Lottery to decide my life

I just got a paper, hand-signed (by someone, if not her), actually on-point response from Deborah Pryce. (She's tarnishing her pure shining evil just a bit.)

Dear [me]" Thank you for contacting me regarding raising the numerical limit on H-1B visas. I appreciate hearing from you. The economic propserity of the 1990's, particularly among companies in "high tech" or IT industries, led to a demand for more workers with IT skills, and fueled a drive to increase the levels of employment-based immigration. Since then, Congress has repeatedly turned to immigration as a means of immediately alleviating a perceived shortage of U.S. workers with IT skills by raising the numerical limit on H-1B visas. Those participating in the H-1B visa program enrich the U.S. with their highly specialized knowledge. I believe that the H1-B visa program serves an important purpose in keeping the United States globally competitive, but I also believe Congress needs to focus on long-term approaches to our labor policies, including efforts to promote U.S. student enrollment in computer science and engineering programs, as well as support for continuing education and training for U.S. workers in technology fields and other areas of demand. I also believe Congress must continue to maintain a careful balance between protecting American jobs and operating an open-market, global environment. To date, the 110th Congress has yet to address the numerical limit of H-1B visas. Rest assured, as Congress debates immigration reform and should Congress address this cap, I will keep your thoughts in mind. Again, thank you for contacting me. [etc.]

All typos mine.

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This was in the NY Times today. Laughing and Crying

Quote:

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Mind if I borrow that post, Jespah? There's another thread that needs it. :wink:

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dagmaraka wrote:

well, i did call into a radio program, i spoke to congressman capuano, wrote to durbin who is the author of the immigration reform bill. it occupied most of my time for about a week. i have a full time job and a dissertation to finish, i'm afraid i've done my share for awhile. when the bill is in the parliament and needs a push, i'll chime in as best i can.

Having witnessed my own share of USCS / CBP weirdness on my recent trip, I want to thank you for standing up for my interests, too.

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Well, if you'd just move your ass over here, Thomas, the weirdness would stop :wink:

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I know. I'm getting there.

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Are you sure you want to come, Thomas? There's that whole thing about habeas corpus not applying to you and all...

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FreeDuck wrote:

Are you sure you want to come, Thomas? There's that whole thing about habeas corpus not applying to you and all...

Oh, they would never imprison anyone but terrorists. I don't need no steenking habeas corpus.

PS: The New Jersey thing seems to be working. I'll get a decision in June, and if it's a yes, I'll start either on August 1 or September 1. If border control lets me in, that is.

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New Jersey??? What New Jersey thing? What about the Silicon Valley thing? You been holdin' out on some tidbits there, Thomas.

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Good for you, Thomas! Hopefully you won't need that steenking habeas corpus.

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JPB wrote:

New Jersey??? What New Jersey thing? What about the Silicon Valley thing? You been holdin' out on some tidbits there, Thomas.

Okay, time to translate into plain English.

[b]"The Silicon Valley Thing"[/b] was an application I had going at a Silicon Valley startup. I had a job interview there. In the meantime, they said they're interested, but have to wait until their next round of funding to know if they can hire me. [b]"The New Jersey Thing"[/b] is an application for transfering to a New Jersey branch of my current employer. I'll get a decision in June, and if it's affirmative, I'll start there either on August 1 or September 1. [b]"My own Share of USCS / CBP Weirdness"[/b] refers the back and forth about my need to apply for a reentry permit. On entering the United States, I got screened out for a second inspection. The inspector asked why I was spending so much time outside the United States. I answered that I wanted to get the right job before finally moving to the States, and that I wanted to complete my current project at my current employer before getting that job. It's better for my resumé, and for the job options my resumé opens. (All of this is true, although there was also an element of procrastination that I did not mention.) The border officer let me keep my Green Card for now, but strongly suggested that I apply for a reentry permit. So I got to work on the application, and found out that there were some points in the form (I-131) that I didn't understand. So I scheduled an appointment at a local immigration office in Metaxie LA, a New Orleans suburb. The USCS officer there told me a diametrically different story. Without even hearing me out, he said: "Sir, you have a valid Green Card. It's good till 2014. It gives you the right to travel inside or outside the USA as much as you want. As far as I am concerned, you have no problem to solve, and don't need to file anything." So here I was, trying to do the right thing, receiving diametrically opposed advice on what the right thing was, and lacking any way to make border control and immigration talk to each other. In the following days, I Googled some more, and the situation seems that what USCS said was true as a matter of immigration law, but officers at the border use reentry permits as evidence that you're still serious about immigrating, even if the letter of the law doesn't say you need one. Having determined that, I did mail an application for a reentry permit three days before my plain left. But as it then turned out, you need to be in the United States until they've finished initial processing. Because of my delayed application, the call from immigration reached my cell phone this Monday, and I wasn't in the US to get it. Had I just mailed the damn thing instead of seeking advice from the officials most qualified to give it, I'd have an accepted application by now, and would be back in before they even considered the merits of it. Silly me for thinking that an immigration officer would have competent advice about the need to file an immigration-related form. :Rolling Eyes:
I have now hired a lawyer to deal with it, and he says my chances are still pretty good if I make no more mistakes. We'll see what happens.

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Keeping my fingers crossed! (Otherwise you still could consider Hampshir, England Laughing

)

(I hope, Thomas, you talked with the Bavarian Emmigration Agency as well :wink: )

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but New Jersey? Okay, okay, just get yourself over here and then we can find you a nice place to live Razz

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Which exit, btw, in New Jersey would it be, Thomas?

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JPB wrote:

but New Jersey? Okay, okay, just get yourself over here and then we can find you a nice place to live

It has one redeeming feature: a 1h train connection to Penn Station, New York City. That alone is well worth practicing the perfect pronounciation of "cöcksucka".

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Which exit, btw, in New Jersey would it be, Thomas?

It's near where the New Jersey Turnpike (I 95) meets the Garden State Parkway -- about 30 miles South-West of Manhattan.

... but of course, I'm trying not to get too excited yet.

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I know (I can read maps Laughing

), was just referring to that stupid joke.
("I'm from New Jersey"/"Which exit?")

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New Jersey?

How will we be able to tell Thomas and Frank Apisa apart?

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Dang, Thomas, that sounds frustrating as hell.

Thanks for the rundown, hope it works out...

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Dag, just fly to Mexico then run back across the border. They have new amnesty programs in place for those folks.

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Lottery to decide my life

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