I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed • Hacker News Board

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#271

Post by product50 » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:30 PM UTC

legohead wrote: post #260

The article mentions we kick out the brightest, but there's actually a way to specifically immigrate using your educational prowess [1]. Basically, you need a masters of higher. You got 2 degrees, were here for ~15 years.. surely research was done to find out how to immigrate? If you spent the time to get 2 degrees, I'd figure getting a masters would have been the more obvious choice... [1]: http://www.workpermit.com…

Green Card needs to be filed by employer and cannot be independently by the immigrant himself. The author is not disputing the point that there is a way to get in. The challenge is that at all points you have to completely rely on your employer to file and pay for all the visas and green cards. As anyone who has gone through the green card process can attest, it is a very complicated and lengthy process. It requires you to convince your company to spend 10s of thousands on dollars to file for your green card which doesn't potentially benefit the company itself. It requires putting out ads on newspapers, interviewing some candidates and then explaining why they can't be a fit. This is unlike some other countries (such as Australia or UK) where you can file your own immigration application if you check off certain things (such as level of education, no. of years employed etc.)

Also, the visa itself is not a guarantee considering it is a lottery. So even if you have a masters degree, it won't help you a lot in terms of getting you through the H1 lottery.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#272

Post by diego_moita » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:31 PM UTC

Disclaimer: I am a Canadian permanent resident.

> I like it here.

This is the real problem, you have a severe case of non-reciprocal love. In that case the answer is obvious: move over, find another love, come to Canada or go to Northern Europe.

U.S. immigration is an American problem,since they are the ones loosing talent and entrepreneurial people. It is not an immigrant's problem, since they don't have the powers to fix it.

Here in Canada we have a much more open immigration policy and, IMHO, better quality of life. I strongly suggest you considering coming to Canada.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#273

Post by scott_s » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:31 PM UTC

laurentoget wrote: post #196

scott_s wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that some employers treat green card sponsorship similar to a bonus: if you leave before z years after getting the green card, you owe them $x0,000.

this sounds like indentured servitude, and i suspect there are laws against this.

I assume it's in the same category as having to pay back an actual signing bonus, or moving expenses, if you don't stay with the company for z years.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#274

Post by homulilly » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:34 PM UTC

kingmanaz wrote: post #250

shas3 wrote: post #68

The US legal immigration system is perfectly described by the adjective, Kafkaesque. In terms of the arbitrariness of bureaucracy, it has more in common with what I saw in the socialist days of India and what one reads in books by Solzhenitsyn and Kafka. The iniquities have been discussed repeatedly in popular press, with almost no changes wrought in the process. Many years ago (yes, 2011 was 4 years ago) Newsweek ra…

A nation exists to serve the will of /its people/. With rampant illegal and legal immigration, a nation cannot know who /its people/ are. A nation serving no one people is a nation serving no one, it instead arbitrates in favor of whichever group screams the loudest. Diversity leads to division. Division leads to divestment. Divestment leads to dissolution and war. America is more than a place to make money, it is mo…

What appears to be bizarre racist paranoia aside, allowing skilled workers to stay here helps America both economically and culturally. Lawyers and Software Engineers aren't coming here to mooch off America's welfare system (which sucks anyways), they're coming here to contribute and they usually have more to offer than native-born racists.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#275

Post by stefantalpalaru » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

I get it that a degree in US law is only relevant in the US, but after 15 years you should really take a hint and move on.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#276

Post by aineko » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

chrisper wrote: post #223

aineko wrote: post #141

As a New Zealander going through the US immigration process, this whole post rings extremely true to me. People who have not gone through immigration before have no idea what its like for your entire life to be dictated by the whims of an opaque bureaucratic system. The most frustrating thing about it is that you have essentially no opportunities to better your situation via your own initiative. Don't like your job,…

What visa do you have now?

In AOS (Adjustment of status) now - its sort of a limbo before getting a greencard

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#277

Post by izztmzzt » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:40 PM UTC

Not enough job supply for all of the law school graduates and this guy is surprised that they dont allow foreign competition to immigrate. Sorry to break it, we dont need more lawyers at the moment. Maybe try again in 10 years?

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#278

Post by product50 » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:42 PM UTC

KingMob wrote: post #46

Without discussing the larger issue of immigration, might I suggest that the right outcome was reached in this particular case? Job opportunities in the legal profession have decreased drastically in the last decade, and for all his rhetoric of "America wanting the best and brightest", it may have been hard to justify letting him stay when there is a glut of lawyers. This probably factored into the decision of his bo…

The outcome would have been the same if the author was an engineer as well. The point is that the immigration is tied to your employer and unnecessarily long/complicated and full of uncertainties (such as lottery).

For example, let us say you are from outside US and got an admission to Harvard for MBA. Now what you have to decide is whether it is fine for you to spend ~$200k in 2 yrs in education at Harvard and then potentially returning back to your country since if your name doesn't come in the H1 lottery - that is what you have to do. There is no 2nd chance. These kind of decisions is what is keeping out a number of bright ppl from coming to US and look elsewhere for opportunities.

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#279

Post by Blackthorn » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:43 PM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #183

toolsadmin wrote: post #177

It would actually be a great experiment to create a new libertarian nation which could let in everybody who is willing to contribute (work/business experience/bank account statement as proof) and see how that turns out. Something like a new US/Singapore started from a fresh slate.

Where?

I don't know, maybe you could build it under the sea. You could give it some neat biblical-sounding name too...Apocalypta? Nah, too doomsday. How about...Rapture?

Re: I spent the last 15 years trying to become an American and failed

#280

Post by why-el » Tue, Jun 23, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

izztmzzt wrote: post #277

Not enough job supply for all of the law school graduates and this guy is surprised that they dont allow foreign competition to immigrate. Sorry to break it, we dont need more lawyers at the moment. Maybe try again in 10 years?

What a terrible thing to say. The guy also did his bachelor's here, has friends here, and lived enough to consider this place his home.