New Petition to CONGRESS MEN + SENATORS

Re: Re: Re: Cinta

I agree with YJAY (except removing the request for changing Naturalization act). But let's first concentrate on finalizing the petition content. Once it is ready, let's submit it to Rjiv for review. Since he takes about a week to review it, we can utilise that time to discuss about which law makers we should target .
I also stongly feel that we should remove Interim GC request from our demands. It will really take years for congress and all their committees to debate this issue. If more people agree to mine and YJay's point of view, i will remove Interim GC request.
Please give feedback.

PS : If we don't fight, we never know what will happen to EB I485 process. I won't be surprised if June'02 cases take another year from now, for their approval. So don't assume that you are so close. Please participate.
 
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new1975, if you are not having free time, why are you lurking here. Why do you want to discourage the efforts of dsatish and others? If dsatish is gone after his GC, then xsatish will be there spearheading this.

This is a great idea - I agree with dsatish's option2. On an EAD we should be able to work for any company and the job restriction should not be there because it is hard to keep your jobs for more than 180 days in this economy. Also as new1975 said it will increase the workload on BCIS to issue the interim GC.
 
Below mentioned are my comments about the petition:

Give higher priority to Employment Based I-485 applications :
While there were so many bills , introduced and passed to give benefits to people who do not pay taxes, there is not a single bill that addresses the problems of Employment based I485 applicants.
Please rephrase this to mention that there are various bills for illegal immigrants but problems of Employment based I485 applicants were not adressed who always maintained valid legal status.

Increase the funding to Service Centres:
Service centers funding is less than our application fees. Actually our applications fees are used for immigration control.
Let's mention these facts, I remember reading this somewhere, let's search for actual source to prove the same.

Extend the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole : We request Congress to increase the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole to 2 years.
Please rephrase this to request the validity of EAD and AP to 2 years or until I-485 is adjudicated.

Issue Interim Green Card for I485 applicants after 6 months from Receipt Date:
I feel CONDITIONAL GC is the appropriate term. Also, New official BCIS term for deportation is removal proceedings. Please rephrase 2 year validity to remove condition on residence after security clearance,.....
Even I don't feel Conditional GC is valid request since Security clearance is not the only reason for backlog , also there would be no difference if BCIS issue multiple year valid AP and multiple year valid EAD without job restrictions. But let us not remove this request since it might be useful for applicant's kids( college scholarships,....),....

Amend Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) :
Please rephrase this request to address only EB based permanent residence. Also I don't think BCIS link I-485 receipt date and GC once GC is issued. So in addition to our original request (five year residency requirement from receipt date of I-485 application) we should add one more, if one has legally resided in US for 10 years continuously with valid legal status to work then they should be eligible to apply for naturalization.
 
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Originally posted by Edison
Below mentioned are my comments about the petition:

Give higher priority to Employment Based I-485 applications :
While there were so many bills , introduced and passed to give benefits to people who do not pay taxes, there is not a single bill that addresses the problems of Employment based I485 applicants.
Please rephrase this to mention that there are various bills for illegal immigrants but problems of Employment based I485 applicants were not adressed who always maintained valid legal status.

Increase the funding to Service Centres:
Service centers funding is less than our application fees. Actually our applications fees are used for immigration control.
Let's mention these facts, I remember reading this somewhere, let's search for actual source to prove the same.

Extend the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole : We request Congress to increase the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole to 2 years.
Please rephrase this to request the validity of EAD and AP to 2 years or until I-485 is adjudicated.

Issue Interim Green Card for I485 applicants after 6 months from Receipt Date:
I feel CONDITIONAL GC is the appropriate term. Also, New official BCIS term for deportation is removal proceedings. Please rephrase 2 year validity to remove condition on residence after security clearance,.....
Even I don't feel Conditional GC is valid request since Security clearance is not the only reason for backlog , also there would be no difference if BCIS issue multiple year valid AP and multiple year valid EAD without job restrictions. But let us not remove this request since it might be useful for applicant's kids( college scholarships,....),....

Amend Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) :
Please rephrase this request to address only EB based permanent residence. Also I don't think BCIS link I-485 receipt date and GC once GC is issued. So in addition to our original request (five year residency requirement from receipt date of I-485 application) we should add one more, if one has legally resided in US for 10 years continuously with valid legal status to work then they should be eligible to apply for naturalization.

Click to expand...

Edison, I agree. The letters to various Congressmen should be tailored accordingly as I indicated before. Let us also give hard numbers and figures backed by references such as AILA surveys and GAO (General Accounting Office). GAO reports to Congress and Congress is responsible. These GAO reports clearly indicate most of the problems (from 2000 to as recently as 2003 reports).
 
Originally posted by Edison
Below mentioned are my comments about the petition:

Give higher priority to Employment Based I-485 applications :
While there were so many bills , introduced and passed to give benefits to people who do not pay taxes, there is not a single bill that addresses the problems of Employment based I485 applicants.
Please rephrase this to mention that there are various bills for illegal immigrants but problems of Employment based I485 applicants were not adressed who always maintained valid legal status.

Increase the funding to Service Centres:
Service centers funding is less than our application fees. Actually our applications fees are used for immigration control.
Let's mention these facts, I remember reading this somewhere, let's search for actual source to prove the same.

Extend the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole : We request Congress to increase the validity period of EAD and Advanced Parole to 2 years.
Please rephrase this to request the validity of EAD and AP to 2 years or until I-485 is adjudicated.

Issue Interim Green Card for I485 applicants after 6 months from Receipt Date:
I feel CONDITIONAL GC is the appropriate term. Also, New official BCIS term for deportation is removal proceedings. Please rephrase 2 year validity to remove condition on residence after security clearance,.....
Even I don't feel Conditional GC is valid request since Security clearance is not the only reason for backlog , also there would be no difference if BCIS issue multiple year valid AP and multiple year valid EAD without job restrictions. But let us not remove this request since it might be useful for applicant's kids( college scholarships,....),....

Amend Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) :
Please rephrase this request to address only EB based permanent residence. Also I don't think BCIS link I-485 receipt date and GC once GC is issued. So in addition to our original request (five year residency requirement from receipt date of I-485 application) we should add one more, if one has legally resided in US for 10 years continuously with valid legal status to work then they should be eligible to apply for naturalization.
Click to expand...
Edison,
Here is my feedback on your suggestions :
1) Give higher priority -- Modified
2) Increase Funding -- I will hesitate to add this info unless we are 100% sure of the source. But if any one posts the link to confirm this, we can add later
3) Extend validity -- I dont think BCIS will issue anything with out an expiration date. Even GC has an expiration date. 2 yrs should be enough because anything beyond that is not reasonable at this time.
4) Interim GC -- what ever we write, the lawmakers will change the wordings when they prepare laws. There is going to be a lot of debate for each and every sentence. I STRONGLY prefer that we drop this item from the list. Otherwise the whole bill will be stagnated becuase of difficult items like this. It only hurts < 10% of the people if we drop this request, but it will hurt 100% of the people if this Bill goes no where because of the complicated requests. If a couple of more people agree with us, then i will remove this item.
5) Amend INA -- I have included "employment based" wording. As an alternative i have suggested that any one who resided here legally for 8 yrs should be able to apply for citizenship. The average time for getting GC is 5 yrs. So total time of 10 yrs is not going to help many.
 
Good ideas

I believe both the are good ideas and I feel we should propose both as a solution. Remember, anybody can come up and list all the problems but providing solutions to them is what counts. That shows that we are working towards a common goal as the Govt. of US. Solving problems.

One way of doing this might be. List a problem/issue and a proposed solution with multiple options in order of our preference. This might make it little legthy but atleast we are giving them ideas to resolve each issue. Alternative we can list all the similar problems and solutions that will take care of them.

Also, the solutions that do not add additional work on BCIS part will be more welcome like extending the Validity of EAD/AP.

Further, I feel 'Conditional GC' is a better word than Interim. Although both may be same from a functional point, Conditional gives an impression of BCIS having more control over it, instead of the otherway around.

My 2cents.
 
Originally posted by dsatish
Edison,
Here is my feedback on your suggestions :
1) Give higher priority -- Modified
2) Increase Funding -- I will hesitate to add this info unless we are 100% sure of the source. But if any one posts the link to confirm this, we can add later
3) Extend validity -- I dont think BCIS will issue anything with out an expiration date. Even GC has an expiration date. 2 yrs should be enough because anything beyond that is not reasonable at this time.
4) Interim GC -- what ever we write, the lawmakers will change the wordings when they prepare laws. There is going to be a lot of debate for each and every sentence. I STRONGLY prefer that we drop this item from the list. Otherwise the whole bill will be stagnated becuase of difficult items like this. It only hurts < 10% of the people if we drop this request, but it will hurt 100% of the people if this Bill goes no where because of the complicated requests. If a couple of more people agree with us, then i will remove this item.
5) Amend INA -- I have included "employment based" wording. As an alternative i have suggested that any one who resided here legally for 8 yrs should be able to apply for citizenship. The average time for getting GC is 5 yrs. So total time of 10 yrs is not going to help many.
Click to expand...

dsatish,
2) Even I prefer to include that after checking the authencity of the source. I mentioned that So that everyone will search for that source.
3) Validity of 2 year is fine if they issue EAD without any job restriction after 180 days. Otherwise it's a issue since it's taking more than 3 year at TSC ans more than 2 years at other service centers and also we have to produce proof of employment at the time of renewal. I feel 3 year(if not till I-485 is adjudicated) is better since it takes more than 2 years for approval.
5) 8 years is fine. But it's not just 8 years legally, the more appropriate requirement should be Applicant has to be permanent resident and resided continuosly 8 years with valid legal status to work since here we are requesting only for EB based applicants because some would have stayed legally here but as a student, visitor etc. but one would have paid taxes only while working legally.

Thanks.
 
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Changes

1)I have changed the request for EAD and AP extention to 3 yrs.
2) Rephrased the Citizenship requirement (to stress on 8 yrs of legal residency with authorization to work)

I think, we are almost close now. We wil ask Rajiv for his suggestions on request 6 (interim GC). If he also suggests that we better remove that request, then we will remove it. It's time for people like "jaxen" or "jonboutilier" to put their hands on this draft and give it a professional look.
 
Well, you guys have done pretty good work so far though there is no wider particiation in this effort.

Here of few things you should consider:
* Politicians support you or your cause only if they see a benifit. PRovide them a carrot - which has to be monetery contributions to thier campaigns. We dont have numbers like illegal immigrants to affect their vote bank.

* In this economic downtimes, do you think any of the politician will ever support our cause. If there is no carrot, I dont think so.

* If any one of you get you GC in next few days / months, you will not continue participate in this effort with the same zeal - all the good work you have done so far will go down the drain.

* Create a infrastructure and ensure mass participation. Lead it vs doing all the work for yourself

* Create a fund and let us everyone participate and contribute to it.


My intention is not to dilute your effort but provide you another point of view.
 
lareds

Most of your points are valid. Cinta suggested that we begin this effort (petition to congress men) and i strated this. Edison, Kashmir and YJay joined the efffort and frantic encouraged the effort. I will take this initiative forward (along with Edison, Cinta, Kashmir, YJay etc) as far as my time and energies permit. Like you, we are also terribly disappointed with lack of participation from public. But this is the fate we have seen while preparing the previous petition also. We are asking people very clearly to join this effort. We don't want to stop this initiative just because enough people are not responding. As we approach the final stages, we might see better response. I definitely want to see that we collect money so that we can campaign more powerfully. But i am not going to be active in this forum after 10 days (comig to bench) and so i can't take such big initiatives which take more committment. You will see me in action only till 9/19. After that other people will carry on the effort .
 
Re: What Next ?

For Congresspersons and Senators,
I recommend each one to contact Congressperson in one's district and Senators in one's state rather than the petition.

Actually, I started contacting them a couple of months before.
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=563180#post563180
I am raising two issues.
one is individual to me, to request expedition of my case.
Another is general, the current EB I-485 processing delay at the BCIS.

For the first one, we can use their constituent service.
You should get a written reply.
I wonder whether it would succeed or not,
anyway, it works.

For the later one about a general issue, we need the NUMBER.
Only one applicant's request is helpless at all.
Howerver, I think we have a chance to work with Congressperson and Senator if several applicants go to them.
At the CSC, I hope it will start soon...
 
Edison

If nobody is interested in pushing this initiative forward, i am also going to stop here. Let's bury this effort here.
 
Please delete interim/conditional GC.

The interim/conditional GC will:
1. put extra excessive processing burden on INS/BCIS,
2. allow congress to add job/unemployment to conditions,
3. cause you loose your GC by no fault of your own,
4. not necessarily mean your wife/child can study as GC holder.
Basic problem: GC means PERMANENT, not conditional/interim, so congress will get confused. It is better removed.

If you need less uncertainty in you life, you better remove this.
We know only too well that thousands of people fall regularly out of status by no fault of their own but by INS latencies/errors!!!!! We sould not subject GC to that!!!!!

If you want your child/wife to have GC benefits for e.g. studying, whilst you are pending, you will have to state it clearly and separately to make it understood.

So please remove the interim/conditional GC before it hurts everyone. Or if you absolutely have to keep it, at least call it something else than GC and add to the wording: "... conditional meaning exclusively national security clearance checks, only, and no medical, employment, social security / unemployment or other history ...".

I am a GC holder, so I guess I shouldn't care, but I came across this excellent forum by accident. I had to write the above because I have the experience of going through immigration for permanent residence in 4 (four) countries, and from all indications, when a government can, it will bend your petition for itself, AGAINST your interest.

(GSAS, a former EB applicant.)
 
Re: Please delete interim/conditional GC.

I totally agree with gsas.
Originally posted by gsas
The interim/conditional GC will:
1. put extra excessive processing burden on INS/BCIS,
2. allow congress to add job/unemployment to conditions,
3. cause you loose your GC by no fault of your own,
4. not necessarily mean your wife/child can study as GC holder.
Basic problem: GC means PERMANENT, not conditional/interim, so congress will get confused. It is better removed.

If you need less uncertainty in you life, you better remove this.
We know only too well that thousands of people fall regularly out of status by no fault of their own but by INS latencies/errors!!!!! We sould not subject GC to that!!!!!

If you want your child/wife to have GC benefits for e.g. studying, whilst you are pending, you will have to state it clearly and separately to make it understood.

So please remove the interim/conditional GC before it hurts everyone. Or if you absolutely have to keep it, at least call it something else than GC and add to the wording: "... conditional meaning exclusively national security clearance checks, only, and no medical, employment, social security / unemployment or other history ...".

I am a GC holder, so I guess I shouldn't care, but I came across this excellent forum by accident. I had to write the above because I have the experience of going through immigration for permanent residence in 4 (four) countries, and from all indications, when a government can, it will bend your petition for itself, AGAINST your interest.

(GSAS, a former EB applicant.)
Click to expand...
> If you want your child/wife to have GC benefits for e.g. studying, whilst you are pending, you will have to state it clearly and separately to make it understood.

Yes, I have already started working on it separately.
Please forget my proposal mentioning about education of dependents.

I still think it is unfair to legal workers and their dependents,
but also understand it should be considered separately from this petition for EB I-485 backlog.
-kashmir
 
Deleted Interim GC request

Most of the people felt that it is too complicated and controversial.
As gsas, suggested, we can add more requests to incorpororate anything that we miss due to lack of GC. That might be a better approach.
 
Kashmir

Are you working separately on writing a Petition ? Are we running parallel efforts ? If that is the case, let's merge our efforts. Let's all work together. We need numers. Either you can take the points from this VSC version, or just tell me what changes you want here, so that we will make those changes.
 
Originally posted by Edison
Below mentioned are my comments about the petition:
...
Amend Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) :
Please rephrase this request to address only EB based permanent residence. Also I don't think BCIS link I-485 receipt date and GC once GC is issued. So in addition to our original request (five year residency requirement from receipt date of I-485 application) we should add one more, if one has legally resided in US for 10 years continuously with valid legal status to work then they should be eligible to apply for naturalization.
Click to expand...
Hi, Edison,
I think the BCIS can link A# to I-485 filed date even after GC being issued.

I think the condition " if one has legally resided in US for 10 years continuously with valid legal status to work then they should be eligible to apply for naturalization." make it complicated.
For this condition, it doesn't matter whether GC is EB or not.

We can also expect signatures from a GC holders getting already approved after a long waiting.
-kashmir
 
Re: Kashmir

Originally posted by dsatish
Are you working separately on writing a Petition ? Are we running parallel efforts ? If that is the case, let's merge our efforts. Let's all work together. We need numers. Either you can take the points from this VSC version, or just tell me what changes you want here, so that we will make those changes.
Click to expand...
Hi, dsatish,
One of the most ciritical my concerns is my dependents' legal status in case of my death during AOS pending.
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=569203#post569203
Dependents would lose their legal status immediately if a primary applicant were to die even by a car accident or as a victim of murder, the only exception is victims of 9-11.
It is very critical for applicants with young dependents especially college students like me
though there seem to be only a few applicants.

So, my points are:
1) to remove the condition that a primary applicant must be alive when dependents I485 is adjudicated if it has been pending for more than 180 days
2) to change the condition to aply Naturalization as we have been already discussing.

Anyway, these are my priorities, but they are not specific to EB I-485.
However, I don't think we need to target only EB I-485 applicants
in order to get more signatures because we need the NUMBER.
-kashmir
 
kashmir, edison etc

1. I have added kashmir's first request ( see request 5)
2. Kashmir wants the "Alternatively ....if the person lived for 8 yrs ...." part to be deleted from request 6. I would like others to comment on removing this.
 
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