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For Mr George Owino, going to America was not his priority, and the thought had not crossed his mind.   “I never applied for the green card by myself. It’s actually my aunt who enrolled my name for the lottery, and I happened to be a lucky winner,” says the University of Nairobi alumnus.

 
Excited, amazed, and even enthusiastic, Mr Owino knew that the green card was a godsend since he had no stable job. Like other Kenyans he thought the US Embassy would automatically offer an air ticket, accommodation and a job once he arrived in the US.
 
“Before I went to the US, I thought it was a country where there is too much money. Next, I thought that if you land in the US you automatically get a job,” he says. “That’s a dream in America. If you work hard, you’ll get what you want and I believe that America is a land of opportunities if you are smart.” (more…)

Prague- U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic Richard Graber announced that the number of Czech applications for U.S. visas had dropped to 6.7 percent, which might qualify Czechs for inclusion in the U.S. visa waiver regime in one or two years. The 6.7 percent of rejected applications is well below the 10 percent which the recently passed U.S. legislation sets as the upper admissible limit for the visa-free regime.

Graber said all further steps to be taken for the visa duty to be lifted could be fulfilled within the current term of President George W. Bush that expires in January 2009.

Graber told journalists that the steps would definitely take no more than one or two years.

Graber said the Czech Republic and the United States also must reach agreement on a security memorandum.

Also important for the visa waiver regime introduction for Czechs is the completion of the U.S. electronic system that will monitor the arrivals of visitors to the United States.

The Czech government has been striving for the lifting of the visa duty for both tourist and working trips to the Untied States for a long time. (more…)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The placards made clear this was not your typical immigrant rights march: “We played by the rules, now it’s your turn,” read one. “Legal immigrants keep America competitive,” read another. High-tech workers here on federal permits are speaking out — many for the first time — over rules that leave them in personal and professional limbo.

After Congress failed to reform immigration laws for the second year in a row, hundreds of the largely India- and China-born workers protested this summer in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. They were frustrated that the divisive debate over illegal immigration had overwhelmed efforts at comprehensive immigration reform.

“I’ve never held a banner before, but I don’t know what else to do,” said Gopal Chauhan, a high-tech employee who has been waiting seven years for a green card. “We usually have better things to do, like invent the next iPod.”

Legal immigrants who feel squeezed by limits on the number of green cards issued each year are trying to separate their complaints from the protests by illegal immigrants. And high-tech companies that say they can’t fill jobs because of a cap on skilled-worker visas have stepped up their long-standing plea for the cap to be raised.

“It gets too frustrating sometimes,” said Sandeep Bhatia, a software engineer from Mumbai who first applied for a green card in 2001.

Since then, Bhatia has completed an MBA and was joined in the U.S. by his wife Preeti, who also has an MBA. But he cannot be promoted to a job that would use his new skills, and Preeti can’t get a job, until the government finishes processing his green card. (more…)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A state janitorial contractor that was fired over allegations it employed illegal immigrants sued the state Thursday, accusing Gov. Matt Blunt of racial discrimination and abuse of power.

Blunt called the lawsuit “ludicrous” and defended his decision to cancel the contract of Sam’s Janitorial Services and bar the company from state work.

About 25 company employees were arrested in a March 6 sting at a Jefferson City state office building by federal and state law enforcement officers, according to the lawsuit.

The owner of Sam’s Janitorial, K. Asamoah-Boadu, claims Blunt exceeded his gubernatorial powers when he terminated the contract and disqualified the company from future state work. Asamoah-Boadu wants nine canceled contracts reinstated, the company’s ban from state work reversed and an unspecified amount of money for damages, according to the lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court. (more…)

WASHINGTON | The Senate faces another contentious showdown on immigration today when it considers legislation designed to put thousands of undocumented immigrant students on track to U.S. citizenship.

Although far more limited than a comprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate in late June, the debate on the new measure will probably resurrect the same warring sides from the earlier immigration battle.

The Senate faces a late-morning vote to take up the measure, with supporters needing at least 60 votes to move forward with debate. The chief sponsor, Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Tuesday that his side had solid assurances of only about 55 votes, but he hoped to secure commitments from wavering senators. (more…)

America’s two other winners of Nobel prizes show how important it is that the U.S.get immigration policy right. Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize is getting almost all the attention, but America’s two other new Nobel laureates also have interesting stories. Geneticists Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work in gene targeting. And while their honor highlights the quality of American research, it also shows how our scientific community is enriched by highly skilled immigrants.

Capecchi, who endured a heart-wrenching early childhood in wartime Italy, immigrated with his mother to the United States after World War II, who survived the Dachau concentration camp. Today, he leads research teams at the University of Utah. Smithies, a native of Britain, came to the United States in the 1950s to work at the University of Wisconsin and has spent the last 19 years at the University of North Carolina. Both are now U.S. citizens.

Foreign-born researchers are common in the U.S. academic and scientific communities. In fact, more than a third of American Nobel laureates in the sciences over the last 15 years were born outside the U.S. These scientists are conducting research with extraordinary promise for improving lives, as well as great potential to produce commercialized therapies and technologies that drive U.S. innovation and economic growth. (more…)

The “visitor” visa is a nonimmigrant visa for persons desiring to enter the United States temporarily for business (B-1) and for pleasure or medical treatment (B-2). As examples, if the purpose of your planned travel is recreational in nature, including tourism, amusement, visits with friends or relatives, rest, medical treatment, and activities of a fraternal, social, or service nature, then a vistor visa (B-2) would be the appropriate type of visa for your travel.

As additional examples, if the purpose for your planned travel is to consult with business associates, travel for a scientific, educational, professional or business convention, or conference on specific dates, settle an estate, or negotiate a contract, then a business (B-1) visitor visa would be the appropriate type of visa for your travel.

Foreign travelers who are citizens from certain eligible countries, may also be able to visit the U.S. without a visa on the Visa Waiver Program. (more…)

The Ancient Order of Hibernians in New York has come in favor of reciprocal U.S./Ireland visa deal. Hopes for a bilateral deal, perhaps similar to one that exists between the U.S. and Australia, have risen in recent months as hopes for comprehensive immigration reform in Washington have fallen.

AOH New York State President Matt Nelligan, and Board Chairman of Immigration, Dan Dennehy, issued a joint statement this week saying that the AOH New York State Board applauded the efforts of Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern in addressing the issue of immigration between the United States and Ireland during his recent visit to the U.S.

The Hibernian statement said that in meetings with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Minister Ahern expressed his desire to pursue a reciprocal allotment of visas for the people of Ireland and the U.S. Ahern, the statement said, pointed out that many of the undocumented Irish are here as a direct result of the past conflict and political situation in the North and with the development of an all-island economy, Ireland would benefit from a reciprocal deal with the US. (more…)

Thousands of immigrants are arriving every year to USA from various countries from all over the world. All these new immigrants come to this fantastic country with golden dreams in their eyes so as to make their sweet home here. These immigrants have to mould themselves fresh, right from the beginning as their living pattern and standards were altogether different in their home countries.

This changeover is slightly easier for the younger generation but it is really difficult for the aged immigrants, as they have been used to the living conditions of their original country. I have myself migrated to this country before about 2 years at the age of 56 years and hence am aware of the problems to be faced by a new immigrant in this country. I have tried to give brief tips that shall prove extremely useful to the new immigrants.
1. Arrival in USA- The immigration officer stamps your passport at the USA airport only, bearing your alien registration number (green card number). Once this stamp is put, you have become an authorized USA resident. The sealed cover containing all your visa documents, and medical reports including your chest X-ray, handed over to you by consulate office in your home country, will be checked by the immigration officer at the arriving airport. Hence, please arrange to keep these documents handy with you in your hand baggage so that you can present them during the immigration process. You will be required to give your fingerprints also at the airport. It is suggested to check the detailed postal address of your sponsor so that your green card and the social security card are received safely by you without any delay. It takes about 2 weeks for receipt of these important documents. However, if you wish, you may start looking for a suitable job. But you will be able to start your job only after receipt of your social security card.
2. Orientation of USA- You will have to take a good rest in the initial days of your arrival to overcome jetlag effects. In the meanwhile, try to keep couple of Ist class mail letters received in your name at the official address of your sponsor. A welcome letter from INS and letters enclosing your green card and social security cards shall fulfill this requirement. Once these mail letters are ready with you, you have to approach the nearest MVA office to get your permanent state identity card issued. MVA will charge a nominal fee of $20 for issuing this very important document that you shall need at all times in USA. A small application form will have to be filled in by you. MVA officers will also arrange to take your photograph.
This card will be received by you at your residence via USA mail services may be within around one week. Familiarize yourself with the weather conditions here. You must try to explore all near-by area during this period, familiarizing with the area you are going to live. The public transport systems and schedules along with the normal food habits of Americans also may please be studied during this period. Once you are ready with your green card, social security card and the state I/D card, you can start your job. The job hunting is generally done through the word of reference from your sponsor or friends/relatives. Online job hunting can also be done.
3. Financial settlement- the next important task is to open bank accounts in your name at the most convenient and reputed banks.You will need your state I/D for this purpose. You may open both savings and the check-in accounts with at least 2 banks so as to have flexibility of operation. (more…)

The process for a foreign citizen to legally acquire a green card and eventually become a legal naturalized citizen of the U.S. is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Many critics of the system maintain that if the process was simpler there would be far fewer foreign citizens entering and remaining in the U.S. illegally.

When a foreign citizen visits the U.S. as a tourist, a medical patient, a student, or for business purposes, they generally need to present only a valid national passport, a photo ID card or birth certificate, and sometimes an entry visa. A visa is simply an endorsement on a document that shows authenticity and conveys permission to travel to and to enter a foreign country. This type of visa is also known as a nonimmigrant visa. Fees for a passport, a nonimmigrant visa, and a border crossing card total about $300.

However, when a foreign citizen wishes to reside and work in the U.S., they need to present an immigrant visa, also known as a green card. The green card was originally called the Alien Registration Receipt Card, but it has recently been renamed the Permanent Resident Card. Originally the card was green in color but now the card is white with some green printing on the back. It is still known generally as the green card. Recipients of the green card must carry it with them at all times. The green card is valid for a period of 10 years.

The green card is issued to a foreign citizen as a response to a petition by an employer or a relative who is a U.S. citizen. The petition by the employer or relative allows the foreign citizen to enter the U.S. for the purposes of being employed and residing permanently in the country.

The process for acquiring the green card generally follows three steps. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issues the green card. This service used to be known as the INS or Immigration and Naturalization Service. USCIS is often referred to as simply the Immigration Service and is now part of the Department of Homeland Security. The first step is for the USCIS to review all of the paperwork and approve the petition from the qualifying relative or employer. The second step is to send the approved paperwork to the National Visa Center (NVC) where the petition waits for a visa number to become available. Only a limited number of visa numbers are available each year. Once a visa number becomes available, then the third step is for the petition to be forwarded to the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate in the foreign citizen’s home city or country. (more…)

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