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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

#91

Post by dudul »

"Numerous American friends, when the subject of my immigration status came up, have said to me things to the effect of, "Why don't you just become a citizen?""

I totally recognize my own friends in this. Americans have no clue how difficult it is to obtain a green card or a citizenship.

One of my friends was dating a girl from Asia, she was in the US under a work or student visa. She decided to attend a school in Europe for 2 years, their plan was to do the long distance thing for 2 years and then she would come back. I told him many times "Dude, if she leaves and gives up her visa she won't be able to come back". They ignored me, naively thinking that she would just get a new visa. 2 years later, she couldn't make it back to the US and stayed in Europe (or moved back to Asia, not sure).

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

#92

Post by bruceb »

vonklaus wrote: post #17
ElComradio wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has it actually been shown that if we were to throw open the borders to STEM employees that it would result in a net economic gain? Because as far as I can tell, movements to get droves of women and immigrants into software is entirely driven by companies' desire for cheaper labor.

I don't know of a comprehensive study that has been done (although there probably is) that links qualified individuals immigrating with net economic growth. However, if you look at it like VC investing, it would be worth letting 1000 people in to get an entrepreneur capable of making a Stripe, Tesla, etc. According to this forbes article[0] 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were started by immigrants. Obviously, ma…

Except would they have been able to create that company NOT in the US? The US dominates the world with pop singers. Do you think the majority of talented singers are only born in the US? No. They are just in the best environment for turning talent in to a star.

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

#93

Post by josefresco »

scott_s wrote: post #31
josefresco wrote: post #11

Honest question: If the author "had come to America to attend Yale." didn't they also research the requirements for citizenship or an extended stay? Did they decide the benefits outweigh the cons or did they just "hope" things would work out? Maybe they made the decision after attending Yale - was this decision not well informed? I think criticism of the immigration system is warranted and valid, just that potential…

It is very unusual for 18-year-olds to accurately plan for what they will when they are 33. Most people don't plan their lives out like you are suggesting. They take opportunities as they come, and build their life as it comes along. He attended Yale, liked America, stayed, worked and built a life for 15 years. I find this reasonable, and consider it unrealistic to expect him to, at any point during that time, to jus…

Right, but what happened between 18 and 33. At some point the author must have realized "the system is fucked" but decided (for multiple reasons) to risk continuing to work and live with the US.

It's one thing to attend university for 4 years, get a job and then head home. Quite another thing to base/commit your entire life/career in the US without a clear path to citizenship.

I'm not saying the author should "suck it up" but rather it seems many take this risk, knowing the dangers and therefore shouldn't be surprised or shocked to eventually have to leave (given a gap in employment)

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

#94

Post by bdcravens »

solve wrote: post #81
bdcravens wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a slavery-like relationship with employers is completely expected and even supported by the employees Actually, that sounds like America's start-up culture

What are the penalties for trying to leave it? I think that that's the defining factor, for what we're talking about here.

When equity is being traded for a reasonable salary, you lose your lottery ticket. It may not be as big of a carrot, but it's a carrot nonetheless.

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

#95

Post by bruceb »

oqnet wrote: post #28
vinceguidry wrote: post #16

He's thinking like a desperate poor person and not as the affluent American he aspires to be. If I were in this position, I'd start a company to employ me and get an investor to foot the bill for keeping me in the US. Someone as smart and well-connected as the author should be able to manage that. It's difficult to get personal goals to align with the government's wishes, but it's not difficult at all to throw money…

Did you read the part in the article where he his legal forbidden from starting up a company or even working at a startup? He should have just stuck with the job until he found another one that would support his green card efforts. Switching careers part way through he should have known was risky. The lack of information that is presented on him for his reasoning besides "Well they weren't sponsoring me anyways" seem…

He isn't prevented from working at a startup. Startups can sponsor people. But startups need devs not lawyers.

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

#96

Post by gambiting »

pierotofy wrote: post #33
nitinics wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With 2 renewals of 3-year H1B work visa, you do not have much time to shop around for employers sponsoring permanent residency. It is a long process in itself , and usually companies want the employee to work for them until they file the paperwork. That means, you are not putting yourself out there for bigger and better options, even if you have any - since you're tied to the employer until they file. Also the author…

I agree. I'm an Italian national and I studied at a U.S. university. Reform is badly needed. I just don't think people should be entitled to stay in a country just because they have pursued a degree there.

What about countries which subsidize higher education? Pretty much all of EU subsidizes every student,so if the taxpayer paid for someone's education, why would they not want them to stay and work and pay taxes in that country?

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

#97

Post by pekk »

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…

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

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

#98

Post by dalke »

vonklaus wrote: post #4

A friend of mine works in shipping at a reputable and profitable firm. His roommate, a Greek national also engaged with the firm, was "deported". Twice. He wasn't literally thrown out of the country but it amounted to as much, having similar visa issues. His employer, unlike the author, sponsored him. However, two separate lawyers were unable to secure him a place in the country. One made a costly mistake and was fir…

By similar logic, it is obvious that the US benefits extremely well from allowing political asylum.

Levchin's family got political asylum in the US. Levchin was about 16 yers old at the time. Unless you include political/religious oppression as one of the qualifying attributes, his immigration to the US wasn't due to 'allowing well qualified individuals [to] immigrate'.

Sergey Brin's family also decided to move to the US because of political/religious oppression. His father had a PhD in math and a job at GOSPLAN, then a temporary research position at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques. Did that make him well qualified?

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

#99

Post by fennecfoxen »

darkmighty wrote: post #39
kazinator wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opening borders works for multicultural countries built on immigration. For countries that are based on a unique language, ethnicity and culture, it is damaging.

He's referring to america... and I have to disagree. What's so important about an ethnicity that it has to be kept at all costs? Culture is probably worth preserving, but often culture is simply "the way it's always been" -- I'd argue the opposite, bringing different cultures together, if done right, will promote creating new culture that make more sense for today's reality, and not some 19th century status quo. Crea…

While I agree with this in theory, I'm going to point you to this fascinating piece on some of the ongoing problems that the French tradition of republican laicity is facing from Muslim immigrants, as a general illustration of the conflicts involved:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/mar/05/france-...

In summary: the very culture of tolerance and openness towards others itself is sometimes threatened by those it wishes to welcome, and that's a hard problem to solve.

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

#100

Post by DenisM »

murbard2 wrote: post #12

I personally consider that opening borders is a moral imperative, but I understand why it is controversial. I understand that the arguments against "letting everyone in" have some merit, though I ultimately disagree with them. What is a real head scratcher to me is the US policy on highly-skilled immigrants. There are certainly some political constituencies in favor of those, but I can't think of anyone against, at l…

>So who's lobbying against this exactly?

About a decade ago I attended an internal presentation at Microsoft, made by a person who was lobbying immigration changes on behalf of that company. He explained this phenomenon - in some parts of the country the voting public does not have the attention span to listen long enough to make the distinction between "immigrants" and "high-skill immigrants". For that reason many politicians who are privately supportive of high-skill immigration still prefer not to try the patience of the voters, and come out against all immigration in public. Especially when there is an opponent who is ready to yell "he's soft on immigrants!".

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