We ar not he only one- BBC correspondent's plight

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Rajan123

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We are not the only one- BBC correspondent's plight

Will BBC correspondent's plight change UCIS?

Opinion Focus: Does America Stifle Immigrant Freedom?
Tom Carver
BBC correspondent
Thursday, May 20, 2004; Noon ET
Having problems with your Green Card? You may not be the only one.
Tom Carver, a BBC correspondent based in Washington D.C., has been waiting for a Green Card in order to visit his father abroad. And he may have to wait up to three years. Mr. Carver believes that the application procedure and its inherent waiting period are stifling the ideals on which America is based: freedom and liberty.
Ballston, Va.: Presumably, one of the sources of delay is the sheer number of applicants. The current filing fee for LPR status is about $250, correct? Would you support an option that allowed expedited processing in exchange for some higher fee, say $1000?
Tom Carver: without any technical expertise in these issues, i don't think i would support that. america aspires to be a society of equal opportunity and giving the better off a greater advantage than others would be a basic injustice.
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Washington, D.C.: Do you find it amusing or frustrating that the United States currently has over 9 million illegal aliens living here, but seems to punish those like you who play by the rules, while ignoring those who entirely flout our immigration laws?
Tom Carver: It is frustrating of course - personally because we can't travel but also on a bigger scale because America needs advocates at the moment. I'm positive about this country but this kind of experience makes it harder to be so. Maybe one day we'll be able to find it amusing, but not right now.
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Rochester, Mn.: Tom, would you expect any significant improvement in INS work culture should there be administration change after the November elections.
Tom Carver: I fear this is a bigger bureaucratic problem than a change of Administration can fix. I also fear that because this applies uniquely to foreigners, who don't vote, this may not affect the White House.
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Washington, D.C.: Now don't get me wrong: I love Scotland. But I think your editorial suffers from a presumption that you, as a person from the U.K., have a greater right to enter and depart the United States than others would. After all, if you were from, say, Somalia, I don't think the Washington Post would even print your editorial complaining about security measures. However, the only way your Green Card could be expedited at a faster pace than someone from Somalia would be if you were given a leg up because of your nationality and/or ethnicity and/or religious background.
That would be profiling, which is disfavored by civil liberties groups in the United States. Do you think that profiling should be instituted to benefit people like yourself, and to focus more closely on people whose backgrounds suggest that they are more likely to be a terrorist threat?
Tom Carver: I am very conscious that there are thousands of people of all nationalities in similar situations to myself and that it is even harder for some of them to get their voices heard. i think the fact that i am having so much difficulties shows that i have not been given a leg up. i only hope that this article may do something to highlight the plight common to so many of us.
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Washington, D.C.: As a matter of context, can you tell us how long it ordinarily takes to obtain LPR or some equivalent status in other countries? If the situation were reversed and I were seeking the equivalent of a Green Card in the UK, how long might it take me?
Tom Carver: it depends on nationality - anyone from the EU (which is now 25 countries) can reside permenantly in the UK without any visa.
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Emerald Isle, N.C.: Mr. Carver, can you offer any specific improvements on the green-card issue which could create a compromise that protects both personal freedom and national security?
Tom Carver: i would offer two general improvements:
1. to improve customer service. the issue of freedom fo travel is often an emotional one and yet it is almost impossible to talk to a human, especially by phone.
2. assuming that a person had a valid visa before applying for a green card, why not allow him/her to continue travel on that visa whilst waiting for the CIS to carry out the necessary background checks. this would avoid the need for 'paroles' and bring a lot of happiness who understand the need for proper background checks but do not understand why they cannot travel when they have dong nothing wrong.
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Arlington, Va.: Why don't you have an I-Visa? All foreign correspondents have one, or at least should have one. Otherwise you are not permitted to work here. You do not need a Green Card as long as you are working for the BBC and the BBC only. With an I-Visa you can travel in to and out of the US whenever you want to. I do not understand your op-ed at all.
Tom Carver: i have an I visa which is still in my passport and does not run out until 2007, but i am not allowed to use it now that i Have applied for a green card - this is one of the aspects of this system that does not make sense. i cannot continue to travel on my I visa whilst waiting for a Green Card to come through.
 
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continuation

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Washington, D.C.: Recently, the BCIS (formerly INS) returned my green card application package, citing that I had failed to pay the processing fee. Ironically, my payment receipt was in the returned package. Now I’ll have to wait another 12 months for an error committed by a BCIS employee. Forget freedom and liberty. When can we expect ‘competence’ from the BCIS?
Tom Carver:
that makes my situation pale into insignificance. my heart goes out to you. i could not agree more - competance and courtesy would be a great start.
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Boston, Ma.: Mr. Carver, your article has given voice to the plight of immigrants. I had to miss my brother's wedding 4 years ago because my H-1B wasn't approved yet.
Why does the INS make it a point to harass and humiliate those people who are trying to migrate legally? Why does it feel the need to break them down and show them since they are not US citizens they are somehow less derving of common human decency?
Tom Carver: i've received so many emails today with sad tales like yours. i agree with you that it's the inhuman face of the bureaucracy that makes it harder. it is essential for america to protect her shores. but it needs to be a balance. in the 3 years they take to check someone's background there is no reason why would-be immigrants should not be treated face to face and allowed to travel on whatever visa they possessed before. after all, I'm sure a company like Verizon or Amazon has as many customers as BCIS and they manage to provide excellent customer service.
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Washington, D.C.: Hi Mr. Carver, my wife appears to be in the same situation that you are in. That is, we've been waiting over 2 years since my wife applied for "Adjustment of Status" (i.e., green card) based on her marriage to me (the US citizen). In fact, we had our interview (which we were told we passed) over a year ago; yet my wife has still not been approved. In the meantime, she is about to renew her Advanced Parole and Work Authorization permits for the third time (at over $100 a pop per year).
We know of two "international" couples who live in Montgomery Co., MD, and thus filed through the Baltimore USCIS office, and in each case, the foreign spouse had the green card in hand within 6 mo's of submitting the application. As we live in the District, we had to file throught the Arlington office. I know of others who have gone through Arlington and have also had to wait inordinately long times for application processing. Any idea why Arlington is so slow?
Waiting in Washington
Tom Carver: i'm not sure it's any slower than any of the other BCIS offices - unfortunately i think this is a systemic problem, not confined to one office.
part of the BCIS problem is that it has had to change its rules and regulations so often since 9/11 that often the officers have no idea what is and isn't permissible and when they're not sure, they err on side of caution and say No.
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Alexandria, Va.: Mr. Carver, I appreciate your predicament; however it is just as difficult for an American to work in the United Kingdom as it is here. Reference the difficulty that DC United Star Bobby Convey had in getting a work visa to play soccer in England. So why should the US be easier to enter when Americans have a difficult time entering other countries. In other word, doesn’t this appears to be a world problem.
Tom Carver: yes, every country has clamped down to some degree since 9/11.
but the UK - a tiny state in comparison to the USA - at least allows people from 25 other nations around it (the EU members) to reside in UK without a visa. how many other nationalities does the USA allow?
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Washington, D.C.: The purpose of immigration law is to secure our borders, not to create and encourage "advocates" for the United States to travel the globe on unofficial diplomatic missions. Given that purpose, I think the delays you face, while frustrating, are understandable. Comments?
Tom Carver: i disagree. if you are talking about how to keep america safe, the most effective long term way is to generate goodwill, warmth and enthusiasm towards your country in the rest of the world.
it seems essential that America does all it can to avoid a generation of anti-americans growing up abroad. of course, you need strong borders too, but you will never be able to keep out every threat that way - just look at the number of people who manage to get into this country every day illegally.
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Bloomington, In.: I'm American, my wife is Japanese. We have lived in Canada. What you write in your article about the treatment of immigrants by the INS is quite true, of course; but things are no better in Japan (where I ran a bureaucratic gauntlet several times to be issued a work visa) or Canada (where my wife and I were treated with equal neglect and disdain). I suspect that while tourists are generally treated decently, given that they are intent on spending money and will only be admitted for a short while, immigrants are treated as a species of dirt nearly everywhere--even in countries such as ours that profess to cherish universal human rights. Comments?
Tom Carver: i have read about Japan's strict immigration policies. however Japan is an extreme case. it would be a very sad day if America ever reached that same point.
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Daytona Beach, Fl.: Back in 1977, I petitioned my two brothers and one sister, along with their familes, to come here to the United States from the Philippines. They finally arrived here in 1994, a span of 17 years. So what's the big deal about waiting for three years? Isn't the reason the fact that everybody wants to come here and the alloted yearly slots in many countries are oversubscribed?
Tom Carver: as you may know there are different routes to getting a GC and some are more oversubscribed than others. But all these options have developed much much longer waiting lists since 9/11. i am happy to wait, but i fail to see why i and others cannot travel freely in the meantime when i had a valid visa.
 
so what ? is this suppose to make us feel better or what.i don't give rat's a** for what he has to go through.:mad: THis is actually waste of bandwidth on this forum.

one thing l like about USCIS there is no discrimination(may be inefficient) :D
It is good to know that a person from a country which colonized this land is actually begging to stay in the land...Twist of fate huuh. :D

who knows who's turn is next??? :)
 
Wait and see how the person's plight from the country which colonized this land
is going to make a differnce in UCIS!
 
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Rajan123 said:
Wait and see how the person's plight from the country which colonized this land
is going to make a differnce in UCIS!
Click to expand...

That is why i said i don't give a hoot what he has to go through because he is gonna get his app adjucated because of this and regular folks are just left in the Q.

Let me ask you this Do you think anybody (regular ppl like EB based IT ppl, Acc ppl etc) will benefit because of this.??

What makes you think it will a make a difference with USICS.??

btw i am eagerly waiting....
 
See the effect of BBC

Today's washington post editorial claims that even Tom Ridge is concerned!!
will it affect us positively??? I also feel same as you!

]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43926-2004May20.html[/url]
If can't log onto washingtonpost.com, follwing is editorial.
Adjust the Adjustments

Friday, May 21, 2004; Page A24

YESTERDAY WE PUBLISHED on the opposite page a description of the "green-card hell" experienced by a British subject living in Washington who -- thanks to pointless immigration red tape -- was unable to leave this country to celebrate his father's 90th birthday. It's only one story, but there are many similar ones having to do with immigration to this country since the rules changed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Over the past two years, nuclear physicists, wealthy business executives and ordinary tourists have been subjected to unreasonable delays and inexplicable refusals from the immigration service. Foreign students are afraid to return home for brief visits, their colleagues no longer wish to study here at all and America's reputation as an open society has been badly damaged.

Until now, the Bush administration has seemed largely unmoved by these stories, apparently viewing the bad publicity they generate abroad as a necessary byproduct of the war on terrorism. In an interview with editors and reporters of The Post this week, however, Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security, agreed that the current situation is "not in the best interests of a country that has a tradition of being open and welcoming and diverse." Mr. Ridge said that whenever he goes abroad, visa policy is the first thing U.S. ambassadors want to discuss with him. That situation has, he said, led him to feel it is time to reexamine some of the adjustments to visa policy that were made after Sept. 11, including, among other things, bringing back a modified form of transit visa.

We encourage him in his efforts to "adjust the adjustments," and look forward to hearing more about them.
 
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This is where we miss the point .Ridge only talked about Visa's not about ppl already living here under Visa and applied for GC (LPR). so try to read between the lines. Ppl like Ridge usually talk in broader sense,while addressing most "active" issue. which in this case visa from US ambassidors abroad.

Added later .

Rajan since this wil not benefit ppl like us what's point in having this thread by unnecessarily giving imp to some "BBC" (aka British BullS** Corp) Correspondent .You can delete it if you want
 
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