In order to come to the USA in '06 legally , an alien should have applied for a visa in 1988. is this fair?

Question

Who can wait 18 years if they have family to feed or want to have a better future for their children? I seldom agree with president Bush, but I agree with him on the guest worker program.

Answer 1

First off, here are some facts.

There are several different kinds of visas available for those that want a green card. One is the "Diversity Visa," or lottery. Another is as a family member of a Leagal Permanent Resident (somone who already has a green card). Both of these visas are given out in limited numbers. Because each country has a limit on the number of immigrants that we accept from there, there is a waiting list in some countries, although not all. These waiting lists go by "priority date," or the date on which you filed your application. For some countries there is no wait at all. For other countries there can be a very long wait (last I hear the Philippines was the longest at 18 years).

There are also green cards given out on employment based applications and for relatives of American citizens, as well as a handfull of special programs that are intended to allow people with certain skills and in certain countries to immigrate in greater numbers. To the best of my knowledge, there is no waiting list for these visas - you simply have to apply, go through your investigation, and get approved.

In addition to those visas, there are non-immigrant visas that are available. These are more commonly known as working visas, or exchange program visas. For all intents and purposes you live and work in the United States with all teh same rights and responsibilities as a green card holder. These visas are based on your ability to fill a segment of the workforce here in America. Basically you simply need to find an employer here in America and they can petition for your working visa.

As for is it fair that people have to wait - there is a simple concept that most of us learned in kindergarten. It is called a line. Sometimes you just have to wait in it.

Answer 2

I can't dispute your claim of 18 years, because I don't have the facts. Do you? If so, post them.
All I can say is Ain't it worth the wait, to get to paradise? What isn't fair is that Illegals can come here and demand to become citizens.
I agree with a guest worker program also, but not citizenship by amnesty.... Bush is wrong on that.

Answer 3

I think Bush has nothing to do with the fact that it takes so long for some immigrants to get their visas.
The problem is that in some countries like Mexico there are so many applications that they accumulate plus all the security procedures that they've implemented after 9/11.
If that was my situation I'd move to another country where the process is easier. There are a lot of good countries with less complicated procedure

Answer 4

I think the whole 'selling green cards on the internet' and illegal immigration crap needs to stop. How about NO visas for about 10 years til we get sorted out who the hell is actually IN the country? I like that idea....if your country's a 3rd world dump, don't just use US aid money to buy guns. Actually FIX the place.
And, stop having 421 kids because you think it's your biological prerogative to fill the world to capacity with your offspring...I say build that fence quite a BIT taller. We've got something halfway decent in america, time to stop letting people just move in with impunity and stealing the doors right off the hinges. You think I'm kidding? LOL The vast, overwhelming majority of americans, actual citizens, don't go around stealing each other blind, shooting and killing, etc. We've kind of gotten away from all of that. There's 6.3 billion OTHER people in the world, though, and they would like a piece of what they percieve america to be.
Bush and company appear to be inclined to let em in. What kind of country do YOU want to be living in, in 20 years? Bars on the windows? Cops every 100 yards? Poverty? That's what life is like in some of the countries these people come from, and worse.
You tell ME what the right policy is...

Answer 5

That is not true. It took my wife only 3 years. That is just a fallacy that the process takes that long.

We already have a guest worker program of sorts it is a temporary work visa.

Answer 6

Why are they entitled to come at all? We subsidize our poor in education and services, even if they pay all taxes for their income bracket. That makes it expensive for us to let in the poor of other nations. We, like all other developed nations that subsidize services, limit how many poor immigrants we will take in. That is why the line is long. Why should these people, many of whom had life much better than others who have been waiting years for a visa get to cut in line?

Why should we pay for a better life for their families at the expense of a better education and affordable health care for our own families? Education is failing in our border states, and schools are overcrowded. Meanwhile ESL education is particularly expensive and also slows down instruction for other children. Their better life is at the expense of our children's future.

Answer 7

Illegal is illegal. What other laws do you plan on breaking, SUR 13? Are you illegal? If so, please leave and get in line. Are you serious about becoming a citizen? Then follow the laws that citizens of the US of A have to follow. That is what makes this country the one you want to live in.

Answer 8

Well maybe if there weren't so many illegals here there would be more opportunity and much better odds for legal immigrants to come in.

Answer 9

No-is not the case for most.

And even if you had to wait-too bad. Couples wait years to adopt.

Answer 10

18 years? No way ... one of my friends married a Swedish girl ... they applied for a green card for her in April of last year ... she got it in July of last year ....