Just sharing a thought.

[JeanneAdil 6,231]

16 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Captain's Log, Stardate 01032022.

 

After quite a few years going through more than one immigration process one gets truly familiar with the trials and tribulations of this journey, but sometimes it is so amazingly contrived and flawed that one can feel as if dragged into a quasi-kafkian plot.

 

 

I think writing to instate US Congressmen should be done to bring this to lite

Also Congress has a list of members on each committee including those on DHS but DHS has 7 subdivisions and immigration is just one of them

 

Federal laws are written by Congress and become effective when signed by the U.S. president or when a presidential veto is overridden. The Immigration and Nationality Act, which is the main law governing immigration in the United States, came from Congress, and it is Congress that has the power to change it or to write any other laws affecting immigration.

The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.

 

So write and voice your opinion as every person is able to do / even illegals march in protests about DACA

[Timona 3,967]

37 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I also think it's a bit overly generous. It also excludes people who are "over-represented" here, like Mexicans, despite many of them having family or actual connections to the US but no real way to immigrate. So, just by nature of you being born in X country you end up lucky and get a chance? Obviously those who benefit from the DV system will praise it, and those who are shut out from it will feel it is unfair. And then the chance to be selected numbers seem all over the map as well. If you're from Fiji, you have a 7% chance but if you're from a sub-Saharan African country the chance drops to lower than 1%. I don't really get the logic behind this, other than I guess Fiji is more "exotic" and rare, so hey, let's give Fijians a higher chance?

 

I do know people who won the DV lottery and had nothing but praise for it and came over to he US and brought their whole family, and that's probably a good thing for our demographics. I don't think it's without criticism though.

 

Can relate. I played it for fun when I just came to the US and was selected for fiscal year 2014/ 2015. Unfortunately, I did not even make it to the interview because there was glitch on the system that cut numbers off for that year. And that was the end of my DV.

[mam521 1,754]

4 hours ago, millefleur said:

Another reality is the lack of political will from the masses to actually reform immigration. Most Americans have zero clue about USCIS and how it actually works, so they have no idea of the problems and what to even vote for change on. How can we expect reform to make it to Capitol Hill if the vast majority of people aren't even aware of the problems?

 

In my experience, most Americans just assume if you're married to an American, you get US citizenship automatically like it's an overnight thing. The topic of legal immigration is hardly discussed and so few know anything about it. I vaguely remember H1B's being discussed in the news for a while but that was it. Congress is only going to care about this issue if large swaths of the population start caring about it, and how to make that happen? I don't know. Immigration law is a boring topic, it requires research and reading, I don't see it becoming a popular point of interest for most people anytime soon.

A lot of truth here. Most Americans are only familiar with the southern border and unnatural immigration and it skews their logic. 
 

We don’t understand how/why the process is so painfully skewed when switching status. I came on an L1, was a contributing member to the tax pool (taxation without representation, I might add), met my future husband, got married, but then had to make a decision to adjust status (the process to adjust was taking longer than my work visa would allow and he was a GC holder at the time, so we had to file under a FP category initially. He had a pending citizenship application that took forever) and have to quit my job or to do consular processing and move out of country where I could keep my job, but had to basically hit the pause button on the life we’d built in the US for that period. Why is the process so difficult for a high income earner who’s contributing to the economy, paying taxes, owns a home, etc? There was over 5 years of history as an upstanding nonresident to make some educated judgements from! 
 

A “simple” start to changing the system would be for USCIS and the DoS to overhaul their antiquated computer systems so people aren’t stuck trying to figure out the ridiculous NOA’s they receive for stupid screw ups that could have been avoided in the first place. If you don’t make a mess in the first place, it frees up people’s time to handle the business at hand. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 minute ago, mam521 said:

A lot of truth here. Most Americans are only familiar with the southern border and unnatural immigration and it skews their logic. 
 

We don’t understand how/why the process is so painfully skewed when switching status. I came on an L1, was a contributing member to the tax pool (taxation without representation, I might add), met my future husband, got married, but then had to make a decision to adjust status (the process to adjust was taking longer than my work visa would allow and he was a GC holder at the time, so we had to file under a FP category initially. He had a pending citizenship application that took forever) and have to quit my job or to do consular processing and move out of country where I could keep my job, but had to basically hit the pause button on the life we’d built in the US for that period. Why is the process so difficult for a high income earner who’s contributing to the economy, paying taxes, owns a home, etc? There was over 5 years of history as an upstanding nonresident to make some educated judgements from! 
 

A “simple” start to changing the system would be for USCIS and the DoS to overhaul their antiquated computer systems so people aren’t stuck trying to figure out the ridiculous NOA’s they receive for stupid screw ups that could have been avoided in the first place. If you don’t make a mess in the first place, it frees up people’s time to handle the business at hand. 

What country allows a foreign worker who pays taxes to have representation?
 

[mam521 1,754]

37 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

What country allows a foreign worker who pays taxes to have representation?
 

How many countries declare it in their constitutions? The US territories don’t pay federal taxes because they aren’t represented. Interestingly enough, DC still isn’t represented but constituents pay federal tax. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by mam521

[aaron2020 11,651]

Just now, mam521 said:

How many countries declare it in their constitutions? The US territories don’t pay federal taxes because they aren’t represented. Interestingly enough, DC still isn’t represented.  

The US Constitution doesn't say anything about taxation without representation.

 

Zero countries allows a foreign worker to have political representation in its government.  

[Calicolom 265]

4 hours ago, African Zealot said:

You need to understand why we have a lottery system and you wouldn’t be saying what you are saying.

 

Its name gives you a clue, it’s for diversity so it’s serving it’s purpose very well in my opinion.

What Is DIVERSITY 

[Rocio0010 5,572]

I have been reading all the posts in this thread, and I’ve been lurking VJ for almost three years now.  I’ve even read some of the oldest threads, but I cannot find an answer or at least place a finger on it. My pressing question is when did USCIS become so backlogged? Was there a particular event, aside from COVID? I’m thinking maybe 09/11, but VJ didn’t exist at that time, so I do not know how long AOS took prior to the attacks. And I’m mentioning the attacks because I’m guessing the need to run extensive background cheques on immigrants contributed to the backlog?

[PGA 224]

7 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Many things we do in US are contrived or just plane controlled so by our government that we are forced into hiring a lawyer to get help (and that sometimes is fruitless)

Try settling a claim on your own to SS disability or from a car accident that u are the victim

 

but immigration needs Congress to really do an investigation (they have known illegal immigration is a problem now for 20 or 30 years and take no news steps to combat the problem forcing all the presidents now and former to make rules)

Congress needs to form a committee to study illegal and legal immigration 

anyway ,  sorry i vetted too much 

Sounds great....which congress? Democrat controlled or Republican Controlled?

[PGA 224]

7 hours ago, Nat&Amy said:

The US immigration system needs reform asap. But who's willing to go there and do the work that needs to be done? Make the laws strict and enforce them (even if it means deporting people and potentially breaking families apart) and there will be backlash. Don't, and allow illegal immigrants to have access to benefits amount other things, and there will be backlash too.

 

The fact that a couple pursuing a spousal visa gets stranded in different countries for almost two years whereas others decide they "can't wait" and enter the country on a nonimmigrant visa, "suddenly decide" they don't want to return home and get to legally adjust status instead, waiting for their GC with their spouses the entire time, is to me proof that the system is broken at best. 

Please...I have heard of the need for Immigration 'REFORM" from both sides since as long as I can remember...and I wasn't born yesterday.... Can someone please define "REFORM" to me because I am quite certain "REFORM" does not mean the same thing to different people...

 

And yes, I agree 100%, people come here or to other sites and study up and think "hey! no intent, no trouble"...as much as I like visajourney....they propagate that illegal maneuver indiscreetly, all of the time.

Edited January 5, 2022 by PGA

[JeanneAdil 6,231]

50 minutes ago, PGA said:

Sounds great....which congress? Democrat controlled or Republican Controlled?

Neither one of them have done a thing two change immigraiton laws in 30 years by doing a complete investigation about the issues  and they have both been in charge at one time over the past 30 years 

[martinzl 91]

Follow the money.  We have all known for decades that Congress needs to take action on immigration reform.  But see which side the money is on when it comes to reform and you'll see why nothing gets done. Plus, if Congress and the President actually solve a problem then the problem goes away and the money and the issue goes away with it.

[seekingthetruth 1,219]

39 minutes ago, PGA said:

Please...I have heard of the need for Immigration 'REFORM" from both sides since as long as I can remember...and I wasn't born yesterday.... Can someone please define "REFORM" to me because I am quite certain "REFORM" does not mean the same thing to different people...

Excellent question.  The politicians throw the term out there but when they mention a specific, it usually something very narrow, like DACA.

 

Broad reform takes a lot of guts that most politicians don't have, especially when we are so divided.  Border control should be the cornerstone of any logical and fair immigration policy.  Without border control, it will always be chaos.

 

Having been through 1-130, DS 260 and I-864 recently, I don't see anything wrong with the IR approach.  Some tweaks needed.  The main issue is processing.  I can't comment on other immigration routes.

 

I will throw out some ideas out for discussion of broad immigration reform.

 

1.  Strict border control to ensure that 99.9% of immigration is done through legal channels.

2.  Higher funding of border control to allow better staffing and control, while allowing commerce to flow quickly and safely.

3.  Outsource most visa processing tasks to the private sector.  The elected government makes the rules and private sector businesses can carry them out much more efficiently than government.

4.  For immigration rules reform, it is complex and I don't know much.  It needs to be simplified.

[TBoneTX 43,375]

3 hours ago, PGA said:

"REFORM" does not mean the same thing to different people

Excellent and true point.

 

Very generally speaking, and from what I've observed and read:

          Democrat politicians (including liberals and leftists) tend to want relaxed entry policies/requirements and a smooth path to citizenship (including amnesty) for all immigrants, legal and illegal, because these last are "future Democrat voters."  Indeed, recent illegal entrants are being put on night flights to other states, in secrecy.

          Republican politicians (the "establishment," "Chamber of Commerce," "country-club" types) want cheap labor to satisfy their business donors, and another faction wants smaller quotas for the purpose of assimilating new immigrants, avoiding employer abuse (e.g., firing American workers so that foreigners who will work for less money can be hired), and similar factors.

 

Of recent note, however:  the "Hispanic bloc" that presumably will always vote Democrat is not turning out to be entirely monolithic.  Some border counties in Texas voted Republican in the last presidential election, border cities have recently elected Republicans to local political positions, and polls are showing signs among Hispanic-American voters that worry some Democrat strategists, including negative reactions to the recent influx of illegal immigrants.  Cuban-Americans and Venezuelan-Americans, who have seen socialism and Communism, may indeed vote far differently than will illegal or asylum immigrants from Mexico or Central America who are presumed to want "better lives purely thanks to free stuff from the government."

 

Because of these and other factors, "reform" can mean different things to different people even within the Democrat party itself and the Republican party itself.  Thanks to PGA for an excellent observation.

[TBoneTX 43,375]

3 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

when did USCIS become so backlogged?

In 2007, when Mrs. T-B.-to-be's petition was languishing at USCIS, I talked with my Congressman's aide, who sighed and described USCIS as "our very worst" Federal agency.

 

The petitions are so numerous that forklifts allegedly have to be used in the various Service Centers.

 

The coronavirus mess has hosed many aspects of life, including government services.  In recent years, USCIS has shown some subtle signs of trying to improve efficiency, but the virus mess has probably wiped that all out and caused further problems.  The consulates (Department of State) are still nowhere near functional in a great many countries, which adds to backlogs throughout the immigration process.