Dear Editor:
What Mr. Alexander's letter ignores about the permanent residency application procedures is that they are not at all that efficient or fair as a tool to work in the
U.S. In the case of employment-based applications,
Labor Certification is a cumbersome and unworkable
process that could currently take anywhere from four
to eight years to achieve permanent residency and at
least two years to get a work permit. This is not
because of stringent market tests and security checks,
but a result of bureaucratic backlogs that have files
sitting idle for years. Employers are not extremely
interested in speeding up processing because this
status quo very much prevents workers from switching
employers. On the other hand, non-labor certification
based applications, such as "extraordinary" and
"exceptional" abilities, are inconsistent and unfair
procedures. A player of the "Pan Flute of the Tibet"
or a researcher on the "Proteins of the Left Eye of
the Yellow Cow" can get it approved by overwhelming a
clueless immigration caseworker with cryptic
documents. And they are not fast either. Meanwhile,
people that make actual economic contributions to the
country in more common fields are left out because
they are not "exceptional." The H-1B visa is the only
open door for "real world" professionals that want to
navigate the increasingly muddy waters of the green
card application.
Sebastian
Washington, DC
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