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

#451

Post by axoltl » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:37 AM UTC

infinitone wrote: post #117

axoltl wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for my employer for about 6 months when we started green-card proceedings. I was a junior engineer on an H1-B then, having been hired straight out of college from the Netherlands. The job-req I applied for had been sitting there for well over a year, no American worker could be found to fill that position (many interviews were done, no suitable candidate found). I got my green card (EB3) in January of this y…

How long did it take to get your green card after first filing?

That's a good question. I had a hard time getting letters from my previous employers, so that part took the better part of a year. If you ignore that, I'd say 3 years? I was EB3 'other'. EB2 or EB1 category applicants from 'other' probably end up taking about a year. If you're unlucky enough to be in the India or China region, you're going to be waiting much, much longer than that though. EB3 India is probably more along the lines of 7-12 years.

Edit:

I think it's sort of important to note that I came to the US in 2010, which was a weird year for H1-Bs. The economy was bad, and I was able to file for an H1-B in August after I graduated. This lack of H1-Bs in 2010 probably resulted in fewer GC applications down the line as well, so your mileage may vary.

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

#452

Post by stormbrew » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:39 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #447

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.

Why is this shocking? Most countries will do this. Look at all the former Nazi's who had their citizenship revoked in Canada and the US. That's why they ask (at least in the US citizenship application) "Have you ever been a member of a terrorist organization?". If you answer "no" and turn out to be one, they say you lied on your application and your citizenship is revoked.

The issue is it broadened it to a political instead of a judicial decision. Your citizenship can be revoked on the basis of a foreign country's conviction (say... Saudi Arabia perhaps?), which didn't used to be the case, and the decision happens from the office of PM.

Prior to C-24 there was a mechanism for stripping citizenship for treason and terrorism, but the bar was higher and at least potentially less political.

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

#453

Post by schoen » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:44 AM UTC

dogecoinbase wrote: post #184

pekk wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which country recognizes a universal right to naturalize as a citizen of that country?

Svalbard, effectively.

Isn't that only for signatories to the Svalbard Treaty, though?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Treaty#/media/File:Sv...

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

#454

Post by skbohra123 » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:44 AM UTC

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…

Minor nit pick, 'losing' not 'loosing'.

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

#455

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:45 AM UTC

InclinedPlane wrote: post #360

kingmanaz wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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: immig…

[deleted]

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

#456

Post by FrankenPC » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 2:48 AM UTC

xpaulbettsx wrote: post #445

FrankenPC wrote: post #443

"Again, an employer can sponsor an employee's green card, but the employer must again bear the costs, which can run to the tens of thousands of dollars, and again the employee cannot offer to pay the cost." Why don't you just reimburse the employer the costs?

This isn't how the law works, a court would most likely not treat this any different than directly violating the law

I see. It would be the same as marrying just to get a green card.

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

#457

Post by throwaway12132 » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 3:11 AM UTC

Also a New Zealander. I did a 3 month internship in the Valley, and then did a 1 year internship after graduating - the idea was for me to get a H1B and stay on after that, but due to the cap being reached and losing out on the lottery my application was returned unprocessed. So I returned back to NZ and started a company here instead, we recently made our first two hires.

I still love the US and would much prefer to be building my company in the valley, but apparently I'm not wanted even after paying over a hundred thousand in taxes within a year of being there. The stress caused from not being able to stay in the country where I was building my life due to purely random chance, with nothing I could do about it, was massive.

I do hope to return to the US permanently at some point and that the system will be improved, but it seems that will take a while.

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

#458

Post by hiddencost » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 3:14 AM UTC

throwaway12132 wrote: post #457

Also a New Zealander. I did a 3 month internship in the Valley, and then did a 1 year internship after graduating - the idea was for me to get a H1B and stay on after that, but due to the cap being reached and losing out on the lottery my application was returned unprocessed. So I returned back to NZ and started a company here instead, we recently made our first two hires. I still love the US and would much prefer to…

100k in taxes? You made 300k as an intern?

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

#459

Post by sjf » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 3:16 AM UTC

karavelov wrote: post #415

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)

Are you sure about that? You still need an employer sponsored work permit, and you can't change jobs without getting a new permit. Then it takes five years before you are eligible for Long Term Residency. You can go from an H1B to a green card in less time if you are not from India or China.

Not everyone comes from the EU.

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

#460

Post by spiralpolitik » Wed, Jun 24, 2015, 3:17 AM UTC

infinitone wrote: post #117

axoltl wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for my employer for about 6 months when we started green-card proceedings. I was a junior engineer on an H1-B then, having been hired straight out of college from the Netherlands. The job-req I applied for had been sitting there for well over a year, no American worker could be found to fill that position (many interviews were done, no suitable candidate found). I got my green card (EB3) in January of this y…

How long did it take to get your green card after first filing?

These days generally labor certification in STEM jobs takes about a year. PERM sped things up dramatically and now that immigration lawyers are comfortable with how it works it generally takes less time than the old system.

Adjustment of status is where a lot of people get stuck. Really this should take about a year, but if you come from a country with a lot of migration (Mexico, India, and China) you could be in for a lot wait, especially in EB3.

At best you are looking at 2 years, at worst I've heard upwards of 10 years. A good immigration lawyer should be able to give you a good estimate based on their experience and current USCIS workloads.