nk2006
03-03 12:59 PM
A question to the people who used AC21 and on EAD:
I am on EAD and changed job (six months after the I-485 is submitted). The new employer - a well know tech company - insisted on sending the AC21 letter to USCIS, and I sent it. After sending the letters there were LUD's on I485 applications for me and wife and I assumed the letter reached the files. There was no activity after wards. Recently my wife went out of country and while coming back she went thru the AP parol process. The immigration officer asked her a few questions, one of them is where I am working. She mentioned my current company which made the officer to have a question mark on his face (the file he is looking at has my previous employer name). We were expecting this to happen and my wife quickly explained to him that my application was sponsored by so-and-so company (my previous employer) but later I changed jobs as per AC21. She even had a copy of AC21 rules with her. There was no problem but she was kept in waiting for another 30+ minutes until the immigration officer talked to 2 other officers. She got the impression that most of immigration people there are not really aware of AC21 and this made us think this could be a potential issue for those who used AC21.
Did anyone had any issues like this. We were lucky not having too much of a hassle but was thinking on how to handle these port of entry interviews if someone used AC21.
Thanks to IV for taking this up.
I am on EAD and changed job (six months after the I-485 is submitted). The new employer - a well know tech company - insisted on sending the AC21 letter to USCIS, and I sent it. After sending the letters there were LUD's on I485 applications for me and wife and I assumed the letter reached the files. There was no activity after wards. Recently my wife went out of country and while coming back she went thru the AP parol process. The immigration officer asked her a few questions, one of them is where I am working. She mentioned my current company which made the officer to have a question mark on his face (the file he is looking at has my previous employer name). We were expecting this to happen and my wife quickly explained to him that my application was sponsored by so-and-so company (my previous employer) but later I changed jobs as per AC21. She even had a copy of AC21 rules with her. There was no problem but she was kept in waiting for another 30+ minutes until the immigration officer talked to 2 other officers. She got the impression that most of immigration people there are not really aware of AC21 and this made us think this could be a potential issue for those who used AC21.
Did anyone had any issues like this. We were lucky not having too much of a hassle but was thinking on how to handle these port of entry interviews if someone used AC21.
Thanks to IV for taking this up.
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pappu
06-30 12:49 PM
From Immigration Policy Center:
June 30, 2010
Washington, D.C. -Tomorrow, Thursday, July 1st, President Obama will make what is being described by the New York Times as "a major speech on immigration" at American University in Washington, D.C. The President is expected to step forward to reassert the leadership of the Federal Government on the issue of immigration.
While a federal lawsuit against Arizona's SB1070 now seems imminent, the President must address the underlying issues that led to passage of the Arizona law. We hope the President will squarely address the public's frustration with a lack of workable solutions on immigration. He must place this frustration in context - lack of federal action leads to growing impetus in the states to pass laws, no matter what their cost, simply to try to resolve the impasse. The President should address this frustration, but should also address the undisputed polling that shows that Americans want comprehensive immigration reform. This can be his moment to bring people together by laying out a framework that will actually move Congress to complete workable legislation.
We also hope that the President avoids some of the typical election chatter on immigration, which tends to turn the issue into a political contest of who can talk the toughest. Rarely does the debate move beyond the issue of further fortifying our southern border. While border security is a necessary component of comprehensive immigration reform, we cannot stop there. Real reform must look past campaign politics and find solutions that will allow communities to live and work together without the anger and recriminations that have dominated this issue for years. We hope the President's speech will go beyond issues of border security and discuss with the same enthusiasm strategies to create a 21st century immigration system - a system which invests in ideas and programs that support family and community cohesion, promotes fairness and individual accountability, supports immigrant integration, and helps us attract the best and brightest from around the world.
"The crisis in Arizona was created by an absence of leadership and commitment by the Federal Government to fix our broken immigration system. My hope is that the President will use this speech as an opportunity to reassert federal authority over immigration law and policy, and lay out his vision for a path forward," said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, who will attend the speech on Thursday. "Enforcement of our laws is important, but the President must rise above the angry and misguided political rhetoric that creates and then feeds a never-ending appetite for punishment. While a lawsuit by the Department of Justice is a necessary legal step, a lawsuit alone will not end the vacuum created by the lack of workable immigration laws and leadership to make that a reality. Over the last year, the President and his administration have expressed a willingness and desire to pursue a comprehensive reform strategy. Sadly, too few politicians have had the courage to stand with him on this important issue. The true measure of the President's commitment to this issue is whether he will create his own strategy for moving reform forward and whether he will expose those in both parties who refuse to step forward and create a workable, humane immigration policy that will strengthen America."
As the Department of Justice takes up the legal challenge, President Obama - through this speech and continuing actions - can place the responsibility for immigration reform back where it constitutionally belongs: in the hands of the Federal Government.
June 30, 2010
Washington, D.C. -Tomorrow, Thursday, July 1st, President Obama will make what is being described by the New York Times as "a major speech on immigration" at American University in Washington, D.C. The President is expected to step forward to reassert the leadership of the Federal Government on the issue of immigration.
While a federal lawsuit against Arizona's SB1070 now seems imminent, the President must address the underlying issues that led to passage of the Arizona law. We hope the President will squarely address the public's frustration with a lack of workable solutions on immigration. He must place this frustration in context - lack of federal action leads to growing impetus in the states to pass laws, no matter what their cost, simply to try to resolve the impasse. The President should address this frustration, but should also address the undisputed polling that shows that Americans want comprehensive immigration reform. This can be his moment to bring people together by laying out a framework that will actually move Congress to complete workable legislation.
We also hope that the President avoids some of the typical election chatter on immigration, which tends to turn the issue into a political contest of who can talk the toughest. Rarely does the debate move beyond the issue of further fortifying our southern border. While border security is a necessary component of comprehensive immigration reform, we cannot stop there. Real reform must look past campaign politics and find solutions that will allow communities to live and work together without the anger and recriminations that have dominated this issue for years. We hope the President's speech will go beyond issues of border security and discuss with the same enthusiasm strategies to create a 21st century immigration system - a system which invests in ideas and programs that support family and community cohesion, promotes fairness and individual accountability, supports immigrant integration, and helps us attract the best and brightest from around the world.
"The crisis in Arizona was created by an absence of leadership and commitment by the Federal Government to fix our broken immigration system. My hope is that the President will use this speech as an opportunity to reassert federal authority over immigration law and policy, and lay out his vision for a path forward," said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council, who will attend the speech on Thursday. "Enforcement of our laws is important, but the President must rise above the angry and misguided political rhetoric that creates and then feeds a never-ending appetite for punishment. While a lawsuit by the Department of Justice is a necessary legal step, a lawsuit alone will not end the vacuum created by the lack of workable immigration laws and leadership to make that a reality. Over the last year, the President and his administration have expressed a willingness and desire to pursue a comprehensive reform strategy. Sadly, too few politicians have had the courage to stand with him on this important issue. The true measure of the President's commitment to this issue is whether he will create his own strategy for moving reform forward and whether he will expose those in both parties who refuse to step forward and create a workable, humane immigration policy that will strengthen America."
As the Department of Justice takes up the legal challenge, President Obama - through this speech and continuing actions - can place the responsibility for immigration reform back where it constitutionally belongs: in the hands of the Federal Government.
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hopefulgc
09-05 02:15 PM
Given that AOS drags on for 3-4 years, I would regard that not seeing your mum for 3-4 years in a row would qualify as an emergency.
If you had a bad experience, please make it a point to file a complaint.
Please do not take the abuse lying down.
AFAIK, AP is considered only for emergency travel. That said, I think the officer was being over reactive.
As we all know, immigration laws are arcane. AP for emergency travel was ok when people used to get GC within 6 months of 485 filing. Now, when it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 years to get GC after 485 filing, does it make sense to have AP for only emergency?! Crap...
If you had a bad experience, please make it a point to file a complaint.
Please do not take the abuse lying down.
AFAIK, AP is considered only for emergency travel. That said, I think the officer was being over reactive.
As we all know, immigration laws are arcane. AP for emergency travel was ok when people used to get GC within 6 months of 485 filing. Now, when it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 years to get GC after 485 filing, does it make sense to have AP for only emergency?! Crap...
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imneedy
06-25 11:38 AM
May be some one who has already renewed their AP can answer this:
I am about to renew my AP. What will be the start date on the new AP. Is it the date after the current AP expires(like with EAD) or the date the renewal application is approved. Appreciate any responses.
I assume, you are asking for "Date of Intended Departure". Please use specific text from the form you are talking about. You can find some answers here (http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=256903)
I am about to renew my AP. What will be the start date on the new AP. Is it the date after the current AP expires(like with EAD) or the date the renewal application is approved. Appreciate any responses.
I assume, you are asking for "Date of Intended Departure". Please use specific text from the form you are talking about. You can find some answers here (http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=256903)
more...
bitzbytz
06-24 06:29 PM
"problems if generating paystubs"..is this a pure speculation or do you have to anything to back this statement....
pappu
12-31 04:18 PM
I prayed god to get my GC before 2008.If God really exists I'll get my GC in 2008.If not it's a proof that God doesn't exists.
I'll have to wait for few more hours to prove.
I prayed to God to make Wednesday as Saturday and Saturday as Wednesday for the whole world. But that did not happen. So do you think it proves God does not exist? :D:D
I do not think God really cares about a piece of plastic or for any man made issues. Man needs to handle his issues himself.
I'll have to wait for few more hours to prove.
I prayed to God to make Wednesday as Saturday and Saturday as Wednesday for the whole world. But that did not happen. So do you think it proves God does not exist? :D:D
I do not think God really cares about a piece of plastic or for any man made issues. Man needs to handle his issues himself.
more...
alterego
09-22 05:19 PM
--
Franklin got her gc. She is still such a motivated member. IV is fortunate to have her. I didn't intend to defend her, she is more than capable to do that on her own. Just wanted to add this information because that makes a sea change in raising the level of conversation on this thread.
The contrast is amazing, people who are stuck in the system are not as involved, while members like Franklin and Aman, who have came out of the "limbo" still want to help others.
Now I am more shocked than ever at her level of energy at the rally (which I personally witnessed) I am sure she has been doing a lot more behind the scenes as well.
Those who have done nothing but visit this site, need to look at folks like this and get some motivation and step up to the plate.
Franklin got her gc. She is still such a motivated member. IV is fortunate to have her. I didn't intend to defend her, she is more than capable to do that on her own. Just wanted to add this information because that makes a sea change in raising the level of conversation on this thread.
The contrast is amazing, people who are stuck in the system are not as involved, while members like Franklin and Aman, who have came out of the "limbo" still want to help others.
Now I am more shocked than ever at her level of energy at the rally (which I personally witnessed) I am sure she has been doing a lot more behind the scenes as well.
Those who have done nothing but visit this site, need to look at folks like this and get some motivation and step up to the plate.
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shakunbansal
11-03 02:36 PM
Dude,
I am facing same issue....need to get some money back from India....and there is no way i can get it officially without losing significant part of it. It is really illogical to send money to India for property investment just because we cannot get money back.....I am repenting doing that....
Whenever I ask my friends to do this favor to me.....all they say is they dont have money to send India (since they dont want to disclose their worth to me) or they dont want to send money to India since they know it is useless to send money at such a bad conversion rate.
If you can find some better way, let me know too.
open a nri account here in india with your dad as a second name to it in a bank like hsbc which is there both in india and usa....then you or your dad dcan deposit money in that account...then anybody can withdraw after that. ...Second your dad can gift you a certain amount by converting rs to dollars in india and getting american express travelers check and sending it to you,....
let me know what you do and if there are other ways to do that..
I am facing same issue....need to get some money back from India....and there is no way i can get it officially without losing significant part of it. It is really illogical to send money to India for property investment just because we cannot get money back.....I am repenting doing that....
Whenever I ask my friends to do this favor to me.....all they say is they dont have money to send India (since they dont want to disclose their worth to me) or they dont want to send money to India since they know it is useless to send money at such a bad conversion rate.
If you can find some better way, let me know too.
open a nri account here in india with your dad as a second name to it in a bank like hsbc which is there both in india and usa....then you or your dad dcan deposit money in that account...then anybody can withdraw after that. ...Second your dad can gift you a certain amount by converting rs to dollars in india and getting american express travelers check and sending it to you,....
let me know what you do and if there are other ways to do that..
more...
GCBy3000
05-28 06:59 PM
Simple. COntribute to IV and work as a team. Are you ready?
This is so outrageous! :mad:
What can legals do then to change the situation? :confused:
This is so outrageous! :mad:
What can legals do then to change the situation? :confused:
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immigrant2007
07-02 10:45 PM
Please do not discontinue this thread. Understand the importance of it and think about it
more...
lost_in_migration
05-10 03:08 PM
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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tikka
07-13 09:37 PM
thanks......at least one person showed up
15...:D
15...:D
more...
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Marphad
01-13 02:52 PM
vdlrao, I know you are looking at this thread. Any comments?
By the way, Where is logiclife these days?
Who is logiclife?
By the way, Where is logiclife these days?
Who is logiclife?
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ashkam
12-31 02:39 PM
"If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having, neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us. We are then incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is ... you must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked. Which will you choose then? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then without hesitation that he is."
Blaise Pascal
The chance is 50/50.
Seriously, did you just bring up Pascal's wager? You seem to be behind the times, man. Pascal's wager has been knocked down and ridiculed time and time again. Just one of its refutations : Why God? Why not believe in a pink unicorn? or a flying spaghetti monster? Or a giant cosmic turtle? Shouldn't one believe in each and every one of these things for the fear that they might be true since no one can really disprove their existence? Again it comes down to probability. The probability of there being a God is very close to zero, thus making belief in God untenable.
Blaise Pascal
The chance is 50/50.
Seriously, did you just bring up Pascal's wager? You seem to be behind the times, man. Pascal's wager has been knocked down and ridiculed time and time again. Just one of its refutations : Why God? Why not believe in a pink unicorn? or a flying spaghetti monster? Or a giant cosmic turtle? Shouldn't one believe in each and every one of these things for the fear that they might be true since no one can really disprove their existence? Again it comes down to probability. The probability of there being a God is very close to zero, thus making belief in God untenable.
more...
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psaxena
07-31 01:08 PM
Everyone is going to get citizenship .. yes right citizenship by next year.. no GC business.
Now everybody say "AMEN"
Now everybody say "AMEN"
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tnite
06-18 11:08 AM
If my priority date is retrogressed at the time of processing my EAD and AP, will USCIS keep the EAD and AP on hold? Or will they process EAD and AP and hold the I485?
They will send your application back to you.Maybe some experts can opine on this
They will send your application back to you.Maybe some experts can opine on this
more...
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sri1309
01-14 09:23 PM
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
This is the funniest post ever !
Hi GC, knot sure why you felt it was fannie. Mai I have a klue..
Lets get serious NOW.. I just read one post from one of our dear buddies in change.gov thread that voting is possible now on http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov.
Please register and vote positively, . Once logged in, search for immigration. AND vote for all the issues that are relevant for us. EB2 and EB3.. Vote for Legal immigrants.
Pappu Bhai, can we make this action item , if you can blink this message once every 2 secs on top of the home page, everyone visiting will try to vote.. Please..
http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov
This is the funniest post ever !
Hi GC, knot sure why you felt it was fannie. Mai I have a klue..
Lets get serious NOW.. I just read one post from one of our dear buddies in change.gov thread that voting is possible now on http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov.
Please register and vote positively, . Once logged in, search for immigration. AND vote for all the issues that are relevant for us. EB2 and EB3.. Vote for Legal immigrants.
Pappu Bhai, can we make this action item , if you can blink this message once every 2 secs on top of the home page, everyone visiting will try to vote.. Please..
http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov
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haifromsk@yahoo.com
05-08 11:02 PM
Best way to get more immigrants to participate in advocacy efforts by immigrationvoice.org for legal immigration is by communicating to international student organizations of various universities around virginia, maryland, washingtondc,west virginia north and south carolina. Arranging busses for the students is not a bad idea. Students once convinced why they need change in current immigration reforms for employment base legal immigrants will participate in huge numbers to attend the advocacy efforts done by immigrationvoice.org as they have more time in hand
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zen
04-01 04:47 PM
as of now, there is nothing ..it is just donate, donate and donate.
we don't even know why we are having new donation campaigns every month ... my favorite color is red ..so start giving me red's for being frank and speaking out the truth
we don't even know why we are having new donation campaigns every month ... my favorite color is red ..so start giving me red's for being frank and speaking out the truth
GCKaMaara
01-13 12:41 PM
It's here guys :
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4417.html
No EB3 movement :mad::mad:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4417.html
No EB3 movement :mad::mad:
kanta80
04-25 11:00 PM
Here is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/25/AR2006042501963.html
Sorry if someone else had already posted it.
Thanks.
Ed to add text in case link gets outdated:
Skilled Immigrants Turn to K Street
High-Tech Workers Awaiting Green Cards Hire Lobbyists, Hit the Hill
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page D01
On the December day when Congress killed a budget amendment that might have allowed him to become an American a little sooner, Aman Kapoor started a movement.
He did not march through streets, carry signs, wave a flag from here or there. He did not walk off the job or file out of school. The computer programmer simply went online to a message board tracked by thousands of people in his predicament: highly skilled foreigners waiting years for their green cards.
"I think we can do better and really create the impact with organized effort," he wrote. "To achieve this we need a group of individuals who have shown commitment and motivation in this forum."
The next night, a dozen people living across the United States shed their Internet handles -- Kapoor's was "WaldenPond," a nod to his hero, Henry David Thoreau -- and addressed one another by name on a conference call that lasted an hour. Today, just four months later, the organization they dubbed Immigration Voice boasts 3,000 members; a fundraising goal of $200,000; and, most notably, a partnership with a high-powered lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC.
The group's transformation from an insular circle to a politically active movement offers a window into an alternative immigrant campaign being waged as the Senate this week resumes its work on immigration laws.
Most members and all the core organizers of Immigration Voice hail from India, though Chinese membership numbers in the hundreds and is on the rise. Most arrived on an international student visa or a visa known as the H-1B, reserved for highly skilled workers who can stay for up to six years -- unless an employer sponsors their green cards, which grant immigrants permanent residence in the United States and the right to live and work here freely. Over the past decade, the largest numbers of H-1Bs have been awarded to high-technology workers from India and China.
Thus, while the passage of a strict border-security bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) mobilized many other immigrants in December, members of this high-tech group had their eye on another: a budget reconciliation bill that, in the Senate version, would have allowed those waiting in line for a green card to proceed even if the quota had been exhausted. The provision was cut in conference committee, stirring many to action and leading to the founding of Immigration Voice.
While hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets to get Congress's attention, Immigration Voice took a decidedly different approach. Shortly after the group was established, Kapoor and other volunteers began interviewing lobbyists, relying mostly on Google searches and data from the Center for Public Integrity's Web site.
"If it was not going to be big, it would not be worth the effort," said Kapoor, who works for Florida State University and has traveled to Washington nine times in the past three months. "Most of us have reached that point, having waited for eight or nine years, where individual lives are on hold."
Neither Quinn Gillespie nor Immigration Voice would disclose the amount being paid for the firm's services. Kapoor said it is "less than five figures."
"This is a sympathetic story," said Nick Maduros, a lobbyist for Quinn Gillespie. "For this group, their issues are very technical and are frankly not that controversial, but they have been overshadowed ."
Immigration Voices also enlisted the help of Rick Swartz, who has his own firm and has long been a leading lobbyist for immigration groups. Swartz gathered members of the group at his home one January weekend for a crash course in American politics, teaching them to position themselves as the "new Cubans for the Republicans."
Although their numbers are far smaller -- fewer than 2 million Indians live in the United States, according to the 2000 Census -- the group is among the more affluent immigrant communities. And because their numbers are smaller than those of Hispanics, they are trying to focus on other ways they can exert power -- through their wealth, their positions of influence in the high-tech and business communities, and their alliances with more established advocacy groups such as one for Indian physicians and an Indian political action committee.
While the immigrant marchers' demands have covered a range of issues, including allowing immigrants to gain legal status and eventually citizenship, the members of this association are more narrowly focused: They want Congress to pass measures that would end the years-long wait for a green card. In fact, they warn that efforts to enable millions of illegal immigrants to remain here permanently would result in the same bureaucratic nightmare legal immigrants are now facing.
"If you're going to reform, reform across the board," said Bharati Mandapati, who oversees content for the group, which means she has learned how to word and pitch legislative amendments.
The group has refrained from taking a stand on the fate of the undocumented workers, though it monitors chatter on its Web site to ensure that frustrated high-tech workers don't disparage lower-skilled laborers such as landscapers and restaurant workers. It also has stayed mum on raising the cap on H-1Bs, the visas that made most of their passages possible.
Under a proposal introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the number of employment-based green cards being issued would increase from 140,000 to 290,000. Currently, no one country is supposed to take up more than 7 percent of the allotment, though unused green cards can be redistributed to countries that have already met their quota. That has made possible migrations in excess of 7 percent from nations such as India, China, Mexico and the Philippines. Under the proposal, the per-country cap would be increased to a hard and fast 10 percent. Proponents say this would prevent one country from dominating the category and would retain jobs for native-born Americans.
But Mandapati, a California-based economist, argues that the restriction would hurt the United States because the demand for skills changes. "It just so happens that computer technology and certain technical skills are in great demand here and all over the world. It just so happens that there are two countries that have invested a lot of resources in educating people in these fields . . . India and China."
About a half-million immigrants are caught in the green-card backlog, some as they wait for Labor Department approval or because quotas have been exceeded. In that time, they cannot be promoted or given substantial pay increases because that would mean a change in job description and salary. They turn to Web sites to compare their wait times with others, and their Internet handles, such as "stucklabor" and "waiting_labor," exude their frustration.
During meetings on Capitol Hill, Maduros and at least one Immigration Voice representative lay out the group's platform, weaving in the personal stories of members. Shilpa Ghodgaonkar, a Germantown housewife, has become a staple anecdote -- and a frequent visitor on the Hill.
For four years, she and her husband have been waiting for their green cards. Ghodgaonkar's husband arrived on an H-1B visa, and she followed as his dependent, unauthorized to work here. To pass the time, she learned to cook. Then she volunteered as a career counselor in Montgomery County. Last year, she earned her MBA from George Washington University. In December, around the time Kapoor sent out his e-mail plea for mass mobilization, Ghodgaonkar had run out of options.
"I just couldn't keep quiet anymore," Ghodgaonkar said. "I cannot be depressed anymore."
She keeps a spreadsheet that lays out appointment times and the senators' offices she has visited or still plans to: Specter, Frist, Schumer, Brownback, Bingaman, Feinstein, Feingold. Wednesdays bring a weekly call with Quinn Gillespie. And every few nights, there are conference calls among Immigration Voice's core team.
Now the group plans to closely watch the debate resuming in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Earlier this month, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) proposed amendments with all of the group's provisions. Other lawmakers confirm that they are still meeting with the group to hear their concerns.
Immigration Voice leaders say the past few months have focused and politicized Indian immigrants in a way that was not apparent in the past. "There is a very 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' quality" about the current effort, Mandapati said. "It's been a journey, a loss of naivete and getting to know about American politics."
Sorry if someone else had already posted it.
Thanks.
Ed to add text in case link gets outdated:
Skilled Immigrants Turn to K Street
High-Tech Workers Awaiting Green Cards Hire Lobbyists, Hit the Hill
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; Page D01
On the December day when Congress killed a budget amendment that might have allowed him to become an American a little sooner, Aman Kapoor started a movement.
He did not march through streets, carry signs, wave a flag from here or there. He did not walk off the job or file out of school. The computer programmer simply went online to a message board tracked by thousands of people in his predicament: highly skilled foreigners waiting years for their green cards.
"I think we can do better and really create the impact with organized effort," he wrote. "To achieve this we need a group of individuals who have shown commitment and motivation in this forum."
The next night, a dozen people living across the United States shed their Internet handles -- Kapoor's was "WaldenPond," a nod to his hero, Henry David Thoreau -- and addressed one another by name on a conference call that lasted an hour. Today, just four months later, the organization they dubbed Immigration Voice boasts 3,000 members; a fundraising goal of $200,000; and, most notably, a partnership with a high-powered lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC.
The group's transformation from an insular circle to a politically active movement offers a window into an alternative immigrant campaign being waged as the Senate this week resumes its work on immigration laws.
Most members and all the core organizers of Immigration Voice hail from India, though Chinese membership numbers in the hundreds and is on the rise. Most arrived on an international student visa or a visa known as the H-1B, reserved for highly skilled workers who can stay for up to six years -- unless an employer sponsors their green cards, which grant immigrants permanent residence in the United States and the right to live and work here freely. Over the past decade, the largest numbers of H-1Bs have been awarded to high-technology workers from India and China.
Thus, while the passage of a strict border-security bill introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) mobilized many other immigrants in December, members of this high-tech group had their eye on another: a budget reconciliation bill that, in the Senate version, would have allowed those waiting in line for a green card to proceed even if the quota had been exhausted. The provision was cut in conference committee, stirring many to action and leading to the founding of Immigration Voice.
While hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets to get Congress's attention, Immigration Voice took a decidedly different approach. Shortly after the group was established, Kapoor and other volunteers began interviewing lobbyists, relying mostly on Google searches and data from the Center for Public Integrity's Web site.
"If it was not going to be big, it would not be worth the effort," said Kapoor, who works for Florida State University and has traveled to Washington nine times in the past three months. "Most of us have reached that point, having waited for eight or nine years, where individual lives are on hold."
Neither Quinn Gillespie nor Immigration Voice would disclose the amount being paid for the firm's services. Kapoor said it is "less than five figures."
"This is a sympathetic story," said Nick Maduros, a lobbyist for Quinn Gillespie. "For this group, their issues are very technical and are frankly not that controversial, but they have been overshadowed ."
Immigration Voices also enlisted the help of Rick Swartz, who has his own firm and has long been a leading lobbyist for immigration groups. Swartz gathered members of the group at his home one January weekend for a crash course in American politics, teaching them to position themselves as the "new Cubans for the Republicans."
Although their numbers are far smaller -- fewer than 2 million Indians live in the United States, according to the 2000 Census -- the group is among the more affluent immigrant communities. And because their numbers are smaller than those of Hispanics, they are trying to focus on other ways they can exert power -- through their wealth, their positions of influence in the high-tech and business communities, and their alliances with more established advocacy groups such as one for Indian physicians and an Indian political action committee.
While the immigrant marchers' demands have covered a range of issues, including allowing immigrants to gain legal status and eventually citizenship, the members of this association are more narrowly focused: They want Congress to pass measures that would end the years-long wait for a green card. In fact, they warn that efforts to enable millions of illegal immigrants to remain here permanently would result in the same bureaucratic nightmare legal immigrants are now facing.
"If you're going to reform, reform across the board," said Bharati Mandapati, who oversees content for the group, which means she has learned how to word and pitch legislative amendments.
The group has refrained from taking a stand on the fate of the undocumented workers, though it monitors chatter on its Web site to ensure that frustrated high-tech workers don't disparage lower-skilled laborers such as landscapers and restaurant workers. It also has stayed mum on raising the cap on H-1Bs, the visas that made most of their passages possible.
Under a proposal introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the number of employment-based green cards being issued would increase from 140,000 to 290,000. Currently, no one country is supposed to take up more than 7 percent of the allotment, though unused green cards can be redistributed to countries that have already met their quota. That has made possible migrations in excess of 7 percent from nations such as India, China, Mexico and the Philippines. Under the proposal, the per-country cap would be increased to a hard and fast 10 percent. Proponents say this would prevent one country from dominating the category and would retain jobs for native-born Americans.
But Mandapati, a California-based economist, argues that the restriction would hurt the United States because the demand for skills changes. "It just so happens that computer technology and certain technical skills are in great demand here and all over the world. It just so happens that there are two countries that have invested a lot of resources in educating people in these fields . . . India and China."
About a half-million immigrants are caught in the green-card backlog, some as they wait for Labor Department approval or because quotas have been exceeded. In that time, they cannot be promoted or given substantial pay increases because that would mean a change in job description and salary. They turn to Web sites to compare their wait times with others, and their Internet handles, such as "stucklabor" and "waiting_labor," exude their frustration.
During meetings on Capitol Hill, Maduros and at least one Immigration Voice representative lay out the group's platform, weaving in the personal stories of members. Shilpa Ghodgaonkar, a Germantown housewife, has become a staple anecdote -- and a frequent visitor on the Hill.
For four years, she and her husband have been waiting for their green cards. Ghodgaonkar's husband arrived on an H-1B visa, and she followed as his dependent, unauthorized to work here. To pass the time, she learned to cook. Then she volunteered as a career counselor in Montgomery County. Last year, she earned her MBA from George Washington University. In December, around the time Kapoor sent out his e-mail plea for mass mobilization, Ghodgaonkar had run out of options.
"I just couldn't keep quiet anymore," Ghodgaonkar said. "I cannot be depressed anymore."
She keeps a spreadsheet that lays out appointment times and the senators' offices she has visited or still plans to: Specter, Frist, Schumer, Brownback, Bingaman, Feinstein, Feingold. Wednesdays bring a weekly call with Quinn Gillespie. And every few nights, there are conference calls among Immigration Voice's core team.
Now the group plans to closely watch the debate resuming in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Earlier this month, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) proposed amendments with all of the group's provisions. Other lawmakers confirm that they are still meeting with the group to hear their concerns.
Immigration Voice leaders say the past few months have focused and politicized Indian immigrants in a way that was not apparent in the past. "There is a very 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' quality" about the current effort, Mandapati said. "It's been a journey, a loss of naivete and getting to know about American politics."
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