Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Immigration 101: Immigrant Petitions
Not long ago, someone told me about an illegal immigrant's situation. He was someone who had been brought into the country by his parents at a young age. I was asked what would happen if he applied for citizenship.
This type of question, which is very common, is not the question our immigration laws ask at all. Most people assume the question is, "How does someone who wants to immigrate into America do it while following the law?" Instead, our law asks, "How does someone in America bring an immigrant into the country?" As a policy matter, this only makes sense. Why should our laws be designed to help outsiders, when we could just as easily enact laws that serve our own?
The two primary ways our law allows this are (1) family petitions and (2) employment petitions.
Family Petitions
The first step to bring a relative into the U.S. is when an American citizen or legal permanent resident (LPR--a green card holder) files a petition for a family member with USCIS. Usually, this is done by filing Form I-130.
As a U.S. citizen or LPR there are certain types of relationships you can file for, such as a spouse, child, or parent. Only citizens can file for a brother or sister. One interesting fact is you have to be 21 years old to file for a sibling or a parent, so the problem of so-called "anchor babies" is vastly overstated. If jumping the border and having a baby is your immigration plan, I hope you're very patient. (However, having a U.S. citizen child may play a role in deportation decisions.)
To get an I-130 approved, all you need to do is file it, with the appropriate fee, and prove the relationship. Usually this is done with documentation, such as birth certificates or marriage certificates. To prevent marriage fraud, spousal petitions usually also require an in-person interview.
If the petition is approved, all you have done is prove the relationship and allow the alien to apply to become an LPR. That's it--it confers no immediate benefit. And the wait times are very long due to the immigrant quota system. A quick look at the current visa bulletin shows that siblings of U.S. citizens from most countries have about a 10 year wait, while those Filipinos whose relatives filed in 1987 are now eligible. Certain "immediate relatives" of U.S. citizens (spouse, unmarried child under 21, or parent) get in regardless of the quotas.
Employment Petitions
The other most important way to bring an alien into the U.S. is through an employment petition, usually Form I-140. This is NOT the same thing as an H-1B visa, which is for a temporary worker instead of a permanent one, although the two are often confused by people debating the subject.
For most employment petitions, you first have to file ETA Form 9089 with the U.S. Department of Labor. With this form, ostensibly an employer has to prove (1) it has tried to hire someone who is already legally in the U.S., (2) it is offering a wage which is normal for the job in the location where the job is, and (3) it couldn't find anyone in the U.S. who was willing and qualified to take the job. This is, at least, how it's supposed to work. If DOL believes the employer has proven all of those things, it will issue a "labor certification." The employer will then file the labor certification, along with Form I-140, with USCIS. USCIS then must determine whether the alien is indeed qualified for the job and that the employer is able to pay the wage they have offered. These requirements make sense: Why would we let them bring in an unqualified person, when they are saying that the reason they need them is no one here is qualified? And, if they can't pay the wage, then they are bringing down wages of U.S. workers.
Some categories don't require a labor certification. If you are really, really famous for your artistic or athletic endeavors (think Paul McCartney or Roger Federer, although the bar may not be that high) then you can petition for yourself, assuming you intend to continue those artistic or athletic endeavors in the U.S. Also, accomplished scientists can be brought in to do research, and multinational corporations can move some of their important executives into the U.S.
As with the family petitions, approval of the petition only gives you the right to ask to come into the country, and there are quotas on all of the employment categories (the visas for the "really great" people are usually immediately available).
Be sure to check back next time, where I'll go over what people actually do when they get an approved petition, and how they turn it into a green card.
This type of question, which is very common, is not the question our immigration laws ask at all. Most people assume the question is, "How does someone who wants to immigrate into America do it while following the law?" Instead, our law asks, "How does someone in America bring an immigrant into the country?" As a policy matter, this only makes sense. Why should our laws be designed to help outsiders, when we could just as easily enact laws that serve our own?
The two primary ways our law allows this are (1) family petitions and (2) employment petitions.
Family Petitions
The first step to bring a relative into the U.S. is when an American citizen or legal permanent resident (LPR--a green card holder) files a petition for a family member with USCIS. Usually, this is done by filing Form I-130.
As a U.S. citizen or LPR there are certain types of relationships you can file for, such as a spouse, child, or parent. Only citizens can file for a brother or sister. One interesting fact is you have to be 21 years old to file for a sibling or a parent, so the problem of so-called "anchor babies" is vastly overstated. If jumping the border and having a baby is your immigration plan, I hope you're very patient. (However, having a U.S. citizen child may play a role in deportation decisions.)
To get an I-130 approved, all you need to do is file it, with the appropriate fee, and prove the relationship. Usually this is done with documentation, such as birth certificates or marriage certificates. To prevent marriage fraud, spousal petitions usually also require an in-person interview.
If the petition is approved, all you have done is prove the relationship and allow the alien to apply to become an LPR. That's it--it confers no immediate benefit. And the wait times are very long due to the immigrant quota system. A quick look at the current visa bulletin shows that siblings of U.S. citizens from most countries have about a 10 year wait, while those Filipinos whose relatives filed in 1987 are now eligible. Certain "immediate relatives" of U.S. citizens (spouse, unmarried child under 21, or parent) get in regardless of the quotas.
Employment Petitions
The other most important way to bring an alien into the U.S. is through an employment petition, usually Form I-140. This is NOT the same thing as an H-1B visa, which is for a temporary worker instead of a permanent one, although the two are often confused by people debating the subject.
For most employment petitions, you first have to file ETA Form 9089 with the U.S. Department of Labor. With this form, ostensibly an employer has to prove (1) it has tried to hire someone who is already legally in the U.S., (2) it is offering a wage which is normal for the job in the location where the job is, and (3) it couldn't find anyone in the U.S. who was willing and qualified to take the job. This is, at least, how it's supposed to work. If DOL believes the employer has proven all of those things, it will issue a "labor certification." The employer will then file the labor certification, along with Form I-140, with USCIS. USCIS then must determine whether the alien is indeed qualified for the job and that the employer is able to pay the wage they have offered. These requirements make sense: Why would we let them bring in an unqualified person, when they are saying that the reason they need them is no one here is qualified? And, if they can't pay the wage, then they are bringing down wages of U.S. workers.
Some categories don't require a labor certification. If you are really, really famous for your artistic or athletic endeavors (think Paul McCartney or Roger Federer, although the bar may not be that high) then you can petition for yourself, assuming you intend to continue those artistic or athletic endeavors in the U.S. Also, accomplished scientists can be brought in to do research, and multinational corporations can move some of their important executives into the U.S.
As with the family petitions, approval of the petition only gives you the right to ask to come into the country, and there are quotas on all of the employment categories (the visas for the "really great" people are usually immediately available).
Be sure to check back next time, where I'll go over what people actually do when they get an approved petition, and how they turn it into a green card.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Immigration 101: Introduction
After health care reform, the next major issue our President is expected to tackle is immigration reform.
Everyone has an opinion on this issue, and many people have a very strong opinion about it. However, I long ago realized that most people don't know much, if anything, about our current immigration system. In the interest of educating my fellow Americans and hopefully contributing in my own small way to fostering an informed debate, I hope to explain the basics of our system. I will explore various aspects of the system, including how an alien becomes an immigrant, how they can visit our country, and also explore how they can become citizens (and why many of us are born as citizens). I will do my very best to keep the Immigration 101 series strictly to the facts, without bringing any opinions to the table. After this series, I may discuss opinions.
If you've ever asked "Why don't illegal immigrants just come here the right way?" then be sure to check back tomorrow for an eye-opening discussion.
Everyone has an opinion on this issue, and many people have a very strong opinion about it. However, I long ago realized that most people don't know much, if anything, about our current immigration system. In the interest of educating my fellow Americans and hopefully contributing in my own small way to fostering an informed debate, I hope to explain the basics of our system. I will explore various aspects of the system, including how an alien becomes an immigrant, how they can visit our country, and also explore how they can become citizens (and why many of us are born as citizens). I will do my very best to keep the Immigration 101 series strictly to the facts, without bringing any opinions to the table. After this series, I may discuss opinions.
If you've ever asked "Why don't illegal immigrants just come here the right way?" then be sure to check back tomorrow for an eye-opening discussion.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Mainspring by Jay Lake (2007)
I recently finished reading Mainspring by Jay Lake. It is a definite steampunk novel with a very interesting premise. Nearly all steampunk is set in an alternate history setting, but this one is set in a completely alternate world: The Earth literally orbits the Sun on gears, the Moon orbits the Earth in the same way, and a giant gear at the equator (it extends 100 miles from the surface) makes the northern and southern hemispheres almost entirely isolated from one another. It's orrery-as-reality. The major conflict is introduced in the first chapter, when Gabriel appears to the protagonist to inform him the world's mainspring is running down, and tasks him with traveling halfway across the world to wind the mainspring. You find out early on that this is one of the things Jesus is believed to have done (although the evidence is apocryphal).
At its core, the book is merely an exercise in worldbuilding. Most speculative fiction has at least some element of worldbuilding, but in this particular book, the world is so compelling that I would be willing to follow just about any journey into it. In other words, the characters and plot are of secondary importance. Which is not to say they're not worthwhile. Most of the characters are flat, and there are groups of them which are mostly undifferentiated, but they are all believable, acting in consistent ways. The plot does have some moments which could be accused of being Deus ex machina (excuse the pun), but they all make sense in context (in any case, I think there was just a tiny bit less foreshadowing than I would have liked).
My biggest complaint is, as with my last book review, the love story. Here it's not because it's unbelievable, or not compelling, or that it fails to advance the story. It's just weird. I mean, really freaking weird. It turns out to be necessary to the plot, but there are at least a few ways Lake could have written around it. Some of them would have required making the book longer, but anything would have been an improvement. Even with this very weird element, the rest of the book is so compelling that I could easily get past it.
Now, I feel I have to address some of the characterizations of the book as blasphemy, as some reviewers have done. I think it's better understood as taking the speculation in the speculative fiction to its logical extreme. Here, that means asking the question, "What kind of God would make a world like this?" or "If we change the world in this way, how would God treat the world differently?" It's not all that different from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, where he asked, "What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia . . . ?" Which is not to say Lake was asking that question. Indeed, he does not wholeheartedly embrace any single alternate theology. As in the real world, the characters are not given plain answers to those questions.
In sum, the world is extremely compelling and absolutely unique, the characters are believable, and the plot is intriguing. In all, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
At its core, the book is merely an exercise in worldbuilding. Most speculative fiction has at least some element of worldbuilding, but in this particular book, the world is so compelling that I would be willing to follow just about any journey into it. In other words, the characters and plot are of secondary importance. Which is not to say they're not worthwhile. Most of the characters are flat, and there are groups of them which are mostly undifferentiated, but they are all believable, acting in consistent ways. The plot does have some moments which could be accused of being Deus ex machina (excuse the pun), but they all make sense in context (in any case, I think there was just a tiny bit less foreshadowing than I would have liked).My biggest complaint is, as with my last book review, the love story. Here it's not because it's unbelievable, or not compelling, or that it fails to advance the story. It's just weird. I mean, really freaking weird. It turns out to be necessary to the plot, but there are at least a few ways Lake could have written around it. Some of them would have required making the book longer, but anything would have been an improvement. Even with this very weird element, the rest of the book is so compelling that I could easily get past it.
Now, I feel I have to address some of the characterizations of the book as blasphemy, as some reviewers have done. I think it's better understood as taking the speculation in the speculative fiction to its logical extreme. Here, that means asking the question, "What kind of God would make a world like this?" or "If we change the world in this way, how would God treat the world differently?" It's not all that different from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, where he asked, "What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia . . . ?" Which is not to say Lake was asking that question. Indeed, he does not wholeheartedly embrace any single alternate theology. As in the real world, the characters are not given plain answers to those questions.
In sum, the world is extremely compelling and absolutely unique, the characters are believable, and the plot is intriguing. In all, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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