Sorry to disconnect, please reply to the thread of “An open letter to President” http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=212555
Dear immigrants:
I have re-written the letter after I gather some ideas from this forum and listened to the President’s speech last night. Since a lot of people are paying high attention to illegal immigration issue and media concern this issue a lot too. So I still put a few suggestions for illegal immigration issue, which may have more people to read this letter.
I appreciate many people contribute opinions. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t leave information. Please note that every individual case information is very important part of this letter. If there are only 5 people, the powerful people or media may not pay attention to this letter. Don’t wait or keep silent. Please contact more legal immigrants and put the case information in the bottom of this letter soon. We need to send this letter out as soon as possible.
Bluesky
President George W. Bush
The President of the United States
U.S. White House
Washington, D.C. 20001
An open letter to President George W. Bush
Dear Mr. President:
We write to endorse your admirable commitment to immigration issues. Recently, more and more illegal immigrant issues are in the newspaper and on television. How about the problem with legal immigration system? Is America a real welcoming country? We, as skilled legal immigrants, have been facing the tremendous delays and problems in our green card process.
1. Backlog labor certificates
Some of us have been waiting for labor certificates several years and still waiting without knowing anything, when and whether we can get approval or not. We cannot change our job when another position is more fitting to us and the employer cannot find this kind of skilled person during our endless waiting.
2. 45 day letter:
After backlog case is entered into system, 45 day letter will be sent to the employers / attorney who must reply to this letter within 45 days, otherwise the case will be closed. But the backlog centers send 45 day letters are random. We are unable to trace our case status and don’t know the process time schedule. In case 45 day letter mail is missing, miss delivery or employer has replied to the letter, but backlog center hasn’t received it, all of those things happened are resulting in our case being closed, but we are still waiting until we receive a cased closed notice. Some cases are closed by error. Some people who submitted application in 2001 haven’t got a 45 day letter yet.
3. “First in, first out” rule:
As a matter of fact, many labor certificate approvals come out without an order. Some people have been waiting more than four years and are still waiting, but some people who submitted their applications in 2003 and even in 2004 have got labor certificate approval!
4. Immigration processing retrogresses:
Even if we get labor certificate approval finally, we need to file 140 Form which may take several months to years. After #140 approval, because of retrogress ((#485 cut off date is May 1, 2001 for EB3, it's more than 5 years behind now. it moved only 4 months in the past more than two years!), we may still have to wait several years before we can file #485 and apply for advance parole which allow us to travel. Our work visa has to be extended again and again while waiting. Our spouse with H4 visa can’t go to work. We can’t make long term plans for ourselves and our family’s future. We heard that there are about 145K unused EB3 quotas during 2001-2004 due to the serious delay in green card process. Some people are planning to go back to their motherland country or other countries where skilled people are welcomed. Some of our friends who are in foreign countries have no intention of moving to USA after they hear our stories. The USA may lose some highly educated and skilled people.
All of the above are based on facts and our experiences. We earnestly request you, Mr. President, to pay high attention to legal immigrant issues. We have below petitions:
1. “First in, first out” rule, every stage of green card process must follow this rule. There are too many backlog cases which may be messed up; it’s hard for the backlog center to get every single case done orderly, so the priority date should go through all processes no matter when the approval of Labor Certificate and #140 is issued.
2. The Labor of Department makes public the process time schedule at least once a month. Applicants can trace their case status from internet.
3. To speed up the green card process.
4. Someone who has been staying in the USA more than five years or working in the USA more than three years should be free to get a travel visa to travel especially to their motherland no matter in what the stage of his/her green card.
5. Someone who has been working in the USA more than five years, his/her spouse should be allowed to get work permission.
Mr. President, we know you are worrying about this homeland’s security and illegal immigrant issues. We also concern about these issues and read your proposal about illegal immigrant issue. We have below suggestions for your reference.
1. Illegal immigrants in the United State:
Set up fast and simple channel for the qualified illegal immigrants to get temporary work visa but not allow them becoming US citizen unless they re-enter to USA with legal documents then go through the same path to citizenship as legal immigrant. They will bring positive information to the people who want to come to USA that the United State is a nation of laws and there is no any hope to become citizenship if anyone enters this country illegally.
2. New illegal immigrants
Leave digital fingerprint and deport them immediately. If they are caught again, they will be denied to enter USA forever. Give all new illegal immigrants this information and US new immigration law before deport them.
3. Open the legal channel widely for the people who are qualified to come to USA and make illegal immigrant very tough to survive here. This is the key to prevent illegal immigrants.
We have more detail thoughts for above suggestions. If you are interested in more details, we will write you another letter.
Dear President, all of us are skilled people and paying taxes. We would like to contribute our intelligence and skills to this country’s economic and advance technology development, but we have endless worry and pain waiting for a green card! We are suffering!
For most of us who go through the labor certificate process, it seems that we may have to spend a decade to go through the entire employment-based green card process if we are lucky enough to get it. If we fail to get approval in any stage, we may have to leave this country soon. It is a very long green card journey. The journey is in the darkness. Many of us haven’t visited our family members and friends in our motherland country for many years because of green card problem. Also, it is hard for our family members to get US visas to visit us. We are very homesick; we miss our family members and friends so much. We can’t stand being apart from our family especially when our parents are very sick, but we are unable to take care of them. Some people even missed seeing their parents one last time before they passed away. Dear President, you have a family, therefore you can imagine how tough it is for us. We have lost our freedom in some way!
Mr. President, we are looking forward to your solving both legal and illegal immigrant problems successfully during you are in office.
Sincerely,
Legal Immigrants’ Ally
Number State/Category PD 45 day letter Stage E-mail
No.1 NJ/EB3/RIR Aug. 2002 Sep. 2005 LC Bluesky133@hotmail.
2.TN/EB3 Apr. 2001 I-485
3. CSC/EB3 Mar. 2002 I-140
4.TN/EB3/RIR Mar. 2004 May 2005 LC
5. CA/EB2/RIR Dec.2002 Feb. 2005 LC
