Legal
07-21 10:32 PM
vdlrao, Thanks for the great analysis.
I am using DOS visa statistics and I arrived at EB quota numbers for 2008 as 162,707. There were 22,707 unused FB visa's in 2007 based on the DOS visa statistics @ http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/statistics/statistics_1476.html
Typically the actual EB quota for the FY is revised in the September bulletin. I am not sure if DOS has already taken into account the new EB quota number for the Aug bulletin. If they hadn't taken into account the new quota number then we should see some forward movement in the Sep bulletin.
However the 28,795 AC-21 recaptured visa's U are talking about has already been used in 2002, please take a look at the below mentioned link for details regarding the usage of those visa's.
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/FY2003%20AppD.pdf
All the AC-21 recaptured visa's has been used by now.
It does look like all the AC21 numbers have been used up. Even if you don't take this into account, there are 40,000 + visa numbers available for use before Sep 30th.
Since we have been conditioned to receive only bad news for the past 3 years, we find it hard to believe. If this happens, EB-2 will get a good kickstart and with spillovers happening each quarter the dates should keep moving which vdlrao has been saying all along.
I also suspect among the 3 Llofgren bills, even if only the per-country quota elimination bill could be enacted, enough numbers may reach some long suffering EB3 India members.
I am using DOS visa statistics and I arrived at EB quota numbers for 2008 as 162,707. There were 22,707 unused FB visa's in 2007 based on the DOS visa statistics @ http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/statistics/statistics_1476.html
Typically the actual EB quota for the FY is revised in the September bulletin. I am not sure if DOS has already taken into account the new EB quota number for the Aug bulletin. If they hadn't taken into account the new quota number then we should see some forward movement in the Sep bulletin.
However the 28,795 AC-21 recaptured visa's U are talking about has already been used in 2002, please take a look at the below mentioned link for details regarding the usage of those visa's.
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/FY2003%20AppD.pdf
All the AC-21 recaptured visa's has been used by now.
It does look like all the AC21 numbers have been used up. Even if you don't take this into account, there are 40,000 + visa numbers available for use before Sep 30th.
Since we have been conditioned to receive only bad news for the past 3 years, we find it hard to believe. If this happens, EB-2 will get a good kickstart and with spillovers happening each quarter the dates should keep moving which vdlrao has been saying all along.
I also suspect among the 3 Llofgren bills, even if only the per-country quota elimination bill could be enacted, enough numbers may reach some long suffering EB3 India members.
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Abilash
08-25 08:03 AM
Hi,
I have an approved H1B petition, but was given 221(g) during consular interview due to lack of license to practice my proffession in US. They instructed me to submit the license within one year to stamp the H1B visa.
Now I am comming to US on a Visitors visa to write the licensing exam and to get licenced.
I am aware of the possibility of changing status from Visitors visa to H1B after getting licence without leaving US, since I already have an approved H1B.
But I came to know that USCIS will take around 90 days to approve status change from Visitors visa to H1B.
Kindly clarify whether I can start working for my H1B employer immediately after filing status change with USCIS, or do I need to wait till the approval, to start working.
Also do I need to include 221(g) I received after my H1B consulate interveiw for the status change application.
Thank you very much in advance...
I have an approved H1B petition, but was given 221(g) during consular interview due to lack of license to practice my proffession in US. They instructed me to submit the license within one year to stamp the H1B visa.
Now I am comming to US on a Visitors visa to write the licensing exam and to get licenced.
I am aware of the possibility of changing status from Visitors visa to H1B after getting licence without leaving US, since I already have an approved H1B.
But I came to know that USCIS will take around 90 days to approve status change from Visitors visa to H1B.
Kindly clarify whether I can start working for my H1B employer immediately after filing status change with USCIS, or do I need to wait till the approval, to start working.
Also do I need to include 221(g) I received after my H1B consulate interveiw for the status change application.
Thank you very much in advance...
anurakt
09-29 10:32 AM
Does any body have information if we need H1 to be valid for 1 year before applying for PR. Mine is expiring in april 06, can i apply now. will they reject it and i have to resend when i get my extension...please responds...
this just a fallback scenario i need to prepare.. also can people work on TN visa without a sponsor..
I think TN visa is only for Canadian and Mexican citizens and not for Canadian Permanent Residents .....
Can someone confirm that.... ?
this just a fallback scenario i need to prepare.. also can people work on TN visa without a sponsor..
I think TN visa is only for Canadian and Mexican citizens and not for Canadian Permanent Residents .....
Can someone confirm that.... ?
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shukla77
05-29 03:05 PM
Can not agree more.
We get engaged in all kinds of discussions EB1 Vs EB2, EB-I Vs EB ROW. bulletin predictions...But we all skilled immigrants can not figure out how to unite and resolve the big issue of backlog. When one person suggests any initiative( flower campaign, call campaign, letter campaign etc.) more 20 people hammer him or her and spend their full energy in proving how suggested idea will not work. Next time the guy does not even think about suggesting anything. On top of that some will come up with their line" Have you contributed, If not then do that first".Our lack of unity will keep us here for a long time to come. In coming months and years, some people will lose interest, stop visiting this site and move on. Others will come to see if there is any POSITIVE news and some will still keep fighting over the issues of EB1 vs EB2 vs India vs China Vs ROW.
Good Luck
to the others who are bitching and moaning about EB1's, a few months back we were worried about the EB3 converting to EB2..before that we were worried that EB3's were getting more visas than EB2's and so on.....we will keep fighting about the handfull of misallocated visas or work towards recapture.
We get engaged in all kinds of discussions EB1 Vs EB2, EB-I Vs EB ROW. bulletin predictions...But we all skilled immigrants can not figure out how to unite and resolve the big issue of backlog. When one person suggests any initiative( flower campaign, call campaign, letter campaign etc.) more 20 people hammer him or her and spend their full energy in proving how suggested idea will not work. Next time the guy does not even think about suggesting anything. On top of that some will come up with their line" Have you contributed, If not then do that first".Our lack of unity will keep us here for a long time to come. In coming months and years, some people will lose interest, stop visiting this site and move on. Others will come to see if there is any POSITIVE news and some will still keep fighting over the issues of EB1 vs EB2 vs India vs China Vs ROW.
Good Luck
to the others who are bitching and moaning about EB1's, a few months back we were worried about the EB3 converting to EB2..before that we were worried that EB3's were getting more visas than EB2's and so on.....we will keep fighting about the handfull of misallocated visas or work towards recapture.
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stemcell
06-01 02:28 PM
The only solution , to all our problems, is a LAWSUIT.
The earlier some one has the balls to do it , the better it is.
what lawsuit :confused:
whom are we going to sue? USCIS for following what the congress has laid out....
i guess what you mean maybe is sue the congress.....:D
The earlier some one has the balls to do it , the better it is.
what lawsuit :confused:
whom are we going to sue? USCIS for following what the congress has laid out....
i guess what you mean maybe is sue the congress.....:D
rahulpaper
06-28 05:11 PM
the cycle for visa exhaustion has to happen before USCIS triggers action....its just not how many applications showed up on their door...and one(including me) should not feel toooo bad if we are not able to submit application becasue the visa numbers were exhausted. More painful will be if it is only based on applications received and mine went in a little later than others. lot of hard works has gone into prepraing this application. I would hire my attorney to put a suit against himself...
As i understand it...number of applications received by USCIS on july 2nd does not in any way affect the acceptance of application on july 22nd......do you see it as i see it
Still, just because DOS told USCIS "Visas are exhausted" doesnt mean they should stop ACCEPTING new petitions. They can stop APPROVING new ones, but why stop ACCEPTING new petitions. Visa bulletins guide the filing as well as approval of petitions. If visa bulletins is current, then they can both accept and approve petitions.
As i understand it...number of applications received by USCIS on july 2nd does not in any way affect the acceptance of application on july 22nd......do you see it as i see it
Still, just because DOS told USCIS "Visas are exhausted" doesnt mean they should stop ACCEPTING new petitions. They can stop APPROVING new ones, but why stop ACCEPTING new petitions. Visa bulletins guide the filing as well as approval of petitions. If visa bulletins is current, then they can both accept and approve petitions.
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RNGC
02-13 02:30 PM
how abt IV core leading us here or how abt murthy and other IV supporters who are immigration lawyers too.
Are u kidding me....She is the happiest soul out there and thriving on our problems. If USCIS is efficient and no backlogs she will be out of business...
Are u kidding me....She is the happiest soul out there and thriving on our problems. If USCIS is efficient and no backlogs she will be out of business...
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alkg
09-24 03:29 PM
I don't think this all is going to work out in any way.
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dealsnet
09-04 05:26 PM
Now I think new people are running IV.
Aman Kapoor (Walden Pond) is not controlling now. That is the reason these idiots have got the admin previlages. Now they do nothing worthwhile. Bunch of jockers.
If this was about you being having admin previledges,you wud have been taken to trial for misusing this board.....AH...
Aman Kapoor (Walden Pond) is not controlling now. That is the reason these idiots have got the admin previlages. Now they do nothing worthwhile. Bunch of jockers.
If this was about you being having admin previledges,you wud have been taken to trial for misusing this board.....AH...
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kondur_007
07-26 06:04 PM
I dont think the situation is that bleak. What would happen when EB3 ROW is unable to use up all the spillovers from EB2? The excess would go to EB3 I, right?
This is exactly the point which is not clear and therefore, asking for verticle spillover may not benefit EB3 I.
What you are asking for is "verticle spill" till it comes to EB3 ROW and then spill it "horizontally" to EB3 I, then only EB3 I would benefit. (although USCIS did this in the past, there is no logic that can explain it)
If they re-interprete the spill and make it verticle, it will go EB2 ROW -> EB 3 ROW -> EB2 I -> EB3 I (pure verticle spill) ; In this case, EB3 I gets nothing but EB2 I looses with some benefit to EB3 ROW. And remember, verticle spill from ROW will need to go equally to India and China...
At the end of the day, if you look at the big picture, I think horizontal or verticle spills are not likely to make any difference to the backlog of EB3 I. What we need is more visa number. Mechanism (recapture, STEM exemption etc) does not matter. Also we neet to unite and work on getting our agenda in the CIR that is likely to be awakened once elections are over.
This is exactly the point which is not clear and therefore, asking for verticle spillover may not benefit EB3 I.
What you are asking for is "verticle spill" till it comes to EB3 ROW and then spill it "horizontally" to EB3 I, then only EB3 I would benefit. (although USCIS did this in the past, there is no logic that can explain it)
If they re-interprete the spill and make it verticle, it will go EB2 ROW -> EB 3 ROW -> EB2 I -> EB3 I (pure verticle spill) ; In this case, EB3 I gets nothing but EB2 I looses with some benefit to EB3 ROW. And remember, verticle spill from ROW will need to go equally to India and China...
At the end of the day, if you look at the big picture, I think horizontal or verticle spills are not likely to make any difference to the backlog of EB3 I. What we need is more visa number. Mechanism (recapture, STEM exemption etc) does not matter. Also we neet to unite and work on getting our agenda in the CIR that is likely to be awakened once elections are over.
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eastindia
01-14 09:48 AM
I love this thread. Plainspeak is a worthless guy with worthless opinion entertaining all of us with silly thread and responding to everyone. Dude did you get some problem in life and have so much time to write? If you really want something you could have done something till now.
You do not even want to meet any lawmaker. You believe in watching CSpan and lawyers lobby for you. Go and contact CSpan and lawyers to help you. Why are you here?
You do not even want to meet any lawmaker. You believe in watching CSpan and lawyers lobby for you. Go and contact CSpan and lawyers to help you. Why are you here?
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kuhelica2000
02-16 12:41 PM
Defending one's country is one thing and defending fraud and corruption is another thing. Yes, there are lots of great universitites in India like IITs, IIMs, and several Regional Engineering Colleges. But guess what, when it comes to EB2/EB3 genuine IITs and overnight (okay maybe three months) bodyshop graduates are treated the same way. It is for the sake of our profession that we need to weed out these frauds.
Don't make corruption in India as an incentive to thrash Indians. Majority of Indian H1b/L1 like any other community are well skilled professionals. It should not give you an incentive to thrash Indians or India. I am sure you belong to India and I am pretty depressed to see some one trash his own country to get some cheap publicity on this blog. I am not playing a race card but Yes I will defend Indians or Chinese for any attacks by bigots like you.
Don't make corruption in India as an incentive to thrash Indians. Majority of Indian H1b/L1 like any other community are well skilled professionals. It should not give you an incentive to thrash Indians or India. I am sure you belong to India and I am pretty depressed to see some one trash his own country to get some cheap publicity on this blog. I am not playing a race card but Yes I will defend Indians or Chinese for any attacks by bigots like you.
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h1techSlave
09-25 01:37 PM
A quarterly spill over is advantageous to every body in the playing field.
It is obviously good for retrogressed groups. It is even good for CIS, since they can plan their work properly and use up the visas in an orderly fashion.
So if IV can use some of its massive clout to convince DOS to do a quarterly spill over, that would be win-win for all.
Unfortunately we will have to wait until march and not december to find out if DOS is doing quarterly spillover because EB2 row already has more than 7000 pending 485, every quarter there are about 10000 Eb 2 visas, so technically there are already enough EB2 row 485 applications to use up the first quarter numbers.
offcourse there are only 4000 pending eb1 485 applications and assuming not more than a 1000 new eb1 applications are added to the list there would be 5000 visas that could be spilled over into eb2, the problem is we dont know
1. If DOS will do spillover every quarter
2. if by miracle they do spillover will it only in there respective categories i.e Eb2 row to to eb2 india\china, or accross categories eb1-row to Eb2 row to Eb2 India\china
These questions can only be answered by DOS. Hope DOS looks at what USCIS did and comes out with a Q&A of there own which explains if they are going to do a spillover every quarter or not. If not we will still be speculating to no end. Do we have to file another FOIA request to DOS to find out if they are going to do a spillover every quarter? I hope DOL also published a report every quarter like USCUS which contains the numnber of perm applications pending by month, year and country
It is obviously good for retrogressed groups. It is even good for CIS, since they can plan their work properly and use up the visas in an orderly fashion.
So if IV can use some of its massive clout to convince DOS to do a quarterly spill over, that would be win-win for all.
Unfortunately we will have to wait until march and not december to find out if DOS is doing quarterly spillover because EB2 row already has more than 7000 pending 485, every quarter there are about 10000 Eb 2 visas, so technically there are already enough EB2 row 485 applications to use up the first quarter numbers.
offcourse there are only 4000 pending eb1 485 applications and assuming not more than a 1000 new eb1 applications are added to the list there would be 5000 visas that could be spilled over into eb2, the problem is we dont know
1. If DOS will do spillover every quarter
2. if by miracle they do spillover will it only in there respective categories i.e Eb2 row to to eb2 india\china, or accross categories eb1-row to Eb2 row to Eb2 India\china
These questions can only be answered by DOS. Hope DOS looks at what USCIS did and comes out with a Q&A of there own which explains if they are going to do a spillover every quarter or not. If not we will still be speculating to no end. Do we have to file another FOIA request to DOS to find out if they are going to do a spillover every quarter? I hope DOL also published a report every quarter like USCUS which contains the numnber of perm applications pending by month, year and country
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visves
02-14 07:23 PM
If we increase the number of links from other web-sites, blogs etc to immigrationvoice.com, then immigrationvoice should show up earlier.
If you google retrogression, IV doesn't show up until page 2.
Is there anyway we can change this? So that IV is the first link that shows up? Anyway know about this.
If you google retrogression, IV doesn't show up until page 2.
Is there anyway we can change this? So that IV is the first link that shows up? Anyway know about this.
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nozerd
05-11 10:21 PM
A Canadian PR has the right to enter Canada (as opposed to a US PR who does not have the right and can be denied entrance by INS).
If you have not met 2 in 5 yr obligation Canadian Immigration will question you but let you in. They will give you a date on which you will have a court date with Immigration judge. Then its up to judge and you. You will have to give good reason why you were out ( waiting for US GC is not a good reason ).
Dont know about the reapplying part. Never heard of anyone having done it.
If you have not met 2 in 5 yr obligation Canadian Immigration will question you but let you in. They will give you a date on which you will have a court date with Immigration judge. Then its up to judge and you. You will have to give good reason why you were out ( waiting for US GC is not a good reason ).
Dont know about the reapplying part. Never heard of anyone having done it.
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logiclife
01-24 12:29 PM
hehehe, i dont think the sentence is too light - the US Prison system has so many jokes about the kinds of characters inside them...Hope this mandalapa guy gets a 'great' roomie - Once he comes out he would think twice about 'screwing' genuine GC applicants then - know what i mean??!!!!
He is going to India after prison. The paper says he is being deported after he gets out of prison.
So he wont be touching anyone's GC application ever.
He is going to India after prison. The paper says he is being deported after he gets out of prison.
So he wont be touching anyone's GC application ever.
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longq
02-13 03:09 PM
They do not have to go to 7% if they don't want to. However; they can't go over it; if there is more demand then supply.
I am not disputing this. Entire discussion here is how to handle if demand is less than supply due to the impose of 7%.
I am not disputing this. Entire discussion here is how to handle if demand is less than supply due to the impose of 7%.
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perm2gc
06-26 01:48 PM
nope. The august bulletin which gets released mid july didn't get into our arguements at all. We were specifially talking about july filers and july month.
Yes, i agree that if August bulletin retrogresses than that affects only august filers and not the people eligible to file in july.
my attorney also said same thing..
Yes, i agree that if August bulletin retrogresses than that affects only august filers and not the people eligible to file in july.
my attorney also said same thing..
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shreekhand
09-15 11:55 AM
vdlrao,
Are you 100% sure that the data for calendar year 2005 includes the traditional labor certifications as well ? I did not see any in the txt file given on the DoL website for FY 2005.
Remember missing those out could mean missing huge numbers, I know several who filed from Jan 01, 2005 to just before PERM came into the picture in late March 2005.
Year, TOT_LBRS, Certified, LBR_INDIA PD_>_10/1/2001
2000 074048 70204 ????? 0
2001 082139 77921 ????? 0
2002 089168 79784 ????? 7873
2003 095299 62912 ????? 25956
2004 098866 43582 ????? 26569
2005 014253 06133 01350 6133
2006 105960 79782 22298 79782
2007 098753 85112 24573 85112
2008 061997 21092 07198 21092
Total 720483 526522 55419 252517
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/forum2-retrogression-priority-dates-and-visa-bulletins/23813-perm-labor-data-analysis.html
In 2005 there are a total of 01350 labors certified only for India.
In 2006 there are a total of 22298 labors certified only for India.
The other important thing here to note down is there are many outsourcing companies out there filed/filing GCs for their so called managers in EB1 category.
Are you 100% sure that the data for calendar year 2005 includes the traditional labor certifications as well ? I did not see any in the txt file given on the DoL website for FY 2005.
Remember missing those out could mean missing huge numbers, I know several who filed from Jan 01, 2005 to just before PERM came into the picture in late March 2005.
Year, TOT_LBRS, Certified, LBR_INDIA PD_>_10/1/2001
2000 074048 70204 ????? 0
2001 082139 77921 ????? 0
2002 089168 79784 ????? 7873
2003 095299 62912 ????? 25956
2004 098866 43582 ????? 26569
2005 014253 06133 01350 6133
2006 105960 79782 22298 79782
2007 098753 85112 24573 85112
2008 061997 21092 07198 21092
Total 720483 526522 55419 252517
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/forum2-retrogression-priority-dates-and-visa-bulletins/23813-perm-labor-data-analysis.html
In 2005 there are a total of 01350 labors certified only for India.
In 2006 there are a total of 22298 labors certified only for India.
The other important thing here to note down is there are many outsourcing companies out there filed/filing GCs for their so called managers in EB1 category.
swo
07-12 09:29 PM
I have to tell you, I read this report in the paper when it was on the front page. While it may be true that some people are always impacted, those that have applied for Canadian PR after living in the states have been successful and had results in less than 2 years from beginning to end, and without the shadow of being employed by a given employer hanging over them.
No, sorry. It's just not typical. The Canadian "Backlog" does not even BEGIN to compare to the broken, extended, in-status, out-of-status, this form, that form, this queue, priority date, receipt date, labor cert workflow that is the US immigration system.
Reading this article you would think the Canadian system was a disaster. And yet, the amazing thing is, nowhere was there a mention of EXISTING problems with the US system. Just a criticism of the point system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/washington/27points.html?ex=1184385600&en=d3301beecf778d15&ei=5070
June 27, 2007
Canada’s Policy on Immigrants Brings Backlog
By CHRISTOPHER MASON and JULIA PRESTON
TORONTO, June 26 — With an advanced degree in business management from a university in India and impeccable English, Salman Kureishy is precisely the type of foreigner that Canada’s merit-based immigration system was designed to attract.
Yet eight years went by from the time Mr. Kureishy passed his first Canadian immigration test until he moved from India to Canada. Then he had to endure nine months of bureaucratic delays before landing a job in his field in March.
Mr. Kureishy’s experience — and that of Canada’s immigration system — offers a cautionary tale for the United States. Mr. Kureishy came to this country under a system Canada pioneered in the 1960s that favors highly skilled foreigners, by assigning points for education and work experience and accepting those who earn high scores.
A similar point system for the United States is proposed in the immigration bill that bounced back to life on Tuesday, when the Senate reversed a previous stand and brought the bill back to the floor. The vote did not guarantee passage of the bill, which calls for the biggest changes in immigration law in more than 20 years.
The point system has helped Canada compete with the United States and other Western powers for highly educated workers, the most coveted immigrants in high-tech and other cutting-edge industries. But in recent years, immigration lawyers and labor market analysts say, the Canadian system has become an immovable beast, with a backlog of more than 800,000 applications and waits of four years or more.
The system’s bias toward the educated has left some industries crying out for skilled blue-collar workers, especially in western Canada where Alberta’s busy oil fields have generated an economic boom. Studies by the Alberta government show the province could be short by as many as 100,000 workers over the next decade.
In response, some Canadian employers are sidestepping the point system and relying instead on a program initiated in 1998 that allows provincial governments to hand-pick some immigrant workers, and on temporary foreign-worker permits.
“The points system is so inflexible,” said Herman Van Reekum, an immigration consultant in Calgary who helps Alberta employers find workers. “We need low-skill workers and trades workers here, and those people have no hope under the points system.”
Canada accepts about 250,000 immigrants each year, more than doubling the per-capita rate of immigration in the United States, census figures from both countries show. Nearly two-thirds of Canada’s population growth comes from immigrants, according to the 2006 census, compared with the United States, where about 43 percent of the population growth comes from immigration. Approximately half of Canada’s immigrants come through the point system.
Under Canada’s system, 67 points on a 100-point test is a passing score. In addition to education and work experience, aspiring immigrants earn high points for their command of languages and for being between 21 and 49 years old. In the United States, the Senate bill would grant higher points for advanced education, English proficiency and skills in technology and other fields that are in demand. Lower points would be given for the family ties that have been the basic stepping stones of the American immigration system for four decades.
Part of the backlog in Canada can be traced to a provision in the Canadian system that allows highly skilled foreigners to apply to immigrate even if they do not have a job offer. Similarly, the Senate bill would not require merit system applicants to have job offers in the United States, although it would grant additional points to those who do.
Without an employment requirement, Canada has been deluged with applications. In testimony in May before an immigration subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives, Howard Greenberg, an immigration lawyer in Toronto, compared the Canadian system to a bathtub with an open faucet and a clogged drain. “It is not surprising that Canada’s bathtub is overflowing,” Mr. Greenberg said.
Since applications are not screened first by employers, the government bears the burden and cost of assessing them. The system is often slow to evaluate the foreign education credentials and work experience of new immigrants and to direct them toward employers who need their skills, said Jeffrey Reitz, professor of immigration studies at the University of Toronto.
The problem has been acute in regulated professions like medicine, where a professional organization, the Medical Council of Canada, reviews foreign credentials of new immigrants. The group has had difficulty assessing how a degree earned in China or India stacks up against a similar degree from a university in Canada or the United States. Frustrated by delays, some doctors and other highly trained immigrants take jobs outside their fields just to make ends meet.
The sheer size of the Canadian point system, the complexity of its rules and its backlogs make it slow to adjust to shifts in the labor market, like the oil boom in Alberta.
“I am a university professor, and I can barely figure out the points system,” said Don J. DeVoretz, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who studies immigration systems. “Lawyers have books that are three feet thick explaining the system.”
The rush to develop the oil fields in northern Alberta has attracted oil companies from around the world, unleashing a surge of construction. Contractors say that often the only thing holding them back is a shortage of qualified workers.
Scott Burns, president of Burnco Rock Products in Calgary, a construction materials company with about 1,000 employees, said he had been able to meet his labor needs only by using temporary work permits. Mr. Burns hired 39 Filipinos for jobs in his concrete plants and plans to hire more. He said that many of the temporary workers had critically needed skills, but that they had no hope of immigrating permanently under the federal point system.
“The system is very much broken,” Mr. Burns said.
Mr. Kureishy, the immigrant from India, said he was drawn to Canada late in his career by its open society and what appeared to be strong interest in his professional abilities. But even though he waited eight years to immigrate, the equivalent of a doctoral degree in human resources development that he earned from Xavier Labor Relations Institute in India was not evaluated in Canada until he arrived here. During his first six months, Canadian employers had no formal comparison of his credentials to guide them.
Eventually, Mr. Kureishy, 55, found full-time work in his field, as a program manager assisting foreign professionals at Ryerson University in Toronto. “It was a long process, but I look at myself as fairly resilient,” Mr. Kureishy said.
He criticized Canada as providing little support to immigrants after they arrived.
“If you advertised for professors and one comes over and is driving a taxi,” he said, “that’s a problem.”
Christopher Mason reported from Toronto, and Julia Preston from New York.
No, sorry. It's just not typical. The Canadian "Backlog" does not even BEGIN to compare to the broken, extended, in-status, out-of-status, this form, that form, this queue, priority date, receipt date, labor cert workflow that is the US immigration system.
Reading this article you would think the Canadian system was a disaster. And yet, the amazing thing is, nowhere was there a mention of EXISTING problems with the US system. Just a criticism of the point system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/washington/27points.html?ex=1184385600&en=d3301beecf778d15&ei=5070
June 27, 2007
Canada’s Policy on Immigrants Brings Backlog
By CHRISTOPHER MASON and JULIA PRESTON
TORONTO, June 26 — With an advanced degree in business management from a university in India and impeccable English, Salman Kureishy is precisely the type of foreigner that Canada’s merit-based immigration system was designed to attract.
Yet eight years went by from the time Mr. Kureishy passed his first Canadian immigration test until he moved from India to Canada. Then he had to endure nine months of bureaucratic delays before landing a job in his field in March.
Mr. Kureishy’s experience — and that of Canada’s immigration system — offers a cautionary tale for the United States. Mr. Kureishy came to this country under a system Canada pioneered in the 1960s that favors highly skilled foreigners, by assigning points for education and work experience and accepting those who earn high scores.
A similar point system for the United States is proposed in the immigration bill that bounced back to life on Tuesday, when the Senate reversed a previous stand and brought the bill back to the floor. The vote did not guarantee passage of the bill, which calls for the biggest changes in immigration law in more than 20 years.
The point system has helped Canada compete with the United States and other Western powers for highly educated workers, the most coveted immigrants in high-tech and other cutting-edge industries. But in recent years, immigration lawyers and labor market analysts say, the Canadian system has become an immovable beast, with a backlog of more than 800,000 applications and waits of four years or more.
The system’s bias toward the educated has left some industries crying out for skilled blue-collar workers, especially in western Canada where Alberta’s busy oil fields have generated an economic boom. Studies by the Alberta government show the province could be short by as many as 100,000 workers over the next decade.
In response, some Canadian employers are sidestepping the point system and relying instead on a program initiated in 1998 that allows provincial governments to hand-pick some immigrant workers, and on temporary foreign-worker permits.
“The points system is so inflexible,” said Herman Van Reekum, an immigration consultant in Calgary who helps Alberta employers find workers. “We need low-skill workers and trades workers here, and those people have no hope under the points system.”
Canada accepts about 250,000 immigrants each year, more than doubling the per-capita rate of immigration in the United States, census figures from both countries show. Nearly two-thirds of Canada’s population growth comes from immigrants, according to the 2006 census, compared with the United States, where about 43 percent of the population growth comes from immigration. Approximately half of Canada’s immigrants come through the point system.
Under Canada’s system, 67 points on a 100-point test is a passing score. In addition to education and work experience, aspiring immigrants earn high points for their command of languages and for being between 21 and 49 years old. In the United States, the Senate bill would grant higher points for advanced education, English proficiency and skills in technology and other fields that are in demand. Lower points would be given for the family ties that have been the basic stepping stones of the American immigration system for four decades.
Part of the backlog in Canada can be traced to a provision in the Canadian system that allows highly skilled foreigners to apply to immigrate even if they do not have a job offer. Similarly, the Senate bill would not require merit system applicants to have job offers in the United States, although it would grant additional points to those who do.
Without an employment requirement, Canada has been deluged with applications. In testimony in May before an immigration subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives, Howard Greenberg, an immigration lawyer in Toronto, compared the Canadian system to a bathtub with an open faucet and a clogged drain. “It is not surprising that Canada’s bathtub is overflowing,” Mr. Greenberg said.
Since applications are not screened first by employers, the government bears the burden and cost of assessing them. The system is often slow to evaluate the foreign education credentials and work experience of new immigrants and to direct them toward employers who need their skills, said Jeffrey Reitz, professor of immigration studies at the University of Toronto.
The problem has been acute in regulated professions like medicine, where a professional organization, the Medical Council of Canada, reviews foreign credentials of new immigrants. The group has had difficulty assessing how a degree earned in China or India stacks up against a similar degree from a university in Canada or the United States. Frustrated by delays, some doctors and other highly trained immigrants take jobs outside their fields just to make ends meet.
The sheer size of the Canadian point system, the complexity of its rules and its backlogs make it slow to adjust to shifts in the labor market, like the oil boom in Alberta.
“I am a university professor, and I can barely figure out the points system,” said Don J. DeVoretz, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who studies immigration systems. “Lawyers have books that are three feet thick explaining the system.”
The rush to develop the oil fields in northern Alberta has attracted oil companies from around the world, unleashing a surge of construction. Contractors say that often the only thing holding them back is a shortage of qualified workers.
Scott Burns, president of Burnco Rock Products in Calgary, a construction materials company with about 1,000 employees, said he had been able to meet his labor needs only by using temporary work permits. Mr. Burns hired 39 Filipinos for jobs in his concrete plants and plans to hire more. He said that many of the temporary workers had critically needed skills, but that they had no hope of immigrating permanently under the federal point system.
“The system is very much broken,” Mr. Burns said.
Mr. Kureishy, the immigrant from India, said he was drawn to Canada late in his career by its open society and what appeared to be strong interest in his professional abilities. But even though he waited eight years to immigrate, the equivalent of a doctoral degree in human resources development that he earned from Xavier Labor Relations Institute in India was not evaluated in Canada until he arrived here. During his first six months, Canadian employers had no formal comparison of his credentials to guide them.
Eventually, Mr. Kureishy, 55, found full-time work in his field, as a program manager assisting foreign professionals at Ryerson University in Toronto. “It was a long process, but I look at myself as fairly resilient,” Mr. Kureishy said.
He criticized Canada as providing little support to immigrants after they arrived.
“If you advertised for professors and one comes over and is driving a taxi,” he said, “that’s a problem.”
Christopher Mason reported from Toronto, and Julia Preston from New York.
ramus
07-03 08:51 PM
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Please put details. 1 liners will not cut it!
Thanks.
Pleeeeeeeeease blog at Employment Based (EB) Skilled Immigration Applicants (http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?boardid=1042&threadid=314286&BoardsParam=HIPDelay=1&PostID=7628691)
Please put details. 1 liners will not cut it!
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