Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

software.rajivprab.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 404 posts

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#251

Post by rayiner »

programmertote wrote: post #64

It took me also ~18 years to get my green card. I went through a very similar (almost identical) route as the blogger and I'm glad he documented this grueling experience. I went to college in the US; graduated in 4 years; worked with OPT for 2.5 years; went back to a PhD program because my then employer wouldn't sponsor me an H1B (according to them, they are a start-up and cannot put up with the legal burden and cost…

Most of my family went to Canada and Australia instead of following us to the US. Vastly better process.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#252

Post by rayiner »

quantumwannabe wrote: post #38

Note that India requires prospective citizens to live in the country for 12 years before applying for naturalization, and China doesn't allow non-ethnic Chinese immigration at all (only ~1500 naturalized citizens/10,000 permanent residents in the whole country of over a billion people). Something to keep in mind when people from those countries complain about the American immigration system (doesn't apply to the Sing…

As an immigrant to the US, I hate the double standards applied to Americans. Oh, you think Americans are racist for wanting to restrict immigration? How would people in India react to massive immigration from Africa?

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#253

Post by Maursault »

lmarcos wrote: post #142
notch656a wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>a border guard who is having a bad day. This is not to be understated. I was born a US citizen. Last time I entered the country, officers faked that a dog had alerted "on my anus", forcibly strip searched me, and fabricated a story that plastic baggies that they suspected 'could be drugs' were coming out of my ass. I was shackled and cuffed and dragged around the state of Arizona for 16 hours while publicly paraded…

And that's another reason I will never visit the USA.

Me either. That's why I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia where I enjoy strong mental health patients' rights. Of course, this also means living without 4th or 5th Amendment protections.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#254

Post by rayiner »

codegeek wrote: post #61
quantumwannabe wrote: post #38

Note that India requires prospective citizens to live in the country for 12 years before applying for naturalization, and China doesn't allow non-ethnic Chinese immigration at all (only ~1500 naturalized citizens/10,000 permanent residents in the whole country of over a billion people). Something to keep in mind when people from those countries complain about the American immigration system (doesn't apply to the Sing…

I never understand this argument. If someone leaves their country to migrate, aren't they looking for a better life ? Just because India requires you to live for 12 years, Indian citizens should just shut up/put up with 18+ years of waiting because their country of origin has it worse/same ? This sounds a lot like "We gave you US citizenship. So shut up and stop criticizing the Govt because you came from a 3rd world…

It’s the lack of perspective that annoys me. It’s because America is so accommodating of immigrants compared to the rest of the world that you can talk like your ancestors built the country the minute you take the citizenship oath.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#255

Post by rajup »

car_analogy wrote: post #227
rajup wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, if you want to resort to whataboutism that’s ok but I just want to point out that it’s hypocritical to then go around the world exporting “freedom” and “values” from an alleged high ground.

That's a strange definition of "freedom". Do countries that don't practice mass immigration not have "freedom"? To be free, one must allow one's national identity to be diluted into nothing?

Not sure how you make the jump from sane immigration laws to “dilution of national identity”. If anything the USA does a fantastic job of assimilating a wide gamut of cultures without a lot of friction. Of course if your idea of “national identity” is that it consists only of white people, then I’m sorry but your views are racist and not based on factual history or current reality.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#256

Post by _kmrr »

amf12 wrote: post #233
xyzzyz wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US taxes all income you earn anywhere in the world. It’s not that bad in practice, as first $100k or something earned abroad is exempt, and there are anti double taxation treaties with many countries, but overall, if you’re a US citizen abroad, you might owe US taxes.

> US taxes all income you earn anywhere in the world US taxes all income you anywhere in the world for US residents .

Incorrect. It taxes all income anywhere jn the world for US citizens and green card holders, _regardless_ of where they reside or the source of their income.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#257

Post by BeetleB »

guyzero wrote: post #224
twofornone wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are foreign peoples entitled to US citizenship? Where is the obligation to make the process easy and open to everyone coming from?

the standard response here is to ask which native american tribe you're a member of.

The standard counter to that is "come and invade".

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#258

Post by lbrito »

Given the reality of remote work, one might hope the allure of immigrating to the US for the jobs might diminish. Sure, you probably won't make half a million working remotely as a software engineer, but you probably don't need that in most of the world anyway.

I can't fathom waiting almost two decades for a permanent residency status. It was excruciating just reading the post, yet alone living it. Mad kudos to the author for enduring the process. Personally I'd never go for it.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#259

Post by random314 »

twofornone wrote: post #163
random314 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were Europeans entitled to American land 500 years ago? What did Columbus' visa application look like?

So because this land was colonized 500 years ago (as it was before Europeans arrived as well by the way, native Americans were not pacifists), we shouldn't enforce borders? How much time must pass after a land is conquered before nations are morally justified in enforcing sovereignty over borders? Particularly when the border belongs to a welfare state with finite resources and a host of internal issues that require…

We are talking about a less than 2 decade time horizon for citizenship for immigrants who are propping up your welfare state of birthright citizens with 100K$+ payments in income tax every year.

Re: My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer

#260

Post by 29athrowaway »

valarauko wrote: post #234
29athrowaway wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through the same process as this man, so I am speaking from experience. The actual impact to my life was negligible, as all of the actual work was done by immigration lawyers. The only thing I had to do was submitting some info to the attorneys, a biometrics appointment and a short interview. And paying fees, and presenting a vaccination record. And the system is at capacity because there are long waiting time…

> I went through the same process as this man, so I am speaking from experience. Did you go through an EB2 application as an Indian/Chinese? If not, then it's not the same process. For every other national, you know your status in a couple of months, not decades. Children do not age out of the application as happens for Indians/Chinese.

No, I did not.

But then, that aging you described happened while residing in the US where you were making money hand over fist same as a US national. And your US-born kids are citizens.

So in the end the only difference is the inconvenience of the paperwork that you worked on very rarely. The rest of the time you were enjoying life in the US.

So, this story of 18 years of suffering is really nonsense. The guy had a great time working at great companies and making millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and stock while being midly bothered by some paperwork that was mostly prepared by an attorney.

The average small business owner is bothered by the government 1000x more and won't have the prosper life of a MAANG engineer.

Post reply on HN