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U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

wsj.com

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Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#841

Post by LadyCailin »

itake wrote: post #635
latch wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's angry about how people are spending their already-taxed income? Is that really a thing? Is it sincere or just racism masked as "think of the economy"? (Honest question, Not American. Don't live there, news to me).

The big beautiful bill included a 1% foreign remittance tax for outbound international transfers funded using physical cash, money orders, and cashier's checks.

Which notably, doesn’t affect money transfers in general, just ways that poor people transfer money, so the concern as stated is not in good faith at all, but rather a way to further punish migrant workers, primarily Mexicans, and is absolutely racial animosity.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#843

Post by inemesitaffia »

larsonian wrote: post #817
account42 wrote: post #762

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't now about the UK but having to leave to renew your visa is not unique to the US.

Name one country, then. None that I'm aware of require you to leave the country to renew an immigration visa. Switching from a visitor visa to an immigration visa, sure. But if you're already on an immigration visa or residence permit, it's normally expected that you are, well, an immigrant. That your home, domicile, center of vital interests, whatever you want to call it, is in the country. I know of immigration sys…

Ireland, Nigeria

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#845

Post by bubblethink »

cheonc720 wrote: post #543
testbjjl wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But will remain anonymous and are okay with the collateral damage. My suspicion is that competition makes you feel insecure. I was born and raised in SF, and I see this not only with immigrants but also from people who feel violated by migrants. There is a spectrum. It’s ugly, short sighted and unhelpful. It’s what it takes to make the valley, but people love pulling up ladders. At least, behind an alias, you’re will…

> But will remain anonymous and are okay with the collateral damage. Have you worked at a tech company in 2026? Plenty of engineers, born in India/China and working in Silicon Valley, are openly anti-immigration. And I also support them since I agree with them. Pull up the ladder once you’ve made it. Nothing new.

This is not X or blind. You created a new account just to post drivel?

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#846

Post by account42 »

thayne wrote: post #766
seebeegeebee wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its VERY achievable. I've gone through it personally and it sucks just as much as legally immigrating to ANY other country on Earth. I've legally gone through this process in at least 5 countries and the US was the most expensive, but far from the worst.

> the US was the most expensive In other words, completely inaccessible to many people who would like a better life and are willing to work but lack opportunities in their native country. Just because it was achievable for you doesn't mean it is achievable for everyone.

So? No one is entitled to immigrate to the US. It is very much supposed to not be achievable for literally everyone but only for those where it will be a net positive for the country.

And it's perfectly normal that the country where the most people want to immigrate to will also have higher barriers.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#847

Post by achenet »

unselect5917 wrote: post #477
driverdan wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Better for whom? Minorities and women, for a start.

White people are a global minority at ~7%. "Minorities™" have their own countries where they are majorities. If they don't want to be Minorities™, they can stay home.

With all due respect

1) not all minorities have their own countries. Examples today would include the Tamagzight people in North Africa and the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey. Other examples could include Christians in the Middle East (Lebannon comes to mind, but I think there are other countries as well), Uighurs in China, or even people living in a place like Iran that is a religious theocracy who want more freedom.

2) in particular, for the case of the US, there has been, since the founding of the country, a large population of African-Americans who don't really have a home country anymore, and don't really have much of a choice but to be American, because, having lived there for hundreds of years at this point, that is the only country they know.

3) I do believe that religious tolerance, and tolerance in general, pays off in the long run. Many early American colonies were founded by people seeking greater religious freedom - Pennsylvannia, founded by a Quaker, Plymouth was founded by Pilgrims who rejected the conventional dogma of the Church of England at the time. More recently, the large number of scientists and engineers fleeing the Nazis in Europe during the early-mid 20th century did have a large impact on American industry, in fact I linked Andrew Grove's wikipedia page in another post on this thread as an example.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#848

Post by CTDOCodebases »

foltik wrote: post #703
CTDOCodebases wrote: post #653

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Instead, what they all have in common is a vague underlying fear of being displaced, or sense that something owed to them is being taken." This is true for both the citizens and the immigrants.

This comment is itself a perfect example of what I was talking about. Nobody feels entitled to a visa. It’s aspirational, like applying to a job. People do it because they want a better life, knowing full well they could be denied, or that it may well be temporary. But if you believe immigrants could take something from you, like your job or housing, then it makes sense you’d project this idea of entitlement onto the…

> This comment is itself a perfect example of what I was talking about.

Except it's not. It's just an observation of these comments. I don't have a dog in this race. I am not a citizen or a resident. Both residents and citizens are sounding entitled IMHO.

> Nobody feels entitled to a visa. It’s aspirational, like applying to a job. People do it because they want a better life, knowing full well they could be denied, or that it may well be temporary.

For those applying for a new visa I would mostly agree. For those extending their Visa I would disagree heavily.

> But if you believe immigrants could take something from you, like your job or housing, then it makes sense you’d project this idea of entitlement onto them. As if by applying they’re implicitly laying claim to something owed to you, a citizen.

If there is no genuine concern over this then why are applications/quotas for work Visas even a thing? Just offer automatic residence to whoever in the world can get hired by any company that operates in the USA. Infinite GDP glitch.

You are right that government of the USA doesn't owe citizens a continued quality of life. The preamble is very clear on that. When it says "promote the general Welfare" that is interpreted as the welfare of residents and citizens alike.

> In reality the economy is not a fixed pie and nothing is being taken from you. Immigrants take jobs, but they also spend money, pay taxes, start businesses, and need houses built, all of which leads to more jobs. It’s a positive feedback loop that benefits everyone, and a big part of how America’s economy grew into what it is today.

I mostly agree but "benefits everyone" is not true. There are winners and losers and negative externalities. GDP isn't a happiness score. Cynical me thinks that the difference between a USA resident and a citizen is basically non existent for the average USA citizen in terms of rights (arguably worse in terms of responsibilities for non politically active people who don't work with/for the federal government) but the permission to reside indefinitely is one of those rights so a government denying residency is a way to artificially give value to the citizenry without actually giving or improving anything.

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#849

Post by [deleted] »

itake wrote: post #635
latch wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's angry about how people are spending their already-taxed income? Is that really a thing? Is it sincere or just racism masked as "think of the economy"? (Honest question, Not American. Don't live there, news to me).

The big beautiful bill included a 1% foreign remittance tax for outbound international transfers funded using physical cash, money orders, and cashier's checks.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications

#850

Post by dmurray »

inemesitaffia wrote: post #843
larsonian wrote: post #817

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Name one country, then. None that I'm aware of require you to leave the country to renew an immigration visa. Switching from a visitor visa to an immigration visa, sure. But if you're already on an immigration visa or residence permit, it's normally expected that you are, well, an immigrant. That your home, domicile, center of vital interests, whatever you want to call it, is in the country. I know of immigration sys…

Ireland, Nigeria

And lots of expat-friendly countries that are tolerant of working on repeated tourist visas rather than a full immigrant visa, but still require visa runs every month or three.
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