okuzmin
05-09 01:37 PM
hasanuic, check this page before you send your RPRF fee:
http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/main/visas/fee_schedule_us_dollars-en.asp
We just sent the last requested docs a week ago to the Consulate, and I used this page to get a money order with our RPRF fees.
http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/main/visas/fee_schedule_us_dollars-en.asp
We just sent the last requested docs a week ago to the Consulate, and I used this page to get a money order with our RPRF fees.
wallpaper Wiz Khalifa, Kanye West win in
sammyb
02-14 01:53 PM
to close this thread and/or change settings so that no further new posts allowed... We have had enough on this ... it is now better to rest this topic in peace...
Legal_Guy_HiTech_Slave
09-22 06:11 PM
Hello Friends,
I am going through a wierd situation with my GC process. Not that the EB3 PD is retrogressed but a different one. Silly it sounds. Please help me in making a right decision. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
EB3 category.
PD : April 15,2003.
Labor: approved.
I-140: approved.
I-485: Only registered the application,FP done. Not applied for EAD,AP and others as I was not married at the "All gates open time in 2007"
My Wierd Situation / Issue: I was not married at the time when all categories were current in Jul/Aug 2007 and so I had only applied for myself for the application to register for 485 process (Main application), submitted my medicals, Submitted my DOB certificates and completed the 485 adjustment of status registration. I got married at the end of 2007 and got my all Finger Prints completed in December 2007. Now my wife is here on H4 and dont know if I should keep continue my 485 just to keep the file active or wait untill my PD is current (NO HOPES may be in my next life as it is EB3) and apply along with my wife. PLEASE help me with your valuable suggestions. I just want to be safe because I have been working here for 10 years on H1B visa and tired of this immigration rules and litigations.
I am going through a wierd situation with my GC process. Not that the EB3 PD is retrogressed but a different one. Silly it sounds. Please help me in making a right decision. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
EB3 category.
PD : April 15,2003.
Labor: approved.
I-140: approved.
I-485: Only registered the application,FP done. Not applied for EAD,AP and others as I was not married at the "All gates open time in 2007"
My Wierd Situation / Issue: I was not married at the time when all categories were current in Jul/Aug 2007 and so I had only applied for myself for the application to register for 485 process (Main application), submitted my medicals, Submitted my DOB certificates and completed the 485 adjustment of status registration. I got married at the end of 2007 and got my all Finger Prints completed in December 2007. Now my wife is here on H4 and dont know if I should keep continue my 485 just to keep the file active or wait untill my PD is current (NO HOPES may be in my next life as it is EB3) and apply along with my wife. PLEASE help me with your valuable suggestions. I just want to be safe because I have been working here for 10 years on H1B visa and tired of this immigration rules and litigations.
2011 Amber+rose+kanye+west+kiss
smuggymba
01-16 02:17 PM
Shaant bhaiyon shaant. Take it easy. Lets get back to the topic.
I hope that this memo is not mis-used to affect the good apples, that's it.
I hope that this memo is not mis-used to affect the good apples, that's it.
more...
Jaime
05-12 11:59 PM
Well, I have been on this forum for over a year, and I have been doing my research, you guys have given me a great idea...immigrating to India. I know that right now India might not be as comfortable as Laguna Beach, (but then agan 99% of the world isn't). I think that if I go to India now, work hard, endure a bit of discomfort and do my best that I will be a millionaire in my later years, whereas in the U.S. thigns are declining, and I will have grandkids before I get a Green Card.
This is where India Green Card comes in. So, I am looking for a job in India (non-tech, but rather business/marketing related).I would appreciate any help that you guys could give me. I have researched that I have to find a job and show a contract of employment from the sponsoring company in India, as well as an appointment letter from the sponsoring organization and proof that the organization is registered in India.
Then it allpoints out tome having to apply for an employment visa at the consulate with jurisdiction over my place of residence, and I am awae that my visa may require clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs or Reserve Bank of India before the visa is issued. My question is on how to contact the MHA for this? Do any of you have their phone/fax numberor address?
Further, I found that in India a foreign national may not change employers. If the foreign national wishes to change employers, the foreign national must leave the country and re-enter with a new visa for that particular new employer. So, I am looking for something really steady before I even set foot in India, and that's why I need your all's help!!!
Since the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reserves discretion to determine the period of validity of the visa, it could really be good for a few months or years, impossible to know before applying. The good thing is that the Foreign Registration Regional Office (FRRO) may grant extensions of up to three months. Upon approval by the MHA, the FRRO may grant an extension of up to one year. Thereafter, the FRRO may grant extensions for four more years on a year-to-year basis.
I am so excited and confused at the same time. India is my future, and I am going to need a lot of your help IV friends! At least I speak English, but I am also thinking of getting a pivate Hindi tutor. Any thoughts woud be VERY VERY appreciated! Thanks!!!!
This is where India Green Card comes in. So, I am looking for a job in India (non-tech, but rather business/marketing related).I would appreciate any help that you guys could give me. I have researched that I have to find a job and show a contract of employment from the sponsoring company in India, as well as an appointment letter from the sponsoring organization and proof that the organization is registered in India.
Then it allpoints out tome having to apply for an employment visa at the consulate with jurisdiction over my place of residence, and I am awae that my visa may require clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs or Reserve Bank of India before the visa is issued. My question is on how to contact the MHA for this? Do any of you have their phone/fax numberor address?
Further, I found that in India a foreign national may not change employers. If the foreign national wishes to change employers, the foreign national must leave the country and re-enter with a new visa for that particular new employer. So, I am looking for something really steady before I even set foot in India, and that's why I need your all's help!!!
Since the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reserves discretion to determine the period of validity of the visa, it could really be good for a few months or years, impossible to know before applying. The good thing is that the Foreign Registration Regional Office (FRRO) may grant extensions of up to three months. Upon approval by the MHA, the FRRO may grant an extension of up to one year. Thereafter, the FRRO may grant extensions for four more years on a year-to-year basis.
I am so excited and confused at the same time. India is my future, and I am going to need a lot of your help IV friends! At least I speak English, but I am also thinking of getting a pivate Hindi tutor. Any thoughts woud be VERY VERY appreciated! Thanks!!!!
venky321
01-14 07:08 AM
Page 5 says that if the petitioner is a software developmentt company; where the beneficiary is placed at a client on a long term basis, but using the designs or developing an application of the petitioning company; and the beneficiary reports weekly to a manager of the software development company.
This might work for large IT companies who develop entire software solutions and who might staff an entire project for a client on a own. But others who are only staffing companies; even if they are large may not be able to show the required control.
This might work for large IT companies who develop entire software solutions and who might staff an entire project for a client on a own. But others who are only staffing companies; even if they are large may not be able to show the required control.
more...
ArkBird
04-01 02:21 AM
Please also consider the forced sacrifice country and millions of your countrymate made due to Nehru clan compared to the "sacrifice" Nehru himself made.
I really feel that you are brainwashed and immatured. Although Nehru might have made some mistakes like China war, what did India really lose in that war? And how many years since then India has had to fix the problem? You should also read about Nehru's sacrifices and his movements along side Mahatma Gandhi that earned the nation its freedom.
Now you have chosen to be a secondary citizen/ slave in america is a different matter altogether, but many back home in India are thankful they are free and independent nation.
I really feel that you are brainwashed and immatured. Although Nehru might have made some mistakes like China war, what did India really lose in that war? And how many years since then India has had to fix the problem? You should also read about Nehru's sacrifices and his movements along side Mahatma Gandhi that earned the nation its freedom.
Now you have chosen to be a secondary citizen/ slave in america is a different matter altogether, but many back home in India are thankful they are free and independent nation.
2010 kanye-west-amber-rose-vma
lc2004
09-23 04:22 PM
the day this becomes law..it would be better for all of us go home, bcos tht means lawmakers are ready to do anything to get some money and they know this country has gone down beyond repair.
and the day it becomes law..i am sure the situation in this country will be so bad tht most of us wont even have jobs at tht time.
and the day it becomes law..i am sure the situation in this country will be so bad tht most of us wont even have jobs at tht time.
more...
jungalee43
12-17 08:20 AM
Thanks for the update. No need to reveal any more details. At least I know the e-mails that I sent made their way to some one who matters.
We have taken these ideas to executive and legislative branches of the government. Our suggestions/proposals have been taken up at the top most level. This has been discussed more than few times with favorable consideration. Without being able to share the specifics, we have received extremely positive feedback for our suggestions. Specific events have to occur before this and similar ideas could possibly be considered in the new administration.
Thanks,
We have taken these ideas to executive and legislative branches of the government. Our suggestions/proposals have been taken up at the top most level. This has been discussed more than few times with favorable consideration. Without being able to share the specifics, we have received extremely positive feedback for our suggestions. Specific events have to occur before this and similar ideas could possibly be considered in the new administration.
Thanks,
hair Kanye West#39;s ex-girlfriend and
lost_stranger
10-10 03:13 AM
While it is a good idea to educate the congress regarding the impact the EB Green Card applicants could have on the Housing Market. It is a terrible idea to propose a legislation which would offer GCs to applicants who would purchases houses in US. To put it bluntly, the legislation seems to be meant for selling GCs to applicants who are in a position to afford it, offering GC to applicants who will invest in housing market is akin to giving out GCs for cash and there is already a category for that. How would one factor in the CP applicants like nurses and PT who are waiting in their home countries?
The idea should be modified to spread the message regarding the positive impact that the EB GC applicants could have on the housing market and not to create a niche category of EB applicants who can purchase their GC to scoot ahead of other less fortunate ones. This proposal should be nipped in the bud before some anti immigrant group or advocate like Lou gets wind of it.
The idea should be modified to spread the message regarding the positive impact that the EB GC applicants could have on the housing market and not to create a niche category of EB applicants who can purchase their GC to scoot ahead of other less fortunate ones. This proposal should be nipped in the bud before some anti immigrant group or advocate like Lou gets wind of it.
more...
vdlrao
07-21 05:33 PM
Spillover is usually USCIS inefficiency to allocate them. The law says USCIS can leave some visa unassigned but cannot over assign even a single visa for a year.
This UNUSED VISAS OF FAMILY BASED are not due to the inefficiency of USCIS but because of the 7% limit for each country and 2% for dependent areas of family based visas.
This UNUSED VISAS OF FAMILY BASED are not due to the inefficiency of USCIS but because of the 7% limit for each country and 2% for dependent areas of family based visas.
hot dresses amber rose kanye west
HopeSprings
09-24 01:41 PM
The calculation done by Bharatpremi seems to have flawed while calculating spill-over. Spill-over is first by preference and then by country. That is how till VB of August 2009, you see ROW EB1/2 was current and ROW EB3 was U and EB2I was in 2003.
Now, considering spill-over by preference first, the following could be a conservative analysis:
I am trying to see if EB2I can cross Dec 2006 by end of FY2010. So, we will consider only those cases that might be placed before EB2I PD as Dec 2006.
Consider all the pending EB(1+2+4+5) cases reported so far for ROW, China, Mexico and Phil and add it to pending EB(1+2+4+5) cases for India till end of 2006. The number is around 68000.
Assumption (the numbers for FY 2010 for cases that might be placed before an EB2I case with PD Dec 2006) -
- All EB4/5 cases till end of 2010 FY - 2000
- ROW, Mexico, Phil EB1/2 - 8000
- EB1 I/C - 1000
- The new cases from EB2C (PD Sep 2009 onwards) will not be placed before EB2I PD Dec 2006
Assuming cases cleared in the month of September - 4000 (around 7000 are eligible based on the cut-off date).
Total visa numbers required to clear off EB2 till Dec 2006 = 68000+2000+8000+1000-4000 = 75000
Visa numbers available for AOS for EB (1+2+4+5) in FY 2010:
Assuming 15% go to CP.
Total number for AOS = 119000
EB1 (28.6%) - 34034
EB2 (28.6%) - 34034
EB4 (7%) - 8330
EB5 (7%) - 8330
Total Visa numbers available for AOS for EB (1+2+4+5): 34034+34034+8330+8330 = 84728
So, total number needed to move EB2I past Dec 2006 is 75000. Total available for this cause is around 84000. If USCIS uses all the available visas, spills over only during last quarter and maintains Preference-first spillover policy, I think the visa dates will move well ahead of Dec 2006 by end of FY 2010, most likely in the following way:
Oct 2009 - Dec 2009: Jan/Feb 2005
Jan 2010 - June 2010: Mar/Apr 2005
Jul 2010 - Sep 2010: Feb/Apr 2007
Now, considering spill-over by preference first, the following could be a conservative analysis:
I am trying to see if EB2I can cross Dec 2006 by end of FY2010. So, we will consider only those cases that might be placed before EB2I PD as Dec 2006.
Consider all the pending EB(1+2+4+5) cases reported so far for ROW, China, Mexico and Phil and add it to pending EB(1+2+4+5) cases for India till end of 2006. The number is around 68000.
Assumption (the numbers for FY 2010 for cases that might be placed before an EB2I case with PD Dec 2006) -
- All EB4/5 cases till end of 2010 FY - 2000
- ROW, Mexico, Phil EB1/2 - 8000
- EB1 I/C - 1000
- The new cases from EB2C (PD Sep 2009 onwards) will not be placed before EB2I PD Dec 2006
Assuming cases cleared in the month of September - 4000 (around 7000 are eligible based on the cut-off date).
Total visa numbers required to clear off EB2 till Dec 2006 = 68000+2000+8000+1000-4000 = 75000
Visa numbers available for AOS for EB (1+2+4+5) in FY 2010:
Assuming 15% go to CP.
Total number for AOS = 119000
EB1 (28.6%) - 34034
EB2 (28.6%) - 34034
EB4 (7%) - 8330
EB5 (7%) - 8330
Total Visa numbers available for AOS for EB (1+2+4+5): 34034+34034+8330+8330 = 84728
So, total number needed to move EB2I past Dec 2006 is 75000. Total available for this cause is around 84000. If USCIS uses all the available visas, spills over only during last quarter and maintains Preference-first spillover policy, I think the visa dates will move well ahead of Dec 2006 by end of FY 2010, most likely in the following way:
Oct 2009 - Dec 2009: Jan/Feb 2005
Jan 2010 - June 2010: Mar/Apr 2005
Jul 2010 - Sep 2010: Feb/Apr 2007
more...
house Amber+rose+kanye+west+kiss
illusions
05-11 04:34 PM
Kodi,
From the bottom of your heart can you tell the forum that there was no discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka after its independence from Great Britain.
venetian, you could say that the Tamils in SL were just as a much discriminated in SL as the Muslims in India.
There is no such Genocide happening in SL as some claim. As a matter of fact the LTTE ethnically cleansed the Muslims from the NE of the country in the 90's, yet the Muslims in SL didn't bare arms against the LTTE.
Mind you the civil war in SL is against the LTTE, not the Tamils.
From the bottom of your heart can you tell the forum that there was no discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka after its independence from Great Britain.
venetian, you could say that the Tamils in SL were just as a much discriminated in SL as the Muslims in India.
There is no such Genocide happening in SL as some claim. As a matter of fact the LTTE ethnically cleansed the Muslims from the NE of the country in the 90's, yet the Muslims in SL didn't bare arms against the LTTE.
Mind you the civil war in SL is against the LTTE, not the Tamils.
tattoo makeup Kanye West and Wiz
H1BinNY
07-04 09:37 AM
I am not part of this mess but here is my 2 cents contribution. NBC reporter
NBC News Channel 4
Monica Morales
Her email is
monica.morales@nbc.com
NBC News Channel 4
Monica Morales
Her email is
monica.morales@nbc.com
more...
pictures What has Amber Rose got up her
Caliber
09-04 12:11 PM
It is a shame for IV.
You have 352 posts and not one dollar contribution. Are you talking about shame on IV?
You have 352 posts and not one dollar contribution. Are you talking about shame on IV?
dresses amber rose and kanye west
perm2gc
10-24 04:47 PM
One person stepped out of the line and another one took his place... How is that worse for you (or anybody else)? (let alone worst) You are still 957,643rd in the line :)
Line will always move forward not stand still like a wall...:p :p :p
Line will always move forward not stand still like a wall...:p :p :p
more...
makeup Amber Rose Blames Kanye West
bharol
06-11 03:29 PM
USA needs people with qualifications and skills.
Sooner they learn it, the better.
Sooner they learn it, the better.
girlfriend Kanye West Debuts Teenage
prioritydate
07-24 08:40 AM
Trust me. I was under the impression that it will be 3-4 years before I see green, but the reality is almost true for me now. Similarly, EB3 folks would get some news by next year. Who knows, the government will change and we have seen how keenly Obama wants a change ;). May be recapturing visas provision will be considered next year and everyone until 2006(EB3) may see some green. We never know. It's all magic and lets hope for the best. :D
hairstyles amber rose kanye west kiss
unseenguy
08-16 05:54 PM
Let's look at the following news items
"21 farmers end lives in 40 days in Andhra". Is anyone looking into this? Helooooo.
Well i want to see a day when you are held up in secondary for 1.5 hours and then tell us your opinion.
Your post is biased in the sense you trust everything thats coming out from immigration CBP but nothing that comes from Shahrukh. I want to know how did they count 66 mins accurately?
A) was it time from standing in queue to being released?
B_ Was it time of primary + secondary
C) was it time of secondary only?
Did they have stop watch from the time shahrukh entered the building?
"21 farmers end lives in 40 days in Andhra". Is anyone looking into this? Helooooo.
Well i want to see a day when you are held up in secondary for 1.5 hours and then tell us your opinion.
Your post is biased in the sense you trust everything thats coming out from immigration CBP but nothing that comes from Shahrukh. I want to know how did they count 66 mins accurately?
A) was it time from standing in queue to being released?
B_ Was it time of primary + secondary
C) was it time of secondary only?
Did they have stop watch from the time shahrukh entered the building?
gomirage
06-12 10:30 PM
Exactly what I had tried to express, you have succinctly put them in numbers. Thank you
Both of you are missing the point. No matter how you spin it, 140,000 people getting GC per is better than reduced quota of say 80,000.
Have you asked yourselves how you would fare if H1B program did not exist. I am not saying that you will not get GC without h1b and EB programs, sure you could go the uggly way, getting married to the fat lady in your apartment building for example.
To sum it up I would take long wait compared to no program or a nobel-prizes only program, any day of the week.
peace.
Both of you are missing the point. No matter how you spin it, 140,000 people getting GC per is better than reduced quota of say 80,000.
Have you asked yourselves how you would fare if H1B program did not exist. I am not saying that you will not get GC without h1b and EB programs, sure you could go the uggly way, getting married to the fat lady in your apartment building for example.
To sum it up I would take long wait compared to no program or a nobel-prizes only program, any day of the week.
peace.
sankap
07-12 11:14 AM
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.
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 comments:
Post a Comment