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

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

vox.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 615 posts

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

#411

Post by bane »

cesarbs wrote: post #393
bane wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is entirely fair. The U.S. is not a country that loves anybody -- not in the way that countries like Denmark does. The U.S. works by mostly just getting out of the way and ignoring you at least compared to other advanced countries. You have more room to succeed or fail here than most other countries, but the government really won't do much to help you either way. Most interactions with the government her…

Could you elaborate on Denmark? I always thought they were really tough on immigration.

I mean internally, once you get in. Most countries, especially G-20 level countries are very difficult to immigrate to.

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

#412

Post by spiralpolitik »

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?

For most people to sponsor an employment green card you have to show that you cannot find a qualified citizen or PR to fill the position. This is easier for some professions (STEM most notably) than others.

Also there are restrictions on when a company can file. For example if the company has gone through layoffs then generally it can't sponsor people for several months.

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

#413

Post by yellowapple »

yetanotheracc wrote: post #396
yellowapple wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I come to the Netherlands with the two of you? I am sick of America and I also enjoy riding bicycles.

Can I have your apartment when you leave?

Sure, if you don't mind living in a place where cost of living is inflated to Bay Area levels.

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

#414

Post by [deleted] »

hippich wrote: post #403

US immigration process is cumbersome, and painful for people born in some countries (like India and China,) but certainly not prohibitive. Quote: Additionally, an H1-B visa (the most common form of work visa and the only form available to most) is only valid for three years and renewable only once. This means that the skilled legal immigrant must obtain permanent residency or a green card if he or she wishes to stay…

[deleted]

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

#415

Post by karavelov »

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…

Coming to Ireland is pretty painless and the economic climate is favorable (but not the weather)

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

#416

Post by bsder »

winter_blue wrote: post #300
bsder wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The simplest solution is to shorten the H1-B time to a year and auto-convert to green card. More tech immigrants. No indentured servitude. Everybody wins. Except for the tech corporations who are suppressing wages--which is all of them--which is why it never happens.

> Except for the tech corporations who are suppressing wages--which is all of them This is not true. I'm on an H1B, and I can change jobs freely. Employers can't prevent you from changing jobs. Employers have zero power to suppress wages if you have an H1B -- because you can get a better paying job. (This is unlike the L-1, which locks you to your employer.) The only thing preventing someone from getting a better pay…

> This is not true. I'm on an H1B, and I can change jobs freely.

To another employer willing to sponsor your H1-B. Correct?

However, doesn't this cause timeline issues? There were lots of problems with changing companies resetting your timeline. When did that change?

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

#417

Post by [deleted] »

bane wrote: post #80
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…

Part of the problem with improving the system is that there's simply no incentive. Immigration reform almost entirely centers on managing undocumented/illegal immigrants. Law Makers don't have to listen to petitions from people outside of the country let alone their own jurisdictions. The other part is that people who've suffered through the process don't turn around and try to fix it, I remember when my wife was goi…

[deleted]

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

#418

Post by ojbyrne »

scott_s wrote: post #53
eloisant wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say sponsoring for a green card is usually not a good move for an employer, as the employee will have more freedom to change jobs once he gets the green card. Also it's a very long and costly process. They'd have to really want to keep the employee, and to have exhausted all other visa options.

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.

Pretty sure that's illegal.

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

#419

Post by themartorana »

chx wrote: post #372
kafkaesque wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

To quote https://bccla.org/2015/06/its-official-second-class-citizens... The new provisions allow officials to take away a person’s citizenship based on criminal convictions that occur outside of Canada, regardless whether the regime or judicial system under which the person was convicted is undemocratic or lacks the rule of law.

WTF Canada?

The last place I would have guessed would tier class to provide unequal protection under and application of the law would be Canada.

Are they really more worried about the abstract idea of Jihadist Muslims than America?

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

#420

Post by speeder »

yellowapple wrote: post #367
simplexion wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I come to Netherlands with you? I am sick of Australia and I enjoy riding bicycles.

Can I come to the Netherlands with the two of you? I am sick of America and I also enjoy riding bicycles.

Can I go with the three of you?

I am from Brazil and want to go anywhere but here (or countries like here...)

I even did some interviews for companies in Amsterdan but they didn't went well :(

Post reply on HN