Questions about the Green Card

[Pevey]

Thain- You mistook my comments about your post as criticism- we are allowed to joke in here, right? Back in the dark ages when Jimmy Hendrix was alive, getting an "A" was a good thing so I meant to compliment you. Hopefully, you can accept the fact that a person that has worked in the immigration biz for a few years may know a few things you don't.

I have seen aliens who entered without inspection get their resident card. I dislike calling it a "green card", it was blue before it was tan. I've seen them get naturalized. I've seen aliens who did not speak english get naturalized and did not know anything about our government or history, both are requirements. The citizenship process is flawed and maybe it will get better but with the kinds of numbers they have to process, don't count on that anytime soon.

The point of the thread was about aliens in the military maybe getting citizenship early. I pointed out the time lines. A lot of information on immigration and citizenship is on the internet, starting with the Citizenship and Immigration Services website, www.uscis.gov. Lots of questions answered there.

Oh and by the way, you don't need an attorney to become a resident or get your citizenship. If you can read and fill out simple forms, pay the fees and show for interviews, you have it made. Less lawyers is something most of us can smile about.

 

[The Viking]

Thain: Thanks a lot! I've looked around, but I didn't find that one!
Sgt. Bob: True. Have to do that after the holidays though.

 

[Thain]

I don't know about that, as I said, I'm in an Immigration Law right now (or, rather, I'm typing this in the computer lab when I should be in the classroom exactly five minutes ago ) and I do not find the forms "simple" by any means.

I suggest at least having an "intial consultation" with an immigration lawyer, or at the very least sending some e-mails / making some phone calls.

No one loves a lawyer joke as much as a lawyer -- except for a paralegal (making fun of the boss! ); But there are just certain areas of life where they are useful. At any rate, The Viking needs to make the decision himself, but I wanted to at least put the info in front of him.

 

[MD_Willington]

Beige...

Last ones previous to mine were more pinkish, mine actually has a lot of greenish on it, beige background.

It has biometric data, a holigram on the back with my picture, a magnetic stripe, the flags of the states, the US presidents, on the front it has my picture.

Serial number of some sort...

A whole ton of stuff on it...

Eligible for citizenship in June 2010...

my non-immigrant alien status was changed to immigrant alien after 5 years of living in the USA and working at the same company...

I was not here on a Visa of any kind. I had an I-94 and work authorization under NAFTA...

Dealing with INS is fun.... no really it is

 

[Thain]

Canada, iirc, is part of the Visa waiver program. Folks from certain countries (England, Germany, what-have-you) can enter for tourist-y things with no visa. Canadians, of course, get a few other privilieges...

 

[MikeH]

I applied for naturalization myself, and currently filing for my wife's permanent residency. I think the naturalization process is simple enough for an educated person to handle. The only snag I hit was that, even though my PR was employment-based, the BCIS official wanted a copy of my marriage certificate during the interview. I had to mail it in and that delayed my swear-in by about a month.

If your case is as straight as mine, the only advantage I can think of in hiring a lawyer is in avoiding procedural errors. However, a good, experienced lawyer should be helpful if there is any irregularity. They tend to know some undocumented (pun fully intended) procedures and people to approach that we mere mortals don't. Of course, I've also heard of perfectly good cases mangled by bad lawyers.

 

[MikeH]

Speaking of visas, I probably had one of the more screwed-up stories to tell.

I was planning a trip to Singapore years ago. Since I changed jobs, my original H-1B visa is no longer valid. I need to either go back to my home country Taiwan or a US consulate in Canada or Mexico to get a new one. I chose Toronto because it was the closest, but as a Taiwan citizen. I needed a visa to enter Canada.

So, I had to get a Canadian tourist visa to get a US H-1B visa in Toronto, so that I could return to the US after I visit Singapore. The real kicker is that, as a Taiwan citizen, I didn't need a visa to enter Singapore at all ...

 

[MD_Willington]

Like I said, dealing with INS is fun.. isn't it.. LOL

Have you done the whole biometric data thing yet, they have a digitized copy of my booger hook now ... lol

 

[MikeH]

Got my trigger finger and all others printed twice in the US already. Should I be concerned?

 

[MD_Willington]

Twice

only twice

 

[solareclipse]

As already said, have to be a LPR to enlist. You can shed off 2 years (need 5 as LPR for citizenship) if you are in the forces. thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's ALLLLLLLLL folks.

I don't buy it for one second that you can walk over with a tourist visa from the plane into the nearest recruitment office and sign up, then get walked over to the INS (DHS now) and get "adjusted"... i mean that's more ridicilous than a michael moore documentary. There is no basis for that... if it were that simple my god, we would have people standing in line to join. Not to mention there isn't the legal basis for it anywhere in any statute.

The immigration system is bumblescrewed from the very foundation because getting the citizenship is easy. Getting the LPR is next to impossible. half the "illegals" are actually in petition stage, which takes about 13 years currently, and gets longer with each year. In the meantime, you are invited to just leave because there is no provisional bridge to get you through. no matter your family members all have citizenship or whatever. or were born in the US.

So that's where things stand today, for those who needed a refresher.

 

[Thain]

Solareclipse, you seem to be forgetting that it is wholly possible to live for years (if not decades) as a legal immigrant, not an LPR and not a citizen, just here on a perpetual series of visas.

Further, why shouldn't citizenship be easy to obtain? All I did was have the fortune to have been born in Kalamazoo. Many others scrape, save, and sacrifice to get here.

IMHO, half of our "illegal immigration problem" stems from the same source as ninty percent of our "drug crime problem." There are too many ways for someone to be here illegaly. Many "illegals" entered the country properly, but have overstayed their visa or are doing something else in violation of it (working while on a tourist visa, for example).

If it was as easy for a Mexican/Columbian/Whatever to enter the US to work as it was for a Canadian, then most of our "illegal immigration problem" would vanish overnight.

It causes me incredible amounts of psychological pain and spiritual discomfort to say that I agree with Dubya... But, the "guest worker program" is an idea I can actually get behind.

 

[solareclipse]

The only real way one can stay here while waiting unless you are related to trump or have a trust fund is on a H1 1, of which you can get 2 maximum. Each 1 is from 1-3 years, determined by the DHS. My point is that with a wait time of 10+ years, you will not be able to legally remain here no matter what (except in very rare cases and you still need a trust fund) until you are actually processed. Which means you have to leave or sort of stay in quasi legally (is there such a thing? no).

The citizen part was ironic. Not to get into it but yes it's easy to get it once you are a LPR. Getting the LRP is not really possible at this point. See where i am going with this?

ok let's go back to guns