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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

#421

Post by lmz »

zzalpha wrote: post #171
kazinator wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people in a small, homogeneous country might feel hat their traditions are worth preserving. Theirs is the voice that matters. You can't hold a global referendum on that, because their votes would be vastly outnumbered by those who don't care or who want to trample on them and help themselves to their resources or whatever.

You can't hold a global referendum on that, because their votes would be vastly outnumbered by those who don't care or who want to trample on them and help themselves to their resources or whatever. Eh, that's just cultural conservatism, the rallying cry of racists and skinheads the world over. Are you also afraid they might marry your women and corrupt your children? It's really quite fascinating... Europe, for gene…

> It's really quite fascinating... Europe, for generations, colonized the rest of the world, imposing their own cultures on indigenous populations (and I say that as a Canadian... we spent 100 years trying to wipe out our own indigenous population).

> Now that the tables are turning and Europeans are struggling with immigration into their own countries, violent xenophobia is springing up like a vile weed.

> Ironic, really.

Why? Do you think the indigenous populations meekly surrendered to the Europeans? They fought and lost (some because of diseases, some because of inferior weaponry). The Europeans are now are superior in weaponry, they have working (in theory) immigration controls. Why is it wrong if they fight?

(note: I am not European. From a former European colony.).

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

#422

Post by nextos »

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.

If you're inside EU it's super easy. But that's hardly news.

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

#423

Post by desireco42 »

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…

Thank you for saying this.

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

#424

Post by sampo »

pkaye wrote: post #409
sampo wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it much easier in the EU? You still need a job offer to first enter the country, but changing jobs will involve less bureaucracy than in the USA, and after having been employed in the country for 5-10 years, and speaking a local language, you can apply for permanent residency or citizenship yourself, so the hassle of needing you employer to do it for you, does not exist.

In the US, most H1B hires I personally know have had their green card sponsorship started within an year of hire. Then it takes about 2-3 years to get it finalized. I knew of one who even got the process started in 2 months. So there are some differences from other countries but no 5-10 years wait.

> 5-10 years wait

I mean, having been in the country 5-10 years, depending on the country, is a requirement of getting the citizenship, not just to to get the process started.

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

#425

Post by brady8 »

mikekchar wrote: post #359
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…

I'm a Canadian citizen who just finished the process of sponsoring my Australian wife for permanent residency in Canada.

What you've written isn't true unless there's some extenuating circumstances you're not disclosing. My wife was automatically eligible for PR, and in fact it was much easier than the reciprocal process (me applying for PR in Australia). It took about $2000 all up, and took about 8 months in total. Easy!

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

#426

Post by Domenic_S »

thiagoperes wrote: post #349
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…

That's exactly what I did. I spent a lot of time and money on immigration lawyers trying to find a way to immigrate to the U.S. only because I don't have a degree. After years of trying without any success I started looking into other options, only to find that it's significantly easier to immigrate into other countries (like Canada). Two months ago I got an offer from a Dutch company (even with them knowing about my…

> my degree issue

This is interesting. Must you have a degree to immigrate if you have a strong work history?

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

#428

Post by flanbiscuit »

philliphaydon wrote: post #427

I'm a New Zealand citizen. It's true. We do dream like that. But I visited America and I don't think I'll ever go back. I didn't see any culture. But I live in Asia now. There's heaps of culture here.

what's your definition of culture?

I ask this to everyone else too

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

#429

Post by Thiz »

speeder wrote: post #420
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 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 :(

Can I go with the four of you?

I am Venezuelan and let me tell you, this country is the anus of the world and we don't even have toilet paper.

Please be compassionate.

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

#430

Post by empressplay »

mikekchar wrote: post #359
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…

My Australian partner looked at emigrating to Canada and she was granted work rights 7 months after she first got off the plane. Yes, she had no health care and we had to live at my parents for those 7 months but it wasn't forever.

Now, we ended up settling in Australia instead (it was easier in the end for me to emigrate here instead) but Canadian immigration wasn't impossible. If anything it was just slow.

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