Endless Wait

****  THIS POST WAS CONTRIBUTED BY  VANV  ****

Hey fellas,

Every time I think of the green card, I experience a wide array of emotions ranging from impassioned to blood boiling, But you have to wonder what bothers you the most…

Is it -

1. Given the plethora of issues in this country competing for attention, this is probably the least likely time that legal immigration will take the spotlight

2. Your priority date is pretty recent and unless there is another July 2007 visa gate, there’s almost no chance of you moving to the 3rd stage with benefits such as EAD, anytime soon

3. The L1, J1 visa holder you know and somehow always bump into reminds you that your spouse stays at home while theirs go to work

4. Your employer simply refuses/ refused to file PERM under EB2 stating the min. job requirements clause (even though you have a masters degree)

5. The J1 visa holders (yeah them again) who file PERM (once they get their H1b) under EB1 get their green cards in 1 year (yes this is true)

6. The “well-wisher” who always told you to stay put in your home country>find a job>settle down>never ever worry abt green card>and if you ever wanted to visit the US, have you BPO employer file an L1/B1 visa for you

There’s more but these few always standout.  This isn’t a poll…just my thoughts before I hit the sack. Feel free to add to this list and maybe someday we’ll have a poll (Is the Moderator reading this??)

Chao

EXCELLENT EXCELLENT POST. Read the part at the bottom about embracing high performing immigrants. I hope every American out there reads this and wakes up to the call of reality!!

The real problem for most Americans isn’t the recession.

It’s the more ominous fact that average household income hasn’t budged for the past 10 years. That’s true in every income quintile of the population, even the top.

And for the bottom 60%, that stagnation has lasted twice as long. Most of the country has just been treading water over a period that spans expansions and recessions, bull and bear markets, and Republicans and Democrats in charge.

Just try finding the bad guy in our real-life movie. The advent of a large-scale global labor market means that millions of Americans are competing for jobs with Chinese, Indian, and other workers, pushing our high pay down. Social trends have led to more single-parent and typically lower-income households. Perhaps most important, America no longer boasts a world-beating education system that turns out masses of graduates who can support an ever-rising living standard.

Who’s the villain?

It isn’t a few evil people or any one sector. It isn’t the rich; the gains of the top 1% needn’t cause declines at the bottom. Our society isn’t behaving villainously at all. It just isn’t adapting to a changing world. Don’t despair; we can return to a rising standard of living. We’ve done it before. But we’ll never do it as long as we refuse to face the real reasons that so many Americans are in economic trouble.

How to raise living standards

1. Increase accountability and pay in public schools. We can turn out better graduates by realizing that principals and teachers respond to the same incentives as the rest of us.

2. Embrace high-performing immigrants. They don’t steal American jobs; they create them and make the U.S. more competitive.

3. Lower the U.S. business tax rate and end corporate welfare. That will help make U.S. companies more globally competitive and aid American workers. To top of page

Blaming Wall Street for recession won’t help most Americans - Jan. 29, 2010.

President’s mention of immigration near the end of his State of the Union address:

“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system to secure our borders, enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”

Nice speech … for those who still have mental resources to invest. I do understand and agree that there are more important things than immigration, but what he’s doing here is putting a patch over gangrene. They will continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system at the same speed they have done until now. Thanks for nothing! (I’m sure Obama will blush after reading this post :))

Note to H1Bs Traveling to U.S. and Working for Consulting Companies Posted 14.Jan.2010; updated 22.Jan.2010

©MurthyDotCom

[We also recommend that those interested in this article, read our January 22, 2010 article, H1B Memo on Employer-Employee Relationships and 3rd-Party Placements.]

©MurthyDotCom

The Murthy Law Firm has received several reports and learned of instances in which H1B employees were sent back home to India after the Christmas / New Year holiday from various airports, particularly Newark, NJ, and JFK in New York, NY. We at the Murthy Law Firm will be contacting both AILA national and the CBP office in Newark and New York. Our effort is to gain clarification and determine the basis for sending H1B employees back to India or other home countries, and, if this is due to an error of judgment or law, we will seek a reversal of this recent, alarming trend. In addition, a related January 8, 2010 memorandum from the USCIS analyzes the definition of “employer” and “employee” particularly for H1B employees working at third-party client sites. While these two actions may not be related, both demonstrate the current level of government scrutiny of the H1B program. Hence, each employer and employee should operate by strictly following the H1B program requirements.

MurthyDotCom : NewsFlash Note to H1Bs Traveling to U.S., Working for Consulting Companies.

The fact that H4 visa holders cannot work in the US is not only unfair, I think it borders on human rights violation. For a developed country like the US, full of immigrants, such a restriction is unimaginable. I would equate it to putting someone in prison - mentally. We hear about green card process delays, CIR bill, Health care reform bill, etc. but few talk about the plight of H4 visa holders - spouses of H1 visa holders that cannot work in the US at all. Even if they are the smartest bulb in the world. Even if it were a doctor who could save someone’s life or an inventor who could give America the next amazing invention. Imagine you had this AMAZING idea or you finally found your life’s calling but you were on the H4 visa. What would you do? I am the entrepreneurial type and I know that if I were in such a situation, I would almost go mad. I think I’d leave the country. But for many, that’s not an option.

I wrote about the Top 10 issues faced by immigrants in the US earlier. The H4 work authorization issue was #3. All the top 3 are probably worthy of being #1 in their own accord.

So, given such a mind-numbing restriction and the fact that you might have to live in such a handicap for years, what are your options? Legally, you can’t work at all. But there are gray areas. On EndlessWait.com, we care a lot about ethics and would NEVER suggest something that’s in violation of the law in any way. But those that have experienced what H4 visa holders go through will agree that finding acceptable workarounds is their only choice. So here you go.

While you are on H4, there are some things you can do:

1. Get Educated: This is the safest option. H4 visa holders can go to school but after you graduate, you can’t really work unless you transition your visa to a H1-B visa, which is an option. Most take this route. But there are many that either don’t want further schooling, can’t afford it, or already have advanced degrees from their foreign countries.

2. Work on something that you can release after you get your work authorization. For example, write a book that you can publish after you get the green card of some work authorization. Or you can release that through a publisher in your home country. Another idea is to plan for a business that you will start when you do get work authorization. For instance, you can try various recipes at home and take classes to become a chef. Once you get your work authorization, you can open your own little restaurant & then with all these years of research you have put into it, you’re much more likely to succeed than the hundreds of restaurants that open up without much of a plan or a well thought out menu.

3. Invest in stocks: You are allowed to invest in businesses, just not work for them. As long as you are not day trading (meaning you make more than 5 trades per week), you are ok. There are several other things you can trade in such as mutual funds (more passive but also less control and more fees involved), forex, Etc. but stocks are the easiest place to start. If you have $25k to start an acocunt with, you could use Zecco.com - they offer free trades at that level.  You don’t have to invest all $25k into stocks, just place that amount into your account and you get free trades. Also, you can PRACTICE investing in stocks at http://www.zeccozimulator.com and several other similar sites on the web. These sites give you fake money to test your trading strategies with. If you are new to trading stocks, I highly recommend working with these for at least a month before trading in real money.

4. Peer to Peer Lending: You can lend money to other fellow Americans at LendingClub.com or Prosper.com. This new trend in Finance is called Peer to Peer investing and is a rage among new age investors. It’s been proven to work. The tough part with these is to spend time analyzing loan applicants and making sure you lend to the right people that do repay your loan with interest as you’d expect. The trick is to lend small amounts of money ($100 or so) to a large number of loans. These sites allow hundreds of people to pool their money together to satisfy a loan so your portion of risk is limited. It’s a great concept and the key to success in there is TIME. Most people don’t have that but you guys on H4 to. Capitalize on it. Between these 2 sites, I think LendingClub has the edge as of this post but that’s a personal opinion. You can create accounts with both for free.

5. Invest in Businesses (be a small-time venture capitalist): This may not sound like the typical thing most people do but it’s a very real opportunity out there. You could analyze business opportunities that are out there and when you find a good one, acquire it (fully or in part) and take a passive ownership interest in the business where you invest money into it but don’t work. It’s like investing in stocks, but only here you invest directly into a small business. The reason this works better for some is because you are more in control of what you are placing your money on. The hard part often times is the TIME that it takes to evaluate and find the right business to invest into. Of course, you need the money to invest but there’s ways to raise that if you feel confident that a business is worth it. There are businesses out there looking for investors for as little as $1000 investment.

You can look at businesses that are up for sale at http://bizbuysell.com, http://www.businessesforsale.com, Etc. These sites have forums where people post business ideas and ask for venture investment all the time.

The gray area here is that you can’t work for the business!! You can spend all the time in the world browsing the Internet finding the right business to invest in. But once you acquire it or sign a deal with them, you need to step back and let your active partner do ALL the work. It’s not easy, but doable if you are careful.

5. Volunteer: This one is gray area. The law is not clear (as far as I know and I am NOT a lawyer), about whether you can work without pay while on H4. What is work without pay really? So if you saw someone dying on the street, is helping them “working”? If that’s not working, then why is any other form of voluneteering any different. Work for a friend or family member for free or in exchange for compensation in some form other than money. Perhaps they could buy you a cruise trip, Etc. Again, this is gray area but oh well, I would do it if I had to.

Hope this helps some of you. It doesn’t erase the frustrating position the law puts you in. But we’ve all got to work with the constraints life throws at us. Some of us are luckier than others. You made the choice to come to the US. Make the best of the choices you do have…

********** THIS POST IS CONTRIBUTED BY MURID ****************

Happy New year 2010 to ALL!

I have been working since June 2003 as a computer system administrator for a fortune 500 company on a H1B EB3 visa. I hold a Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from a US institution. I-140 has been filled and approved and Priority date  is June 2007. Lord I am stuck!  The job sucks and you have to put up with what US citizens would not put up with, family and personal life has been destroyed over this. Man what a tribulation! Basically I am told to wait get old and rot on the job for another 10 years before green card comes my way. Does anyone have a suggestion to  get out of this madness? Going back to Africa is not an option at this time.

ere’s wishing all Endless Waiters a wonderful new year!!

Whether 2010 sees a CIR bill passed or remains in CID (comprehensive immigration delay) mode and whether you get your green card or another RFE ;), we all need hope and some celebration for new year’s eve.

So here, you go - two $25 gift certificates to a US-based restaurant to anybody that responds to this post with a comment or even better, writes about it on their blog. You could write about:

What’s the most interesting immigration related story that you or your family/close friends have experienced?” . You could write about a friend (a real one, not an imaginary dude) that got deported, a friend that got stuck in Mexico, that weirdo at the Airport customs that asked you about your bindi, USCIS losing your application in the mail, your first day in the US, changing 8 jobs on AC21, participating in H1B fraud (ok, that was not funny - do not post any illegal stuff - we hate them as much as you do) or just ANYTHING about your immigration experience that you’d like to share with us.

OR

What would you do if you had a green card today?

OR

What are your your thoughts on improving endlesswait.com. Write about it on your blog or website and post a link to it in the comment or just write a comment directly. Don’t forget to mention how wonderful Endlesswait.com is - just kidding.

The winners will be chosen on January 31st based on a random draw from the comments. The best comment will be posted as a separate blog post as well. The winner will be notified via email that is used when the comment is posted. Note that any comments that appear irrelevant to this post will not be considered.

******** UPDATE: FIRST CERTIFICATE WON BY CORINA!! Congratulations Corina and thank you so much for being a part of Endlesswait.com. The second certificate is still up for the taking - deadline is January 30th.

Why are we doing this? To get the word out and for more people to join in as authors and write at endlesswait.com. Last year, over 200 people joined as authors for Endlesswait.com. But not many actually wrote a post. Feel free to post this contest anywhere you please…your facebook, twitter, digg, myspace, Etc. You’d be helping us get the word out and helping someone win a $25 gift certificate.

Regarding the gift certificates, note that they are for select restaurants in all major cities/towns in the US only. Also note that most of them come with some terms and conditions - usually a $35 minimum order and 18% gratuity on total order before the $25 off.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog and wish for your wait to end in 2010!

Immigrant’s List Reported today -

In addition to debates on health care, energy, and spending, on Dec. 15, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) officially added immigration reform to the list of issues Congress will confront next year by introducing the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009.

More hope for 2010..

I had a small, Twitter-hosted dustup recently with Trevor Loy, a pleasant fellow who, when he is not Twittering, brings truth and justice to the world via the agency of venture capital. Loy was hot and bothered over some turn of events in Congress having to do with immigration policy. Many entrepreneurs are immigrants, you see. And because venture capital equals entrepreneurialism, the proposed congressional action might harm VCs, which, in turn, would grievously harm the U.S. economy. This, Loy, explained, is because fully 21% of the U.S. economy is attributed to revenue earned by “venture-backed” companies.

Let us praise the venture capitalists - Fortune Brainstorm Tech.

How many times have we heard a similar argument. TWENTY ONE PERCENT!!! If immigrants are not given their fair share of opportunity to do what they want to do and what the country will clearly benefit from, the country is bound to suffer. Washington, and DOL in specific, with their old archaic 18th century-ish ideologies on immigration/ Diversity based immigration instead of NEED or merit based immigration in the world’s largest economy is a JOKE that not only affects America but the rate of the progress the world and civilization as a whole is making. America might be a capitalistic economy but our immigration policies would better be classified as…..MYOPIC….

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/14/immigration-bill-promoted-for-2010/

Widely believed as one of our last hopes for a reduction in the often decade long wait for permanent residency, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) bill might come back into life early in 2010.

#3 on Obama’s Presidential campaign promises for top goals for his presidency, the CIR had taken a back seat under the weight of the health care reform bill which too much greater priority and the recession, which many believe, makes this a bad time to discuss legal immigration issues. Even if the CIR does pass next year, many now believe that it might get changed to focusing only on illegal immigration and not on the plight of legal immigrant candidates.

All that’s speculation though.

Washington Times reported today:

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday that the federal government has done its work and now it’s time for Congress to pass a broad bill to legalize illegal immigrants. Her speech signals President Obama will make good on his promise to push Congress to pass an immigration bill next year.

Is it too optimistic to even think that CIR has a chance to get legal immigration policy to make more sense or is this remark truly the turn of events? We’ll find out..