
The Day I Got My Green Card - danso
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-day-i-got-my-green-card-1467385905
======
arkem
I got my green card yesterday. It took me eighteen months, which is a
ridiculously short amount of time, if I had been from India instead of
Australia it'd be another 6 years or so before anyone even looked at my
application.

For me a green card was a convenience rather than a necessity. It wasn't
anything life changing as it was for the article's author. As a software
engineer that qualified for a non-supply capped visa I could live in the US
almost whenever I felt a need (I only needed to find an employer willing to
fill out some extra paperwork for me).

That said I'm really grateful to have my green card, I'm much less stressed
about my future. I no longer worry about having to leave the US if I lose my
job. Now, maybe I'll buy a house, maybe I'll start a business? Exciting new
possibilities.

~~~
nighthawk24
"if I had been from India instead of Australia it'd be another 6 years or so
before anyone even looked at my application."

For anyone born in India, it would be another 11~12 years(and 6 years for
China-mainland born) or so before anyone would even accept a last-step
document, even if approved for green card with I-140 approved today.

It is unbelievable and clearly discrimanatory that legal immigrants from India
(and China) are expected to stick with the same employer for more than a
decade.

[https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-
policy/bul...](https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-
policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-july-2016.html)

~~~
WWKong
After I-140 is approved you will be able to apply for I-485 to get EAD which
will allow you to change employers. Obama's executive order is making it so.
You will now see two sets of date for adjustment of status filing in the visa
bulliten. Execution of the order is still catching up.

~~~
nighthawk24
President Obama announced the executive order in November
2014([https://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction](https://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction))
Since then, the USCIS has just complicated the process by adding one more
application "Filling for Employment Application" which is actually 5 years
apart form the Final Action date(when the visa number is actually made
available).

There have been numerous meetings to solve this mess which affects the USCIS
and DHS too. But the Corporate-Legal/lawyers lobby tends to win over USCIS
every time justifying to keep the dates as is, and not to use the un-used visa
numbers from other countries, after-all they make more money when the legal
immigrants are kept in limbo, and applying for various applications and are
bound to stick to a single employer.

------
karterk
I'm really happy that the author found a place that he could truly call home.
However, his generalisation of India largely based on a single incident comes
across as rather shallow and naive. Yeah sure India has many quirks, but I
can't find another country which has people from so many diverse backgrounds
(religion, language, customs) who co-exist so peacefully. Let's also not
forget that the legalisation of same-sex marriage is a recent development even
in the USA.

~~~
thebooktocome
The author mentioned three incidents: the student protests, the large funeral
of his father's assassin, and his treatment by Indian border patrol.

India is light-years behind the rest of the developing world in part because
it subjugates hundreds of millions of its own citizens.

~~~
gammaray9
> behind because it subjugates

Since 1951, there has been equal vote for every Indian citizen.

Equal voting rights for all citizens was not true even in the US until its
voting rights act of 1965.

~~~
thebooktocome
Voting is not the only human right, nor does it prevent the majority from
oppressing minorities.

~~~
gammaray9
The original word 'subjugate' is directly linked to absence of representation
- i.e. voting rights. To the second point on oppression, find this interesting
reading - [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-glasser/legacy-of-
racial-s...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ira-glasser/legacy-of-racial-
subjugat_b_6236976.html). Feel free to compare incarceration rates.

------
ismdubey
A problem in the author's piece is putting India and Pakistan at the same
pedestal. Consider this: (1) Till date, not a single person has been charged
in India for being homsexual. Being a homosexual is a crime in India. Yes, its
a colonial legacy and in spite of indian bureaucracy being slow, people in
govt are working to get rid of it. The less we talk about Pakistan, better it
is (2) Indian metropolis have a vibrant LGBTQ community. Suffice it to say,
that there have been many pride parades in different cities of india. Contrast
this with Pakistan, where a pride parade organized by US embassy in 2011
sparked protests. (3) Author's claim about Sedition charges on university
students - There have been massive protests against the govt in India because
of this. Govt made a mockery of themselves with this action (as is evident).
All the guys charged with sedition are still expressing their dissent against
the govt and more forcefully now.

(4) To any of you who have been to the countries of Indian subcontinent, I am
sure you can see the difference.

------
realkitkat
Any discussion about Green Cards or permanent US residency should always
mention eventual exit tax[1]: "...to deter tax avoidance by abandonment of
citizenship, the United States imposes an expatriation tax on some of those
who give up U.S. citizenship. The tax also applies to green-card holders who
abandon U.S. residency after having held a green card for at least 8 of the
last 15 tax years."

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriation_tax#United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriation_tax#United_States)

~~~
arkem
Thank you for the reminder.

I've just added a calendar entry for 6 years time to consider whether or not I
am willing to be subject to an exit tax (and give myself two years to plan
alternatives if I'm not).

------
jetcata
I love the "welcome home" from Passport control here in the US, I think it's
amazing.

~~~
z2
I don't mean to be snarky--I'm genuinely curious if you are being sarcastic
here. As a US citizen, I've been met with indifference, or more likely,
quizzed on the places I've been, my home address, or the contents of my
luggage. Never once has the greeting been "Welcome home"

~~~
thebooktocome
I've heard "welcome home" each time, coming through Seattle or Chicago over
the past ten years.

~~~
xyzzyz
I also heard that in Seattle, though it was a weird feeling, as I am not a
citizen nor a permanent resident. At the time I thought it might be due to my
frequent travel to the US.

------
brendangregg
For someone who has been through visa abuse, exploitation, threats of
deportation, and so on, getting a green card is like opening a book to day 1
of your life. You get your humanity back.

If you have a great run in the US on a visa, great. But it's not like that for
everyone.

------
vowelless
Got my green card a few months ago. Also from a mixed Indian, Pakistani,
Middle Eastern and British background. Was a minority in all of those nations.
Really feels good to call America a home.

Aatish's father was a true light for Punjab. It's a shame what happened to
him.

------
breakpointe
I love this. I am a teenager who got permanent residency a few years ago.
America is the land of opportunity, and as a software engineer I can earn a
lot of money, much more than I would in my home country, India. So glad I can
have a great quality of life here in the United States, with a great job. This
country was made for someone like me.

------
ThomPete
I got my greencard this winter. It took me less than two weeks to be approved
and a couple of months to get it through all the bureaucracy. My wife and
oldest son also got one. It helped that I was on an O1 before.

I feel truly blessed and I have always felt home in the US. Now next step is
dual citizenship (Denmark and the US have an agreement)

~~~
ismdubey
Thom, I am also an O1 filing an EB1-A. Did u file premium to be approved in
less than two weeks?

~~~
laurencerowe
I'm also switching from 0-1 to EB1-A. Premium processing only applies to the
I-140 part (qualification for the category.) The I-485 adjustment of status
still takes at least three months to be processed before you get the actual
green card. The big advantage of the EB1 here is that I don't have to wait 9
months for the labor certification. Hopefully I'll get my advance parole a
little sooner so I can travel again as having applied for the AOS I'm unable
to re-enter the country on my O-1.

------
navalsaini
“Aatish Ali?” one said to me just a few months ago as I arrived in New Delhi.
“Quite a name you’ve got there.” The subtext was: You’re not part of the Hindu
majority, so not part of the deeper organization of caste.

This is an incorrect interpretation. Aatish means a cracker and possible the
office was being humorous. The sense of humor is a bit different in India and
a little more crude (though harmless).

------
bn-usd-mistake
My dream is to migrate to the US eventually. Not so much for the incredibly
better pay but just because it seems there's much more interesting stuff to
work on there. I'm German and currently doing my Master of Computer Science in
Germany.

Do you have any advice on which path would maximize my chance of getting a
visa? Or possibly your personal success story?

So far, I will be doing an internship at one of the Big 4 and will be trying
to get a job at the Big 4 in Europe or some other company in London (provided
I can still migrate there post-Brexit) after my graduation. But I'd be glad to
get other (possibly better) suggestions.

EDIT: Added Paragraphs.

------
WWKong
I would love to write a similar article of my own. It has been 13 yrs of being
in US, paying high-bracket taxes, raising a family, buying a home, befriending
tons of wonderful folks, contributing to the community and generally being a
good citizen. It might be another 2 to 4 years.

Although it is hard to complain and I feel I have gotten more out of life here
than given back, I often wonder what it has done to my psyche of not being at
"home".

------
selvakn
Congratulations!! Oh, another note: Looks like you know very little about
India.

Disclaimer: Indian, IT consultant.

~~~
Manishearth
He provided his experiences, you can't discount those. Your experiences may be
more pleasant, but that doesn't mean he is wrong.

I can say that I know others who have been through similar experiences.

~~~
Ar-Curunir
India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. It is highly
unlikely that whatever tone he inferred was from being not Hindu.

Most likely it was just from his British passport.

~~~
Manishearth
A population which to a large degree is often found clustered in separate
communities (as the case for many minorities in other countries) and generally
segregated, even if not by intention. Coming across a Muslim can be an oddity
in many localities. There are a lot of communal tensions still being harbored
by people today. I have repeatedly heard the phrase "सब पाकिस्तान से हैं"
(they are all from Pakistan) being used derogatively to describe Indian
Muslims, amongst other similar things (that one sticks out to me because I've
heard it way too often)

It is possible that the reasons are not what the author thought they were. But
it is pretty likely that they were, and I'm suggesting we give the author the
benefit of the doubt in that he had valid reasons and prior similar
experiences to feel that way.

It is very easy to discount an experience when your bubble makes you think it
is impossible. For many years I didn't think casteism was a thing anymore in
cities, since I never saw it happening. Over time I realized that it is still
very much there, just that those not negatively affected by it tend to not
notice it.

~~~
Ar-Curunir
I don't think I've lived in an Muslim-discrimnation-free bubble; I've grown up
in the Middle East, and if there's one place you'll hear about antiMuslim
going-ons, it's there.

And from my position, Muslims in India have it pretty fucking good. In what
world can people like this:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaduddin_Owaisi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaduddin_Owaisi)

get away with being spewing divisive bullshit, and then call for action
against Muslim discrimination and for reservations for Muslims? Muslims have
their own penal code! Up until the BJP rule, legislation was in favour of
Muslims, at the expense of togetherness of society.

In India Muslims have a pretty powerful political position given the fact that
they are a minority. I somehow am disinclined to believe that the author
suffered any actual discrimination given the political clime in India.

~~~
AreyBaba
>Muslims have their own penal code!

No.

All Indians follow the same Criminal, Contract, Labor, Company, Tort, Property
and Tax laws.

The only exception is Personal law (marriage, inheritance, adoption etc) where
for historical reasons there were separate laws for Hindus, Muslims,
Christians, Jews, Buddhists etc. These laws were codified in British India
when the British came to control directly or by proxy a diverse population
with diverse religions, languages and culture.

When India became an independent country, the framers of the constitution had
many issues decide on in a short time and decided to punt on some contentious
issues for later generations to resolve. One of them was personal law where
they agreed that a uniform personal code would be desirable but left it to
future generations to resolve. The other was a common national language.

Both have not been resolved. There is no uniform personal law and Hindi is not
the national language.

------
miguelrochefort
My dream is to get a Green Card.

I don't have a degree.

Is my only option to marry an American citizen?

~~~
chrisper
Work experience can replace the requirement for a degree (I think).

Have you lived in the US before? It is not as great as it seems from the
outside. (My dream once was to get a greencard, but I came to the US through a
student visa and after some years I can say that that dream surely has gone
away)

~~~
somethingsimple
What did you find disappointing about the US?

I moved here a few years ago and have had my Green Card for a while. The US is
every bit as I expected and even more. I love this country more than I've ever
loved my home country.

~~~
chrisper
Where did you move from? I think that makes the difference between loving it
or not loving it.

~~~
somethingsimple
Brazil.

~~~
chrisper
Yeah. I came here from a wealthy European country. So obviously my
expectations and experiences will be different.

