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Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

blog.garyroumanis.com

51–60 of 68 posts

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#51

The distinction between capital and labor perpetuates and absurd protectionism and is a major obstacle to economic growth. Immigration is a free trade issue.

Is both a free trade and a human rights issue. The desire to migrate and live and work in different places around the world should need no greater justification than mere idle curiousity and I believe that the current approach to state borders does nothing but stoke xenophobia and mistrust around the world.

Also, I come from the UK, which has more UK citizens working abroad than foreign citizens working here, all while some sections of the press runs stories about how foreign workers are crowding people out of jobs. I keep trying to ask people who support banning all foreign labour, what they think will happen when everywhere else bans UK labour from their countries in return and all those UK expat workers, with their wealth of experience, come flooding back in greater numbers than the foreign workers that have just been kicked out, so leading to even greater unemployment, while at the same time guaranteeing that nobody would really want to trade with us anymore. These kind of conversations often end somewhat badly for some reason.

Perhaps it might be because I tend to also mention the view that it is a bit rich for the UK to be complaining too loudly about immigration considering how big the empire grew from us going around and rudely sticking flags in other people's stuff.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#52
Of my graduating class, a large enough number were going to the United States, most of which got through without a hitch.

The only problems I've heard happened at the very crossing mentioned in this post -- Blaine, WA. I know that I'll make sure to never cross there to get a "Computer Systems Analyst" TN.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#53
post #32
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people are down voting this comment. It seems like the OP is a "citizen of convenience" like those in Lebanon who only wanted to make use of their Canadian citizenship when war broke out despite the fact that some of them hadn't been back to Canada in 5+ years. Not that this really has a place in the main discussion, although it does involve citizenship in a different way.

It seems like the OP is a "citizen of convenience" like those in Lebanon who only wanted to make use of their Canadian citizenship when war broke out How unimaginably selfish of them, trying to avoid death by manipulating poor hardworking taxpayers with their use of "documents" and "citizenship" and other bits of magic paper.

I'm not sure you fully appreciate the uproar that it caused during the last war in Lebanon.

It's a relatively straightforward process to get Canadian citizenship. Many Canadian started to question the process that allowed someone raised in another country to come to Canada, gain citizenship in 4 to 5 years, then go back to their home country with no intention of ever returning or contributing to Canadian society again, except under the situation where their current country is residence becomes uninhabitable.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#54
post #53
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like the OP is a "citizen of convenience" like those in Lebanon who only wanted to make use of their Canadian citizenship when war broke out How unimaginably selfish of them, trying to avoid death by manipulating poor hardworking taxpayers with their use of "documents" and "citizenship" and other bits of magic paper.

I'm not sure you fully appreciate the uproar that it caused during the last war in Lebanon. It's a relatively straightforward process to get Canadian citizenship. Many Canadian started to question the process that allowed someone raised in another country to come to Canada, gain citizenship in 4 to 5 years, then go back to their home country with no intention of ever returning or contributing to Canadian society agai…

Sounds to me like thoroughly sensible and responsible behaviour. If I lived in a country that was on the brink of war I would also cover all bases. If I had kids, I would almost definitely try and arrange something like this.

And besides, what skin does it take off your back if someone does this? When those people are in the country, they will generally be working and paying taxes. When they are not in the country they are working and paying taxes somewhere else. And what difference does it make if they come back to go snowboarding, or come back because their country has just gone boom? Patriotism is not a required trait to be a good person.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#55
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "But everyone in the continent are Americans, as they are all from America." You're just itching to have a ridiculous argument, aren't you? Take your pseudo-intellectual nerd-rage elsewhere. There are genuine problems with the immigration rules in the US. Some are described in this very thread. The author's case is marginal.

Ok, sorry for my somewhat colourful expression of annoyance. It is completely true that I shouldn't get so wound up by bobbins on the internet. However, I got annoyed because I thought you were being extremely closed minded by seeming to find it somehow dishonest or greedy for someone who spent the first part of their childhood in one country and then the second part in another, to go to university in the country the…

>"However, I got annoyed because I thought you were being extremely closed minded by seeming to find it somehow dishonest or greedy"

I do find it somewhat dishonest and greedy. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it as a Canadian who is personally affected by such things. You know we're running huge deficits here, right? I don't think my tax dollars should subsidize the education of someone who has not or does not plan on contributing to the tax base of this country. That's an unsustainable policy. Next thing you know, people are angry and we have immigration policies similar to the US.

It's as simple as that, even though you tried your hardest to turn it into some Lou Dobbs-type xenophobic argument. But you're more than welcome to come here and get educated. I'd even love for you to stay after you graduate, unlike the US.

And yes, it looks to me like the author did his best to take advantage of "the best of both worlds" and found out the hard way that things don't really work that way. Immigration is no joke; ask people who are taking it seriously. He tried to slip one past the decision makers (I'm not a programmer, I'm an analyst!) and they shut it down and told him to follow the proper channels. He did, and now all is well. Sad story?

>"I found that to be such an outrageously bleak, ridiculous and restrictive view of the obligations of migrants, that I decided to ridicule it."

That I expect people who don't live here to not receive tuition subsidies? Yeah, ludicrous. If you think that is so outrageous, the world must be a dark, dark place in your eyes. Not that I couldn't tell by your anger.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#56
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, sorry for my somewhat colourful expression of annoyance. It is completely true that I shouldn't get so wound up by bobbins on the internet. However, I got annoyed because I thought you were being extremely closed minded by seeming to find it somehow dishonest or greedy for someone who spent the first part of their childhood in one country and then the second part in another, to go to university in the country the…

> "However, I got annoyed because I thought you were being extremely closed minded by seeming to find it somehow dishonest or greedy" I do find it somewhat dishonest and greedy. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it as a Canadian who is personally affected by such things. You know we're running huge deficits here, right? I don't think my tax dollars should subsidize the education of someone who has not or does no…

I do find it somewhat dishonest and greedy. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it as a Canadian who is personally affected by such things.

And I'm entitled as a random person on the internet, to point out that I find your stated opinion to be completely and utterly insane on several different levels. It is almost fractally wrong.

And if you really have a problem with this case on economic grounds, let me reassure you, there is no mass imbalance of people from Canada who moved to the US when they were kids, then moved back to Canada to go to university, then left to work in the US, when compared to kids from the US who move to Canada, leave to go to university in the US and then come back to work in Canada. Issues like this are just noise in the system, monetarily speaking they tend to cancel out.

Also, this guy is only trying to get a work visa and temporary migrants regularly move back to their country of origin after a while. Which is likely to be better for the Canadian tax office in the long run, depriving him of education and therefore a job and therefore making sure he will probably never pay much tax and possibly even end up on welfare, or on the other hand educate him, despite that he has not managed to pay much tax yet, mainly for reasons of being a kid at the time, then let him work at Microsoft in the US, with a reasonable probability of him at some point moving back to Canada with a first class resume and tons of money to spend?

And if the argument about tax is that his mother didn't pay tax in Canada while he was a child being educated in the US while living with her, or that he should somehow be stopped from emigrating for an offer of employment at Microsoft until he has worked off his university bill, then I think the appropriate response is ridicule. As that is nothing but pure economic calvinism of the meanest and small minded sort.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#58
post #54
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure you fully appreciate the uproar that it caused during the last war in Lebanon. It's a relatively straightforward process to get Canadian citizenship. Many Canadian started to question the process that allowed someone raised in another country to come to Canada, gain citizenship in 4 to 5 years, then go back to their home country with no intention of ever returning or contributing to Canadian society agai…

Sounds to me like thoroughly sensible and responsible behaviour. If I lived in a country that was on the brink of war I would also cover all bases. If I had kids, I would almost definitely try and arrange something like this. And besides, what skin does it take off your back if someone does this? When those people are in the country, they will generally be working and paying taxes. When they are not in the country th…

Wow you really have no clue... that really amazes me.

The difference is for instance the cost of airlifting those citizens out of war zones will by far dwarf any taxes they may pay back while working in the country for 1-2 years before going back to the other one once the war is over. That's also IF they work and don't go on social assistance programs.

Canada is now experiencing this issue with a lot of Chinese who come here to get a passport as well. To most people, citizenship is the one thing you go all in on. By not doing so it hurts most countries and costs them a lot of money.

I'm not going to reply to you again, it's people with beliefs like yours who damage society as a whole.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#59
post #30
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people are down voting this comment. It seems like the OP is a "citizen of convenience" like those in Lebanon who only wanted to make use of their Canadian citizenship when war broke out despite the fact that some of them hadn't been back to Canada in 5+ years. Not that this really has a place in the main discussion, although it does involve citizenship in a different way.

I understand your point of view. I didn't return to Canada for convenience though. I returned because McGill is phenomenal school. Moreover, I knew I would need to do internships during university. This would not be possible while under my mother's TN visa.

I appreciate your story, but it's very frustrating when people like you take away spots in tax payer funded universities from REAL Canadians who plan on staying and working to make this country a better place.

I hope the laws get changed to avoid loopholes like this in the future.

Re: Immigration Issues for a Canadian working for Microsoft

#60

I really feel your pain. For a lot of people reading this article, its not going to make a whole lot of sense. They are just going to think that you don't really deserve to be here no matter how much good you contribute to this earth. I really can't stand this of ignorance! Without going into a personal rant about this whole thing, I really want to find out if you are already "here" in the US? If you are NOT here yet…

Yeah this really irks me, not just about the US but immigration in most 1st world countries is a pain in the butt.

"a million people naturalize every year, so it can't be that hard" - I'll bet none of the people that say that has first hand experience in immigrating.

It is an infuriatingly opaque and arbitrary process & there is often very little you can do about it.

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