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

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

#351

Post by keerthiko »

This article hit so close to home, and it brought a tear to my eye for the author. Just minutes before I saw this show up on my feed, I got an email from USCIS saying that my O1 petition has been approved after having attempted to get a visa for about 4 years (I know, it's kind of magically short in the grand scheme of things) down a variety of paths. It's still kind of surreal and hasn't fully registered, I can't wait to go back to the only place I've ever called home, the Bay Area.

My heart goes out to anyone else who is going through or will have to go through what I had to for the last 2-3 years, trying to work on my startup remotely as a digital nomad. It sounds like a romantic lifestyle, but it's wrought with difficulties leaving one on the edge of depression the whole time.

I'm happy to lend an understanding ear to anyone going through this right now. Having a government whimsically decide what direction your life takes professionally, socially, and culturally with no say of your own really makes you feel powerless.

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

#352

Post by realityking »

jotm wrote: post #318
kuschku wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As always, with the EU, it’s complicated, but often the "free to work, live and retire everywhere in the EU" is considered part of Schengen.

Is it? Then how come Romanian and Bulgarian citizens get the same rights without being in Schengen? Or don't they?

You are correct. The main pillar of the European Union is the common market including the free movement of goods, capital and people.

Schengen was originally a treaty outside of the framework of the EU but has since been taken over by it. There are EU countries outside of Schengen (GB, Ireland) and there are non-EU countries part of Schengen (e.g. Norway, Vatican, Switzerland). However all countries that join the EU now eventually have to join the Schengen area.

Besides Visa free travel for residents of these countries Schengen also includes a common Visa for foreigners traveling to these countries (so you only need one Visa to to travel to France and Germany) and allows the police to cross the border when perusing suspects and detain them on the other side.

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

#353

Post by dflock »

kafkaesque wrote: post #339
hartator wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waho, that's bad, do you have more details?

I'm a Canadian citizen (but I live in the US), so I think I know what' hes' referring to. With Bill C-24, whether you were born in Canada or were naturalised, if you qualify for another citizenship or hold citizenship from another country, the government can take away your Canadian citizenship if it considers you to be a terrorist or threat to the country. I'm against it.

And, I think, bill C-51 considerably widens the definition of 'terrorist or threat to the country'.

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

#354

Post by lancewiggs »

I'm also from New Zealand, also went to Yale (albeit as a graduate not undergrad), and also had my mother tell me I was "very American". And I also ran out of options for US visas after 5 years (10 years away from NZ in total), despite a Yale MBA and McKinsey on my resume.

More to the point I stopped trying, seeing that the system was structured against me, and that my ambition of starting my own company(s) was not going to be doable in the USA. (I'd previously started a company in Canada, and already knew that stable immigration status is a prerequisite for a stable/growing business.)

I've been in New Zealand since 2003. It's increasingly wonderful here.

It's so easy to start businesses (I've co-founded several), to invest in businesses (over 20 so far) and to get things done. The early stage eco-system is taking off, led by companies like Xero, Trade Me, Orion Health and Vend, and with others like Timely (@timely), Raygun.io and a growing ecosystem around Xero following. We have seen successful start of crowdfunding, but raising money is still not as easy as it could be (I'm trying to help change that).

Meanwhile the politicians are accessible and not corrupt or extreme, the country is staggeringly beautiful, the food delicious and nutritional, and the economy floated through the GFC as our bankers were sensible and bolstered by solid laws. Auckland is increasingly multicultural and we have free trade agreements with China and many other countries - over 2 billion people worth. And we consistently get near the top of the World Bank's Doing Business rankings and Transparency International's (lack of) Corruption Index - justifiably. I hope the author comes home - NZ is a different place 15 years on.

Investor in some of these, directly or through Punakaikifund.co.nz.

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

#356

Post by seunosewa »

nicolas_t wrote: post #52

I work for customers in the US as a software consultant (paid at New York rates) but because of the hassle and difficulties to get a visa there, I do not live there. This means that I get money from the US but I do not reinject it in the economy, I also do not pay taxes in the US. I'm a net loss for this country all because of the visa policies.

The services you provide to US customers are more valuable than the money you are paid for those services, so it's still a net gain for the US.

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

#357

Post by azinman2 »

azinman2 wrote: post #230

So no one seems to mentioning the one obvious fact (to me)... it seems like it's working as designed and there is a good reason why: Part of US diplomacy is to educate foreigners and let them go back to their own countries so that those who are improving/leading said countries are more friendly to the US. It also is part of diplomacy to spread education so that the rest of the world can buy into our model of function…

Wow a bunch of down votes, and why? Is it inaccurate? If so, leave a comment.

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

#358

Post by OliverJones »

anocendi wrote: post #67

It is kind of surprising to learn that those Big Law Firms rolling in huge piles of cash minute by the minute do not want to spend a mere couple of thousands for a member of their team. Is it because petitioning for a candidate without a STEM degree is that much harder?

I should think it makes sense to name this law firm so others can be warned.

It's exploitative to hire somebody brilliant with full knowledge that you can simply do nothing and you won't have to deal them into partnership.

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

#359

Post by mikekchar »

diego_moita wrote: post #272

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…

> Here in Canada we have a much more open immigration policy

"Much more open" is a relative term, I suppose. I am a Canadian citizen, born in Canada with all my family (save my wife) living in Canada. I live in Japan with my wife who is Japanese. A few years ago my wife wanted to move to an English speaking country so that she could improve her English and live abroad.

I'll just be plain. It was easier for me to get a visa for myself and my wife to work in the UK than it was to get a visa for my wife in Canada. Had we decided to go to Canada, she would have had to come on a tourist visa. She would have no health care coverage, nor ability to work. After 6 months she would have to apply for an extension to her tourist visa on humanitarian grounds. Her application would be reviewed by a single border guard and could be denied for any or no reason. There is no right of appeal. If her application is denied, she would be barred from entering Canada again thereafter. If she is granted the extension, then she gets another 6 months. After the 6 months are up, she gets to apply for another extension on humanitarian grounds with the same restrictions. After a total of 18 months (and after paying $1500 for the application plus submitting all of our emails together for the last 3 years plus pictures of us together for the last 3 years), she might be granted permanent residence status.

That's for my wife!

In constrast Japan gave me a 3 year working visa after seeing the paperwork showing that we were married. The application was free and took 1 week to process. I can renew after 3 years. The last time I renewed my visa in Japan (before I was married) they just wanted to know if I was still working and after that gave me a renewal (the entire process took 1 hour and cost the equivalent of $60). After 5 years in the country I can apply for permanent residence status (which is similarly rubber-stampy). In the meantime I get national health care insurance and even a pension. (Note: citizenship is generally difficult to get in Japan, though. You must live in Japan for at least 10 years and you must show that you have integrated with the community).

Having said all that, being an immigrant myself I feel that immigration is a privilage not a right. If a country doesn't want immigrants, then that's their business. If you come on a student visa, or on a work visa that is intended to fill gaps in the local economy, then you are expected to return to your home country some day. That's just the way it is.

I feel for the guy because I would be devastated if Japan decided not to renew my visa for some reason. I love living here. I hope they invite me to stay permanently, but I still think that it's Japan's right to decide what they want to do.

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

#360

Post by InclinedPlane »

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…

America hasn't bankrupted itself "raising the children of others". America has accepted others into its family, and grown stronger and wealthier because of it.

Thomas Paine: immigrant

Andrew Carnegie: immigrant

Nikola Tesla: immigrant

Igor Sikorsky: immigrant

Albert Einstein: immigrant

Cary Grant: immigrant

William Shockley (co-inventor of the transistor): immigrant

Wernher Von Braun: immigrant

Eddie Van Halen: immigrant

Elon Musk: immigrant

America is a nation of immigrants. They have helped define our identity, our values, and our laws from the very beginning, and they have built and enriched America to an incalculable degree. And not just inconsequential parts of America, entire industries have been founded on their work (Tesla, Sikorsky, Shockley), and historic, nation-defining projects have relied on their work (Paine, Alexander Hamilton, Von Braun). Immigrants are Americans, period.

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