Even if your cousin’s hubby was here on other than an immigrant visa, his status changed the moment he married her. In other words: the visa which he had no longer applies to his situation.
As the spouse of a US citizen, he’s not “moved up in the queue.” The immigration quotas are not applied to spouse. One would’ve thought that the cousin-in-law would’ve checked the INS for what he has to do when changing status.
Libertarian and RickJay, I thank you for defending me. I intend to leave it at that, because a further response would continue the hijack and because the two of you have already done an excellent job of responding.
Before the wedding, he was in the US legally and working here legally. Apparently, the act of leaving the country triggered the need for a new visa.
mhendo, no doubt the INS became more backlogged as its duties increased after 9/11. But, they were very poorly run before that. About 6 years ago, I had quite a bit of difficulty hiring a Canadian citizen, who was working in the US at the time. There were no real legal burdens, but it took a couple of months and a lawyer to get permission.
Neurotik, I believe you that the basic problem is Congress not funding the INS. You said,
I wonder whether he has that flexibility. That is, how much leeway does a Cabinet Secretary have in reallocating resources within his/her department?
Management theory says that operating with a backlog takes just as much time as operating without a backlog. In fact, it takes more time to operate with a backlog, because the backlog itself creates some extra work.
This principle may not exactly apply to the INS, because their backlog may cause a certain number of potential visitors and immigrants to simply give up on coming here. Still, based on my management experience, the INS ought to make a total commitment to eliminating its backlog within a certain period of time.
IMHO the reason the awful backlog has been tolerated is that the INS’s “customers” are not voters. Imagine how people would react if there were a 12 month backlog on getting a marriage license or on receiving an income tax refund.
Monty, your comment was interesting. An ex-boss of mine married a Swiss woman. As his wife, she had an absolute legal right to move here and to work here. Nevertheless, he had quite a bit of trouble making the arrangements, because of incompetence and corruption with the authorities.
Couldn’t tell you about how much flexibility cabinet officials have on spending, but I would think not much. Just like the DoD can’t refuse equipment that Congress has decided it needs and spend the money elsewhere, I don’t think that money Congress has budgeted for new Border Patrol officers can be spent on new computers or more caseworkers. But, I never worked with the Appropriations committee or in a cabinet office, so I can’t say for sure.
As for what I just quoted, that’s not entirely true. Remember that most of the people applying for visas generally have family over here that are citizens. Most of the immigration cases brought to Congressional offices are brought by voting citizens who are either friends or family of the person in question. Unfortunately, most of the offices that deal with these problems and are aware of it are in a strong minority. More congress people feel that the only legitimate budget increases for the INS should go to Border Patrol and other preventative measures.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier…tell your cousin to contact her Representative. While they can’t legally force the INS to do anything, they can politely harass them and help keep tabs on the progress of the paperwork. He won’t get lost in the shuffle this way. At least if your Representative has any experience in dealing with the INS Congressional liaisons…
I will second Neurotik’s suggestion. A phone call to our congressman (now Governor) Bob Erlich sped up the process considerably. Receiving the K-1 and K-2 visas for myself and my son took four months from start to finish - some people have waiting periods of up to a year.
Damn straight.
I feel for them and for december, but I have to shake my head when I remember all his fucking support for racial profiling and trusting everything Bush and Ashcroft say.
Until it affects him. Now perhaps, he’ll think twice.
december, it sucks about your cousin. Three years IS unconscionable. At least he’s in a great country.
You’re either illiterate or a liar. Take your pick. I’m more inclined towards the latter. The OP doesn’t say what you’re claiming; how you can state such brazen lies just amazes me. Unless you are actually retarded, you can see quite well that the OP quite clearly states displeasure with administrative delay:
Nothing else. That’s an absolute fact. This “innocent victim of the need for security in a post-911 world” bit is a lie.
Actually, I take that first bit back; you’re could be illiterate or a liar, but you might also be blinded by hatred and bile. Works both ways, I guess. I can actually believe you honestly believe you read something that isn’t there just because you’re petty and dumb, which wouldn’t, technically, qualify as either dishonesty or illiteracy. You aren’t worth a logical explanation as to why you’re so full of shit, but there’s one in the message anyway, so read and learn.
No, I’m not, but you’re exceedingly patient. If you expect me to believe that it’s necessary to take THREE YEARS to process anything, I’m just not that gullible. I’m sorry, but I simply do not believe there is any systemic or procedural reason why it shuld take that long. That’s longer than december’s congressman’s term, fercryinoutloud. If it does take that long there is either a lack of resources, a lack of competence, or a systemic problem at INS, and december’s complaint would be totally valid. Three years? Jesus Christ, you can finish a degree in less time.
In fact, as Neurotik has pointed out, the delays may well have to do with the INS simply being underfunded, in which case december’s complaint is perfectly valid - and, once again, totally consistent with all the other things he’s said about national security which you have cited, since if the INS is underfunded they presumably would also be incapable of doing the other things december wants them to do. Whose fault is that? George Bush’s? Congress? The INS? Tom Ridge? High level bureaucrats? I don’t know, but it’s SOMEBODY’S fault, because it’s a ridiculous thing to wait 3 years for paperwork, 9/11 or not. (And this sort of thing did happen prior to 9/11.) It’s fucking absurd - I mean, are we so accustomed to dismal service from government that people are actually willing to accept such grotesque incompetence?
Not that I agree with D’s other views, anyway, but your charge of hypocrisy remains completely devoid of objective evidence. You’ll have to demonstrate to me that he’s espoused 3-year wait times for paperwork, or defended the INS/government against criticisms of such astounding delays, to show me he’s a hypocrite.
They shouldn’t. What’s your point? december didn’t complain about the law, did he? He quite specifically, in no uncertain terms, in clear, concise language, complained about the projected administrative wait time. I don’t see any complaint about the rules, do you?
I mean, maybe I’m just the kind of guy to cut right to the point, but it seems pretty damned obvious to me that complaining about the delay is not the same as complaining about the basic requirements of the law. If I were to complain that it takes me three years to get a driver’s license, that wouldn’t mean I was complaining about the rule that I have to HAVE a driver’s license. If it took three years to get a passport made, I would complain about that. I wouldn’t complain about the rule that I need a passport to travel abroad. I can see a lot of good reasons why you need driver’s licenses and passports, but if I had to wait a few years to get them I’d be screaming bloody murder about the delays.
What you have cited are many examples of december defending the RULES. Here he is complaining about the ADMINISTRATIVE DELAY. They are not the same thing, and in this case it’s quite reasonable to complain that the delay is excessive, way beyond any conceivable need for effectiveness of the process. If he was bitching that it was going to take six weeks he’d be out in left field, but three years… I sure think it’s unreasonable. You seem to think so. I think most people would.
There is no inconsistency here, period. There’s no hypocrisy. The positions you have cited that december has espoused are NOT incompatible with “Three years is too long for the government to process paperwork.” In fact, they’re quite consistent; if it takes the INS three years to do something, that calls into question their competence in all areas, including the beefed-up security measures december’s so fond of. How can an agency incapable of processing some forms stop a terrorist?
And I must toss in here:
Guin, I know you aren’t stupid, and you’ve always been honest, but this was a really, really, really stupid thing to say. When did december complain about his cousin being racially profiled? You DID read the OP, right?
Guin, a quick search on straighdope december “racial profiling” over at Boardreader will demonstrate quite conclusively that december opposes racial profiling. The hypocrisy of the OP rests on his his support for strong border safeguards, the repeated and unqualified attacks on Arabs and Muslims, and the ritual fellating of everything the Bush administration does in the War That Will Cannot End Until After the 2004 Election.
Did you even read the OP? december quite clearly indicates that the man is in Canada.
Fuck you, Rick. I’ve identified three relevant positions of december that make the OP hypocritical in the extreme. You are free to disagree with my assessment, but I will match up my language skills and my honesty against your bullshit “illiterate or a liar” attack any day of the week.
Asshole.
D’uh. You’re right. I appologize for that.
You’re right, I read it wrong. Please accept my appologies, december.
Look, those have nothing to do with the OP. Having stronger border safeguards has nothing to do with having to wait up to 3 years for routine paperwork to go through. It has everything to do with the INS being underfunded. Indeed, stronger border safeguards would necessitate a more efficient, better-funded and well equipped INS caseworking team.
Attacks on Arabs and Muslims also have nothing to do with the OP, as you have already noted that december opposes racial profiling. He may think that Middle Easterners and the practicioners of Islam belong to an inferior culture, but he doesn’t believe they should be singled out at airport checkpoints solely for that reason (if you are correct in your assessment of december’s profiling position). So again, no dice there.
As for the ritual fellating of the Bush Administration, again, this has nothing to do with the Bush Administration. They did not create this problem…it has been a bipartisan neglect issue. Both parties have ignored the caseworking aspect and have merely funded Border Patrol agents. I have yet to read a post by december railing against INS budget increases, however, so I fail to see how your charge of hypocrisy is warranted. Face it, you are unfairly abusing december, minty.
See, Rick? That’s how you post constructive criticism without being a total fucking asshole.
Back shortly to respond, Neurotik.
I’ll be waiting with baited breath.
I just had some anchovies
But it does. The reason that it takes so long is because the U.S. is very, very picky about who it lets into the country, especially given (in the words of december himself in the OP) “the need for security in a post-9/11 world.” Certainly, the government could be much quicker about processing that paperwork. Three years is just stupid. Nevertheless, the primary reason that delay exists today is because the feds have decided to be excruciatingly nosey and nitpicky about letting people into the country–especially Arabs and Muslims.
Au contraire. People from predominantly Muslim countries are being signled out for extra special bureaucratic excruciation because of beliefs like the ones december has routinely expressed around here: They’re out to get us, and if we give 'em an inch, they just might kill us all.
december has reflexively defended government treatment of Arabs and Muslims that is much, much worse than making them live in Canada while processing their immigration papers. Maybe he’d be happier if some Justice Department functionary summarily declared his cousin’s husband to be a suspected associate of terrorists and had him locked away incommunicado in a military prison for the next three years?
Nope, sorry, it’s not an issue of bipartisan neglect as far as I can see. You may be able to plausibly argue that the failure to provide additional funding for immigration processing is a matter of bipartisan responsibility. But the bulk of the problem–which the OP expressly recognizes when he blames the delay on “the need for security in a post-9/11 world”–is due to the massive increase in workload that was dumped on the INS after the terrorist attacks. And that is a function of the executive branch.
Given december’s stands on those matters of public policy, my jaw just about hit the floor when he complained about the alleged injustice inflicted on his cousin’s Pakistani-Canadian husband. An indeterminate delay in re-entering the country? My god, has the country gone mad?!?
(Yes, it has gone mad. Nice of december to finally realize it when the madness finally had some tiny effect on him personally.)
Ladies and gentlemen, IANAL, but I deal with this insanity for a living (lucky me; I’m a paralegal for an employment-based immigration law firm). ** december** hasn’t mentioned his cousin-in-law’s visa category prior to his mariage and filing for adjustment of status, but given the facts presented, I strongly suspect that his troubles have little or nothing to do with his ethnicity, and everything to do with the issue of immigrant vs. nonimmigrant intent.
december, if you post some more details and such about what paperwork has been filed on his behalf, and when, and what his immigration status was before his mariage, I’ll take a crack at explaining what’s going on. Even if I disagree with you on basically everything around here, I hate to see people get screwed by bureaucracy.
I’m taking a wild guess here, but it sounds like your cousin’s husband was in TN status. This would have provided him with work authorization for a qualifying job with a specific U.S. employer. It is, however, a strictly nonimmigrant visa category, meaning that if INS gets wind of the fact that he is married to a U.S. citizen who resides in the U.S., they are quite likely to decide that he is unlikely to return to Canada when his TN authorization expires. And filing for a green card is pretty much 100% inconsistent with an intent to return to Canada permanently.
Not knowing much else about the situation, I would strongly advise your cousin to call an immigration lawyer posthaste, preferably one who is both a member of AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association) and who specializes in employment-based immigration. In many cases, there is more than one possible employment-based immigration category for which your cousin’s husband might qualify, and some of the others are dual-intent categories, meaning that having, say, an H-1B visa is not incompatible with being a green card applicant. (And BTW, you don’t get the I-551 stamp until the permanent residency is approved; it serves as temporary evidence that the PR was granted until the actual green card shows up in the mail up to a year later).
I think all of us here at the SDMB are in agreement that 3 years is an insanely long time to wait for processing of permanent residence for the spouse of a U.S. citizen.
Since the INS application fees are close to $300, not counting advance paroles and separate employment authorization (both of which need to be renewed yearly), and since we in the field are constantly told that a routine case really gets only a few minutes of adjudication time aside from fingerprint clearances and such, I’ve always been at a loss to explain what INS does with its money (a great deal of which is supposed to be generated by user fees, but much of which in reality is siphjoned away for unfunded mandates like more Border Patrol agents). In the meantime, though, if one has applied for a green card, one is unable to reenter the country without either a valid advance parole, or certain qualifying types of work visas (the TN won’t work for this purpose, as explained above, but the H-1B will).
Again, I really doubt that this mess has anything at all to do with the poor schmo’s ethnic background. Everything at INS is taking longer these days than it used to even 18 months ago, because of the additional levels of clearances that are being performed on every single application. Even with all the money in the world, it would take INS time to develop new processes and administrative infrastructure to handle the volume of processing it’s dealing with. And we’ve all heard plenty of anecdotal evidence about how well INS responds to change.
Good luck, and if you need more specifics, please post them here and I’ll take a crack at them.
No, you haven’t. Like it or not, december’s complaint about administrative delay is NOT self-critical with respect to his stand on any other issue; there is no LOGICAL reason why a three year delay is necessary here. Your responses to neurotik’s points do nothing to support your claims of hypocrisy. If you can point to a single thing in the OP that contradicts something he’s written in another thread, why don’t you go right ahead and actually show us what it is?
I was much ruder than I should have been; I despise partisanship in all forms and that’s what this is, so I overreacted yesterday and I apologize for the vitriol. Nonetheless, I have to be honest about this: I maintain your position is either deliberately dishonest or blinded by a personal vendetta. I can’t see any other reasonable explanation. Your characterization of his post as claiming his cousin is an “innocent victim of the need for more security in a post-9/11 world” is clearly and inarguably FALSE; it completely changes the meaning of what he said. Frankly, there’s not much room for debate about it, because his OP is completely unambiguous, and it simply does not say what you claim it said.
Furthermore, your arguments that the administrative delay is the RESULT of increased security and the Bush administration may be true (you’re likely wrong, though, since this sort of crap has happened at INS since long before 9/11) but even if you were right about those facts, it doesn’t prove december is a hypocrite. Even if the delays WERE the result of more security, that’s clearly not what december thinks, and being ignorant is not hypocrisy.
What you would have to demonstrate to show he’s a hypocrite is that it is self-contradictory to say “We need more security” and to also say “A three year delay is unconscionable.” I do not believe those are contradictory statements; it is perfectly logical to simultaneously hold the positions that more security is needed AND that the government should do things faster.
That’s because mine is based on facts. You really should try that with yours on occasion. Makes life so much more interesting. Please avail yourself of the information available from the INS.
Absolutely incorrect. As the wife of a US citizen, she had an absolute legal right to apply for immigration to this country as the spouse of a US citizen. There is no right to immigrate–it is a privilege. Now perhaps you have a clue as to why a visa is required for such.
Prove these statements with facts and this time make sure your facts address the particular situation you just raised.
Or just shut up.
Thank you very much for your offer and for your analysis. However, I have posted all the details that I know. My cousin does have a lawyer. She and her new husband are intelligent, reasonable people, so I assume they are taking reasonable steps.
minty, you failed to distinguish between processing time and backlog time when you wrote
No doubt the backlog increased due to the extra work. But, the security work itself is a small portion of the waiting period, not the “primary reason” for it. Here’s an example. In 1964, my wife needed top level security clearance for a job at a nuclear facility. The process took about 2 months. It was much more detailed than the investigation of some immigrant.
I got annoyed at the preening of minty green and mhendo on this thread. There does have to be a security process. Taking a "high-minded’ stance against all screening of foreign visitors doesn’t make you morally superior. It’s merely an exercise in wishful thinking.
I do agree with minty green that the executive department (i.e., Bush) deserves the blame for the unreasonable delay. Even though problems existed before, it’s his job to fix them on his watch.
Monty, you seem to have gotten out of bed on the wrong side this morning. As you might have guessed, my information about my ex-boss’s wife was what he told me at the time. My understanding is that there are a limited number of H1B work permits available. Green cards are difficult to obtain and require special conditions. However, being a spouse of a citizen is a sufficient basis for someone to hold a job in this country.
Perhaps the law has changed since she came here or perhaps I misunderstood him. Would you like to amplify your comments about the rights of spouses? I’d be happy to learn from you.
Thank you for the apology, Rick. However, I assure you that my comments here are honestly held and not the result of any personal vendetta.
Before the last flurry of Pit threads about december last summer anr fall–started by others in response to his repeated assaults on all things Arabic or Islamic, particularly with regard to Israel–I semi-regularly defended the guy against Pit assaults:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=95556
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=113627
I disagree with him on nearly everything, and his posting style certainly drives a lot of people crazy, but for the most part, he’s well within the bounds of respectable debate and proper decorum. I bear no personal animosity against him, though I will call him on bullshit when I see it–and I saw it all over the OP.
Care to identify where either one of us has taken such a stance?