sbabunle
08-03 03:16 PM
Hello shree19772000
There is a proposal to stop labor substitution which was
put for public comments. It was like a few months ago. If they finalize it, labor substitution will be completely eliminated. But I'm not sure of the timeline of this.
babu
There is a proposal to stop labor substitution which was
put for public comments. It was like a few months ago. If they finalize it, labor substitution will be completely eliminated. But I'm not sure of the timeline of this.
babu
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eager_immi
02-12 10:46 PM
only the uscis knows, maybe they need some h1bs to figure out the math :)
eb2waiter
05-09 05:17 PM
what I meant was... you can reevaluate your situation from India.
Since there is nothing there in Canada anyway.
This is from personal experience. I went through the canadian PR also and now have lost it. I have some friends in Canada and India who had to move because of failure to file for GC before 6yr H1. My view of Canada and other feedback is
It is not a first world country as they want you to believe.
The cost of living is very high though the salary is very low.
Cost of goods is almost the same or most of the time higher than in US.
Medical is by state (where applicable) but doctors are not good and the wait time is large.
Taxes are very very high.
I can go on and onnnn...
My advice which will save you almost 3k-6k is dont do it if you are waiting for GC. Else you can do it at a short notice. The other options are, if you dont like 5year wait time from India, is to come back in H1 to the US and again reapply. At least this way you know how your GC turned out.
---DISCLAIMER: ABOVE ARE MY VIEWS ONLY AND MAY BE FALSE---
Since there is nothing there in Canada anyway.
This is from personal experience. I went through the canadian PR also and now have lost it. I have some friends in Canada and India who had to move because of failure to file for GC before 6yr H1. My view of Canada and other feedback is
It is not a first world country as they want you to believe.
The cost of living is very high though the salary is very low.
Cost of goods is almost the same or most of the time higher than in US.
Medical is by state (where applicable) but doctors are not good and the wait time is large.
Taxes are very very high.
I can go on and onnnn...
My advice which will save you almost 3k-6k is dont do it if you are waiting for GC. Else you can do it at a short notice. The other options are, if you dont like 5year wait time from India, is to come back in H1 to the US and again reapply. At least this way you know how your GC turned out.
---DISCLAIMER: ABOVE ARE MY VIEWS ONLY AND MAY BE FALSE---
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at0474
12-13 11:35 AM
Discrimination in employment based on nationality is not allowed. However, can we extend the argument to the employment based immigration? We can always choose to take that promotion though we will lose our place in the queue.
Leaving the question of fairness aside, under the current legal framework my guess is we do not have a case.
--I think, per country quota system was framed with diversification as underlying principle, not discrimination.
Depending on which country you are from, it may seem like discrimination or fair system upholding diversity.
If you are from India, you would hate it. There are truckloads of programmers in that country. But if you are the only graduate with programming skills from a country like timbaktoo (?), you would love it. You also got a shot at american dream.
This EB quota system reminds me of Caste reservation system in India. To some that is fair, to others, it is unfair. Depends on which side of the fence you are.
Leaving the question of fairness aside, under the current legal framework my guess is we do not have a case.
--I think, per country quota system was framed with diversification as underlying principle, not discrimination.
Depending on which country you are from, it may seem like discrimination or fair system upholding diversity.
If you are from India, you would hate it. There are truckloads of programmers in that country. But if you are the only graduate with programming skills from a country like timbaktoo (?), you would love it. You also got a shot at american dream.
This EB quota system reminds me of Caste reservation system in India. To some that is fair, to others, it is unfair. Depends on which side of the fence you are.
more...
swethanjit
07-09 07:29 PM
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am currently on OPT which is valid till July 2009. Also, my H1-B is approved through a company X starting oct 2008. Currently I got a job with company Y on my OPT. Can I continue to work on my OPT with company Y till July 2009? OR Do I need to transfer my H1B to company Y to be able to continue to work after Oct 2008?
Regards
Swetha.
I am currently on OPT which is valid till July 2009. Also, my H1-B is approved through a company X starting oct 2008. Currently I got a job with company Y on my OPT. Can I continue to work on my OPT with company Y till July 2009? OR Do I need to transfer my H1B to company Y to be able to continue to work after Oct 2008?
Regards
Swetha.
jhaalaa
01-13 05:19 PM
IV Core and Administrators
1. AOS applicants using EAD are presently unaffected (if they do not have H1) by this memo. Could you please inquire from USCIS contacts, in case more similar "guidelines" are being planned for folks using EADs?
2. Also is something more being planned/announced for AC21's "same or similar" criteria? A while back we had a thread collecting evidences and suggestions from the IV members about its interpretation. Please help provide a status update about the meetings with USCIS, IV core group discussions and plans, etc.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Best Wishes for all.
1. AOS applicants using EAD are presently unaffected (if they do not have H1) by this memo. Could you please inquire from USCIS contacts, in case more similar "guidelines" are being planned for folks using EADs?
2. Also is something more being planned/announced for AC21's "same or similar" criteria? A while back we had a thread collecting evidences and suggestions from the IV members about its interpretation. Please help provide a status update about the meetings with USCIS, IV core group discussions and plans, etc.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Best Wishes for all.
more...
vhd999
09-04 03:37 PM
I am very reluctant to post in this thread. But could not resist.
Few weeks ago, I was watching TV here in US. The monsoon rains arrived late in AP and YSR declares that the rains have come back because he and his party are now in the power.
With a smirk on his face he says that the rain would not come if he had not won the elections.
He also states that the God was happy that he is in the power and blessed all the people with those rains.
I could not believe how these politicians can portray their self image and how those illiterate or hopeless people fall into their traps.
Now, it seems, the same rain is the cause for the brutal death of YSR. I am not sure how to interpret his own words.
Few weeks ago, I was watching TV here in US. The monsoon rains arrived late in AP and YSR declares that the rains have come back because he and his party are now in the power.
With a smirk on his face he says that the rain would not come if he had not won the elections.
He also states that the God was happy that he is in the power and blessed all the people with those rains.
I could not believe how these politicians can portray their self image and how those illiterate or hopeless people fall into their traps.
Now, it seems, the same rain is the cause for the brutal death of YSR. I am not sure how to interpret his own words.
2010 girlfriend, Amber Rose,
gclove
12-30 08:31 PM
If the numbers are re-captured and EB rules little liberalized, assuming each H1b visa holder waiting for status adjustment spends an amount of $250,000 on a house, the total economic activity for 500,000 H1b visa holders will be $125b. This much money will come back to US, because most of us are either investing in our home countries or elsewhere but not in buying a house in the US. So, if this point is brought to the notice of the Congress members, they may take favorable steps to help.
more...
chintu25
09-24 01:43 PM
I think we should ..........this would be helpful to their business too.
EXCELLENT IDEA HERE are some CEO addresses we could send the emails too as well asking for their help
Biotech
Monsanto
Hugh Grant,
Chief Executive
hugh.grant@monsanto.com
Consulting
Accenture
Joe Forehand,
Chief Executive
joe.w.forehand@accenture.com
Entertainment
Disney
George Mitchell, Chairman
george.mitchell@piperrudnick.com
Kodak
Antonio Perez, CEO
Antonio.Perez@kodak.com
Internet
EBay
Douglas McCallum,
Chief Executive Officer
Douglas.McCallum@ebay.com
Network Solution
Champ Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer
Cmitchell@networksolutions.com
News
Bloomberg
Chief Executive Officer
Mbloomberg@bloomberg.net
Last but not the least
United States
George Bush
president@whitehouse.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov
GET BUSY GUYS
Thanks
EXCELLENT IDEA HERE are some CEO addresses we could send the emails too as well asking for their help
Biotech
Monsanto
Hugh Grant,
Chief Executive
hugh.grant@monsanto.com
Consulting
Accenture
Joe Forehand,
Chief Executive
joe.w.forehand@accenture.com
Entertainment
Disney
George Mitchell, Chairman
george.mitchell@piperrudnick.com
Kodak
Antonio Perez, CEO
Antonio.Perez@kodak.com
Internet
EBay
Douglas McCallum,
Chief Executive Officer
Douglas.McCallum@ebay.com
Network Solution
Champ Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer
Cmitchell@networksolutions.com
News
Bloomberg
Chief Executive Officer
Mbloomberg@bloomberg.net
Last but not the least
United States
George Bush
president@whitehouse.gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov
GET BUSY GUYS
Thanks
hair Kanye West and Amber Rose Go
amitjoey
07-03 05:47 PM
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/08/immigrants-file-lawsuit-against-us.php
JURIST@law.pitt.edu
JURIST@law.pitt.edu
more...
ghouse1742
04-01 04:11 AM
You don't want to give any credit to 'Modi' than by your logic, Chandrababu Naidu shouldn't be give credit of 'Andhra' turnaround, Vajpayee shouldn't be given credit for Infrastructure turnaround...In India Politics & Politicians are so important, until they are pro-work, nothing works. UPA govt's attitude was sit & watch for Orders from 10 Janpath, so all of us know how they performed..
One might ignore land-scams of Naidu and support him. One might ignore fodder scams of lalu and support him. One might ignore the bribery cases on tape of vajpayee's office and support him. Because they have positive changes to their credit. But how does one convince oneself to support the so called human standing on dead bodies waving a flag of development.
Dude we are considered the cream of the crop who think clearly. How can we hand over the reigns of future of our sons and the well being of our daughters in India to a person who supported the rape and murder to young girls and destroyed livelihoods of thousands.
Imagine our christian friends trying to convince the jewish friends that they support Hitler because he is development pushing leader who is also church going, non smoking and that they do not support the side which actually supports rape, incarceration and murder of thousands who scrap out their living in the country. There is nothing like supporting half a person. You either support all his deeds or you dont. We or our kids will bear what we sow today.
That is it for me in this thread. Best of luck to us Indians. Jai hind !!!
One might ignore land-scams of Naidu and support him. One might ignore fodder scams of lalu and support him. One might ignore the bribery cases on tape of vajpayee's office and support him. Because they have positive changes to their credit. But how does one convince oneself to support the so called human standing on dead bodies waving a flag of development.
Dude we are considered the cream of the crop who think clearly. How can we hand over the reigns of future of our sons and the well being of our daughters in India to a person who supported the rape and murder to young girls and destroyed livelihoods of thousands.
Imagine our christian friends trying to convince the jewish friends that they support Hitler because he is development pushing leader who is also church going, non smoking and that they do not support the side which actually supports rape, incarceration and murder of thousands who scrap out their living in the country. There is nothing like supporting half a person. You either support all his deeds or you dont. We or our kids will bear what we sow today.
That is it for me in this thread. Best of luck to us Indians. Jai hind !!!
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deepakjain
08-15 10:17 AM
If we those who have worked here, paid taxes , abided the law, followed the law of land once we return from India many of us have been questioned. Though as per us nothing might have changed like employer, salary, position, residential address etc etc... still many of our friends are detainted and asked to proved documental proof....{If we who have stayed here for years are detained} then why not SRK or any other person.....
After staying here for 9 years, I was detained in 2007 for 1 hour for questioning.....that way US has more proof about me for past 9 years then SRK or any other Indian bollywood stars....
After staying here for 9 years, I was detained in 2007 for 1 hour for questioning.....that way US has more proof about me for past 9 years then SRK or any other Indian bollywood stars....
more...
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dvb123
02-14 03:00 PM
Since the lawsuit is about the getting the lost visa numbers it will be a good case.
4. INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed
The law does not mention anywhere that u cannot recapture numbers.
4. INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed
The law does not mention anywhere that u cannot recapture numbers.
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samay
07-28 09:15 PM
Hello there
Thanks for your service.
I needed to ask a very specific question about extending a B-2 visa towards the end of a six month stay for my mom; specifically if she becomes out-of-status during the duration when an EOS application is pending, if the EOS is subsequently denied; and if this (i.e. subsequent denial) voids a multi-year multiple entry visa? I am finding conflicting information on the internet even from USCIS sources about whether or not 212(g) applies when an EOS application is pending.
Thanks for your time.
Yes a subsequent denial of an EOS application voids a multi year multiple entry visa.
Thanks for your service.
I needed to ask a very specific question about extending a B-2 visa towards the end of a six month stay for my mom; specifically if she becomes out-of-status during the duration when an EOS application is pending, if the EOS is subsequently denied; and if this (i.e. subsequent denial) voids a multi-year multiple entry visa? I am finding conflicting information on the internet even from USCIS sources about whether or not 212(g) applies when an EOS application is pending.
Thanks for your time.
Yes a subsequent denial of an EOS application voids a multi year multiple entry visa.
more...
pictures kanye-west-and-new-girlfriend-
retropain
08-03 03:35 PM
don't even think about it. It is grossly unfair to people whove been waiting in line for years.
I don't mind substituion per se as long as people get new priority dates.
IV- we should have a poll on whether labor substitution is fair.
I don't mind substituion per se as long as people get new priority dates.
IV- we should have a poll on whether labor substitution is fair.
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jhaalaa
01-13 05:19 PM
IV Core and Administrators
1. AOS applicants using EAD are presently unaffected (if they do not have H1) by this memo. Could you please inquire from USCIS contacts, in case more similar "guidelines" are being planned for folks using EADs?
2. Also is something more being planned/announced for AC21's "same or similar" criteria? A while back we had a thread collecting evidences and suggestions from the IV members about its interpretation. Please help provide a status update about the meetings with USCIS, IV core group discussions and plans, etc.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Best Wishes for all.
1. AOS applicants using EAD are presently unaffected (if they do not have H1) by this memo. Could you please inquire from USCIS contacts, in case more similar "guidelines" are being planned for folks using EADs?
2. Also is something more being planned/announced for AC21's "same or similar" criteria? A while back we had a thread collecting evidences and suggestions from the IV members about its interpretation. Please help provide a status update about the meetings with USCIS, IV core group discussions and plans, etc.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Best Wishes for all.
more...
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Macaca
06-28 09:28 AM
My take on this is that if 40,000 visa numbers remain for July, August and September, then USCIS by itself cannot use 40,000 visa numbers in one month alone (i.e. in july), because the DOS just supplies them monthly quotas. So, if you take approx.
18,000 per month, you are looking at 18,000 for July and 18,000 for August. Then, USCIS have to use them. Which means USCIS has to approve 18,000 petitions in July.
As, I have heard that USCIS just started out sending finger print notices this month, because Priority Dates moved a lot in June 2007. Now, the fingerprints, will come in and forwarded to FBI for security clearance. That will take atleast a month. And, all petitions activated for clearance in June 2007 won't get adjudicated till August 31, 2007, because it takes atleast three months, for a case to approve and the visa number to be used. (Remember Visa numbers are allocated on visas used and not how amny people applied). Please share your thoughts. Thats my 2 pennies.
Ombudsman report mentioned that 40K GCs would be wasted at the end 2007. This means that there should be more then 40K GCs at the beggining of June.
The applications submitted starting this month will take some time (whatever that is) for processing. GC # is assigned after 485 processing is complete.
USCIS had approved 485s before June. They have started getting GCs and are decrementing the 40K+ count. That is, applications being submitted now are not decrementing the 40K+ count.
I don't think there is a monthly GC quota.
18,000 per month, you are looking at 18,000 for July and 18,000 for August. Then, USCIS have to use them. Which means USCIS has to approve 18,000 petitions in July.
As, I have heard that USCIS just started out sending finger print notices this month, because Priority Dates moved a lot in June 2007. Now, the fingerprints, will come in and forwarded to FBI for security clearance. That will take atleast a month. And, all petitions activated for clearance in June 2007 won't get adjudicated till August 31, 2007, because it takes atleast three months, for a case to approve and the visa number to be used. (Remember Visa numbers are allocated on visas used and not how amny people applied). Please share your thoughts. Thats my 2 pennies.
Ombudsman report mentioned that 40K GCs would be wasted at the end 2007. This means that there should be more then 40K GCs at the beggining of June.
The applications submitted starting this month will take some time (whatever that is) for processing. GC # is assigned after 485 processing is complete.
USCIS had approved 485s before June. They have started getting GCs and are decrementing the 40K+ count. That is, applications being submitted now are not decrementing the 40K+ count.
I don't think there is a monthly GC quota.
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Desertfox
09-23 04:06 PM
Nixstor,
Thanks for the brilliant idea, but I have a question about the draft. Is it really necessary to mention that 20% downpayment clause in there? I am a non-IT (manufacturing) EB3 applicant making half the salary you mentioned in the draft, and I bought a house with a 3% downpayment on a FHA loan. However, I have an excellent credit and I don't foresee myself in a foreclosure situation in the near future. I dont know if there are many GC applicant with my profile, but aren't we helping the housing market by buying a house?
Anyway, I will support every initiative that has the remotest possibility to remove one person in line ahead of me.
Thanks for the brilliant idea, but I have a question about the draft. Is it really necessary to mention that 20% downpayment clause in there? I am a non-IT (manufacturing) EB3 applicant making half the salary you mentioned in the draft, and I bought a house with a 3% downpayment on a FHA loan. However, I have an excellent credit and I don't foresee myself in a foreclosure situation in the near future. I dont know if there are many GC applicant with my profile, but aren't we helping the housing market by buying a house?
Anyway, I will support every initiative that has the remotest possibility to remove one person in line ahead of me.
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sankap
07-13 11:18 AM
Here's an article that appeared in Outlook (India) magazine 8 years ago. Apparently, the situation hasn't changed much since then:
http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fname=international1&fodname=19990125&sid=1
Canada...The Grass Isn't Greener
Outlook: Jan 25, 1999
It's a dream gone sour. Thousands of Indian immigrants who land up in Canada are, more often than not, greeted with unemployment, racism, culture shocks...
SOHAILA CHARNALIA
"I didn't come here to be a chowkidar. I came here believing it to be a land of opportunity; a country that has never known the nepotism, the corruption, the shortages of India. I find I have only substituted one country for another... certainly not one set of values for another, as I hoped. " For Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon, who was made to believe his qualifications would land him a good job fast, Canada was a real disappointment. When he did find work, it was that of a security guard. This, when the United Nations has declared Canada the best country to live in.
Some 200,000 people migrate to Canada every year, a majority from Asia. Hong Kong heads the list, followed by India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Citizenship & Immigration Canada report, 21,249 Indians migrated to Canada in 1996 alone. (The high commission in Delhi, however, put the figure at 17,682). For many of them, especially those who are qualified professionals, dreams die fast. The life they face is never quite as rosy as made out by money-raking immigration lawyers.
Is the UN report the only reason for the increase in Indian applications for immigration? That, and the fact that it is easier to get entry into Canada than any other western country, says a Delhi-based immigration lawyer. Also, the fastest way of getting immigration to the US is through Canada.
Dhillon's disappointment is echoed by others. "I should have done my own homework before I applied", rues Aparna Shirodhkar, an architect from Mumbai, working as a saleswoman in a department store. "My husband is unemployed. I am the sole earner for a family of four. Sometimes I feel like running back". For Raheela Wasim, who's gone from being a schoolteacher in India to a telemarketer here, the experience was very discouraging, very disheartening. "I started losing confidence in myself. I felt I was not capable of the job market here".
Jobs are the sore point with Indian immigrants. The irony is, they are often more qualified than their Canadian peers, yet they end up with either no work, or with entry-level jobs that have no future. "I was not told that you require a Canadian degree to get a job here", says Paramjeet Parmar, a postgraduate in biochemistry from Bombay University. Parmar works as a telemarketer, which has turned her from an elite professional to an unskilled, daily wage labourer. Ditto Opinder Khosla, a mechanical engineer from India, who has ended up as a salesman. "I found it difficult to even get an interview call", he says. The Canadian authorities are non-committal about the social and economic devaluation that the country imposes on immigrants.
"You can't come thinking you can just walk in and get a job in your profession", says Isabel Basset, minister of citizenship, culture and recreation, responsible for handling immigrants' woes in Canada's largest province, Ontario. But she admits that the licensing bodies regulating the professions need to be more accepting of people trained elsewhere.
That effort could only come from the government, argues Demetrius Oriopolis, co-author of Access, a government-commissioned report on assessing qualifications of newcomers, a 10-year-old report whose recommendations have still to be implemented. The report suggests certain rules of equivalence should be made binding on the regulatory bodies, which are exclusionist by nature.
But Basset won't even hear of making the regulatory bodies accountable: "We believe in private enterprise with a minimum of government checks. Besides, she argues, the exercise would cost millions of dollars".
Needless to say, the organisations are gleeful. Only professional bodies have the ability to determine what constitutes competence in a particular profession, was the cold response of the spokesperson for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, an institution that's responsible for the unemployment as well as under-employment of hundreds of qualified chartered accountants from India. They do not grant licences for professional practice, because Indian qualifications are not acceptable.
"What kind of society are we creating? Is it a new form of slavery?" asks an irate Bhausaheb Ubale, Canada's former human rights commissioner. Qualified immigrants work as drivers, guards. If this isn't job discrimination, what is? Dr Ubale lobbied intensely before Indians were accepted in the media. They now hold jobs as reporters and anchors, he says, but a lot more has to be done.
While skilled men may not be able to find jobs, their less qualified wives find it easier because they accept whatever comes their way. In several cases, the wives earn and support their husbands who are busy upgrading themselves, by studying for a Canadian degree. The working wife sometimes slogs away at three jobs. Sumitra starts at 7 am at her first job, teaching immigrants English; her second job as telemarketer starts at 4 pm. She gets back home around 8 pm, after which she begins selling cosmetics and household goods door to door. Till midnight. Sumitra supports three students, her husband and two school-going children.
The other problems Indians face here are the high taxes, high mortgage payments for new homes and the sort of hidebound laws that the benign anarchy back home hardly prepares them for. "You can't run a red light, you can't escape from a hit-and-run site even if you are just the witness, you can't smoke in public. Too many rules, so different from home", says Harminder Singh.
Two 'Indian' practices that do exist here, however, cause immigrants the maximum trouble. They are sifarish baazi (nepotism) and mufat ka kaam (free work). The Canadians, of course, have given them sophisticated terminologies, the former is referred to as 'networking' and the latter, 'volunteerism'. In a country where you are never encouraged to 'drop in' to meet someone, where the fax, the computer or the phone is used to complete most transactions, a job-seeking immigrant often has the phone put down on him. Polite but firm secretaries block access, unless the caller can drop a magic name that can help him gain entry. It takes at least a year for even the most enterprising immigrant to get to know somebody who can help him, before he can get a job at all.
'Networking' goes hand in hand with 'volunteerism'. Many immigrants put in a year of free service before they are given the job. Most writers and anchors of Asian origin are given only part-time jobs, paid by assignment and with no fringe benefits. The company insists on the word 'freelance' on their business cards, to make it clear they have not been hired by the company, and hence can't demand higher pay or any benefits. They can, and often are, fired at will.
Perhaps the greatest problem in Canada is the one that is least articulated--racism. According to a diversity report on Toronto (said to be the most ethnically diverse city in the world), the year 2000 will see its minority becoming its majority that is, 54 per cent of Toronto's population by the end of the millennium will be non-Whites. Keeping that in mind, it warned, if the discrimination against them in education, employment, income and housing, or incidents of hate are not addressed, it will lead to a growing sense of frustration.
"All our problems exist because of racism", sums up Anita Ferrao, who works in a firm. Anita has worked for them for three years and has got neither promotion nor raise. "As an Indian immigrant, you can never reach the top. They'll see to that. It's better to bring in some money here and start a business. It's the only way you'll do well here and be respected. "
But then if life is so tough here, why do people give up everything back home and come? The answer is the rosy picture of North America, inculcated right from childhood. Everything 'American' is considered superior. Better food, better homes, better life.
Each potential immigrant pays at least Rs 2 lakh chasing that dream. Multiply that by the thousands of Indians admitted each year, and further, by the number of immigrants accepted from all over the world, and you hit upon the most lucrative business today in Canada. According to a leading White immigration lawyer here, who prefers to remain anonymous, his own fee is 8,000 Canadian dollars, which comes to Rs 2,38,000. The government levies extra charges.
What do immigration lawyers advice potential immigrants? "Do your homework, before deciding to go ahead with your application. Arm yourself with facts about Canada. And when you do apply, stick to the truth yourself. You won't be in for unpleasant surprises, then. The rest is up to one's initiative and optimism." Indians need that, says one lawyer, as many of them fall into depression: the changes are just too much. But, he clarifies, Canada is the best. Where else will you find a land of opportunity, that still cares about its people? That's what the Indians come looking for. And haven't discovered yet.
http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fname=international1&fodname=19990125&sid=1
Canada...The Grass Isn't Greener
Outlook: Jan 25, 1999
It's a dream gone sour. Thousands of Indian immigrants who land up in Canada are, more often than not, greeted with unemployment, racism, culture shocks...
SOHAILA CHARNALIA
"I didn't come here to be a chowkidar. I came here believing it to be a land of opportunity; a country that has never known the nepotism, the corruption, the shortages of India. I find I have only substituted one country for another... certainly not one set of values for another, as I hoped. " For Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon, who was made to believe his qualifications would land him a good job fast, Canada was a real disappointment. When he did find work, it was that of a security guard. This, when the United Nations has declared Canada the best country to live in.
Some 200,000 people migrate to Canada every year, a majority from Asia. Hong Kong heads the list, followed by India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Citizenship & Immigration Canada report, 21,249 Indians migrated to Canada in 1996 alone. (The high commission in Delhi, however, put the figure at 17,682). For many of them, especially those who are qualified professionals, dreams die fast. The life they face is never quite as rosy as made out by money-raking immigration lawyers.
Is the UN report the only reason for the increase in Indian applications for immigration? That, and the fact that it is easier to get entry into Canada than any other western country, says a Delhi-based immigration lawyer. Also, the fastest way of getting immigration to the US is through Canada.
Dhillon's disappointment is echoed by others. "I should have done my own homework before I applied", rues Aparna Shirodhkar, an architect from Mumbai, working as a saleswoman in a department store. "My husband is unemployed. I am the sole earner for a family of four. Sometimes I feel like running back". For Raheela Wasim, who's gone from being a schoolteacher in India to a telemarketer here, the experience was very discouraging, very disheartening. "I started losing confidence in myself. I felt I was not capable of the job market here".
Jobs are the sore point with Indian immigrants. The irony is, they are often more qualified than their Canadian peers, yet they end up with either no work, or with entry-level jobs that have no future. "I was not told that you require a Canadian degree to get a job here", says Paramjeet Parmar, a postgraduate in biochemistry from Bombay University. Parmar works as a telemarketer, which has turned her from an elite professional to an unskilled, daily wage labourer. Ditto Opinder Khosla, a mechanical engineer from India, who has ended up as a salesman. "I found it difficult to even get an interview call", he says. The Canadian authorities are non-committal about the social and economic devaluation that the country imposes on immigrants.
"You can't come thinking you can just walk in and get a job in your profession", says Isabel Basset, minister of citizenship, culture and recreation, responsible for handling immigrants' woes in Canada's largest province, Ontario. But she admits that the licensing bodies regulating the professions need to be more accepting of people trained elsewhere.
That effort could only come from the government, argues Demetrius Oriopolis, co-author of Access, a government-commissioned report on assessing qualifications of newcomers, a 10-year-old report whose recommendations have still to be implemented. The report suggests certain rules of equivalence should be made binding on the regulatory bodies, which are exclusionist by nature.
But Basset won't even hear of making the regulatory bodies accountable: "We believe in private enterprise with a minimum of government checks. Besides, she argues, the exercise would cost millions of dollars".
Needless to say, the organisations are gleeful. Only professional bodies have the ability to determine what constitutes competence in a particular profession, was the cold response of the spokesperson for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, an institution that's responsible for the unemployment as well as under-employment of hundreds of qualified chartered accountants from India. They do not grant licences for professional practice, because Indian qualifications are not acceptable.
"What kind of society are we creating? Is it a new form of slavery?" asks an irate Bhausaheb Ubale, Canada's former human rights commissioner. Qualified immigrants work as drivers, guards. If this isn't job discrimination, what is? Dr Ubale lobbied intensely before Indians were accepted in the media. They now hold jobs as reporters and anchors, he says, but a lot more has to be done.
While skilled men may not be able to find jobs, their less qualified wives find it easier because they accept whatever comes their way. In several cases, the wives earn and support their husbands who are busy upgrading themselves, by studying for a Canadian degree. The working wife sometimes slogs away at three jobs. Sumitra starts at 7 am at her first job, teaching immigrants English; her second job as telemarketer starts at 4 pm. She gets back home around 8 pm, after which she begins selling cosmetics and household goods door to door. Till midnight. Sumitra supports three students, her husband and two school-going children.
The other problems Indians face here are the high taxes, high mortgage payments for new homes and the sort of hidebound laws that the benign anarchy back home hardly prepares them for. "You can't run a red light, you can't escape from a hit-and-run site even if you are just the witness, you can't smoke in public. Too many rules, so different from home", says Harminder Singh.
Two 'Indian' practices that do exist here, however, cause immigrants the maximum trouble. They are sifarish baazi (nepotism) and mufat ka kaam (free work). The Canadians, of course, have given them sophisticated terminologies, the former is referred to as 'networking' and the latter, 'volunteerism'. In a country where you are never encouraged to 'drop in' to meet someone, where the fax, the computer or the phone is used to complete most transactions, a job-seeking immigrant often has the phone put down on him. Polite but firm secretaries block access, unless the caller can drop a magic name that can help him gain entry. It takes at least a year for even the most enterprising immigrant to get to know somebody who can help him, before he can get a job at all.
'Networking' goes hand in hand with 'volunteerism'. Many immigrants put in a year of free service before they are given the job. Most writers and anchors of Asian origin are given only part-time jobs, paid by assignment and with no fringe benefits. The company insists on the word 'freelance' on their business cards, to make it clear they have not been hired by the company, and hence can't demand higher pay or any benefits. They can, and often are, fired at will.
Perhaps the greatest problem in Canada is the one that is least articulated--racism. According to a diversity report on Toronto (said to be the most ethnically diverse city in the world), the year 2000 will see its minority becoming its majority that is, 54 per cent of Toronto's population by the end of the millennium will be non-Whites. Keeping that in mind, it warned, if the discrimination against them in education, employment, income and housing, or incidents of hate are not addressed, it will lead to a growing sense of frustration.
"All our problems exist because of racism", sums up Anita Ferrao, who works in a firm. Anita has worked for them for three years and has got neither promotion nor raise. "As an Indian immigrant, you can never reach the top. They'll see to that. It's better to bring in some money here and start a business. It's the only way you'll do well here and be respected. "
But then if life is so tough here, why do people give up everything back home and come? The answer is the rosy picture of North America, inculcated right from childhood. Everything 'American' is considered superior. Better food, better homes, better life.
Each potential immigrant pays at least Rs 2 lakh chasing that dream. Multiply that by the thousands of Indians admitted each year, and further, by the number of immigrants accepted from all over the world, and you hit upon the most lucrative business today in Canada. According to a leading White immigration lawyer here, who prefers to remain anonymous, his own fee is 8,000 Canadian dollars, which comes to Rs 2,38,000. The government levies extra charges.
What do immigration lawyers advice potential immigrants? "Do your homework, before deciding to go ahead with your application. Arm yourself with facts about Canada. And when you do apply, stick to the truth yourself. You won't be in for unpleasant surprises, then. The rest is up to one's initiative and optimism." Indians need that, says one lawyer, as many of them fall into depression: the changes are just too much. But, he clarifies, Canada is the best. Where else will you find a land of opportunity, that still cares about its people? That's what the Indians come looking for. And haven't discovered yet.
Openarms
05-29 12:38 PM
this exactly I thought when I read this
"When asked about the potential cutoff dates for EB3 India, China, and Mexico, Mr. Oppenheim said that it would depend on the demand for these categories over the rest of FY2009"
What demand? Aren't these categories already "Unavailable" for the rest of FY2009? What will generate the demand? His earlier statements seem to suggest they have a pretty good handle on the number of cases pending and the EB categories and chargeabilities of those cases. Should'nt they already have a pretty good handle on the demand? On one hand, Mr. Oppenheim is throwing out numbers like they've got it all figured out...and immediately after that he makes a statement which implies they haven't a clue!
"When asked about the potential cutoff dates for EB3 India, China, and Mexico, Mr. Oppenheim said that it would depend on the demand for these categories over the rest of FY2009"
What demand? Aren't these categories already "Unavailable" for the rest of FY2009? What will generate the demand? His earlier statements seem to suggest they have a pretty good handle on the number of cases pending and the EB categories and chargeabilities of those cases. Should'nt they already have a pretty good handle on the demand? On one hand, Mr. Oppenheim is throwing out numbers like they've got it all figured out...and immediately after that he makes a statement which implies they haven't a clue!
Aah_GC
07-10 12:59 PM
ByeUsa,
Goodbye and hope you have a good time in Canada. I am very sure you will do well there - Canada respects its immigrants and you and your family will be welcomed there.
Keep us posted on how you are getting around there..
Peace.
Goodbye and hope you have a good time in Canada. I am very sure you will do well there - Canada respects its immigrants and you and your family will be welcomed there.
Keep us posted on how you are getting around there..
Peace.
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