What color is a green card?

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Interesting article you got here. I'd like to read something more about this matter. Thank you for sharing that data.

>>Could someone explain why we need to import talent while we export jobs? The US has been on a trend of underfunding education for a long time now (as the UK where I came from), so is compensating by importing the educated from elsewhere. The lack of import/export tariffs means that goods can be bought from places that do not treat their people nearly as well, so manufacturing has drifted to those places. It's basic free-market economics, if you voted Republican it's what you asked for. If you want to reverse the trend you would need to pay taxes for education (rather than prisons), and penalize countries with bad human rights and environmental practices by taxing imports from them. However, manufacturing will probably be taken over by robots soon, so those jobs might never come back, and the dollar is not looking so strong either, so maybe the talented will wander off to Asia or Europe (or just stay there).

And BTW Patriot just so you know losers like you cant keep up with them so quit blaming them and get ur ass working!

Thats cause the best of Indians make it to US and help that country grow intellectually.

all india indian's and their race are hated by everybody, from australia to southeast asia, from mid east to europe to america! mainly because they are leeches, they suck out the blood from every economy. they are proud to say that they contribute to an economy, but you cannot contribute by stealing somebody's job. they should be ashamed of themselves, because if they are really contributor's then how come their country is still a mess and a 3rd world country?!

I want to be an American. I have graduated and currently working @ IBM Daksh, India. Please enlighten me on how I can apply for a Visa.

I think Green Card Visa is not green, Green means "free to go". www.cmbeb5visa.com

It is really important to know what your options are when you deal with U.S. permanent residency. Hope the rules and regulations will be lighter in the days to come. Thanks for the post. Very detailed report. To see more common sense advice on faster permanent residency process, check: targetree.blogspot.com

the green card IS green... because it let''s you make ''green'' in the U.S. that you would otherwise not be able to :)

I agree with Bob - the Canadian. I migrated to Canada, finished my undergrad in Canada and found my first engineering Job in US. Its been over 9 years now that I have worked and lived in US using TN, in the past, and now with H1-B visa. I don''t feel any different than any American, except when it comes to election days. I got married to a US citizen and had my first boy, got my graduate school degree - all in US. I pay my tax fully and have many American friends and co-workers. I don''t see myself living anywhere else, not because US is better than any country, but because it is my home - physically and mentally. If you force me to leave the country, I still care my America in my heart: its values, freedom, and the people -Colorful people. I believe US is the greatest place to live in. Trust me when I say that, I know what I am talking about, because I lived and visited countries in 5 continents. If I am allowed, I will go out and serve US military - to defend its greatest values: Freedoms of all kind. But, when I see someone stating foreigners ought to live US because they are taking their job. First, that is not true, second it makes me unwanted in this country and think over going back to countries I am openly welcomed and embraced as human being more than anything else. Isn''t America supposed to be country of many origins? How would you feel if professional or not refused to come to US. Do you think America will be as colorful as it is now? Don?t think like US and Them, think like WE. WE got America where it is now and will take us to the bright future.

Why won't you find out the true color of a green card by winning one and looking for yourself? :-)

Why won''t you find out the true color of a green card by winning one and looking for yourself? :-)

Couple of comments - first I do believe we should allow more talented workforce immigration. But once here there should be more drive to reach and maintain citizenship, and not dual (be accountable and invest in the US). Second why would our kids want to go into science and engineering? Its not profitable! Revise the patent system to allow inventors to retain some ownership and royalty of patents versus the company getting it all and you will see more people in the labs inventing breakthroughs. Finally the US is a very capitalistic country - our companies make decisions on profits not on whats best for the US. We compete against companies form other countries that ARE not as capatilistic as us and many of those companies do (some have to) think about nationalistic interests. It is not an even playing field.

I worked in us for over 6 years, paid my taxes, owned a home. being a canadian I watch us tv, eat the same things, wear the same clothes, watch the same news. I live less than 100 miles from the border and cant see the huge difference that 100 miles makes. i was disappointed to feel that i wasnt wanted permanently in the us. I think they should allow automatic green card status to anyone who successfully completes 5 years of work in the us without being convicted of a felony. i would like to see changes and feel it would only help america. I would make the green card stick for 10 years before being a citizen and no one could import their 100 family members until they are a citizen and then only by finacially being qualified to support each memeber.

I find it interesting that we are told that if grape growers cannot get cheap labor, then they will have to go out of business. In Australia, where cheap labor cannot be had, they use machines! What is more, Australia ships their product half way around the world to compete with US products. Instead of trying to make the US into Mexico, we should be trying to make Mexico into the US. Most Mexicans would prefer to stay in Mexico if that country offered the same opportunities. There is no reason for anyone to do that kind of work for those wages in today's world.

Big Government has let in so many immigrants who took american worker jobs away and our now back to their home countries competing against us. No wonder we owe them trillions of dollars. The fall of Rome is not far off.

I did my MSEE degree in the US and was allowed 1 year of practical training under my F1 student's visa. That one year was enough time to apply for H1-B visa. So students don't get kicked out of the country as soon as they finish school. Secondly, most American students don't pursue MS or PhD degrees because they need to find a job to pay off their student loans. So the incentive to find a job is much higher than to stay and pursue a higher academic degree even if they get a grant or stipend.

Why only H1 visas? I think the Mexico guest worker program should be also tied to the unemployment rate. If the rate of unemployed ALREADY HERE is 9.5%, then the farm employers should be forced to use local Americans to pick up the oranges.

Maybe the number of H1 visas should be tied to the unemployment rate. If the rate of unemployed ALREADY HERE is 9.5%, then the number of visas and green cards issued goes to 0. If unemployment is low, then allow more in. Companies should be forced to prove that they are doing everything they can to retrain and redeploy existing workers, rather than lay them off and bring in replacements from abroad.

People from all over the world can win the American Green Card by registering to the DV Lottery program done by the US State Department every year. The chances are very high. People can register directly on the US site or use a professional company's services. An organization that renders such services and makes sure the application is submitted correctly is USAGC Organization: www.USAGC.org

50,000 win a USA Green Card and you can be one of them. www.USAGC.org/step1landing.aspx?afk=yuvalwinandwoneng USAGC Organization

JSAC - it is due to Fact 1. "Companies will put their money where they'll get the greatest return."

Could someone explain why we need to import talent while we export jobs?

Andy T - Since when have your US government stopped subsidizing PhDs on your own AMERICAN children? Read this and get it in your head. Fact 1 - Companies will put their money where they''ll get the greatest return. Duh! Fact 2 - Most US children are too smart for hard sciences. They prefer careers where the big money is, e.g. business, finance, etc. Fact 3 - Hardcore scientist US parents encourage their children to do non-science, where the big money is. Fact 4 - Due to Facts 2 and 3, there are insufficient US children to fill all the need of US science research. Since someone has to do the work, to keep advancing science, universities have to get their workers from foreign countries. Universities pay these foreign students low stipend, overwork them. In the end, give them PhDs, and tell them, "Goodbye, now you''re on your own. If you want to get a greencard, you have go to the US immigration department. We as a university are not responsible to give you a greencard". Fact 5 - There are various ways to get a greencard, and all of them must go be applied via the US immigration department. Except of the DV lottery, someone has to pay money to the US gov to get a greencard. If a US company wants to retain a foreign worker, then the company will sponsor and pay for the greencard. Some companies use greencard as incentive to attract highly skilled to join the company. Only very few are treated this well. For those not so lucky, they can apply greencard on their own by paying money to lawyers and US gov. Fact 6 - (I will write more later)

"The U.S. economy doesn?t stand or fall on the basis of how many Mexicans work here." That comment about stands on its own. Those who have no heritage here do not value its heritage. We are a nation of laws, and when such a large, identifiable population as the Mexican people flaunts them, the effects are indeed dire. I suggest the grateful immigrant non-citizen do a little research on the devestating effect Illegals have had on schools, hospitals, law enforcement, and many other realms, and then see how slight the effect truly is. Please, sir, maybe now is a good time for you to return. It is thinking like yours (or lack thereof) that has contributed mightly to the present state we find ourselves in. Farewell elsewhere.

Why would any student want to be an engineer when they'd need to move to Taiwan or China for job anyways? You need businesses in the US to attract these immigrant PhDs. At the pace we are going, the US isn't gonna have much "high tech" left. H1-B visas seem a little insignificant if there's little or no work.

Why don't you go to the Central Valley on vacation, and try doing farm work for a week? And then tell us all if you'd be willing to do that work for $10/hour. Even George W. Bush realized that it was impractical to have these jobs done by American-born workers, this is why he tried to get the guest-worker program into law. The farm owners are good people caught in a bad situation, do not vilify them. These are the people who feed you and your family -- a vocation more important than what most EEs work on for a living, whether you admit it or not. Food comes first for survival.

JPL - if you do the analysis, paying an American $10 an hour to pick oranges versus $2 to an illegal changes the price of oranges very little. But it does change the outrageous pocketing of money by the employers of these illegals, who rely on citizens and us legal immigrants, those that stood in line for a LONG TIME, to subsidize the lack of health care and other social benefits (education) for these illegals that should be coming from that pocketed money. An illegal employer is pocketing your tax and healthcare cost money...

Policebox - the first line item cut in any state budget is education in the USA. The kids are not stupid, it's the adults.

It''s generally accepted that very few people born in the US are willing to pick crops in Central Valley of California for the salary farmers can pay and still make a profit on their crops. So, if we want to eat fresh fruits and veggies, those "anyones" who can "dig a hole" will be new immigrants. The willingness to do hard physical labor at low wages is much more valuable to the economy than the luxury of having the person writing Verilog for your next product be doing the coding in San Jose instead of Taipei.

The reality is that many graduating students in the high tech electronic field work in the US for a while then go back to their countries and start their own companies and compete against the US. Very common with Chinese students and China is already a powerhouse. If they stayed here that would be okay but many don't. What is wrong with that picture. We need to encourage both American boys and girls to pursue the engineering and sciences field.

Andy T. I am amazed that an immigrant would develop such a thoughtless provincial attitude. Most American children can't get advanced degrees because they aren't qualified! It does no good to finance an advanced degree for someone who can't do the work. Fix the primary schools first, then worry about helping them through their higher degrees. The bottom line is we want American business to have the best and brightest in the world. That means we must either raise our children to be the best and brightest (something we have never done, by the way) or we must bring them here. I like the idea of prioritizing H1-Bs by salary to be paid as well. JPL, there is a very big difference between saying that everyone counts and everyone is important, and saying that every skill is equally valuable. Almost anyone can dig a hole, we don't need to encourage people to come here to dig holes. We need to encourage the people who do things that most of us can't do, to come here.

A Greeen Card should be stapled to every Engineering, Medical, or other very much needed degree granted to an immigrant.

One of the best things about the US is the ideal that all people are equals under the law. And so, your statement that immigration policies for the intellectually gifted are "much more important" than immigration policies for a farm worker goes against everything America stands for. Everyone's vote counts the same at the ballot box, regardless of SAT or GRE score. If your policy goals don't treat a landscaping laborer and a EE Ph.D. with equal respect and dignity, your policy has zero chance to become US law.

I'm an immigrant too - also took the gutsy step of becoming a citizen, not just camping on a green card. Your lament about allowing PhDs to go to school in the USA and then handing them a job is laughable. For my tax dollars, and speaking as a citizen (are you listening Bono?), my tax dollars and *my* government policy is better off subsidizing the PhDs of my own AMERICAN children, versus those of a cowbird that displaces my young from the nest of graduate school. On top of this insanity, we then have the likes of Bill Gates having the audacity to say we don't graduate enough Americans....

Auctioning the H1-B's based on salary is a great idea!

Students from US universities should have the opportunity to stay and work in USA. In the knowledge industry, people are most important and they will perform best where they feel comfortable. At the same time those who choose to go back should not be looked at lost talent. These people contribute to US economy in a different way; they carry their learning, their contacts, and their knowledge with them. They become vocal preachers of American values in foreign lands. If I was running a business, I would encourage non Indians to go and work in India, non Chinese to go and work in China. I have known green-card holders who went back to India. I also know green-card holder who returned to UK. They are perfectly happy about it. I also know Indians, who after getting green card in USA returned to India, stayed there for many years and then came back to USA. Such people with first-hand international experience add another dimension to diversity and can become effective cross-culture managers. As far as green card policy is concerned, the green card process should be quick and H1-B limit should be extended. Businesses should focus on their work instead of on quotas. To minimize abuse, those granted H1-B should be expected to come and start working in USA immediately. There first few pay-stubs can ensure that there was no visa abuse.