

Clickpass on how to get a visa for America - petenixey
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/02/coming-to-america-getting-visas-to-do-business-in-silicon-valley/#more-17036

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rml
As an American, I found this story pretty disheartening. I can't for the life
of me understand why we are putting up so many barriers, financial and
otherwise, to smart, qualified entrepreneurs who just happened to be born
somewhere else. It sounds like anyone who wants to come here and start a
company without wasting thousands on lawyers and bureaucrats will be out of
luck for the foreseeable future...

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notauser
My parents have US passports, which means I am in the 8 year queue for a green
card (2 of which is a wait to get a slot number!). There are no modifiers for
education on this one, so a masters and other post grad qualifications don't
mean much.

I wish I could get an O1 visa, for no other reason that being _officially_ an
alien of extraordinary ability would be well worth the effort :)

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pc
_The visa interview takes place in the individual’s country of origin and for
us that meant the American embassy in London._

Actually, this isn't necessarily true; once a petition for a visa has been
approved, you can go for your interview at any US consulate. (I'm Irish, and I
got my visa in Brussels.) This can be very helpful, since different consulates
usually have wildly different waiting times for interviews. In my case, it
meant a wait of two days instead of six weeks.

Everything else in the article about the soul-sucking tedium of getting a visa
is right on the mark, though.

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chris_l
So can you go to a consulate outside of your contry of residence? Will this
not raise eyebrows?

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artaak
The most surprising is the inability of the American immigration system to
adjust to the changes. While thousands of unskilled, poorly educated people
cross the south border, there are only 65k H1Bs per year for professionals,
and even that miserable quota is overfilled in one day and turned into a
lottery.

~~~
khill
But Americans don't want the jobs that the "unskilled, poorly educated" people
are here to fill. They want the jobs which the H1B visas are meant to fill.

Not saying I agree with that rationale but there is a difference in the minds
of many Americans.

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brlewis
Best quote: _Fortunately for me the guard on my third visit hated the number
of passwords he needed to do his job and when he found out what Clickpass was
doing, wished me luck and waved me on through._

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foobar2k
It is positive to see that all of the presidential candidates with a chance of
winning, support increasing the number of H1B visas available. Should make it
a little easier in future.

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gms
Not really. The system needs an overhaul, not a token increase.

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petercooper
And H-1Bs are discriminatory anyway. They define a "specialist" occupation as
one that requires a degree. This might have been true in 1958, but not in
2008. Further, they're just for employees and not for people who can actually
add significant value to the economy by building businesses rather than
warming chairs.

~~~
gms
Actually if the company has enough funding (even if you're the owner), you can
get an H1-B.

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noonespecial
Looks like in the coming century, as in software, the "openest"
country/economy will win. As an American, I'd sure like it to be this one, but
its not looking good, folks.

~~~
davidw
Where, then? Europe is pretty closed in its own ways. The gulf states have
some good things, and a lot of pretty serious bad things. Canada? Hong Kong?
Open...yes, but with a sword hanging over its head.

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shiranaihito
Seems like this article mostly serves as an advertisement for Clickpass.

~~~
parker
Dude, for people outside the US about to test the immigration waters, this
article was pure gold.

~~~
shiranaihito
Well yeah, true, but I somehow managed to overlook that on my way to the
Clickpass site.

I found it difficult to understand the benefits Clickpass offers, but maybe
having used OpenID would help.

