Fishin, I love you. That sounds somewhat promising. At least the fact that the filing fees are returned and that the 20,000 are separate, and that people are asking for higher cap. All good news. Better odds.
Since you are trapped in this mess is it safe to assume that you aren't currently here on a H-1B?
F-1, student visa. Hence the eternal dissertation. I keep postponing until I resolve my work visa.
*nods* That's the suck.
No info back in reply to the e-mail you sent yesterday?
they don't have the case number yet. I asked my lawyer to send it as soon as she has it.
Considering how easy one obtains citizenship if enlisting in the army,
it seems so unfair to limit HB-1 visas to highly trained, educated foreigners who contribute as well.
dagmaraka, each morning I light a candle and do yoga-- at the end of this comes meditation, that's where I'll be submitting your request.
thank you! I hope the higher powers that be will listen attentively.
CJ, it is ironic, isn't it? People that engage in war always seemed to have had preference before those who wage peace and seek to prevent war. Such is humanity, I'm afraid.
Thank you for answering. I am sorry that in answering you say the odds can be worse, that was not what I was expecting to hear.
The reason I asked about your situation is because when I read something that appears to be wrong I want to learn as much as I can. I try to be as informed as I can and if the system is wrong then it is up to people like me who vote and have a say to try to make sure we do what we can to make it right. That is the responsible way to try and make a change.
Just know that there are people who don't know you, but care about what you are going through. I will only think positive thoughts for you and I still say I hope you win.
Well, this is ridiculous, but then you know that. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Fishin's catch is nothing we should throw back. Hope there is some push generated about that.
Looks like food offerings are appropriate for Ganesh.
Oh, and latkes:
I hope they're fried in lard. That way Ganesh won't touch them with a ten foot pole and they'll be all mine!
It's item #5 on Yahoo's news round-up:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070404/us_nm/visas_tech_dc
You want we should write our congresspeople? Seems like its patently unfair and might be possible to revise it (raise cap, get rid of cap...)
Also noticed that they eliminate the "incorrect" petitions -- I know you worked hard on yours, maybe there will be a bunch of incorrect ones and that will lessen the pool and increase your chances.
Seems like this is an issue Obama could get behind, what with his father's history and everything... hmmm...
soz, naturally, anyone who'd have time to write to their congressperson would be my #1 hero for a long time. I don't know the appropriate channels, but I'll study the whole legal/political net around the visa issue over the weekend.
I know Shirley Temple-Black (I was forced to tap dance for her once by my evil father), but she seems to have withdrawn from politics in the last few years and is restoring her old movies now... Oh well. I also had dinner with Sean Penn up in Maine, but I don't think he knows about it... He just sat at the next table. That's where my connections end, i'm afraid. I don' even have a congressman to write to, being a furriner and all. Maybe Kerry who should care about me as a tax-paying Massachusettsian. Maybe I'll give that a try, ay?
Go for it! Kerry's a great fit. A righteous issue that may even be headline-grabbing, and with you as a poster girl -- gold, baby, gold.
haha. maybe i'll become a celebrity. like that little girl that wrote to Reagan and Gorbachev and was at their meeting in, when was it.... 1987 or so?
well, he's a senator though. i will write him, too, but i guess i should be writing to congress members first of all. right?
So, this is what I wrote:
Dear Senator Kerry,
I am not a U.S. citizen. I turn to you as an individual who is frustrated and disheartened by some of the U.S. immigration policies, because I appreciate the values that you stand for and issues that you push forth.
As you perhaps know, the H-1B visa applications, that is applications submitted by eployers on the behalf of highly skilled, educated people that are wanted and needed in this country, just went in to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This year there were more applications than any time before (well over 150,000), yet the cap so far remains at 65,000 places. I was informed that our lives will be decided by a lottery. Justification? "Principle of fairness." I find that ironic. H-1B visa are supposed to be awarded on the basis of merit, yet we are reduced to waiting for a strike of luck. Meanwhile, many illegal immigrants get naturalized every few years, many people cheat or marry for immigration status for payment to the spouse, some are awarded citizenship for having enough money.
We only want to work. We spent months putting our applications together, have highest qualification and skills, and each of us spent over $5,000 on various fees related to this application. We are treated with little respect.
We are told that there is not enough people or money to evaluate all of the applications. That, again, is ironic to me. U.S. has money to wage war, for space research, but not enough for its own workforce, education, or health.
I have lived in the U.S. for over ten years now all together, pay taxes, and contribute in every other way to the society, like any citizen here. I am getting my doctorate, worked throughout my studies, and achieved specialization that is hard to match. I have a job offer for work that I love, I have an employer that wants only me and nobody else, yet we might not be able to work together. There are thousands of people like me, waiting for the Russian roulette outcomes.
I read in the news today that without immigration, the population of Boston would have declined by more than 100,000 over the last few years. Employers rely on international workers, especially in high skills jobs, more and more. Considering all of this, current cap as well as the approach to the processing of H-1B visa applications makes very little sense to me and is, frankly, insulting.
I plead with you to take the issue of cap increase or elimination on in any way you can. Not for the sake of one individual, but for the tens of thousands that it impacts, as well as for the sake of overall state of the U.S. workforce. U.S. cannot expect to compete effectively in the world market if it denies U.S. employers the workers they need.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
...dagmaraka.
