Posts Tagged ‘immigrant visa’
U.S. CONSULATE IN CHENNAI, INDIA NO LONGER PROCESSING IMMIGRANT VISAS
As of January 1, 2012, the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India will no longer process immigrant visas. An immigrant visa allows a foreign national entry to the U.S. as a permanent resident (green card holder). The U.S. Consulates in Mumbai (Bombay) and New Delhi will be the only Consulates processing immigrant visas going forward.
An immigrant visa is typically obtained after a family member or employer has sponsored a foreign national for permanent status in the U.S. This is the second step following approval of an immigrant petition in the U.S.
Applicants currently in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa in Chennai may contact ChennaiIVU@state.gov for clarification on their status.
Tags: Chennai, green card, immigrant visa, India
Posted in Alerts, Immigrant Visas | Read More »
Number of International Students in the U.S. Rising
The number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by an average of 8% for a total 671,616 students, for this academic year, according to the Open Doors report, which is published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE). This is the largest percentage increase in international student enrollment since 1981, and marks the third consecutive year of growth.
Here’s how it breaks down, according to the Open Doors report, in terms of the top 15 sending countries:
| India | Increased by 9% | 103,260 students |
| China | Increased by 21% | 98,510 students |
| South Korea | Increased by 9% | 75,065 students |
| Canada | Increased by 2% | 29, 697 students |
| Japan | Decreased by 14% | 29, 264 students |
| Taiwan | Decreased by 3% | 28, 065 students |
| Mexico | No increase | 14, 850 students |
| Turkey | Increased by 10% | 13, 263 students |
| Vietnam | Increased by 46% | 12, 823 students |
| Saudi Arabia | Increased by 28% | 12, 661 students |
| Nepal | Increased by 30% | 11, 581 students |
| Germany | Increased by 9% | 9679 students |
| Brazil | Increased by 16% | 8767 students |
| Thailand | Decreased by 3% | 8736 students |
| United Kingdom | Increased by 4% | 8701 students |
While on many levels this is great news, it highlights the inadequacy of our current immigration system, which is based on an antiquated visa quota system that has no relationship to the globalized world in which we live. These international students, who disproportionately obtain degrees in the sciences, are in a position to make enormous contributions to our society. For instance, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that between 1990 and 2007, 25% of all publicly traded companies in the U.S. that were started with venture capital financing had an immigrant founder (“The Other Immigrants”, WSJ, Nov. 18, 2009). Basically, it’s in our interest to keep the best and the brightest of these students here in the U.S. But as the system currently stands, an Indian national graduating with a U.S. degree would need to wait many years (upwards of 10 in some cases) to be eligible for an immigrant visa. Why would this person choose to immigrate to the U.S. , if Canada, Germany, and a whole host of other countries offer a more streamlined and user-friendly system? In short, does it make sense for us to offer the best universities in the world (ours) to the world’s best and brightest, only to watch them take their skills and talents elsewhere?
Tags: colleges, immigrant visa, immigration, international student, quota, universities, visa
Posted in Politics/Current Events, Uncategorized | Read More »
Widow Penalty: The End of Insult to Injury
Congress has just voted to put an end to the “widow penalty”, that provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that rendered surviving spouses and their children deportable following the death of the U.S. citizen spouse. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. This new legislation allows surviving spouses who were married for less than two years at the time of the U.S. citizen spouse’s death to self-petition for permanent residency within two years of the enactment of this new law. (Surviving spouses who were married for more than two years at the time of death of the U.S. citizen spouse already had the ability to self-petition). The new law does not require that an immigrant visa petition be on file, and it applies both to surviving spouses who live in the U.S., and to those who live abroad. Additionally, in cases there the surviving spouse was already a beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition filed on their behalf prior to the death of their U.S. citizen spouse, it is expected that such immigrant visa petition will automatically convert into a self-petition situation. For more information, see http://www.ssad.org. It’s nice to see a positive development from Congress in the immigration arena . Now, how about that comprehensive immigration reform?
Tags: comprehensive immigration reform, green card, immigrant visa, permanent residency, self-petition, surviving spouse, widow penalty
Posted in Politics/Current Events | Read More »
