chanduv23
09-20 11:46 AM
Dhiren - your baby is a hero before he/she is born - Kudos to your wife for doing the 2 mile walk - I know how it feels to walk with a baby - we are also in the same boat :)
I had been talking to Sivakanth and he told me how yourself, Arun and all your DC gang worked tirelessly
YOU GUYS were EXCELLENT and WONDERFUL
All this shows how much has gone into this rally and planning. This will give a sense of what it takes to achieve something that is phenomenal in nature.
Yes, we can achieve GROUND BREAKING results with folks like you
I had been talking to Sivakanth and he told me how yourself, Arun and all your DC gang worked tirelessly
YOU GUYS were EXCELLENT and WONDERFUL
All this shows how much has gone into this rally and planning. This will give a sense of what it takes to achieve something that is phenomenal in nature.
Yes, we can achieve GROUND BREAKING results with folks like you
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kshitijnt
05-14 06:59 PM
1. Can we move from CA to TX after I-485/EAD/AP is filed from California?
You can move but are you changing employment? If yes, AC21 kicks in only after 180 days after filing 485, assuming 140 is approved.
2. We do have a PO address is Texas now and have an apartment in CA for next 5 months.
Do you recommend to use the Texas PO Box address instead of California Apartment address for USCIS I-485 application such that we can avoid the Change of Address with USCIS later?
Check with lawyer, you can change the address later. But I think your move is too soon, so again check with lawyer.
3. What are RISKS of moving from state to state during I-485 process? Did anyone do that in this forum?
People have done this before but again check with lawyer, your move seems to be too soon
You can move but are you changing employment? If yes, AC21 kicks in only after 180 days after filing 485, assuming 140 is approved.
2. We do have a PO address is Texas now and have an apartment in CA for next 5 months.
Do you recommend to use the Texas PO Box address instead of California Apartment address for USCIS I-485 application such that we can avoid the Change of Address with USCIS later?
Check with lawyer, you can change the address later. But I think your move is too soon, so again check with lawyer.
3. What are RISKS of moving from state to state during I-485 process? Did anyone do that in this forum?
People have done this before but again check with lawyer, your move seems to be too soon
coolvigo
10-21 04:11 PM
my lawyer told me that dates will definitely move ahead next month. He was confident about it after talking to his contacts at USCIS i guess.
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imh1b
03-28 10:30 AM
This is the precise reason I am staying away from IV, people just dont show any civility in the forum discussions and starts name calling or shot down the people who ask questions.
If IV comes up with just one single GOAL of reducing the curent EB backlog for the restorgressed categories, people even from RoW countries will start participating in IV campaign and support IV's advocacy efforts in terms of their donations and volunteering for IV.
Reducing the current EB backlog will help everyone.
If you are staying away from IV, why are you coming to IV and posting on IV. :D
Deep in your heart you are pissed being in EB3 India and 2003 PD. Guess what your wait is longer than you think. This is all because you have chosen to not do anything about your situation and want others to do it for you for free.
If IV comes up with just one single GOAL of reducing the curent EB backlog for the restorgressed categories, people even from RoW countries will start participating in IV campaign and support IV's advocacy efforts in terms of their donations and volunteering for IV.
Reducing the current EB backlog will help everyone.
If you are staying away from IV, why are you coming to IV and posting on IV. :D
Deep in your heart you are pissed being in EB3 India and 2003 PD. Guess what your wait is longer than you think. This is all because you have chosen to not do anything about your situation and want others to do it for you for free.
more...
santb1975
04-17 07:35 PM
If you can subscribe to the blog and create your own, the blog is doing what it is supposed to do. I will see if you can make this blog appear on your dashboard list. I am still trying to figure this out. I am not much of a blogger myself. am trying out on you guys ;). Let us see if we can get some help from expert bloggers. anyone out there??
I don't find any place I can register. It only allows me to subscribe to the feed and create my own blog. But I am unable to get this blog in my dashboard list.
I don't find any place I can register. It only allows me to subscribe to the feed and create my own blog. But I am unable to get this blog in my dashboard list.
kdprasad
06-26 07:30 PM
Thanks and posts like these might push you hard to get the 485 filed soon. But as Everyone said most of us are aware that anything can change.
more...
GCBy3000
01-18 10:03 AM
Hi GcGC
Thanks for the contribution. If you feel you will be contributing $20 everymonth, then IV has the facility of recurring payment. Signup for $20, so that you dont have to worry about it everymonth.
Also make sure to bring in some of your friends into this forum.
Thanks once again.
Please keep up the good work
and a big thank you to all core member
I'm a member from chinese community. You guys are doing a great job for all the people
so far contribution $150, will try to make at least $20 each month
Thanks for the contribution. If you feel you will be contributing $20 everymonth, then IV has the facility of recurring payment. Signup for $20, so that you dont have to worry about it everymonth.
Also make sure to bring in some of your friends into this forum.
Thanks once again.
Please keep up the good work
and a big thank you to all core member
I'm a member from chinese community. You guys are doing a great job for all the people
so far contribution $150, will try to make at least $20 each month
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baboo1976
06-22 10:55 PM
I filed my new labor with a new employer - Hope this helps!!
more...
a_tyagi26
01-26 11:41 AM
It is all dependent on one's situation. Obviously housing is better than renting, only if one's situation allows it. Do not extend beyond your means. I read above somebody making their expenses+mortgage on one person's salary. He has great hope for GC very soon. That can a wise decision. Buying expensive cars, houses, gadgets is very attractive.
I have noticed people buy stuff (not just houses) based on their present income and think they will have same or higher income. These people are working on contracts in IT companies.
Housing is not just money saved in rent and paid towards mortgage. It is maintainence, more furniture, higher utility bills, you name it. Owning a house is not cheap, but sure is better than renting only if you can afford it.
We came to US to improve our living standard, not to degrade it. So it is best to make more money and then live life. Hell somebody above gave me an idea of sailing now. I can just imagine beach now. There goes my savings.
I have noticed people buy stuff (not just houses) based on their present income and think they will have same or higher income. These people are working on contracts in IT companies.
Housing is not just money saved in rent and paid towards mortgage. It is maintainence, more furniture, higher utility bills, you name it. Owning a house is not cheap, but sure is better than renting only if you can afford it.
We came to US to improve our living standard, not to degrade it. So it is best to make more money and then live life. Hell somebody above gave me an idea of sailing now. I can just imagine beach now. There goes my savings.
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illusions
04-07 09:06 AM
I HAVE GOT MY APPROVAL TODAY (30 MINUTES AGO) WITH MY WHOLE FAMILY.......I HOPE MORE EB3 APPROVAL WILL BE COMING AFTER MINE......
Great news!, Good luck in all your plans. If i were you i'd take the whole family for a vacation lol :)
Great news!, Good luck in all your plans. If i were you i'd take the whole family for a vacation lol :)
more...
kramer2005
07-11 07:10 PM
stop this stupidity please
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NolaIndian32
04-15 01:10 PM
I should be able to confirm around 3 new recruits this week, all of them are non-IVians but at least 2 of them have supported us previously with the letter writing campaign.
These potential recruits are all US Citizens who want to see us, legal immigrants, finally get our GCs.:)
These potential recruits are all US Citizens who want to see us, legal immigrants, finally get our GCs.:)
more...
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sandeepk_c
05-09 11:59 AM
PERM Filed : Nov, 2007
Audit date : Dec, 2007
Reply Date : 17, Dec 2007
Category: EB2
Status: Pending
Field: IT (Software)
Country : India
Audit date : Dec, 2007
Reply Date : 17, Dec 2007
Category: EB2
Status: Pending
Field: IT (Software)
Country : India
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aristotle
02-01 07:32 PM
May be a dumb question.. how is HR.2 different from S.2? What is approved today is S.2. I thought HR is house of represenatives. But again SA is a senate amendment. So I am confused!
more...
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santb1975
04-16 05:43 PM
I did
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nojoke
01-24 11:59 AM
Wow! Lots of advices and opinions. Meanwhile the housing slump is expected to continue well into 2010. I remember many people on this board challenging me last year 'how do you know it will go down', despite me posting the supporting data and the trend. It has gone down and will keep going down until it becomes cheap/affordable. Maybe 2000 price levels?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN2265655120090122?pageNumber=1
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN2265655120090122?pageNumber=1
more...
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pappu
01-31 03:02 PM
(1) How do I arrive at my hotel / place of stay in the DC metro area (VA/MD/DC)?
If you are flying into DC area (IAD/DCA/BWI) and are being hosted by a DC area member, please call your host and arrange for transportation. Most likely who ever is hosting you may be willing to pick you up from the airport. If that's not the case, please refer to instructions below.
Please refer to transportation instructions below for each airport
BWI:
Option 1: Amtrak has daily service to Union station starting at $12. Keep in mind that Acela Express may have a higher charge than other trains. Go to the schedules tab on the home page linked above and chose BWI (Baltimore –Thurgood Marshall Airport) to Union Station, Washington (WAS) for schedules on the day and time of your arrival.
Option 2: Bus-Metro There is bus service from BWI to Greenbelt Metro Station and from there to downtown Washington DC. Cost of this Bus-Metro trip is about $7.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
IAD: At the arrivals door 4, Wash flyer bus leaves to West Falls Church metro station (orange line) as per the attached schedule. Fare is 10$ each way and 18$ round trip.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
DCA: Regan National Airport has a metro station that is on both Blue and Orange lines.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
(2) What is the best mode of transportation in the DC area and why?
Metro. I-495, also known as the Capital Beltway is one of the worst traffic hot spots or infamously known as the biggest parking lot in the DC area. I-66 connecting VA and DC is completely HOV (2 or more per vehicle). Finally Parking spots are tough to find are limited to maximum of 1 or 2 hours. One day parking spots are tough to find nearby and costs about 25$ a day.
(3) What is the fare on the metro and how should I pay?
Fare on the metro varies with the on boarding and off boarding stations. Metro has pre paid fare cards (DO NOT BUY SMART TRIP CARDS) vended by the automated systems and can be paid using Credit card or cash. One-way fare during time peak time from the suburbs to Union Station (Senate) or Capital South (House) is 5$.
You can get the exact fare from the wmata trip planner on Metro’s website. Charge your fare card with the money needed on the first time during the weekend to avoid standing in line during the weekday. On the three days, you will use the Metro at least 6 times. So please charge your fare card to 6 times the one-way fare between your stations.
(4) How early should I start every day?
Please do NOT underestimate the time it takes to get to the hill by Metro, then to the Situation room (if needed) and then your actual meeting. You will need to start 2 hours ahead of your meeting time from your hotel in the suburbs.
(5) Is there a hot line number where I can call for help?
Yes, IV will set up a hotline. 202-386-6250.
(6) What to say to the lawmakers in the meetings? How to put our point across?
A lot of this will be provided during brain storming sessions on Sunday. Please refer to the attached “How to Have a Successful Congressional Visit”
(7) Please tell me plans for the Sunday session?
Please Make sure you be there for the Sunday session. Sunday session will begin from 9:00 AM and will last till 9:00 PM. There will be several rounds of sessions lasting a couple of hours with breaks in between. You can attend any of these depending on your availability and arrival time. Use this day to also read the materials we would be providing you for meetings and ask us any questions you may have. You can meet others who would accompany you and brush up on talking points and plans for each meeting. We will also help you with some research on each lawmaker office. For example- position of the lawmaker office, voting record on past bills, issues championed in the past and present etc. Sunday sessions will be very helpful for getting fully prepared for next days of meetings.
(8) Please tell me plans for Monday and Tuesday? What are the agenda items other than meetings.
Monday, meeting with the legislative offices (9 am - 5pm)
Tuesday, meeting with legislative offices and a congressional reception in the evening (5:30 pm). So please book your flights back home on red eye flights Tuesday night or early morning flights on Wednesday.
(9) Where is the Congressional Reception?
Info will be provided in the situation room on Sunday.
(10) Can I invite my Lawmaker office staff/Lawmaker for the Congressional Reception?
Absolutely. We encourage members to invite the staffers and Lawmakers. If you already have good rapport with the office it would be very helpful. Please contact us and we will provide you with a formal invitation for the office.
(11) Can I ask my lawyer to contribute for this event? Can I ask my lawyer to post about this event on his/her website? Can I ask my Lawyer to inform his/other clients about this event?
Absolutely. Please go ahead and inform your lawyers about this event and request them to support this effort.
(12) Security Screenings
Entry to each of the buildings require standard security screening.
If you are flying into DC area (IAD/DCA/BWI) and are being hosted by a DC area member, please call your host and arrange for transportation. Most likely who ever is hosting you may be willing to pick you up from the airport. If that's not the case, please refer to instructions below.
Please refer to transportation instructions below for each airport
BWI:
Option 1: Amtrak has daily service to Union station starting at $12. Keep in mind that Acela Express may have a higher charge than other trains. Go to the schedules tab on the home page linked above and chose BWI (Baltimore –Thurgood Marshall Airport) to Union Station, Washington (WAS) for schedules on the day and time of your arrival.
Option 2: Bus-Metro There is bus service from BWI to Greenbelt Metro Station and from there to downtown Washington DC. Cost of this Bus-Metro trip is about $7.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
IAD: At the arrivals door 4, Wash flyer bus leaves to West Falls Church metro station (orange line) as per the attached schedule. Fare is 10$ each way and 18$ round trip.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
DCA: Regan National Airport has a metro station that is on both Blue and Orange lines.
If you are staying in a hotel in the DC area, Call your hotel and find out what the closest metro station is to your hotel and what line it is on to and then refer to the metro map.
(2) What is the best mode of transportation in the DC area and why?
Metro. I-495, also known as the Capital Beltway is one of the worst traffic hot spots or infamously known as the biggest parking lot in the DC area. I-66 connecting VA and DC is completely HOV (2 or more per vehicle). Finally Parking spots are tough to find are limited to maximum of 1 or 2 hours. One day parking spots are tough to find nearby and costs about 25$ a day.
(3) What is the fare on the metro and how should I pay?
Fare on the metro varies with the on boarding and off boarding stations. Metro has pre paid fare cards (DO NOT BUY SMART TRIP CARDS) vended by the automated systems and can be paid using Credit card or cash. One-way fare during time peak time from the suburbs to Union Station (Senate) or Capital South (House) is 5$.
You can get the exact fare from the wmata trip planner on Metro’s website. Charge your fare card with the money needed on the first time during the weekend to avoid standing in line during the weekday. On the three days, you will use the Metro at least 6 times. So please charge your fare card to 6 times the one-way fare between your stations.
(4) How early should I start every day?
Please do NOT underestimate the time it takes to get to the hill by Metro, then to the Situation room (if needed) and then your actual meeting. You will need to start 2 hours ahead of your meeting time from your hotel in the suburbs.
(5) Is there a hot line number where I can call for help?
Yes, IV will set up a hotline. 202-386-6250.
(6) What to say to the lawmakers in the meetings? How to put our point across?
A lot of this will be provided during brain storming sessions on Sunday. Please refer to the attached “How to Have a Successful Congressional Visit”
(7) Please tell me plans for the Sunday session?
Please Make sure you be there for the Sunday session. Sunday session will begin from 9:00 AM and will last till 9:00 PM. There will be several rounds of sessions lasting a couple of hours with breaks in between. You can attend any of these depending on your availability and arrival time. Use this day to also read the materials we would be providing you for meetings and ask us any questions you may have. You can meet others who would accompany you and brush up on talking points and plans for each meeting. We will also help you with some research on each lawmaker office. For example- position of the lawmaker office, voting record on past bills, issues championed in the past and present etc. Sunday sessions will be very helpful for getting fully prepared for next days of meetings.
(8) Please tell me plans for Monday and Tuesday? What are the agenda items other than meetings.
Monday, meeting with the legislative offices (9 am - 5pm)
Tuesday, meeting with legislative offices and a congressional reception in the evening (5:30 pm). So please book your flights back home on red eye flights Tuesday night or early morning flights on Wednesday.
(9) Where is the Congressional Reception?
Info will be provided in the situation room on Sunday.
(10) Can I invite my Lawmaker office staff/Lawmaker for the Congressional Reception?
Absolutely. We encourage members to invite the staffers and Lawmakers. If you already have good rapport with the office it would be very helpful. Please contact us and we will provide you with a formal invitation for the office.
(11) Can I ask my lawyer to contribute for this event? Can I ask my lawyer to post about this event on his/her website? Can I ask my Lawyer to inform his/other clients about this event?
Absolutely. Please go ahead and inform your lawyers about this event and request them to support this effort.
(12) Security Screenings
Entry to each of the buildings require standard security screening.
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sunny1000
07-14 04:24 PM
I thought there is no harder working organization than USCIS. The devotion they showed towards June end by working long weekend hours to approve 60K visas is commendable :)
Is this a sarcastic comment or did you mean it? If you are being sarcastic, I am with you 100%:D :D :D :D
Is this a sarcastic comment or did you mean it? If you are being sarcastic, I am with you 100%:D :D :D :D
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abhijitp
07-11 06:58 PM
Strike while the iron is hot, we need to continue this effort and send letters to all the representatives who are in favour of immigration - legal. Can we get a list of all such senators / congressmen/women?
continue the effort
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4847
WHO TO CALL(your state or other state's senators)
Tier I
First, call 2 senators from your state.
Tier II
Patrick J. Leahy - 202-224-4242
Arlen Specter - 202-224-4254
Chuck Hagel - 202-224-4224
Diane Feinstein - 202-224-3841
John Cornyn - 202-224-2934
Harry Reid - 202-224-3542
Mitch McConnell - 202-224-2541
Mel Martinez - 202-224-3041
Trent Lott - 202-224-6253
Lindsey Graham - 202-224-5972
Tier III
Then call all other senators as many as you can. The phone numbers are in the post below for your convenience. Please speak clearly and legibly, and emphasize on the words in upper case as listed below, so that the person listening can hear you well.
continue the effort
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4847
WHO TO CALL(your state or other state's senators)
Tier I
First, call 2 senators from your state.
Tier II
Patrick J. Leahy - 202-224-4242
Arlen Specter - 202-224-4254
Chuck Hagel - 202-224-4224
Diane Feinstein - 202-224-3841
John Cornyn - 202-224-2934
Harry Reid - 202-224-3542
Mitch McConnell - 202-224-2541
Mel Martinez - 202-224-3041
Trent Lott - 202-224-6253
Lindsey Graham - 202-224-5972
Tier III
Then call all other senators as many as you can. The phone numbers are in the post below for your convenience. Please speak clearly and legibly, and emphasize on the words in upper case as listed below, so that the person listening can hear you well.
MeraNaamJoker
08-04 05:33 PM
Read the lines in Green
Good Luck on your approval. I think you are Man(strong guess) in a hurry.
I did not mean to make fun out of you. what I meant was that you and your spouse. I guess it did not come out that way. Sorry about that.
Thanks for the details.
Good Luck on your approval. I think you are Man(strong guess) in a hurry.
I did not mean to make fun out of you. what I meant was that you and your spouse. I guess it did not come out that way. Sorry about that.
Thanks for the details.
apnair2002
06-19 07:36 AM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/19/IMMIG.TMP
When Alfonso Farf�n fell in love with an old family friend in 2002, he set out to bring his sweetheart and her two children home with him.
But nothing has gone as planned. After waiting a year for a fiancee visa for her to move here from El Salvador, he learned the paperwork had been lost.
The new application was delayed two years because U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services kept using an old address for Farf�n, married now to Elizabeth Farf�n, although he had twice updated their records. And when the family's green cards arrived six weeks ago, one was missing.
"I wanted to scream," said Farf�n, a paralegal at an Oakland immigrant assistance center, recalling the day he learned the U.S. CIS had lost the $1,500 application. "But you can't,'' said. "You just have to work harder, save more money and submit a new application."
Legally immigrating to this country can be a gut-wrenching, years-long ordeal. Administrative errors, protracted security checks -- which have lengthened markedly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks -- and bad information routinely cause heartache. Immigrants and immigration lawyers say applications sometimes go into a "black hole" from which no case updates emanate.
"What's going on in Congress right now is still an add-on to an essentially outdated and overly complex, throwback system ... written in the 1950s and amended in 1965," said former immigration agency chief Doris Meissner, who is now senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. "The statutes are just hopelessly complicated and convoluted. ... It surely shouldn't have to be such an unpleasant and harrowing experience."
No plan under consideration will fundamentally overhaul the country's cobbled-together immigration law, which lawyers say rivals only the tax code in complexity.
Many legal immigrants have worried that immigration reforms proposed in Congress will allow some of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to skip this nerve-wracking process. But the bill the Senate passed last month could actually help the 3 million people currently in line for lawful permanent residence documents, or "green cards," to get them more easily. And those familiar with the bill say no illegal immigrant will get to cut into the line for a green card.
In addition to allowing several million undocumented immigrants to apply for temporary work visas and eventually permanent residence, the bill would make more green cards available overall.
But the proposal faces a tough battle in a forthcoming conference committee that will attempt to reconcile it with the immigration bill passed by the House in December. The House bill would criminalize illegal immigration and beef up immigration enforcement but makes no provision for new green cards.
Immigration advocates hope the additional green cards will, if the Senate bill becomes law, ease backlogs. The bill also could help the U.S.CIS improve its services because it will receive the new fines to be paid by undocumented immigrants adjusting to legal status. But it is not likely to address security bottlenecks or the lack of an integrated immigration computer system.
"It would be nice for them to get into the 20th century, let alone the 21st," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C. "Everything is done by paper right now. We have the problem of paper being shifted back and forth around the country. Virtually nothing is done electronically."
The National Foundation for American Policy in Washington, D.C., reported last month that skilled workers must now wait more than five years for a green card and, in spite of recent progress, the backlogs are as long as they always have been for some categories of family-sponsored visas.
Filipino siblings of U.S. citizens still can expect to wait 22 years to immigrate. Adult children of U.S. citizens in Mexico will wait 13 years. And then there are the indignities:
-- Visitors to San Francisco's immigration office must pay nearby deli and copy shop workers $5 to hold their cell phones because they are forbidden in the building.
-- People seeking visas from abroad must pay $18 each time they schedule an appointment or check on their case.
-- People renewing temporary skilled-worker visas must return to their home countries, sometimes at a cost of thousands of dollars in airfare, to obtain the visa stamp in their passports that allows them to travel. "It really is Kafkaesque," said Susan Bowyer, managing attorney at the International Institute of the East Bay. "All the power is in the immigration service's hands, because the burden is on the applicant to show by clear and convincing evidence that they're eligible."
Bowyer recalled the case of a Tongan woman who won the "diversity lottery," a program to admit 50,000 people a year from countries that don't produce many immigrants to the United States. She had to forgo her spot because she couldn't prove to she had completed high school after the small religious institution folded.
A Salvadoran woman who petitioned in 1992 to bring her brother and his family from El Salvador saw the case summarily closed after a 12-year wait, Bowyer said, because a government clerk thought a note on a document saying the man was already here on a visit meant the family no longer wanted to immigrate.
Williams, of the immigration lawyers association, estimated that major errors like this occur in up to 10 percent of cases. Occasionally, the errors affect large numbers of people, she said. U.S.CIS recently rescinded 10,000 fiancee visas after realizing it hadn't asked about the citizen petitioners' criminal histories.
Simple matters, like getting the immigration service to keep track of a changed address, fail more often, said San Francisco attorney Angela Moore, chair of the Northern California chapter of the immigration lawyers group. When mail is returned to the agency, applicants can miss hearings or have their green cards destroyed, which means paying $260 for a replacement.
"I would guess it's at least 20 to 30 percent of the time," said Moore. "It's not infrequent at all."
Strict formulas that limit the number of immigrants from any one country and the order of preference by which relatives can apply for reunification can cause decades-long delays. That and the lack of green cards or even temporary visas for low-skilled immigrants promote illegal migration, said Traci Hong, director of immigration programs, Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C.
But the Senate's plan to offer permanent residence to millions of undocumented immigrants strikes a raw nerve with many people who came here legally.
"Part of my frustration is to hear illegal immigrants called immigrants when I'm called an alien. I'm doing things right, but I'm still called an alien," said French-born Florence Ahlouche, who has spent nine years in the United States. "If I lose my job tomorrow, my reward is a ticket back home."
First an au pair, then a student and now working on an H1B visa as a contracts administrator for a Foster City biotech company, Ahlouche longs to put down roots here in the country where she came of age. She began the green card application two years ago and expects to wait two or three more years, but she's concerned that a legalization program would let the undocumented jump ahead of her in line.
Others see a glimmer of hope in offering legal status to illegal immigrants. Kondala Rao Palaka, an Indian citizen who has lived in the United States for 16 years as a student and then an H1B worker, just got his green card last month, after a four-year wait. But his wife is still waiting for hers.
"These are hardworking people, just looking for a better life," said Palaka, a Fremont resident. "And because of their efforts, their demonstrations and lobbying, if Congress decides to allow them into the line, that will help people who are already waiting. It will mean they have to keep the line moving."
Immigration experts say that's precisely what would happen if the Senate bill becomes law. The increase in green cards is expected to eliminate all backlogs within six years, and everyone who has a pending application would be taken care of before any undocumented immigrant gets a green card.
But some immigration observers say making life easier for would-be immigrants should not be the government's first priority. Yeh Ling Ling, director of the Oakland-based Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America and herself an immigrant from Vietnam, believes the United States lacks the resources to absorb more immigrants. She opposes the Senate bill, both for its expansion of legal immigration and for its offer of legal residence to illegal immigrants.
"If the Senate amnesty bill becomes law, we can expect 12 million illegal aliens to apply and, once naturalized, they can bring in their family members, spouses and children," said Yeh. "You cannot invite people to your house for dinner if some of your kids are starving."
When Alfonso Farf�n fell in love with an old family friend in 2002, he set out to bring his sweetheart and her two children home with him.
But nothing has gone as planned. After waiting a year for a fiancee visa for her to move here from El Salvador, he learned the paperwork had been lost.
The new application was delayed two years because U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services kept using an old address for Farf�n, married now to Elizabeth Farf�n, although he had twice updated their records. And when the family's green cards arrived six weeks ago, one was missing.
"I wanted to scream," said Farf�n, a paralegal at an Oakland immigrant assistance center, recalling the day he learned the U.S. CIS had lost the $1,500 application. "But you can't,'' said. "You just have to work harder, save more money and submit a new application."
Legally immigrating to this country can be a gut-wrenching, years-long ordeal. Administrative errors, protracted security checks -- which have lengthened markedly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks -- and bad information routinely cause heartache. Immigrants and immigration lawyers say applications sometimes go into a "black hole" from which no case updates emanate.
"What's going on in Congress right now is still an add-on to an essentially outdated and overly complex, throwback system ... written in the 1950s and amended in 1965," said former immigration agency chief Doris Meissner, who is now senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. "The statutes are just hopelessly complicated and convoluted. ... It surely shouldn't have to be such an unpleasant and harrowing experience."
No plan under consideration will fundamentally overhaul the country's cobbled-together immigration law, which lawyers say rivals only the tax code in complexity.
Many legal immigrants have worried that immigration reforms proposed in Congress will allow some of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to skip this nerve-wracking process. But the bill the Senate passed last month could actually help the 3 million people currently in line for lawful permanent residence documents, or "green cards," to get them more easily. And those familiar with the bill say no illegal immigrant will get to cut into the line for a green card.
In addition to allowing several million undocumented immigrants to apply for temporary work visas and eventually permanent residence, the bill would make more green cards available overall.
But the proposal faces a tough battle in a forthcoming conference committee that will attempt to reconcile it with the immigration bill passed by the House in December. The House bill would criminalize illegal immigration and beef up immigration enforcement but makes no provision for new green cards.
Immigration advocates hope the additional green cards will, if the Senate bill becomes law, ease backlogs. The bill also could help the U.S.CIS improve its services because it will receive the new fines to be paid by undocumented immigrants adjusting to legal status. But it is not likely to address security bottlenecks or the lack of an integrated immigration computer system.
"It would be nice for them to get into the 20th century, let alone the 21st," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C. "Everything is done by paper right now. We have the problem of paper being shifted back and forth around the country. Virtually nothing is done electronically."
The National Foundation for American Policy in Washington, D.C., reported last month that skilled workers must now wait more than five years for a green card and, in spite of recent progress, the backlogs are as long as they always have been for some categories of family-sponsored visas.
Filipino siblings of U.S. citizens still can expect to wait 22 years to immigrate. Adult children of U.S. citizens in Mexico will wait 13 years. And then there are the indignities:
-- Visitors to San Francisco's immigration office must pay nearby deli and copy shop workers $5 to hold their cell phones because they are forbidden in the building.
-- People seeking visas from abroad must pay $18 each time they schedule an appointment or check on their case.
-- People renewing temporary skilled-worker visas must return to their home countries, sometimes at a cost of thousands of dollars in airfare, to obtain the visa stamp in their passports that allows them to travel. "It really is Kafkaesque," said Susan Bowyer, managing attorney at the International Institute of the East Bay. "All the power is in the immigration service's hands, because the burden is on the applicant to show by clear and convincing evidence that they're eligible."
Bowyer recalled the case of a Tongan woman who won the "diversity lottery," a program to admit 50,000 people a year from countries that don't produce many immigrants to the United States. She had to forgo her spot because she couldn't prove to she had completed high school after the small religious institution folded.
A Salvadoran woman who petitioned in 1992 to bring her brother and his family from El Salvador saw the case summarily closed after a 12-year wait, Bowyer said, because a government clerk thought a note on a document saying the man was already here on a visit meant the family no longer wanted to immigrate.
Williams, of the immigration lawyers association, estimated that major errors like this occur in up to 10 percent of cases. Occasionally, the errors affect large numbers of people, she said. U.S.CIS recently rescinded 10,000 fiancee visas after realizing it hadn't asked about the citizen petitioners' criminal histories.
Simple matters, like getting the immigration service to keep track of a changed address, fail more often, said San Francisco attorney Angela Moore, chair of the Northern California chapter of the immigration lawyers group. When mail is returned to the agency, applicants can miss hearings or have their green cards destroyed, which means paying $260 for a replacement.
"I would guess it's at least 20 to 30 percent of the time," said Moore. "It's not infrequent at all."
Strict formulas that limit the number of immigrants from any one country and the order of preference by which relatives can apply for reunification can cause decades-long delays. That and the lack of green cards or even temporary visas for low-skilled immigrants promote illegal migration, said Traci Hong, director of immigration programs, Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C.
But the Senate's plan to offer permanent residence to millions of undocumented immigrants strikes a raw nerve with many people who came here legally.
"Part of my frustration is to hear illegal immigrants called immigrants when I'm called an alien. I'm doing things right, but I'm still called an alien," said French-born Florence Ahlouche, who has spent nine years in the United States. "If I lose my job tomorrow, my reward is a ticket back home."
First an au pair, then a student and now working on an H1B visa as a contracts administrator for a Foster City biotech company, Ahlouche longs to put down roots here in the country where she came of age. She began the green card application two years ago and expects to wait two or three more years, but she's concerned that a legalization program would let the undocumented jump ahead of her in line.
Others see a glimmer of hope in offering legal status to illegal immigrants. Kondala Rao Palaka, an Indian citizen who has lived in the United States for 16 years as a student and then an H1B worker, just got his green card last month, after a four-year wait. But his wife is still waiting for hers.
"These are hardworking people, just looking for a better life," said Palaka, a Fremont resident. "And because of their efforts, their demonstrations and lobbying, if Congress decides to allow them into the line, that will help people who are already waiting. It will mean they have to keep the line moving."
Immigration experts say that's precisely what would happen if the Senate bill becomes law. The increase in green cards is expected to eliminate all backlogs within six years, and everyone who has a pending application would be taken care of before any undocumented immigrant gets a green card.
But some immigration observers say making life easier for would-be immigrants should not be the government's first priority. Yeh Ling Ling, director of the Oakland-based Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America and herself an immigrant from Vietnam, believes the United States lacks the resources to absorb more immigrants. She opposes the Senate bill, both for its expansion of legal immigration and for its offer of legal residence to illegal immigrants.
"If the Senate amnesty bill becomes law, we can expect 12 million illegal aliens to apply and, once naturalized, they can bring in their family members, spouses and children," said Yeh. "You cannot invite people to your house for dinner if some of your kids are starving."
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