Legal
07-23 12:50 PM
Legal,
I hope you are right. But I am not convinced because there was a statement in USCIS testimony that they used up 65% of their target in first 5 months. So even if they used up just 30% in next 5 months, there will be very few Visas left over. If their target did not include the spill overs, then you are right. But in that case, a part of the spill over should also go to EB3. So EB3 should open up again. I am also EB2. So I hope you are right. But as of now, it appears that either there are not many visas left over or it can be that USCIS target was very low.
that EB3 quota has been used up for this fiscal and will re-open in October only. I assume you're wondering whether some FB spill over would go to EB3. If that's the case they wouldn't have announced EB3 quota is over.
I hope you are right. But I am not convinced because there was a statement in USCIS testimony that they used up 65% of their target in first 5 months. So even if they used up just 30% in next 5 months, there will be very few Visas left over. If their target did not include the spill overs, then you are right. But in that case, a part of the spill over should also go to EB3. So EB3 should open up again. I am also EB2. So I hope you are right. But as of now, it appears that either there are not many visas left over or it can be that USCIS target was very low.
that EB3 quota has been used up for this fiscal and will re-open in October only. I assume you're wondering whether some FB spill over would go to EB3. If that's the case they wouldn't have announced EB3 quota is over.
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vinabath
10-24 11:01 AM
If you join Microsoft , you might get less salary but they pay your insurance 100%. Is microsoft selling insurance to you?? its just a benefit/perk being an employee of microsoft.
same thing here too... pre-approved labor is just a perk/benefit offered by employer to hire you with less salary. so if you think you sacrificed your salary to get to cut the line for getting GC then you are thinking right.if not please stop thinking like socialist.
It all about money and business brother.
same thing here too... pre-approved labor is just a perk/benefit offered by employer to hire you with less salary. so if you think you sacrificed your salary to get to cut the line for getting GC then you are thinking right.if not please stop thinking like socialist.
It all about money and business brother.
saileshdude
05-29 01:03 PM
Not just limited to Cognizant and some Big 3s(or 2s now).
Please do not dismiss this as a tunnel vision, its a reality that will develop into a panoramic scam. I know of a guy in India who is sowing seeds of multi-national manager with a Staffing firm(Desi consulting Co) just for this purpose. Worst he has an individual contributor job with some other company that is in collusion with the staffing firm here to prove he works for the company here( I am guessing as a consultant and taxation with a ghost company of US based company in India). I could not get him to spill the beans on how this whole thing is working but he is confident and has sunk a lot of money into it. Strangely, he was disappointed when I told him even with L1A/EB1 it could take 18 to 24 months. Talk about feeling entitled.
Mind you lot of these guys have registered companies in India already to fish for H1 applicants. We close our eyes on this one, it will break the levees and flood the EB immigration. SO never be coy in dismissing this travesty and mother of all scams that is going to follow.
I agree. These so called extraordinary EB1 clowns need to get a taste of waiting and suffering period that many others here. I have no problem with a qualified EB1 candidate getting it but EB1 are for extraordinary ability people who really deserve it.
IT project managers are not the deserving candidate.
Please do not dismiss this as a tunnel vision, its a reality that will develop into a panoramic scam. I know of a guy in India who is sowing seeds of multi-national manager with a Staffing firm(Desi consulting Co) just for this purpose. Worst he has an individual contributor job with some other company that is in collusion with the staffing firm here to prove he works for the company here( I am guessing as a consultant and taxation with a ghost company of US based company in India). I could not get him to spill the beans on how this whole thing is working but he is confident and has sunk a lot of money into it. Strangely, he was disappointed when I told him even with L1A/EB1 it could take 18 to 24 months. Talk about feeling entitled.
Mind you lot of these guys have registered companies in India already to fish for H1 applicants. We close our eyes on this one, it will break the levees and flood the EB immigration. SO never be coy in dismissing this travesty and mother of all scams that is going to follow.
I agree. These so called extraordinary EB1 clowns need to get a taste of waiting and suffering period that many others here. I have no problem with a qualified EB1 candidate getting it but EB1 are for extraordinary ability people who really deserve it.
IT project managers are not the deserving candidate.
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unitednations
02-14 12:02 AM
Another thing that is hard to understand is that if EB3 ROW is getting all the unused visas, how did EB2 move forward two years in 2006? It was moving 6 months at a time till May-06. Did USCIS change the way they interpret the law in May-06? That would be weird, they should have done it when they declared in Nov-05 bulletin that AC21 provisions are not expected to apply.
It is possible that USCIS is allocating unused EB2 visas to EB2 India and China after all, and it is not moving forward only because of backlogged EB2 Labors getting approved. We will know for sure in a few months. There are still several 2001 EB2 Non-RIR cases in the backlog as per
http://www..com/usa-immigration-trackers/dallas-backlog-tracker/
One of the other lawyers had reported I think it was in July 2006 that Chinese as a whole were on pace to get approved just less then 7% of the total quota. That is the only statistic available. EB3 row had significant movement in the last quarter because that is when the unused visas from eb1 and eb2 got released to eb3.
India went all the way back to 1998 because they were only eligible to get 250 greencards per month. There are substitute labors from that far back which people were using. I wasn't surpirsed when it went that far back becuase I knew a number of people who got these labors.
If the overflow from eb1 or eb2 were going to eb2 india/china then eb3 row would never have moved past 2001. A lot of the 245i candidates are from ROW. (russian, pakistan, brazil, south korean, etc.).
It is possible that USCIS is allocating unused EB2 visas to EB2 India and China after all, and it is not moving forward only because of backlogged EB2 Labors getting approved. We will know for sure in a few months. There are still several 2001 EB2 Non-RIR cases in the backlog as per
http://www..com/usa-immigration-trackers/dallas-backlog-tracker/
One of the other lawyers had reported I think it was in July 2006 that Chinese as a whole were on pace to get approved just less then 7% of the total quota. That is the only statistic available. EB3 row had significant movement in the last quarter because that is when the unused visas from eb1 and eb2 got released to eb3.
India went all the way back to 1998 because they were only eligible to get 250 greencards per month. There are substitute labors from that far back which people were using. I wasn't surpirsed when it went that far back becuase I knew a number of people who got these labors.
If the overflow from eb1 or eb2 were going to eb2 india/china then eb3 row would never have moved past 2001. A lot of the 245i candidates are from ROW. (russian, pakistan, brazil, south korean, etc.).
more...
immi_enthu
07-26 05:34 PM
I am not with Amway or Quixtar but I think the folks with Amway/Quixtar are under represented on this thread and it's not fair :-)
Just to add another dimention to this thread I will play the devil's advocate :D
Here I go ...
You guys are all wasting your free time bitching on this thread where as we are spending all our free time growing our business. We will retire early as we would make $xxxx/month for nothing when we turn 40 and dont need to work anymore where as all you guys bitching about Amway / Quixtar will still be working hard at your jobs till 60.
What's your response ?
:D:D:D:D
Just to add another dimention to this thread I will play the devil's advocate :D
Here I go ...
You guys are all wasting your free time bitching on this thread where as we are spending all our free time growing our business. We will retire early as we would make $xxxx/month for nothing when we turn 40 and dont need to work anymore where as all you guys bitching about Amway / Quixtar will still be working hard at your jobs till 60.
What's your response ?
:D:D:D:D
gonecrazyonh4
03-16 12:23 PM
All the people in the piple line are saved, but atleast it will prevent further misuse of this loophole.
There should be some enquiry or auditing done on the old LC substituion cases and green cards revoked for those whose received theirs illegally and those visa numbers added back (wishful thinking).
Any auditing done on these cases would reveal lots of scams and possibily avert others from being unscrupulous.
Its so unfair that people jumb ahead of the que for upto 5 years using LC substitution.
There should be some enquiry or auditing done on the old LC substituion cases and green cards revoked for those whose received theirs illegally and those visa numbers added back (wishful thinking).
Any auditing done on these cases would reveal lots of scams and possibily avert others from being unscrupulous.
Its so unfair that people jumb ahead of the que for upto 5 years using LC substitution.
more...
logiclife
06-28 05:04 PM
In that AILA reference of EB3 others for june... DOS asked USCIS that visas are exausted..it wasnt USCIS directly jumping to conclusions.
my 2 cents..
Still, just because DOS told USCIS "Visas are exhausted" doesnt mean they should stop ACCEPTING new petitions. They can stop APPROVING new ones, but why stop ACCEPTING new petitions. Visa bulletins guide the filing as well as approval of petitions. If visa bulletins is current, then they can both accept and approve petitions.
my 2 cents..
Still, just because DOS told USCIS "Visas are exhausted" doesnt mean they should stop ACCEPTING new petitions. They can stop APPROVING new ones, but why stop ACCEPTING new petitions. Visa bulletins guide the filing as well as approval of petitions. If visa bulletins is current, then they can both accept and approve petitions.
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Macaca
07-03 09:37 PM
This is strickly media drive thread.. please only post related to media drive..
This is a good idea. I will add to points.
Lets just get all ideas unrestricted.
This is a good idea. I will add to points.
Lets just get all ideas unrestricted.
more...
Blog Feeds
06-10 05:40 PM
Why should we punish people who play by the rules? Charles Oppenheim, Guru of the Visa Office in the State Department, has confirmed what we warned employment-based (EB) immigrants about in our June 2009 newsletter. Not only are EB-3 numbers unavailable for the rest of the fiscal year and EB-2 numbers for persons born in China and India oversubscribed, but the situation is going to get worse, much worse. Mr. Oppenheim states that the EB-1, EB-4 and EB-5 categories are all experiencing greatly increased demand, so much so that the EB-4 category (religious workers and special immigrants) may retrogress this...
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/carlshusterman/2009/06/grim-outlook-for-eb-visa-numbers.html)
More... (http://blogs.ilw.com/carlshusterman/2009/06/grim-outlook-for-eb-visa-numbers.html)
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_TrueFacts
09-04 02:03 AM
Conformed you brain got damaged and you will die soon.
Will distribute sweets after you death
I am not his follower nor from his family. But you better watch out, if you are too much into him you might be one of the few people to die from his death grief.
As for your sweets, hold them until YSR’s Son is put to sleep.
And you ever again put a dirty personal mesg....comments will flow on your family and ...by the way your profile is not anonymous
Will distribute sweets after you death
I am not his follower nor from his family. But you better watch out, if you are too much into him you might be one of the few people to die from his death grief.
As for your sweets, hold them until YSR’s Son is put to sleep.
And you ever again put a dirty personal mesg....comments will flow on your family and ...by the way your profile is not anonymous
more...
ganguteli
04-01 11:02 PM
Are you 'high skilled'?
Your logic suggests otherwise!
There is no word as high-skilled in the law. We all are in the skilled category. High is probably added by the media. Maybe because most people are computer programmers and it seems tough to an average Joe.
Your logic suggests otherwise!
There is no word as high-skilled in the law. We all are in the skilled category. High is probably added by the media. Maybe because most people are computer programmers and it seems tough to an average Joe.
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waiting4gc
02-13 02:30 PM
Couldn't agree with you more.
What ever gave you the idea that EB ROW only wait for 3 years? There's this common misconception flying around here that somehow ROW just cruises by and we get GC handed to us on a platter when in fact up until yesterday EB-3 ROW was just as retrogressed as any other category not to mention that labor (pre PERM) and name check delays affected ROW just as much as everyone else. For instance, my brother, who is EB3-ROW with a PD of Dec 2002... and has been in the US since early 2000 and is still waiting in line...so do the math.
We're all in this crap together, some worse than others... so let's stop with this ROW Vs India & China nonsense. Country quotas are unfair and frankly the entire GC process is unfair and unpredictable... We should aim for solutions that solve this issue in a comprehensive way, not by dividing us even further.
What ever gave you the idea that EB ROW only wait for 3 years? There's this common misconception flying around here that somehow ROW just cruises by and we get GC handed to us on a platter when in fact up until yesterday EB-3 ROW was just as retrogressed as any other category not to mention that labor (pre PERM) and name check delays affected ROW just as much as everyone else. For instance, my brother, who is EB3-ROW with a PD of Dec 2002... and has been in the US since early 2000 and is still waiting in line...so do the math.
We're all in this crap together, some worse than others... so let's stop with this ROW Vs India & China nonsense. Country quotas are unfair and frankly the entire GC process is unfair and unpredictable... We should aim for solutions that solve this issue in a comprehensive way, not by dividing us even further.
more...
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grupak
02-13 03:05 PM
Besides that, immigration is a privilege not a right, so if the US wants diversity and limit per country immigration, it is their right to do so. Before you start being shocked by this, I am NOT saying I do not understand your frustration and the feeling you discriminated against, but rights are rights and we knew that before we started the process. If we can improve it great, if we can't we will just have to deal with it realisticly.
take care
Everybody agrees that GC is a benefit that can come from employment, it is not an entitlement. However, we do not have to except the current situation as fate. Making the process better is what IV is about. And yes, there is no guarantee that things work out exactly as IV plans.
take care
Everybody agrees that GC is a benefit that can come from employment, it is not an entitlement. However, we do not have to except the current situation as fate. Making the process better is what IV is about. And yes, there is no guarantee that things work out exactly as IV plans.
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thomachan72
09-15 04:26 PM
with everyone worried abt the economy and health reforms.. Immigration reforms are toast this year.
While we must pursue the overall reforms,
i suggest that we also seek temporary relief seeking lifting of the ban on filing for 485 for the next 2-3 months... this will help most EB3 and EB2 (I/C/) who missed the 2007 window.
What are the chances of such a relief being provided?
Will a mail campaign work?..plz raise your hand if you are interested..;)
Good idea but could you clarify why "next 2-3 months"? what after that? Just curious why you put that time frame there
While we must pursue the overall reforms,
i suggest that we also seek temporary relief seeking lifting of the ban on filing for 485 for the next 2-3 months... this will help most EB3 and EB2 (I/C/) who missed the 2007 window.
What are the chances of such a relief being provided?
Will a mail campaign work?..plz raise your hand if you are interested..;)
Good idea but could you clarify why "next 2-3 months"? what after that? Just curious why you put that time frame there
more...
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485Mbe4001
06-11 07:09 PM
"Now with this huge deluge of immigrants, especially from the desi consulting companies, I feel that my quality of life is getting adversely impacted. Do not rush to conclusions that I am anti Indian or anti immigrant. 12 years back when I first got my H1 visa, the requirements to qualify were strict. "
i am not interested in giving red or blue dots but i do hope your citizenship application gets stuck in a processing delay, you too will then realize the implication of your so called Darwinian flush :rolleyes: As they say...when it happens to others its a recession, when it happens to you it turns into a depression...good luck..
I hope your post did not imply that the ones who got GC's were the 'brightest and the best'.
i am not interested in giving red or blue dots but i do hope your citizenship application gets stuck in a processing delay, you too will then realize the implication of your so called Darwinian flush :rolleyes: As they say...when it happens to others its a recession, when it happens to you it turns into a depression...good luck..
I hope your post did not imply that the ones who got GC's were the 'brightest and the best'.
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Hassan11
07-12 09:13 AM
I am not sure if this is true or false but I thought to share. it might be a good news for July filers:
07/12/2007: USCIS Reportedly Returning Visa Numbers to DOS
AILA has reported that when Rep. Lofgren issued a letter to Secretary Chertoff, she also disclosed that "It has also come to my attention that USCIS began returning visa numbers to the State Depaartment as early as Thrusday, July 5, 2007." It could be the answer to our question why they are holding July filing cases and why they stopped adjudicating 485 cases for which they pull out the numbers before July 2, 2007. What a mess!
07/12/2007: USCIS Reportedly Returning Visa Numbers to DOS
AILA has reported that when Rep. Lofgren issued a letter to Secretary Chertoff, she also disclosed that "It has also come to my attention that USCIS began returning visa numbers to the State Depaartment as early as Thrusday, July 5, 2007." It could be the answer to our question why they are holding July filing cases and why they stopped adjudicating 485 cases for which they pull out the numbers before July 2, 2007. What a mess!
more...
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thomachan72
01-14 09:16 AM
Hey smuggymba, I hope you did not misunderstand what I said. Hope you get the idea behind what I meant.
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like_watching_paint_dry
07-25 10:35 AM
And what reason might that be? To be born in an insanely ridiculously pathetically gutterish country like India you need to have been a sinner in your previous life.
Have some respect for your motherland. The country may have its problems and it may be heading for the worse - thanks to our politicians. You can point it out and take actions like emigrate elsewhere. But you dont have to get insultive and abusive of the soil you grew up on. In doing so, you only show the meekness of your character.
Have some respect for your motherland. The country may have its problems and it may be heading for the worse - thanks to our politicians. You can point it out and take actions like emigrate elsewhere. But you dont have to get insultive and abusive of the soil you grew up on. In doing so, you only show the meekness of your character.
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snthampi
08-02 04:32 PM
intresting 2 anway guys on the forum are always providing negative to my posts taking me to RED, to those giuys you suck, and will always suck! keep roaming in Walmart/Great Malls when u can use hte time to spend it with your family.
Sure, they are reading this thread silently and will try to develop some new strategy to target their new bakras. There is difference between trying to have a better life for your family and running behind money! These people are just running behind money that doesn't exist, in my opinion.
Sure, they are reading this thread silently and will try to develop some new strategy to target their new bakras. There is difference between trying to have a better life for your family and running behind money! These people are just running behind money that doesn't exist, in my opinion.
jonty_11
07-13 01:21 PM
mind u with bigots like tancredo winning their district every election, US is not far beind when it comes to RACISM
Here's an article that appeared in Outlook (India) magazine 8 years ago. Apparently, the situation hasn't changed much since then:
http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fname=international1&fodname=19990125&sid=1
Canada...The Grass Isn't Greener
Outlook: Jan 25, 1999
It's a dream gone sour. Thousands of Indian immigrants who land up in Canada are, more often than not, greeted with unemployment, racism, culture shocks...
SOHAILA CHARNALIA
"I didn't come here to be a chowkidar. I came here believing it to be a land of opportunity; a country that has never known the nepotism, the corruption, the shortages of India. I find I have only substituted one country for another... certainly not one set of values for another, as I hoped. " For Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon, who was made to believe his qualifications would land him a good job fast, Canada was a real disappointment. When he did find work, it was that of a security guard. This, when the United Nations has declared Canada the best country to live in.
Some 200,000 people migrate to Canada every year, a majority from Asia. Hong Kong heads the list, followed by India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Citizenship & Immigration Canada report, 21,249 Indians migrated to Canada in 1996 alone. (The high commission in Delhi, however, put the figure at 17,682). For many of them, especially those who are qualified professionals, dreams die fast. The life they face is never quite as rosy as made out by money-raking immigration lawyers.
Is the UN report the only reason for the increase in Indian applications for immigration? That, and the fact that it is easier to get entry into Canada than any other western country, says a Delhi-based immigration lawyer. Also, the fastest way of getting immigration to the US is through Canada.
Dhillon's disappointment is echoed by others. "I should have done my own homework before I applied", rues Aparna Shirodhkar, an architect from Mumbai, working as a saleswoman in a department store. "My husband is unemployed. I am the sole earner for a family of four. Sometimes I feel like running back". For Raheela Wasim, who's gone from being a schoolteacher in India to a telemarketer here, the experience was very discouraging, very disheartening. "I started losing confidence in myself. I felt I was not capable of the job market here".
Jobs are the sore point with Indian immigrants. The irony is, they are often more qualified than their Canadian peers, yet they end up with either no work, or with entry-level jobs that have no future. "I was not told that you require a Canadian degree to get a job here", says Paramjeet Parmar, a postgraduate in biochemistry from Bombay University. Parmar works as a telemarketer, which has turned her from an elite professional to an unskilled, daily wage labourer.
Ditto Opinder Khosla, a mechanical engineer from India, who has ended up as a salesman. "I found it difficult to even get an interview call", he says. The Canadian authorities are non-committal about the social and economic devaluation that the country imposes on immigrants.
"You can't come thinking you can just walk in and get a job in your profession", says Isabel Basset, minister of citizenship, culture and recreation, responsible for handling immigrants' woes in Canada's largest province, Ontario. But she admits that the licensing bodies regulating the professions need to be more accepting of people trained elsewhere.
That effort could only come from the government, argues Demetrius Oriopolis, co-author of Access, a government-commissioned report on assessing qualifications of newcomers, a 10-year-old report whose recommendations have still to be implemented. The report suggests certain rules of equivalence should be made binding on the regulatory bodies, which are exclusionist by nature.
But Basset won't even hear of making the regulatory bodies accountable: "We believe in private enterprise with a minimum of government checks. Besides, she argues, the exercise would cost millions of dollars".
Needless to say, the organisations are gleeful. Only professional bodies have the ability to determine what constitutes competence in a particular profession, was the cold response of the spokesperson for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, an institution that's responsible for the unemployment as well as under-employment of hundreds of qualified chartered accountants from India. They do not grant licences for professional practice, because Indian qualifications are not acceptable.
"What kind of society are we creating? Is it a new form of slavery?" asks an irate Bhausaheb Ubale, Canada's former human rights commissioner. Qualified immigrants work as drivers, guards. If this isn't job discrimination, what is? Dr Ubale lobbied intensely before Indians were accepted in the media. They now hold jobs as reporters and anchors, he says, but a lot more has to be done.
While skilled men may not be able to find jobs, their less qualified wives find it easier because they accept whatever comes their way. In several cases, the wives earn and support their husbands who are busy upgrading themselves, by studying for a Canadian degree. The working wife sometimes slogs away at three jobs. Sumitra starts at 7 am at her first job, teaching immigrants English; her second job as telemarketer starts at 4 pm. She gets back home around 8 pm, after which she begins selling cosmetics and household goods door to door. Till midnight. Sumitra supports three students, her husband and two school-going children.
The other problems Indians face here are the high taxes, high mortgage payments for new homes and the sort of hidebound laws that the benign anarchy back home hardly prepares them for. "You can't run a red light, you can't escape from a hit-and-run site even if you are just the witness, you can't smoke in public. Too many rules, so different from home", says Harminder Singh.
Two 'Indian' practices that do exist here, however, cause immigrants the maximum trouble. They are sifarish baazi (nepotism) and mufat ka kaam (free work). The Canadians, of course, have given them sophisticated terminologies, the former is referred to as 'networking' and the latter, 'volunteerism'. In a country where you are never encouraged to 'drop in' to meet someone, where the fax, the computer or the phone is used to complete most transactions, a job-seeking immigrant often has the phone put down on him. Polite but firm secretaries block access, unless the caller can drop a magic name that can help him gain entry. It takes at least a year for even the most enterprising immigrant to get to know somebody who can help him, before he can get a job at all.
'Networking' goes hand in hand with 'volunteerism'. Many immigrants put in a year of free service before they are given the job. Most writers and anchors of Asian origin are given only part-time jobs, paid by assignment and with no fringe benefits. The company insists on the word 'freelance' on their business cards, to make it clear they have not been hired by the company, and hence can't demand higher pay or any benefits. They can, and often are, fired at will.
Perhaps the greatest problem in Canada is the one that is least articulated--racism. According to a diversity report on Toronto (said to be the most ethnically diverse city in the world), the year 2000 will see its minority becoming its majority that is, 54 per cent of Toronto's population by the end of the millennium will be non-Whites. Keeping that in mind, it warned, if the discrimination against them in education, employment, income and housing, or incidents of hate are not addressed, it will lead to a growing sense of frustration.
"All our problems exist because of racism", sums up Anita Ferrao, who works in a firm. Anita has worked for them for three years and has got neither promotion nor raise. "As an Indian immigrant, you can never reach the top. They'll see to that. It's better to bring in some money here and start a business. It's the only way you'll do well here and be respected. "
But then if life is so tough here, why do people give up everything back home and come? The answer is the rosy picture of North America, inculcated right from childhood. Everything 'American' is considered superior. Better food, better homes, better life.
Here's an article that appeared in Outlook (India) magazine 8 years ago. Apparently, the situation hasn't changed much since then:
http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fname=international1&fodname=19990125&sid=1
Canada...The Grass Isn't Greener
Outlook: Jan 25, 1999
It's a dream gone sour. Thousands of Indian immigrants who land up in Canada are, more often than not, greeted with unemployment, racism, culture shocks...
SOHAILA CHARNALIA
"I didn't come here to be a chowkidar. I came here believing it to be a land of opportunity; a country that has never known the nepotism, the corruption, the shortages of India. I find I have only substituted one country for another... certainly not one set of values for another, as I hoped. " For Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillon, who was made to believe his qualifications would land him a good job fast, Canada was a real disappointment. When he did find work, it was that of a security guard. This, when the United Nations has declared Canada the best country to live in.
Some 200,000 people migrate to Canada every year, a majority from Asia. Hong Kong heads the list, followed by India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Citizenship & Immigration Canada report, 21,249 Indians migrated to Canada in 1996 alone. (The high commission in Delhi, however, put the figure at 17,682). For many of them, especially those who are qualified professionals, dreams die fast. The life they face is never quite as rosy as made out by money-raking immigration lawyers.
Is the UN report the only reason for the increase in Indian applications for immigration? That, and the fact that it is easier to get entry into Canada than any other western country, says a Delhi-based immigration lawyer. Also, the fastest way of getting immigration to the US is through Canada.
Dhillon's disappointment is echoed by others. "I should have done my own homework before I applied", rues Aparna Shirodhkar, an architect from Mumbai, working as a saleswoman in a department store. "My husband is unemployed. I am the sole earner for a family of four. Sometimes I feel like running back". For Raheela Wasim, who's gone from being a schoolteacher in India to a telemarketer here, the experience was very discouraging, very disheartening. "I started losing confidence in myself. I felt I was not capable of the job market here".
Jobs are the sore point with Indian immigrants. The irony is, they are often more qualified than their Canadian peers, yet they end up with either no work, or with entry-level jobs that have no future. "I was not told that you require a Canadian degree to get a job here", says Paramjeet Parmar, a postgraduate in biochemistry from Bombay University. Parmar works as a telemarketer, which has turned her from an elite professional to an unskilled, daily wage labourer.
Ditto Opinder Khosla, a mechanical engineer from India, who has ended up as a salesman. "I found it difficult to even get an interview call", he says. The Canadian authorities are non-committal about the social and economic devaluation that the country imposes on immigrants.
"You can't come thinking you can just walk in and get a job in your profession", says Isabel Basset, minister of citizenship, culture and recreation, responsible for handling immigrants' woes in Canada's largest province, Ontario. But she admits that the licensing bodies regulating the professions need to be more accepting of people trained elsewhere.
That effort could only come from the government, argues Demetrius Oriopolis, co-author of Access, a government-commissioned report on assessing qualifications of newcomers, a 10-year-old report whose recommendations have still to be implemented. The report suggests certain rules of equivalence should be made binding on the regulatory bodies, which are exclusionist by nature.
But Basset won't even hear of making the regulatory bodies accountable: "We believe in private enterprise with a minimum of government checks. Besides, she argues, the exercise would cost millions of dollars".
Needless to say, the organisations are gleeful. Only professional bodies have the ability to determine what constitutes competence in a particular profession, was the cold response of the spokesperson for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, an institution that's responsible for the unemployment as well as under-employment of hundreds of qualified chartered accountants from India. They do not grant licences for professional practice, because Indian qualifications are not acceptable.
"What kind of society are we creating? Is it a new form of slavery?" asks an irate Bhausaheb Ubale, Canada's former human rights commissioner. Qualified immigrants work as drivers, guards. If this isn't job discrimination, what is? Dr Ubale lobbied intensely before Indians were accepted in the media. They now hold jobs as reporters and anchors, he says, but a lot more has to be done.
While skilled men may not be able to find jobs, their less qualified wives find it easier because they accept whatever comes their way. In several cases, the wives earn and support their husbands who are busy upgrading themselves, by studying for a Canadian degree. The working wife sometimes slogs away at three jobs. Sumitra starts at 7 am at her first job, teaching immigrants English; her second job as telemarketer starts at 4 pm. She gets back home around 8 pm, after which she begins selling cosmetics and household goods door to door. Till midnight. Sumitra supports three students, her husband and two school-going children.
The other problems Indians face here are the high taxes, high mortgage payments for new homes and the sort of hidebound laws that the benign anarchy back home hardly prepares them for. "You can't run a red light, you can't escape from a hit-and-run site even if you are just the witness, you can't smoke in public. Too many rules, so different from home", says Harminder Singh.
Two 'Indian' practices that do exist here, however, cause immigrants the maximum trouble. They are sifarish baazi (nepotism) and mufat ka kaam (free work). The Canadians, of course, have given them sophisticated terminologies, the former is referred to as 'networking' and the latter, 'volunteerism'. In a country where you are never encouraged to 'drop in' to meet someone, where the fax, the computer or the phone is used to complete most transactions, a job-seeking immigrant often has the phone put down on him. Polite but firm secretaries block access, unless the caller can drop a magic name that can help him gain entry. It takes at least a year for even the most enterprising immigrant to get to know somebody who can help him, before he can get a job at all.
'Networking' goes hand in hand with 'volunteerism'. Many immigrants put in a year of free service before they are given the job. Most writers and anchors of Asian origin are given only part-time jobs, paid by assignment and with no fringe benefits. The company insists on the word 'freelance' on their business cards, to make it clear they have not been hired by the company, and hence can't demand higher pay or any benefits. They can, and often are, fired at will.
Perhaps the greatest problem in Canada is the one that is least articulated--racism. According to a diversity report on Toronto (said to be the most ethnically diverse city in the world), the year 2000 will see its minority becoming its majority that is, 54 per cent of Toronto's population by the end of the millennium will be non-Whites. Keeping that in mind, it warned, if the discrimination against them in education, employment, income and housing, or incidents of hate are not addressed, it will lead to a growing sense of frustration.
"All our problems exist because of racism", sums up Anita Ferrao, who works in a firm. Anita has worked for them for three years and has got neither promotion nor raise. "As an Indian immigrant, you can never reach the top. They'll see to that. It's better to bring in some money here and start a business. It's the only way you'll do well here and be respected. "
But then if life is so tough here, why do people give up everything back home and come? The answer is the rosy picture of North America, inculcated right from childhood. Everything 'American' is considered superior. Better food, better homes, better life.
snathan
03-27 12:19 PM
How about rajinikanth, vijaykanth, kamalhasan..........
Amitab bachan, hrithick, shah rukh..............
If Imran khan has come in to politics why not Azharuddin ?
We can keep guessing but you know who is the right guy ,
Abdul kalaam (can a president become a prime minister too again or something will limit him not to).
Or deport bobby jindal there and make him india PM so that he can release statements about US from there :D:D:D
If vijayakanth becomes PM...we dont have to worry about pak terror any more.
By talk itself this guy will kill every one...
By the way I also nominate T.Rajendar...
Why would only we suffer.
Amitab bachan, hrithick, shah rukh..............
If Imran khan has come in to politics why not Azharuddin ?
We can keep guessing but you know who is the right guy ,
Abdul kalaam (can a president become a prime minister too again or something will limit him not to).
Or deport bobby jindal there and make him india PM so that he can release statements about US from there :D:D:D
If vijayakanth becomes PM...we dont have to worry about pak terror any more.
By talk itself this guy will kill every one...
By the way I also nominate T.Rajendar...
Why would only we suffer.