident status in a country in itself is ridiculous, compared to processing times in countries such as Canada, and Australia.




My brother-in-law, who is from S. America became a Canadian citizen 3 years after he was granted residency in Canada. The decision is based on points for education, language skills, job experience, etc.

[JazzByTheBay]

Many of us have gone through the Canadian immigration process and received permanent residence there "as a backup". It's a monumental waste of time and resources.

The several thousand dollars worth of additional (and mostly unnecessary) expense could be better spent here in the States. Something that can perhaps also be highlighted in your presentations.

jazz

Indeed, the visa process does favor white Europeans over Asians and Latinos.




My brother-in-law, who is from S. America became a Canadian citizen 3 years after he was granted residency in Canada. The decision is based on points for education, language skills, job experience, etc.

[bikram_das_in]

BAIL OUR LEGAL WORKERS

1) Green Card for People who have worked legally more than five years.
2) Citizenship for who have worked legally more than 10 years.

[bikram_das_in]

BAIL OUT LEGAL WORKERS

1) Green Card for People who have worked legally more than five years.
2) Citizenship for who have worked legally more than 10 years.

[Totoro]

Many of us have gone through the Canadian immigration process and received permanent residence there "as a backup". It's a monumental waste of time and resources.

The several thousand dollars worth of additional (and mostly unnecessary) expense could be better spent here in the States. Something that can perhaps also be highlighted in your presentations.

jazz

It could be a waste of time if your plan is to be in the US. Everyone I know who went through the process in Canada planned to stay in Canada. I was just pointing out how easy it is there compared to here and the fact that they don't discriminate against people because of their racial or ethnic background.

Canada could be a good model for the US. Therefore, I thought about comparing the processes during the meeting.

[Totoro]

Hi Totoro, if you would like any or many of us to accompany you to your meetings for bigger impact - you can let us know, we will be happy to fly down even from CA to DC and meet up with the law makers.

Good luck to us!

Thanks for the offer, but this is just a preliminary meeting for me to meet some of the people I have worked with over the past year via phone and email. However, since these people have some influence, I also wanted to discuss with them some of the more important issues facing skilled immigrants. I will mention the idea of meeting with more people in the future. I think it is important for them to be more in touch with those who are affected by immigration policies. My sense is that many of them don't understand the issues very well.

[suriajay12]

As some of you know, I have been working with news media, government leaders, and immigration lawyers over the past year because of the stimulus debacle. As a result, I have developed some strong contacts in government. I will be meeting some congressional immigration staffers in the next few days and I have developed a list of issues to discuss. If you want to post your own issues, feel free to do so in this thread and I will add them to the list. These are the same people who helped get the last stimulus bill changed in our favor, so they do have influence.

PLEASE be brief - bullet points would be good.

Also links to articles to support your concerns are welcome. I will put together a package to hand out at the meeting.

I thought of posting a poll on this thread, but decided it would be better to leave the discussion open ended.


WOW!!.. whats a response.. Keep going..
At the same time, keep trying yourselves also by whatever means possible. Totoro is trying so hard for us, and even if we have five guys like this with such contacts, yet the efforts are not sufficient. We must also help ourselves by our individual efforts like writing to change.gov etc.. Lets not put all the 6 pages of ideas in just one basket. Since there is difference between eggs and ideas, duplicate the ideas and put them in other ways also, apart from just here.

Totoro,
Thanks for your efforts.
We all missed one point. Can you please update your profile.
Are Canadians also backlogged in this mess.
And you said "As some of you know...." . Were you try in these lines before too.

[Totoro]

WOW!!.. whats a response.. Keep going..
At the same time, keep trying yourselves also by whatever means possible. Totoro is trying so hard for us, and even if we have five guys like this with such contacts, yet the efforts are not sufficient. We must also help ourselves by our individual efforts like writing to change.gov etc.. Lets not put all the 6 pages of ideas in just one basket. Since there is difference between eggs and ideas, duplicate the ideas and put them in other ways also, apart from just here.

Totoro,
Thanks for your efforts.
We all missed one point. Can you please update your profile.
Are Canadians also backlogged in this mess.
And you said "As some of you know...." . Were you try in these lines before too.

Canadians don't have as many problems as Indians, but a broken system doesn't work for anyone. I know of Canadians who are also very frustrated with the system, myself included.

[suriajay12]

Canadians don't have as many problems as Indians, but a broken system doesn't work for anyone. I know of Canadians who are also very frustrated with the system, myself included.

Very quick response.. good. You are trying to do a good job.

You missed two points:
Can you please update your profile.
And you said "As some of you know...." . Were you trying in these lines before too. Can you direct me to any one of your forums more than 2 months old where we can see what you did before.

Trust me, in the past we knew of some guys who tried to distract the forum attention with proposals of doing somethings in the lines as you have said. Their goal is to distract and divert attention.
Not that we do not trust you, but we expect you have atleast your profile updated.
What do you do, when you come across someone who says I can get you a big job done for you, as I have contacts.. Not blindly trust, right.. We also check he his credentials. I am to some extent doing that, to be frank, not that everyone has profiles here with real information.
I told about you to my friends, and they asked me "Why do we trust him, dont you think he may be a Canadian who is trying to distract these innocent Indians and hence make sure they remain in backlogs"...

[snathan]

Very quick response.. good. You are trying to do a good job.

You missed two points:
Can you please update your profile.
And you said "As some of you know...." . Were you trying in these lines before too. Can you direct me to any one of your forums more than 2 months old where we can see what you did before.

Trust me, in the past we knew of some guys who tried to distract the forum attention with proposals of doing somethings in the lines as you have said. Their goal is to distract and divert attention.
Not that we do not trust you, but we expect you have atleast your profile updated.
What do you do, when you come across someone who says I can get you a big job done for you, as I have contacts.. Not blindly trust, right.. We also check he his credentials. I am to some extent doing that, to be frank, not that everyone has profiles here with real information.
I told about you to my friends, and they asked me "Why do we trust him, dont you think he may be a Canadian who is trying to distract these innocent Indians and hence make sure they remain in backlogs"...



I think you and your friends become Paranoid... your each and every post is convincing me that. If you don’t trust anyone including the IV...why don’t you and your great friends lead the effort. It’s always easy to finger point, suspect and criticize others for whatever reason... Please don’t deviate from the original topic. We are here for long time and know what totoro is doing for this community. I request you to refrain from posting anything like this if you are not able to add anything useful to the thread and community. It is doing more harm than good...

What your great friends are doing. If they are so concerned about us, why don’t they join IV and lead the effort. just sitting on the fence and criticizing others...? I would request you to stop quoting your friends for anything.. we are not bothering what they are thinking about us and what we are doing specially when they are not part of the community. By the way they are the same friends who promised $3000 for IV? are they imaginary friends or real?

[Totoro]

Trust me, in the past we knew of some guys who tried to distract the forum attention with proposals of doing somethings in the lines as you have said. Their goal is to distract and divert attention.


First, I am not promising to solve anything. I am just saying that I will bring up the issues when I have my meeting. If this thread is a distraction, then feel free to ignore it.

Second, those who have participated in this forum over the past year know about the issues I was working on.

Third, the forum moderators have my contact information and I have corresponded directly with them (Aman Kapoor). If you don't believe I am who I say I am, feel free to contact the mods.

I am not sure what the point is about "innocent Indians." Does it really matter if I am Canadian? Is this forum restricted to South Asians?

[snathan]

First, I am not promising to solve anything. I am just saying that I will bring up the issues when I have my meeting. If this thread is a distraction, then feel free to ignore it.

Second, those who have participated in this forum over the past year know about the issues I was working on.

Third, the forum moderators have my contact information and I have corresponded directly with them (Aman Kapoor). If you don't believe I am who I say I am, feel free to contact the mods.

I am not sure what the point is about "innocent Indians." Does it really matter if I am Canadian? Is this forum restricted to South Asians?

Hi totro...Please ignore him and move on. If you read his other posts you would understand this. Please dont deviate from the core issues and wasting time to answering people who are raising unrealted questions.

[gcdreamer05]

Hi Totoro,

Please dont get distracted by posts of few "idiots" who do not know who you are and what you have done to help folks on h4 and h1. They are new and they are not aware of your good intentions, only folks who have been following this forums for a long time know about you.

so you need not prove to anyone who you are or what you do, we all know about you and are really grateful for what you have done already.

I just have one request - can we eliminate the fact that our PD has to become current to apply for AOS, so that dependents of 485 filed members who have still not filed 485 can file now and atleast get a EAD/AP/SSN and they can start their careers. This should not be that tough, since anyway one day they got to file and it also brings money to USCIS.

So my request is,

Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!
Allow folks to file for AOS and not wait for PD to be current !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks
Dreamer


First, I am not promising to solve anything. I am just saying that I will bring up the issues when I have my meeting. If this thread is a distraction, then feel free to ignore it.

Second, those who have participated in this forum over the past year know about the issues I was working on.

Third, the forum moderators have my contact information and I have corresponded directly with them (Aman Kapoor). If you don't believe I am who I say I am, feel free to contact the mods.

I am not sure what the point is about "innocent Indians." Does it really matter if I am Canadian? Is this forum restricted to South Asians?

[ganguteli]

WOW!!.. Very quick response.. good. You are trying to do a good job.

You missed two points:
Can you please update your profile.
And you said "As some of you know...." . Were you trying in these lines before too. Can you direct me to any one of your forums more than 2 months old where we can see what you did before.

Trust me, in the past we knew of some guys who tried to distract the forum attention with proposals of doing somethings in the lines as you have said. Their goal is to distract and divert attention.
Not that we do not trust you, but we expect you have atleast your profile updated.
What do you do, when you come across someone who says I can get you a big job done for you, as I have contacts.. Not blindly trust, right.. We also check he his credentials. I am to some extent doing that, to be frank, not that everyone has profiles here with real information.
I told about you to my friends, and they asked me "Why do we trust him, dont you think he may be a Canadian who is trying to distract these innocent Indians and hence make sure they remain in backlogs"....

You and your fake friends.
I remember your posts where you claimed that your friends are ready to contribute huge amounts of money to IV.
Where have they gone now when a funding drive was started?

You cannot even contribute a mere $25 and talk about contributing thousands?
Please avoid trying to make tall claims and promises you cannot keep. It makes a man lose his credibility. A man is known and is respected by the word he keeps.

This Totoro guy is at least doing something and going to meet a lawmaker office? Have you ever had the courage to visit a lawmaker. I only saw posts where you were asking people to send spam emails annonymously to lawmaker offices.

If you are asking him to enterreal profile information, May I ask you if your profile is real? Does it have your real name, phone address, main email, employer name etc in it? Moderators can verfy it? If not then you are also are like most other annonymous users on the internet.

Let us get real and recognize those who are trying to do something genguine. This guy has already emailed IV about himself so why are you trying to distract people.

[suriajay12]

First, I am not promising to solve anything. I am just saying that I will bring up the issues when I have my meeting. If this thread is a distraction, then feel free to ignore it.

Second, those who have participated in this forum over the past year know about the issues I was working on.

Third, the forum moderators have my contact information and I have corresponded directly with them (Aman Kapoor). If you don't believe I am who I say I am, feel free to contact the mods.

I am not sure what the point is about "innocent Indians." Does it really matter if I am Canadian? Is this forum restricted to South Asians?

Totoro,
Thanks for responding., we appreciate it.
Good that you took it in the right spirit. All the efforts you are trying for us are inline with what even I wanted to do, but dont have as much access as you do. Search the forums with my id and you will see for yourself. To my knowledge there are very few who can do what you are doing. I wish Moderators and IV Core endorse your efforts in the form of a campaign and you will see much more participation. Look at the other drive they are doing for create a fund of $10000.00 If they endorse you (thats we) will get response in that order. Can you please ask Aman to do that, and that way we will have more voice.


All,
I am not sure if most of you guys even remember what my group said. We WILL contribute even $3500 and more, if there is a campaign for EB2 and EB3 and for guys waiting 5-10 years . Not sure why most of you, even senior guys(by join date, and not by # of posts) just rememer the $3500 part all the time with my name :) but miss what we said. Go n read it again.And if Core endorses does effort, I will not be surprised if there will be contribution from as much as 5000 members each of $100 on avg= $500,000. No kidding, thats the pain EB3 is facing.. Anyone to disagree??.

Gangutelli,
Gantuteli is real or fake.. similarly. Did you put all your details EXACTLY.. You know the answer.. Be little practical and have some profile that is like yours atleast.
Where were you before Jan 09..Didnt hear about IV before??.Flower campaign that hit the news.. You appear to be very emotional, with very less maturity.. Nothing personal, anyone here sees it.. check them yourself with a mature friend.I know you will post 1000 posts in the next 1 month. Tell me the secret how you get that much time(I am begging for few extra hrs in last 1 month), but only in case you have a job. Else we know.
And I said I will contribute $50 to FOIA campaign last week but did not send it yet. I will do it today. This is not in response to you Q reg contribution.. If you noticed, no one responds to your posts.
Did you create any new thread with some ideas, good or bad... Please respond to this last line, for sure..and if so, can you give me that link..

[snathan]

Totoro,
Thanks for responding., we appreciate it.
Good that you took it in the right spirit. All the efforts you are trying for us are inline with what even I wanted to do, but dont have as much access as you do. Search the forums with my id and you will see for yourself. To my knowledge there are very few who can do what you are doing. I wish Moderators and IV Core endorse your efforts in the form of a campaign and you will see much more participation. Look at the other drive they are doing for create a fund of $10000.00 If they endorse you (thats we) will get response in that order. Can you please ask Aman to do that, and that way we will have more voice.


All,
I am not sure if most of you guys even remember what my group said. We WILL contribute even $3500 and more, if there is a campaign for EB2 and EB3 and for guys waiting 5-10 years . Not sure why most of you, even senior guys(by join date, and not by # of posts) just rememer the $3500 part all the time with my name :) but miss what we said. Go n read it again.And if Core endorses does effort, I will not be surprised if there will be contribution from as much as 5000 members each of $100 on avg= $500,000. No kidding, thats the pain EB3 is facing.. Anyone to disagree??.

Gangutelli,
Gantuteli is real or fake.. similarly. Did you put all your details EXACTLY.. You know the answer.. Be little practical and have some profile that is like yours atleast.
Where were you before Jan 09..Didnt hear about IV before??.Flower campaign that hit the news.. You appear to be very emotional, with very less maturity.. Nothing personal, anyone here sees it.. check them yourself with a mature friend.I know you will post 1000 posts in the next 1 month. Tell me the secret how you get that much time(I am begging for few extra hrs in last 1 month), but only in case you have a job. Else we know.
And I said I will contribute $50 to FOIA campaign last week but did not send it yet. I will do it today. This is not in response to you Q reg contribution.. If you noticed, no one responds to your posts.
Did you create any new thread with some ideas, good or bad... Please respond to this last line, for sure..and if so, can you give me that link..


May I ask you and your fake friends...what you have contributed so far...You people are just empty gas. No one is having all the links by birth. Atleast stop wasting others' time with your useless and idiotic questions.

I really request you stop this postings...Its deviating from thr original issue.

[snathan]

Totoro,
Thanks for responding., we appreciate it.
Good that you took it in the right spirit. All the efforts you are trying for us are inline with what even I wanted to do, but dont have as much access as you do. Search the forums with my id and you will see for yourself. To my knowledge there are very few who can do what you are doing. I wish Moderators and IV Core endorse your efforts in the form of a campaign and you will see much more participation. Look at the other drive they are doing for create a fund of $10000.00 If they endorse you (thats we) will get response in that order. Can you please ask Aman to do that, and that way we will have more voice.


All,
I am not sure if most of you guys even remember what my group said. We WILL contribute even $3500 and more, if there is a campaign for EB2 and EB3 and for guys waiting 5-10 years . Not sure why most of you, even senior guys(by join date, and not by # of posts) just rememer the $3500 part all the time with my name :) but miss what we said. Go n read it again.And if Core endorses does effort, I will not be surprised if there will be contribution from as much as 5000 members each of $100 on avg= $500,000. No kidding, thats the pain EB3 is facing.. Anyone to disagree??.

Gangutelli,
Gantuteli is real or fake.. similarly. Did you put all your details EXACTLY.. You know the answer.. Be little practical and have some profile that is like yours atleast.
Where were you before Jan 09..Didnt hear about IV before??.Flower campaign that hit the news.. You appear to be very emotional, with very less maturity.. Nothing personal, anyone here sees it.. check them yourself with a mature friend.I know you will post 1000 posts in the next 1 month. Tell me the secret how you get that much time(I am begging for few extra hrs in last 1 month), but only in case you have a job. Else we know.
And I said I will contribute $50 to FOIA campaign last week but did not send it yet. I will do it today. This is not in response to you Q reg contribution.. If you noticed, no one responds to your posts.
Did you create any new thread with some ideas, good or bad... Please respond to this last line, for sure..and if so, can you give me that link..

First try to contribute $25 before you talk about your groups contribution of thousands of dollars....Too much empty boasting.

[snathan]

I do want every one to have easy access to GC. Here what you are asking does not serve any one. It only increase the backlog. If we could make them utilize unutilized visas, remove country cap, set a fixed time frame, for most part I-485 would be current allowing any one with approved I-140 to file for I-485. You might say that atleast they could get EAD and AP. But look at those who already have I-485 filed. We are all crying the our applications are there for long time. So, do you still think to have AOS even PD is not current??


Since you have filed I-485, its not going to serve any other guys...what a selfless thought. By the way can you explain me how its going to create back log.

[thomachan72]

PLEASE PRESS UPON THE PEOPLE YOU MEET THESE POINTS.
1) Take away COUNTRY LIMITS and RECAPTURE lost numbers [

2) Take away COUNTRY LIMITS and RECAPTURE lost numbers

3) Take away COUNTRY LIMITS and RECAPTURE lost numbers

Other items that would help the H1b visa holders include
1) Permit extension and stamping within the US and not required to travel abroad. A real pain and wastage of resourse for no practical purpose.
2) Speed up the I-140 process or reintroduce premium processing for I-140.

[amsgc]

Totoro,

Thank you for your efforts - really appreciate it.

This request is regarding workers on H-1B:
Problem: H-1B status ends the moment a foreigner worker looses his/her job, and s/he is effectively out of status. The foreign worker has only 10 days to wrap up his/her affairs and leave the US. 10 days is just not enough time to wrap up five or six years of living and move.

Solution: The foreign worker's status must automatically be extended by 90 days in the event of job loss.This gives the worker enough time to get his/her affairs in order -finances, car, house/apt, kids in school, etc.

[jungalee43]

I would suggest our discussion with the congressional staff should focues on relief in two parts. Many in media are reporting that there is going to be another stimulus bill after healthcare reforms.
So we should try to get waiver on green card quota limits for buying a house. We can make it part of stimulus bill.
All other things including termination of country quota, racapture, exclusion of dependents can be part of CIR.

[gcisadawg]

The online status that we see currently on USCIS website can be improved to a great extent. $$$ spent to improve the system will be recouped in few years with savings elsewhere.

Current status: The two primary ways the USCIS connects with its customers are USCIS online case status and monthly processing time update. They both are expense free unlike a CS agent that handles the call and needs to be paid. But those two primary methods are a butt of all jokes and useless in its current form.


Objective: Improve the quality of USCIS online status by integrating it with monthly processing time update. Any case which is beyond processing time frame should get atleast one qualitative and progressive update every month. Institute a system to track the lifecycle of a case. The lifecycle starts from entry of a petition/application into USCIS system and ends with either approval/denial.

Pros:

1> provides a great deal of transparency to the system. Due to the improved transparency, efficiency becomes a part of the process.

2> Reduce the traffic in USCIS phone lines thereby reliving $$$ from customer service.

3> Reduce Infopass appointments thereby relieving maintenance $$$ from that system.
Officers who deal with Infopass can spend their time productively.

4> Reduce SR. Saves Immigrants $$$ and relieves USCIS resources who are handling SR request.

5> This improvement is not temporary and will keep yielding rewards as long as the USCIS is in the business of receiving/processing/adjudicating immigration petitions.

Cons:

1> USCIS needs to shell out a good $$$$ to tighten up their IT system, gather info from systems, integrate the online reporting tool with their monthly processing time update.

[rego]

I do want every one to have easy access to GC. Here what you are asking does not serve any one. It only increase the backlog. If we could make them utilize unutilized visas, remove country cap, set a fixed time frame, for most part I-485 would be current allowing any one with approved I-140 to file for I-485. You might say that atleast they could get EAD and AP. But look at those who already have I-485 filed. We are all crying the our applications are there for long time. So, do you still think to have AOS even PD is not current??

You were one of the people who made it through the July 2007 fiasco. But, please understand that there are several people like me in the queue for more than 5 years but still missed the July 2007 fiasco. Getting EAD and AP is a great step forward for us and will level the playing field.

[texasdesi]

1) Fast-track GC process for Masters degree holders from US universities. This will be the least controversial, boost admissions (and money) flowing into universities, and clear up backlog in regular GC queue. Its a win-win and most senators, congressmen have voiced support for it already. We can get very good support from University lobbyists also (if they exist!!).

[rego]

1) Fast-track GC process for Masters degree holders from US universities. This will be the least controversial, boost admissions (and money) flowing into universities, and clear up backlog in regular GC queue. Its a win-win and most senators, congressmen have voiced support for it already. We can get very good support from University lobbyists also (if they exist!!).

If this process removes those with US Masters from the existing queue and puts them in a queue with no visa number limit, this is an excellent proposal. This might even eliminate the entire backlog.

[dhesha]

1) Fast-track GC process for Masters degree holders from US universities. This will be the least controversial, boost admissions (and money) flowing into universities, and clear up backlog in regular GC queue. Its a win-win and most senators, congressmen have voiced support for it already. We can get very good support from University lobbyists also (if they exist!!).

I fully agree with this idea, but unfortunately this has been discussed for a long time now but none (including IV CORE) seems to be interested in pursuing this further, although we all know that this has higher changes of approval. And I am sure even the folks with no MS from US will support if for simple reason that it will help them as well if backlog and crowed is reduced by whatever means. So I assume we all (US Degree Holder or otherwise) will support this -- still no actions..

[indiangcseeker]

Thanks for the offer, but this is just a preliminary meeting for me to meet some of the people I have worked with over the past year via phone and email. However, since these people have some influence, I also wanted to discuss with them some of the more important issues facing skilled immigrants. I will mention the idea of meeting with more people in the future. I think it is important for them to be more in touch with those who are affected by immigration policies. My sense is that many of them don't understand the issues very well.
Totoro,

Very sure that you can help in making them understand the issues.

We can also write/fax to the officials who can help us if they have a better understanding of our plight. I'm thinking of sending a fax/letter to Sheila Jackson Lee, Janet Napolitano, Senator Richard Durbin, Linda Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren.

Not sure how much this will help but definitely want to go this route.

Please share your opinion. - Thanks.

[RNGC]

1. Eliminate EAD & AP, let I485 receipt notice be sufficient for travel and employment authorization.
2. Restart H1B visa renewal by mail. Let there be added scrutiny while the application is processed. It atleast wont let people out of country for unknown time.

Eliminate EAD & AP, let I485 receipt notice be sufficient for travel and employment authorization.

Great idea....all we need is a photo in the I-485 receipt and any employer can do a e-verify to check our status.

[ganguteli]

Totoro,
You have an 'omnibus package on Immigration' proposal in your hand if you collect all the ideas and create a letter. It has too much pork. Just have a simple proposal that is enough to satisfy the appetite.

Instead of trying to include every idea, just focus on the main ideas on IV website by IV core and meet the lawmaker.

Just copy paste from this page and ignore everything else.
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=47
1) Green Card Delays and Backlogs :
2) The Per-Country rationing of green cards that exacerbates the delays :

It seems people are thinking that you are going to meet lot of lawmakers and do some big level lobbying for everyone. From what I read , you are simply going to meet your lawmaker office/s. It is not such a big deal. It is only a big deal for people who do not know about it. Most people are scared to do anything themselves and try to rely on others to do it for them. The other day I saw this link on IV http://immigrationvoice.org/media/HowTo_Guide_MeetLawmakers.doc and I got so much information and interest in meeting my lawmakers. It is not at all a big deal. Folks you and I can also go and meet our lawmakers too. I am ready for it. Let us all try to do that ourselves and meet Senators of our area.

[sundarpn]

If I can ask a few dumb questions:) (I might have overlooked this but these details, but this thread is huge now). When is the hearing? Who is conducting is? Is IV core involved?

How can other members here help apart from posting to this thread and $ contributions?

thx

[Totoro]

If I can ask a few dumb questions:) (I might have overlooked this but these details, but this thread is huge now). When is the hearing? Who is conducting is? Is IV core involved?

How can other members here help apart from posting to this thread and $ contributions?

thx

It was not a hearing, just a meeting with some of the people I worked with over the past year on the stimulus issue.

Anyway, I went to the meeting and presented the issues raised by people here and emphasized that the first priority is recapture. Of course I raised the other issues as well, presenting the argument that America will lose its competitive edge if its highly skilled immigrants return to their home countries or other more welcoming countries like Canada, the UK, and Australia.

One person at the meeting was skeptical that many people have been waiting more than 10 years, saying that she has never come across anyone waiting more than 6 years and that these must be special cases where the people were doing something wrong. Anyway, I presented the stories people sent me, but when I raised the issue of granting a fast track to people waiting for more than 10 years, she said that there must be a good reason for it. They need to look at each person on a case by case basis and that a fast track would not be the proper way to resolve these issues. There was a lot of resistance from this person on several issues with the only wholehearted agreement on the issue of getting visas stamped in the US.

In short, I didn't get a sense that much would come of the meeting, but at least I had a chance to present the issues and I was given an assurance that they would be looked into further and discussed at some upcoming meetings. Finally, I said that the best way for them to understand the issues faced by immigrants is to be in contact with immigrants. I also suggested they join the IV discussions to get first hand accounts.

One recommendation they had was than anyone who has been waiting for an unreasonable time for their applications to be processed should contact their congressman/congresswoman with information about their specific cases.

[Totoro]

These are the issues and examples we discussed. Although the following presents a lot of issues, I emphasized repeatedly that the GC recapture was the first priority.

Immigration Issues:

Obama wants high-paying, high-skill jobs in future – AP March 26, 2009

Obama said job creation in America is difficult in a time of economic hardship and that the work of the future should be in more high-paying, high-skill areas like clean energy technology.

Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S. – Business Week March 3, 2009
Earlier research by my team suggested that a crisis was brewing because of a burgeoning immigration backlog. At the end of 2006, more than 1 million skilled professionals (engineers, scientists, doctors, researchers) and their families were in line for a yearly allotment of only 120,000 permanent resident visas. The wait time for some people ran longer than a decade. In the meantime, these workers were trapped in "immigration limbo." If they changed jobs or even took a promotion, they risked being pushed to the back of the permanent residency queue. We predicted that skilled foreign workers would increasingly get fed up and return to countries like India and China where the economies were booming.
Why should we care? Because immigrants are critical to the country's long-term economic health. Despite the fact that they constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, immigrants have started 52% of Silicon Valley's technology companies and contributed to more than 25% of our global patents. They make up 24% of the U.S. science and engineering workforce holding bachelor's degrees and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs. Immigrants have co-founded firms such as Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News), Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC - News), eBay (NasdaqGS:EBAY - News), and Yahoo! (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News).


Educated people leaving the US – Why?

More opportunities overseas
Economic disincentives – spouses and dependents prohibited from working
Institutionalized discrimination – hate groups like FAIR are given voice in congress (i.e. stimulus)
Extremely onerous bureaucracy – 10 years in US and no path to permanent residency (professionals, bankers, educators)
Indentured service
– workers cannot leave employer without facing deportation or illegal status
– including professionals
– employer holds too much power
– employees cannot complain or quit
– dependents must work illegally or leave the country to work

When people change jobs they often have to restart the process again from the beginning.


Solutions:

Canada example:

Permanent residency point system – points awarded for
- years legal residency (student, worker)
- family members in US
- education (more points for certain fields of study)
- proficiency in official language
- skill in high demand fields (petroleum engineers, medical doctors)

Work visas for dependents –
 Eliminate restrictions on family members from working
 Dependents of professionals are usually educated
 Contribute more to US economy (example: work as substitute teacher)
 Pay more taxes

Example of a skilled dependent who is not able to work.

“My family moved to the US in 2002. Before that, I and my wife were working in Malaysia. My wife has two Masters Degrees in Science. Once we moved in, I have been trying to get GC. All this time, my wife has been in H4. She has tried her best but could not land a job with H1 sponsorship as no company in her field that she tried is familiar with H1 process. All these years, she has been highly stressed due to this. People may think she must have known this before coming in. But, at that time, the average GC wait was 2 years.”

Other benefits of immigration reform to US economy

Stop reverse brain drain – US universities educate people who are often FORCED to take their skills out of the country
Support housing market – many immigrants hesitate to buy a house because of their uncertain status, but skilled immigrants tend to have healthy incomes that support home ownership.

Scrap diversity visa lottery
– does not attract skilled people
– Already have country limits for green cards
Why bring more people to US and then force people who are already here and have shown a dedication to the US to leave?

To prevent employers from abusing workers: Allow people who have work visas to change jobs without having to reapply for a new visa (up to the original expiration date) and restart green card process.

Bureaucratic Issues

Backlogs in processing going back as far as 7 years or more: some have suggested that they would rather be denied a visa than wait so long. That way they can at least plan for the future.

Immigrants from most countries need to leave the US to get their visa stamped even when their visa has been approved and they are already legally in the U.S. The reason for this is unclear, but it causes economic hardship to immigrants who are delayed and risk losing their jobs.

Every year visas are unclaimed, often because of processing delays. Employment based immigrants have been asking for these unclaimed visas to be reissued to people who have been waiting years for their applications to be processed. The issue is reducing processing time, and they see visa recapture as a way to reduce the backlog.

Many immigrants have complained about the long time processing their applications for a green card. They would like to see automatic qualification for professionals who have lived in the US for a certain period of time (5 or 6 years).

Clearing the GC backlog and making it easier for skilled professionals to get permanent residency will encourage investment in US whether in the form of buying a house or setting up a business etc, because it allows immigrants to plan for the future.

Having no time limit for processing applications is inefficient and does not ensure accountability. Business projects and other processes need time frames to ensure they remain on track and that employees are productive. Government agencies need to be held to the same standards.

Applicants need to be able to access information about their status, which should have clear timelines for each step and show clearly where they are in the process. This is the only way they can plan effectively for the future.

Many people who have been in the US legally for more than 10 years but can’t get permanent residency. They are eligible for SS, but may be forced to leave the US with their US savings, assets and SS benefits. These people would like consideration of a fast track application.

[Totoro]

Here are the examples I presented (lightly edited). Anyone wanting to meet with lawmakers should feel free to use as much of these documents as needed.

Examples

Case 1 (Waiting 10 years):

- i left a very well-paid job after 5 years in multi-nationals before coming to US in 1999.
- Did dual Masters from a top engineering school + business certification
- Brought into US $25000 from savings abroad for my studies; Took $25K More as a private loan and have paid it off long back.
- Never considered myself underpaid in USA. My compensation is amongst the best.
- Have owned a house since 2002 and raising two US born kids, of course paid taxes for 9 years.


Now,
- it is the quality of life AND the quality of PEOPLE that i wanted to work with: one of the reasons why i came to US.
- Would like to buy a larger house and can certainly afford it today with a credit score over 800.
- Would like to start my own company, or try to do something different & more strategic for a job function.

However,
i have been in the EB3 queue since 2004, with no respite in sight. All is clear except that there are no visa numbers available.

The issue as you all agreed to - is that this is painfully slow and everyone like me is stuck with one employer and the same job.

As employers and their lawyers often decide when and in which category a candidate can apply, the employee is left at their mercy. It is understandable if an employer is sponsoring, they must benefit for their investment. Question is how? is 5 years of 'must-serve-us' good enough, or 10, or 15? When can an employee have the mobility?

Why is it that someone with equal or less qualification / experience can become a US citizen 5 to 10 years before me? Just because they were born in a different country? Because their employer decided a faster EB category? Because they married a US citizen?

I love America and remain grateful for the opportunities it has provided.
However, I have trained a lot of US citizens / GC holders who have gone far ahead in career, and I am still doing the same.


Liberty seems only a statue at times.

Case 2 Engineer (Waiting 15 years):

I have been in this country for more than 15 years and still waiting for the GC...I have never been out of status all along...Here is my story...

I came to US in 1994 fall to attend graduate school and started working from 1997 as transportation engineer. I applied for green card in 1998, but unfortunately the rules were different and the goal post seems to change every time.

During that time all engineering fields were clubbed together (computers, mechanical, civil etc.) under one generic field for labor certification purposes and therefore the wage requirement was much higher than what a typical transportation engineer would make at that time. Therefore my labor was denied. After talking to my immigration lawyer I was left with two options...Pick up a job that paid the asking labor certification wage (which was skewed and next to impossible) or send additional documentation and references to convince the dept of labor that transportation engineers do not make that much money and that I am being paid more than the prevailing wage for 'transportation engineers'. . After I send additional paperwork to dept of labor based on the suggestion given by my lawyer, what if the dept of labor still denied my labor? I would have been back to one, and moreover I would have lost a year or two on H1 status. Please note that at that time you had ONLY 6 yrs of H1 visa and it COULD NOT BE EXTENDED EVEN YOUR IMMIGRATION PAPERWORK WAS PENDING. The above rule came later (instance of goal post moving), but I had to make my decision based on what the rules were at that time. So I decided to go back to school in 1999 and attended graduate school to get a computer science degree.

In late 2000, I joined a company in CA and resumed my paperwork for the green card. My labor was approved and filed for 140 and 140 was also approved in 2002. In 2005, my spouse started to work full-time and started the green card process. We finally applied 485s in 2007, but are still waiting for the approvals. It took CIS almost A YEAR to get our EADs! That too after many calls, letters and contacting the local senator! What an inefficient bureaucracy!

When the economy was good, I was helpless with CIS rules and its bureaucracy. By the time I received my EAD, the economy is in shambles now...In the process, I had nothing to show for the past 5 yrs!

Few years back there was a pilot program at TSC where they issued FB green cards under fast track. I personally know someone who applied for their parents, and they got their green cards within 60 days! Their parents never visited US before and during their first ever visitor's visit, they have their green cards? Here I am, came to US in 1994, attended graduate schools, paid tuition, contributed to research, paid my taxes, never was out of status and most importantly, played by the rules, but I am still waiting in this mess!

Case 3 Partner (Waiting 14 years):

I've been here for 14 years now; and my wife for 9, legally for every single day. We have two US graduate degrees each. We have paid over $100,000 in federal income tax alone, in each of the last few years. We own our home. Our child was born here. I am a partner at my firm. And we have many wonderful friends here. But we continue to wait indefinitely for our green cards. Citizenship seems an impossible dream at this point.

Any provision that would bring us closer to citizenship (such as "citizenship fastrack for those who've legally been in the US for more than 10 years" and/or "paid taxes for N years" and/or "earned US graduate degrees" etc) would be very welcome.

[bikram_das_in]

Great work Totoro. Thanks a lot.

[Karthikthiru]

Great job

[hsingh82]

Great job Totoro!! Thanks.

Here are the examples I presented (lightly edited). Anyone wanting to meet with lawmakers should feel free to use as much of these documents as needed.

Examples

Case 1 (Waiting 10 years):

- i left a very well-paid job after 5 years in multi-nationals before coming to US in 1999.
- Did dual Masters from a top engineering school + business certification
- Brought into US $25000 from savings abroad for my studies; Took $25K More as a private loan and have paid it off long back.
- Never considered myself underpaid in USA. My compensation is amongst the best.
- Have owned a house since 2002 and raising two US born kids, of course paid taxes for 9 years.


Now,
- it is the quality of life AND the quality of PEOPLE that i wanted to work with: one of the reasons why i came to US.
- Would like to buy a larger house and can certainly afford it today with a credit score over 800.
- Would like to start my own company, or try to do something different & more strategic for a job function.

However,
i have been in the EB3 queue since 2004, with no respite in sight. All is clear except that there are no visa numbers available.

The issue as you all agreed to - is that this is painfully slow and everyone like me is stuck with one employer and the same job.

As employers and their lawyers often decide when and in which category a candidate can apply, the employee is left at their mercy. It is understandable if an employer is sponsoring, they must benefit for their investment. Question is how? is 5 years of 'must-serve-us' good enough, or 10, or 15? When can an employee have the mobility?

Why is it that someone with equal or less qualification / experience can become a US citizen 5 to 10 years before me? Just because they were born in a different country? Because their employer decided a faster EB category? Because they married a US citizen?

I love America and remain grateful for the opportunities it has provided.
However, I have trained a lot of US citizens / GC holders who have gone far ahead in career, and I am still doing the same.


Liberty seems only a statue at times.

Case 2 Engineer (Waiting 15 years):

I have been in this country for more than 15 years and still waiting for the GC...I have never been out of status all along...Here is my story...

I came to US in 1994 fall to attend graduate school and started working from 1997 as transportation engineer. I applied for green card in 1998, but unfortunately the rules were different and the goal post seems to change every time.

During that time all engineering fields were clubbed together (computers, mechanical, civil etc.) under one generic field for labor certification purposes and therefore the wage requirement was much higher than what a typical transportation engineer would make at that time. Therefore my labor was denied. After talking to my immigration lawyer I was left with two options...Pick up a job that paid the asking labor certification wage (which was skewed and next to impossible) or send additional documentation and references to convince the dept of labor that transportation engineers do not make that much money and that I am being paid more than the prevailing wage for 'transportation engineers'. . After I send additional paperwork to dept of labor based on the suggestion given by my lawyer, what if the dept of labor still denied my labor? I would have been back to one, and moreover I would have lost a year or two on H1 status. Please note that at that time you had ONLY 6 yrs of H1 visa and it COULD NOT BE EXTENDED EVEN YOUR IMMIGRATION PAPERWORK WAS PENDING. The above rule came later (instance of goal post moving), but I had to make my decision based on what the rules were at that time. So I decided to go back to school in 1999 and attended graduate school to get a computer science degree.

In late 2000, I joined a company in CA and resumed my paperwork for the green card. My labor was approved and filed for 140 and 140 was also approved in 2002. In 2005, my spouse started to work full-time and started the green card process. We finally applied 485s in 2007, but are still waiting for the approvals. It took CIS almost A YEAR to get our EADs! That too after many calls, letters and contacting the local senator! What an inefficient bureaucracy!

When the economy was good, I was helpless with CIS rules and its bureaucracy. By the time I received my EAD, the economy is in shambles now...In the process, I had nothing to show for the past 5 yrs!

Few years back there was a pilot program at TSC where they issued FB green cards under fast track. I personally know someone who applied for their parents, and they got their green cards within 60 days! Their parents never visited US before and during their first ever visitor's visit, they have their green cards? Here I am, came to US in 1994, attended graduate schools, paid tuition, contributed to research, paid my taxes, never was out of status and most importantly, played by the rules, but I am still waiting in this mess!

Case 3 Partner (Waiting 14 years):

I've been here for 14 years now; and my wife for 9, legally for every single day. We have two US graduate degrees each. We have paid over $100,000 in federal income tax alone, in each of the last few years. We own our home. Our child was born here. I am a partner at my firm. And we have many wonderful friends here. But we continue to wait indefinitely for our green cards. Citizenship seems an impossible dream at this point.

Any provision that would bring us closer to citizenship (such as "citizenship fastrack for those who've legally been in the US for more than 10 years" and/or "paid taxes for N years" and/or "earned US graduate degrees" etc) would be very welcome.

[geniousatwork]

Great work, hopefully we can reach out more and more like this to make the senators/congressmen aware of our situations/concerns.

[PresidentO]

Do you mind sharing with us which office is this?

Did you meet the DC staff or your local office staff?

[Nil]

My congressman asked for an authorization letter from my employer & lawyer to look into it in-depth. Dead end.
Of course i am waiting for 9 years, every second of it legally, and have not even changed employers even once.

[aa_ke_phas_gaya]

Great Job, Kudos to you for making such an effort.

Similar to this, we need as many efforts as we can have.
To further continue this effort, I would suggest writing letters to your local congress rep & Senator, particularly those who have been waiting for over 5 years.
More effective approach will be to contact local media.
Since we have a unique situation, I would recommend start a request to separate legal employment based migrants from other categories.
BOTTOM LINE: We can not wait for CIR, this is NOT about comprehensive immigration reform, this is a requirement from current employment based immigration system.

[Keeme]

[QUOTE=Totoro;331207]Here are the examples I presented (lightly edited). Anyone wanting to meet with lawmakers should feel free to use as much of these documents as needed.
....


Great job ! Thank you very much for standing for common cause.

[Totoro]

Great Job, Kudos to you for making such an effort.

Similar to this, we need as many efforts as we can have.
To further continue this effort, I would suggest writing letters to your local congress rep & Senator, particularly those who have been waiting for over 5 years.
More effective approach will be to contact local media.
Since we have a unique situation, I would recommend start a request to separate legal employment based migrants from other categories.
BOTTOM LINE: We can not wait for CIR, this is NOT about comprehensive immigration reform, this is a requirement from current employment based immigration system.

Instead of writing a letter, why not start with a phone call. Find out a bit about the staff ahead of time (Google, Linkedin, etc.) and then call the person that is most likely to be helpful. Then ask for a meeting.

[aa_ke_phas_gaya]

I agree, a phone call or meeting in person will be much more effective if we can do that. And this situation definitely needs such attention. If one can't get time for this effort, he/she has no right to complain about it.

I think we need a good strategy to fix this and I believe any problem, with a good strategy, can be solved in reasonable time.

To press right buttons we need following
- Separate legal employment based immigration delays issue from other issues like (family based, J1, H1 etc.) Not that other issues are less important but diluted efforts won't we won't achieve results. SO concentrate on just one issue and press for it. For now let's just talk about those who are waiting for over 5-7 years for their green cards.
- Don't ask for CIR, increase/decrease quota or any change in existing laws but a swift one time executive order or a temporary introduction of a new law or something like that. Totally separate from current immigration law one time fix to existing problem.
- Immigration reform - you can do what ever with it whenever. We have a problem here we need a fix.
- Try to communicate this issue with your local media. Letters, phone calls, meetings can help up to certain extent but media can put issues on fast track. Long waits, restrictions in making life & family decisions and personal freedom are issues well understood by this country and these are the reasons why we are here. If you communicate these issues correctly everyone will understand. Put your story out on local news paper / radio. Get a local group set-up and get with your local cultural/ethnic group leaders who are enjoying their citizenship and freedom and ask them to get involved.

Let's get results, one step at a time.

[485Mbe4001]

Thank you for you informative posts. wonder why they are not interested in recapture...

"One person at the meeting was skeptical that many people have been waiting more than 10 years, saying that she has never come across anyone waiting more than 6 years and that these must be special cases where the people were doing something wrong. "

There are tens of thousands from retrogressed countries who have been stuck for more than 8 years (PD 01 and 02). Most of us were either stuck in namecheck or BEC blackhole through no fault or ours. Still there are others who were screwed by employers and had to reapply labor and restart the GC process. When i talk to my congressman, all they say is that the PD is not current and they cannot help.

It was not a hearing, just a meeting with some of the people I worked with over the past year on the stimulus issue.

Anyway, I went to the meeting and presented the issues raised by people here and emphasized that the first priority is recapture. Of course I raised the other issues as well, presenting the argument that America will lose its competitive edge if its highly skilled immigrants return to their home countries or other more welcoming countries like Canada, the UK, and Australia.

One person at the meeting was skeptical that many people have been waiting more than 10 years, saying that she has never come across anyone waiting more than 6 years and that these must be special cases where the people were doing something wrong. Anyway, I presented the stories people sent me, but when I raised the issue of granting a fast track
...
One recommendation they had was than anyone who has been waiting for an unreasonable time for their applications to be processed should contact their congressman/congresswoman with information about their specific cases.

[svn]

There are tens of thousands from retrogressed countries who have been stuck for more than 8 years (PD 01 and 02). Most of us were either stuck in namecheck or BEC blackhole through no fault or ours. Still there are others who were screwed by employers and had to reapply labor and restart the GC process. When i talk to my congressman, all they say is that the PD is not current and they cannot help.

Great point! When I reach out to the Congressman's office, none of them are aware of the inefficiencies of the last few years that has resulted in the current backlog of AOS for folks from India, China etc. For example, my case was stuck in the BEC blackhole (transferred over just when it was about to be processed by State office) for well over 3 years when there were a significant number of Green cards available. However being in EB-3 India category, the dates today are not current even for my PD of Dec 02. Unfortunately, the Congressman's aides are only aware of current status and claim helplessness to do anything until the dates progress. Given this, we really need to talk to senior officials/ Congressional Sub-Committe members who are a little more aware of the details and understand the significant waste in the past that has led to current status.

Totoro, any suggestions to overcome this issue would be welcome. Great job btw - keep it up!

[Nil]

Instead of writing a letter, why not start with a phone call. Find out a bit about the staff ahead of time (Google, Linkedin, etc.) and then call the person that is most likely to be helpful. Then ask for a meeting.

Let's start a phone call.

[dummgelauft]

I fully agree with this idea, but unfortunately this has been discussed for a long time now but none (including IV CORE) seems to be interested in pursuing this further, although we all know that this has higher changes of approval. And I am sure even the folks with no MS from US will support if for simple reason that it will help them as well if backlog and crowed is reduced by whatever means. So I assume we all (US Degree Holder or otherwise) will support this -- still no actions..

I agree with this 100%, BUT we (US degree holdeers) have to understand that in the GC aspirant community there are tons of people who came in through "desi consultnats" (even this word makes my blood boil), who will never agree with this or support this. Classic Indian mentality, one crab pulling the other back in the basket.

[gc_on_demand]

I agree with this 100%, BUT we (US degree holdeers) have to understand that in the GC aspirant community there are tons of people who came in through "desi consultnats" (even this word makes my blood boil), who will never agree with this or support this. Classic Indian mentality, one crab pulling the other back in the basket.

Jeff Flake introduce bill to exempt PHD holder from USA from visa limit. We should push for MS people so it will make queue lesser. Also we should start campaign for Visa recapture.

[Nil]

Guys, let us leave no soldier behind. Let us work on the number of years taxes have been paid + no criminal record. This will include all those who have been here paying their dues at work or at school. The point is: one behaves responsibly like a US citizen for many (5-10) years, yet do not have a shot at permanent residence, leave alone citizenship.
Can we start a call?

[krishnam70]

I agree with this 100%, BUT we (US degree holdeers) have to understand that in the GC aspirant community there are tons of people who came in through "desi consultnats" (even this word makes my blood boil), who will never agree with this or support this. Classic Indian mentality, one crab pulling the other back in the basket.

Totoro

Commendable effort. The ideas presented in the forum and your personal experience as well as some research by you were taken to the people who might have some say in this process. The outcome of it does not matter right now, atleast the process has started and we need to follow on it with some targeted activity. Lot of my fellow IV'ians gave suggestions and some presented stories too. I did come across this thread only today and I missed out on an opportunity to present my story but nevertheless others have done so, i am somewhat lucky that despite the pain and hardship I did get my GC a year and half ago but I feel the pain my friends go through every day and continue to associate with IV.


I have read through each and every post made in this thread and these are good responses. There are some very good proposals - some likely to benefit a small set of
people ( GC's for Master's from US universities) and others wide encompassing.
I think the fix for this needs to go beyond smaller subsets of people.
A single master stroke is not going to erase the backlog it will need a series of fixes and the best way to go about it is to push for 1 or 2 main goals which will eliminate most of the issues. IV's core efforts are in the right direction.

IV'ians need to be united in getting a broadly accepted solution to majority of people rather than a small minority. Clearly my allegiance lies with people with priority dates which are more than 5 years old, people who are stuck in backlog centers, name check's and unexplained delays for no fault of theirs. This is not to belittle other people who are in the line for their GC's everybody have to wait their turn.

Friends who are espousing the cause of faster GC's for US Masters, do not sit on the high pedestal and belittle the people who came in on 'work visas'. They have as much right as you to have that 'Green card'. The time is not to fight EB2 vs EB3 or by ethnicity. A big deluge starts with a small drop of water, let us begin somewhere and once we get a fix to the larger problem other things will fall in place.

oh for the people who are ready to bash me, please see my profile, been in this country since 1996 and earned 2 Masters and yet classified as EB3 by employer. Yes I joined IV late officially but I try to do my bit in whatever way I can.

- cheers
kris

[485Mbe4001]

Nice post, i came to the US in 1996 for my masters, followed all rules to the T and got stuck. I am on my 4th AP and EAD (5th if you consider OPT). I think main problem is that we are trying to solve too many issues with limited ammunition. Start with a single point agenda for the short term...lets say recaptuing unused visas or something that is the least controvertial and focus on pushing it at every available opportunity. Currently we see a new proposal everyday and all they do besides encouraging debate (which is good) is motivate bystanders to distort the issue and divide the group.

Totoro

Commendable effort. The ideas presented in the forum and your personal experience as well as some research by you were taken to the people who might have some say in this process. The outcome of it does not matter right now, atleast the process has started and we need to follow on it with some targeted activity. Lot of my fellow IV'ians gave suggestions and some presented stories too. I did come across this thread only today and I missed out on an opportunity to present my story but nevertheless others have done so, i am somewhat lucky that despite the pain and hardship I did get my GC a year and half ago but I feel the pain my friends go through every day and continue to associate with IV.


I have read through each and every post made in this thread and these are good responses. There are some very good proposals - some likely to benefit a small set of
people ( GC's for Master's from US universities) and others wide encompassing.
I think the fix for this needs to go beyond smaller subsets of people.
A single master stroke is not going to erase the backlog it will need a series of fixes and the best way to go about it is to push for 1 or 2 main goals which will eliminate most of the issues. IV's core efforts are in the right direction.

IV'ians need to be united in getting a broadly accepted solution to majority of people rather than a small minority. Clearly my allegiance lies with people with priority dates which are more than 5 years old, people who are stuck in backlog centers, name check's and unexplained delays for no fault of theirs. This is not to belittle other people who are in the line for their GC's everybody have to wait their turn.

Friends who are espousing the cause of faster GC's for US Masters, do not sit on the high pedestal and belittle the people who came in on 'work visas'. They have as much right as you to have that 'Green card'. The time is not to fight EB2 vs EB3 or by ethnicity. A big deluge starts with a small drop of water, let us begin somewhere and once we get a fix to the larger problem other things will fall in place.

oh for the people who are ready to bash me, please see my profile, been in this country since 1996 and earned 2 Masters and yet classified as EB3 by employer. Yes I joined IV late officially but I try to do my bit in whatever way I can.

- cheers
kris

[gc_on_demand]

Nice post, i came to the US in 1996 for my masters, followed all rules to the T and got stuck. I am on my 4th AP and EAD (5th if you consider OPT). I think main problem is that we are trying to solve too many issues with limited ammunition. Start with a single point agenda for the short term...lets say recaptuing unused visas or something that is the least controvertial and focus on pushing it at every available opportunity. Currently we see a new proposal everyday and all they do besides encouraging debate (which is good) is motivate bystanders to distort the issue and divide the group.


Agree with 485Mbe4001. We should focus on recapturing unsed visas. I dont think so we will see CIR this year. Before other groups pushes for Anti h1b or gc laws. we should start somthing on recapturing or removing country cap. OR atleast some admin fixes. I understand CORE is waiting for time to do aggressive campaign but what if dont get CIR this year ? I think We are thinking to play only defensive game here. If some one try to hurt us in H1b or GC bill then we will do campaign. Lets do not wait for antis to start.

[dontcareaboutGC]

Firstly the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of un-used visa's is a clear indicator of poor USCIS efficiency. Even if the recapture visa effort bears fruit and people will get interim benefit it will do nothing to improve the efficiency of processing cases at USCIS which I think is the root cause of this problem. Yes there is also a supply and demand situation but unless USCIS improves the delays and backlogs may not stand a chance.

[485Mbe4001]

The number of cases approved during 2002-2005 was at least 2-3 times what was being approved now(when recapture was in force)... improving efficiency will not give us any more visas... if there are 100k waiting for a GC they will still keep waiting no matter how efficient USCIS is. The fact of the matter is that they can only approve 3k per category per country. recaptured visas are free of country and category caps. It will not cause divisions or issues and will help unite everyone behind one cause. Other short term issues dont help(multiyear EADs or APs and such)...they just prolong the pain and drain money every year. The queue can only be reduced, by time or attrition or more output... we can all agree which is better.

Firstly the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of un-used visa's is a clear indicator of poor USCIS efficiency. Even if the recapture visa effort bears fruit and people will get interim benefit it will do nothing to improve the efficiency of processing cases at USCIS which I think is the root cause of this problem. Yes there is also a supply and demand situation but unless USCIS improves the delays and backlogs may not stand a chance.

[aa_ke_phas_gaya]

I would again emphasize on my previous post. One step at a time, one swift ruling for all waiting for long time in queue.

Remember, this is not 0-sum game or targeting a small group. In a queue you are closer to the target as people in front of you move.

Do get with people around you who are having same issues, organize local groups, communicate with your local authorities & media and make it an issue.

[Nil]

Very true - anyone who goes ahead in the queue is actually easing it up for the latter. This is Never about belittling a fellow sufferer.
If PhDs get a quota relief, will be good for all of us, although i personally will not qualify.
US Bachelors/Masters holders in a STEM field for example, will similarly ease up the system.
Hopefully all others will see it that way.

[snathan]

Very true - anyone who goes ahead in the queue is actually easing it up for the latter. This is Never about belittling a fellow sufferer.
If PhDs get a quota relief, will be good for all of us, although i personally will not qualify.
US Bachelors/Masters holders in a STEM field for example, will similarly ease up the system.
Hopefully all others will see it that way.

If there is anything targeted for any small group...I am sure other will not accept whatever may be the reason. Everyone desperately wants to get out of this mess. I don’t think freeing up the queue theory will help. That’s the reality.

For the shake of argumennt let me ask you...If I get my GC, it will free up one GC in line. Will you accept that and support this. This is the question in everyone's mind now.

United we stand...divided we fall.

[Nil]

If there is anything targeted for any small group...I am sure other will not accept whatever may be the reason. Everyone desperately wants to get out of this mess. I don’t think freeing up the queue theory will help. That’s the reality.

For the shake of argumennt let me ask you...If I get my GC, it will free up one GC in line. Will you accept that and support this. This is the question in everyone's mind now.

United we stand...divided we fall.

Short answer: of course i will.
Divided, we fall if no one is willing to let another pass for the 'whatever maybe' reason. USCIS is very unlikely to let the gate open for everyone.
At the same time, i know folks who have got their GCs applying after me, because they could (apply) in another category. i only feel Happy about them.
My question is not why they could get it before me, but What reasons USCIS may accept to ease up the queue for us all. It does not seem probable, that they will ease it up all at once. If a certain group is not subjected to the quota - say PhDs (although i do not qualify), it will help my cause as much as others in the wait.

[arunmohan]

Group:

Please refer the below URL.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2008-04-09/uk/2006-hsmp-changes-ruled-illegal.htm

Can't we do something like in USA?