Tough choices face women separated from spouses by immigration law
RICHMOND, Va. —
Whenever someone knocks on the door, Beatriz Marquez’s 2-year-old son gets excited.
“Daddy coming?” Anthony asks repeatedly in Spanish. “No, Daddy is working,” she tells him.
The
little boy has been waiting for his father to come home for more than
three months. The last time he saw Victor Orellana, he was in handcuffs
on his way to jail.
Orellana, 28, who was in the U.S.
illegally, was deported to El Salvador in October, a month and a half
after he was detained at his home in Henrico County by U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agents.
During the most recent fiscal
year, 186,641 immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally were deported.
Of those, 1,576 lived in Virginia and the nation’s capital.
Marquez and her children are living the consequences of her husband’s deportation, and she is not alone.
A
Times-Dispatch reporter spoke with a handful of women in the Richmond
area–some of them in the country legally, others not _ whose husbands
have been deported recently. Their lives, and the lives of their
children, were turned upside down in a heartbeat.
Suddenly,
the women found themselves frantically trying to save their husbands
from deportation. Some had to move out of their homes because they
couldn’t work to pay the rent while caring for their children.
“Immigration Consultant” nonlawyer files frivolous case, has her clients deported
Via SignonSandiego.com
12/18/2006
Yet another story of an “Immigration Consultant” nonlawyer who took enormous sums of money from her clients and ultimately had them deported from the US due to her incompetence. I always caution my clients to avoid ‘notario’ nonlawyers who guarantee results; they are not licensed to practice Immigration law, and generally have no idea what they are doing.
2008 Diversity Visa Lottery Registrations
Over 6.4 million entries for the 2008
Diversity Visa Lottery were received during the two-month electronic
registration period, from October 4, 2006, through December 3, 2006.
This is an increase from the more than 5.5 million applications
received in the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery. Taking into account
dependents, there are more than 10 million participants in the 2008
Diversity Visa Lottery.
Most of the applications
were from Africa and Asia with 41 percent of the total from Africa, 38
percent from Asia, 19 percent coming from Europe, and 2 percent coming
from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The largest
number of applicants came from Bangladesh (more than 1.7 million
applicants) followed by Nigeria (684,735) and Ukraine (619,584). The
number of winning entries by country will be available after the random
lottery process is conducted next year.
The electronic registration
process makes it easier for applicants to apply and continues to
increase the Department’s ability to screen against duplicate and other
fraudulent entries. Anti-fraud technology using facial recognition and
data mining will be used to eliminate duplicate cases.
Winners will be notified with
a letter mailed from the Kentucky Consular Center confirming the name,
date of birth, and country of chargeability for the registrant, as well
as a time/date stamp when entries were registered. Notification will be
sent to the winning entrants by mail only between April and July 2007
and will provide further instructions, including information on fees
connected with immigration to the United States.
There have been several
attempts to defraud Diversity Visa Lottery entrants. Lottery entrants
selected as winners in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified
only by the Department of State’s Kentucky Consular Center. No other
organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to
contact winning entrants.
2006/1121
Released on December 15, 2006
Immigrants Help U.S. Business; H-1B Cap a Threat
By RICHARD SPRINGER
Via India-West Staff Reporter
Immigrants in the U.S. from 1990-2005 founded 25 percent of all public
venture-backed companies and about 40 percent of the high-technology
start-ups operating today, according to a study issued recently by the
Arlington, Va.-based National Venture Capital Association.
Immigrant-founded or co-founded companies achieved a market capitalization of more than $500 billion in the 15-year period.
Immigration: U.S. Entry Process Considered The “World’s Worst”
WASHINGTON,
DC, Weds. Nov. 29, 2006: The U.S. ranks with Africa and the Middle East
when it comes to travel paperwork and rude immigration officials.
That’s
the word from the Discover America Partnership, which recently
commissioned a study of more than 2,000 travelers worldwide to gauge
perceptions of the U.S. visa and entry process.
Pollsters claim that the U.S. entry process was thought to be the “world’s worst” by travelers and that 54
percent of international travelers said that immigration officials are
rude. Two-thirds also surveyed fear they will be detained at the border
because of a simple mistake or misstatement.
The
study also found that by deterring visitors, the U.S. is missing an
enormous economic and diplomatic opportunity since U.S. entry process
has created a climate of fear and frustration that is turning away
foreign business and leisure travelers from visiting and damaging
America’s image abroad.
“This
study should be a wake-up call for the U.S. government,” said Geoff
Freeman, executive director of the Discover America Partnership.
“Visiting the United States and interacting with the American people
can have a powerful, positive effect on how non-U.S. residents see our
country. Unfortunately, perceptions of a ‘rude’ and ‘arrogant’ entry
process are turning away travelers and harming America’s image.”
The
study was conducted by the independent polling firm RT Strategies
between October 25th and November 9th, 2006. Two-thousand and eleven
non-U.S. resident international travelers were surveyed, representing
15 plus countries worldwide. Half of those travelers had visited the
U.S. since September 11, 2001 while the other half had not visited the
U.S. since September 11, 2001. The Discover America Partnership was
launched in September, 2006 by some of America’s foremost business
leaders. – Hardbeatnews.com
VISA BULLETIN FOR JANUARY 2007
Visa Bulletin
Number 101
Volume VIII
Washington, D.C.
VISA BULLETIN FOR JANUARY 2007
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1.
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during
January. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of
State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas;
the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of
Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status.
Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical
limitations, for the demand received by December 7th in the
chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could
not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the
category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed
oversubscribed. The cut-off date for an oversubscribed category is the
priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within
the numerical limits.
Only
applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may
be allotted a number. Immediately that it becomes necessary during the
monthly allocation process to retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental
requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls
within the new cut-off date.
2.
Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual
minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000. The worldwide
level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least
140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for
preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored
and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent
area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.
3. Section 203 of the INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of immigrant visas as follows:
FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.
Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent
Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused
first preference numbers:
A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.
Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.
Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES
First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth
and fifth preferences.
Second:
Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of
Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference
level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first
and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “Other Workers”.
Schedule
A Workers: Employment First, Second, and Third preference Schedule A
applicants are entitled to up to 50,000 “recaptured” numbers.
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
Fifth:
Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000
of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or
high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional
centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.
4.
INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based
preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which
a petition in behalf of each has been filed. Section 203(d) provides
that spouses and children of preference immigrants are entitled to the
same status, and the same order of consideration, if accompanying or
following to join the principal. The visa prorating provisions of
Section 202(e) apply to allocations for a foreign state or dependent
area when visa demand exceeds the per-country limit. These provisions
apply at present to the following oversubscribed chargeability areas:
CHINA-mainland born, INDIA, MEXICO, and PHILIPPINES.
5.
On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that
the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); “C” means current, i.e.,
numbers are available for all qualified applicants; and “U” means
unavailable, i.e., no numbers are available. (NOTE: Numbers are
available only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the
cut-off date listed below.)
| Fam-ily | All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIPP-INES |
| 1st | 22APR01 | 22APR01 | 22APR01 | 01JAN94 | 15DEC91 |
| 2A | 15MAR02 | 15MAR02 | 15MAR02 | 15MAR00 | 15MAR02 |
| 2B | 08APR97 | 08APR97 | 08APR97 | 01MAR92 | 08SEP96 |
| 3rd | 01JAN99 | 01JAN99 | 01JAN99 | 01JAN95 | 08FEB91 |
| 4th | 08JAN96 | 22JUN95 | 01OCT95 | 22JAN94 | 01JUL84 |
*NOTE:
For January, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to
applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 15MAR00.
2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants
chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning
15MAR00 and earlier than 15MAR02. (All 2A numbers provided for MEXICO
are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for
MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)
|
All |
CHINA- mainland born |
INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIP-PINES | |
| Employ-ment -Based |
|||||
| 1st | C | C | C | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 22APR05 | 08JAN03 | C | C |
| 3rd | 01AUG02 | 01AUG02 | 08MAY01 | 15MAY01 | 01AUG02 |
| Schedule A Workers |
15JUN04 | 15JUN04 | 15JUN04 | 15JUN04 | 15JUN04 |
| Other Workers |
01OCT01 | 01OCT01 | 01OCT01 | 01OCT01 | 01OCT01 |
| 4th | C | C | C | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | C | C | C | C | C |
| Iraqi & Afghani Translators | 18SEP06 | 18SEP06 | 18SEP06 | 18SEP06 | 18SEP06 |
| 5th | C | C | C | C | C |
| Targeted Employ-ment Areas/ Regional Centers |
C | C | C | C | C |
The
Department of State has available a recorded message with visa
availability information which can be heard at: (area code 202)
663-1541. This recording will be updated in the middle of each month
with information on cut-off dates for the following month.
Employment
Third Preference Other Workers Category: Section 203(e) of the NACARA,
as amended by Section 1(e) of Pub. L. 105 – 139, provides that once the
Employment Third Preference Other Worker (EW) cut-off date has reached
the priority date of the latest EW petition approved prior to November
19, 1997, the 10,000 EW numbers available for a fiscal year are to be
reduced by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the following fiscal year.
This reduction is to be made for as long as necessary to offset
adjustments under the NACARA program. Since the EW cut-off date reached
November 19, 1997 during Fiscal Year 2001, the reduction in the EW
annual limit to 5,000 began in Fiscal Year 2002.
B. DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY
Section
203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides a maximum of up
to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year to permit immigration
opportunities for persons from countries other than the principal
sources of current immigration to the United States. The Nicaraguan and
Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November
1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as
necessary, up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas
will be made available for use under the NACARA program. This reduction has resulted in the DV-2007 annual limit being reduced to 50,000.
DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can
receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any
one year.
For
January, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to
qualified DV-2007 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible
countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas
are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers
BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
| Region | All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately | |
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | 11,300 |
Except: |
| ASIA | 3,800 | |
| EUROPE | 9,900 | |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | 7 | |
| OCEANIA | 460 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | 700 |
Entitlement
to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end of
the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in the
lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered for the
DV-2007 program ends as of September 30, 2007. DV visas may not be
issued to DV-2007 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and
children accompanying or following to join DV-2007 principals are only
entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2007. DV visa
availability through the very end of FY-2007 cannot be taken for
granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.
C. ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN FEBRUARY
For
February, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to
qualified DV-2007 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible
countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas
are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers
BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
| Region | All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately | |
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | 11,850 |
Except: |
| ASIA | 3,800 | |
| EUROPE | 10,400 | |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | 7 | |
| OCEANIA | 550 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | 825 |
D. SCHEDULE A WORKER VISA CATEGORY
A
small amount of Schedule A Worker numbers which had been provided to
consular offices for November use were returned unused after the end of
the month and thus became available for reallocation. All remaining
Schedule A Worker numbers have been made available to applicants whose
priority dates are within the January cut-off date (15JUN04). The
Schedule A Worker category will be removed from the listings beginning
with the February cut-off dates.
E. OTHER NOTES ON VISA AVAILABILITY
FAMILY:
Demand for numbers in the Mexico and Philippines Family Third
preference category has been very heavy during the first quarter. No
movement of those cut-off dates can be expected, and continued heavy
demand may require the retrogression of the dates at some point in the
future.
EMPLOYMENT:
Demand for numbers in the Employment Third “Other Workers” category, as
well as the China and India Employment Second preference categories,
has been escalating. No movement in those cut-off dates will be
possible until the current level of demand subsides.
F. OBTAINING THE MONTHLY VISA BULLETIN
The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs offers the monthly “Visa Bulletin” on the INTERNET’S WORLDWIDE WEB. The
INTERNET Web address to access the Bulletin is:
From the home page, select the VISA section which contains the Visa Bulletin.
To
be placed on the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the
“Visa Bulletin”, please send an E-mail to the following E-mail address:
listserv@calist.state.gov
and in the message body type:
Subscribe Visa-Bulletin First name/Last name
(example: Subscribe Visa-Bulletin Sally Doe)
To be removed from the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, send an e-mail message to the
following E-mail address :
listserv@calist.state.gov
and in the message body type: Signoff Visa-Bulletin
The
Department of State also has available a recorded message with visa
cut-off dates which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. The
recording is normally updated by the middle of each month with
information on cut-off dates for the following month.
Readers may submit questions regarding Visa Bulletin related items by E-mail at the following address:
VISABULLETIN@STATE.GOV
(This address cannot be used to subscribe to the Visa Bulletin.)
Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO
ecember 7, 2006
`India should open up Govt. IT procurement’
Via The Hindu
Staff Correspondent
|
increase in H1B visas by the U.S. Govt. suggested
CHENNAI: If India needs to be a global player ITIF is a non-profit and non-partisan public “Indian government procurement market is not The weighted average tariff in India was 28 Quoting an AT Kearney’s Foreign Direct The manufacturing productivity in India and
Mr. Atkinson advocated an increase in H1B visas Mr. Atkinson said Russia and China were posing |
Swift Meat Plants Closed After U.S. Immigration Raids
Via Bloomberg News
12/12/2006
Daniel J. Goldstein of Bloomberg.com writes: “Swift & Co., the third-largest U.S.
beef producer, said operations at six of its meatpacking plants
were suspended after federal agents raided the facilities in an
investigation into possible hiring of illegal aliens. The plants produce all of Swift’s beef in the U.S. and 77
percent of its pork, the Greeley, Colorado-based company said in
a statement. Some production at the plants, which account for 11
percent of U.S. beef, may be restored today, Swift spokesman
Sean McHugh said”
Senator’s wife in hiding after deportation threat
Via CNN.com
12/05/2006
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — State Sen. Curt Thompson has been a
strong advocate of immigration rights, once speaking in Spanish from
the steps of the Georgia Capitol against the adoption of some of the
nation’s strictest immigration controls.
Now Thompson’s Colombian-born wife is in hiding as federal immigration officials try to deport her.
Sascha
Herrera, 28, has been in hiding since Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officers arrived at her home November 28 with an order to
remove her from the U.S. She was not home at the time.
Her
attorney, Charles Kuck, claims she was duped by a man handling her
immigration requests and that she never received the immigration
notices that triggered her deportation order. While Kuck says neither
he nor her husband know where Herrera is, he said that she will turn
herself in Tuesday.
“It’s the right thing to do. She needs to get the law to work for her,” Kuck said.
Kuck
filed a petition Monday to halt her deportation order and reopen her
case, arguing that a man filed an asylum petition on her behalf without
her knowledge and before her husband sponsored her green card
application based on their April marriage.
The deportation order
stems from Herrera’s repeated failure to appear before a judge on the
asylum application, which Kuck said she did not know had been filed.
The
case hinges on whether Herrera received a notice to appear in court,
and whether the asylum application could have been filed without her
knowledge, said Victor Cerda, former general counsel for Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
According to Kuck, Herrera came to the
U.S. — where her parents have been living — on a visitor visa in
2003. She applied for an extension to the visa through a “notario” — a
man who claimed he was qualified to handle legal immigration matters —
but did not get it until 20 days before the extension was due to expire.
The
notario then suggested an asylum application, which Herrera signed, but
she got a “bad vibe” from the man and decided not to proceed, Kuck said.
Later
in 2004, she was accepted as a student at Kennesaw State University,
which earned her a student visa. She then told the notario she did not
want anything to do with him.
She met Thompson last year and they
got married in April, when he applied for her to become a permanent
resident. Kuck said Herrera’s husband, a Democrat and attorney, would
not comment on the case.
But in the meantime, the notario filed
the asylum application, listing his address as hers. A telephone number
listed for the notario, identified as Tomas Vilela, was being answered
Monday by a fax machine.
Cerda said the deportation order in the
asylum case would trump any pending green card application and trigger
mandatory detention.
Her decision to hide could hurt her request
for a judge’s stay on deportation, Cerda said. If she turns herself in,
she could remain in the U.S. while her petition is pending, either in
jail or released on bond.
Pact with US can be manna for IT pros
Via DNAIndia.com
12/04/2006
NEW DELHI: The United States will take up the issue of Totalisation Agreement with India next week.
An accord would mean Indians working in the US may be refunded the
money they paid as social security contribution in the US — after
they leave the country, said US undersecretary for international trade,
Franklin L Lavin, here on Monday.
The Totalisation Agreement is a pact between the US and another
country that eliminates dual social security coverage and taxes for
social security programs.
Currently, European nations return the money to the overseas
employee who accrues it under the social security head, but the US does
not do so.
According to Nasscom estimates, the Indian IT industry loses about
$300 million annually because of the absence of a Totalisation
Agreement with the US.
“A chunk of H1B visa availed for going to US is used by the IT
professionals. This category of visa is valid for only three years and
can be extended by another three years. Therefore, an employee who pays
the social security taxes for six years comes back without availing of
its benefits. They become applicable only if a person lives in the US
for 10 years or 40 quarters,” explained Sunil Mehta, vice-president,
Nasscom.
In some cases, as much as 22.5% of an expat’s salary is deducted towards social security expenditure.
The US stand is that it will return the money if there is a similar
social security scheme. The only similar scheme in India is the
employees provident fund, which is not recognised by the US as an
equivalent. Once there is a Totalisation Agreement with the US, the
money could be given back to the company or the IT professional – in
short, it could flow back to India.
The Indian IT industry had been lobbying with both the US and Indian
government to ink the agreement and spell out clear-cut guidelines for
employees working overseas and in India and pave the way for uniformity
in the employee issues. The matter has assumed importance of late, as
there has been ambiguity in the applicability of laws in companies,
which have operation in both these countries. In fact, Nasscom, has
been lobbying for this for the last 11 years adds Mehta.
U.S. trucker guilty in immigrant deaths
Via Reuters
12/04/2006
HOUSTON (Reuters) – A U.S. jury convicted a truck driver on Monday
for his role in the deadliest known illegal human smuggling case in
which 19 immigrants died in a verdict that could result in his being
put to death.
Tyrone Williams, 35, a legal Jamaican immigrant
living in Schenectady, New York, was convicted in U.S. District Court
in Houston of 58 counts, including conspiracy, harboring and
transporting at least 74 illegal immigrants in the deadly 2003 incident.
Starting
Wednesday, the same jury will decide whether he gets death or a lesser
sentence, deliberations that could take at least a week. Under a 1996
U.S. law, smugglers can be sentenced to death if illegal immigrants die
in transport.
DHS official admits taking bribes to fake documents
Via CNN.com
12/01/2006
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal immigration official pleaded
guilty Thursday to receiving more than $600,000 in bribes for
falsifying documents for illegal immigrants.
Robert Schofield, 57, could face 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in February.
He
pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, to
issuing fraudulent documents to at least 184 illegal immigrants who
falsely received U.S. citizenship.
Schofield, a former supervisor for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, was arrested in June.
He
had served as a supervisory district adjudications officer at the
Washington district office of agency, part of the Department of
Homeland Security.
According to court documents, Schofield
illegally helped Asian immigrants obtain U.S. citizenship in return for
payments of $30,000 or more.
Under terms of the plea agreement
Schofield has agreed to surrender his home, his bank accounts and his
government retirement account.
“The breadth and scope of Mr. Schofield’s fraud and corruption are truly stunning,” said U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg.
“Those
who compromise the integrity of our national immigration system betray
the confidence of the American people, and their actions are shameful.”
Prosecutors said Schofield employed a network of brokers to bring aliens to him who were willing to pay for the phony documents.
The government says it has identified a number of these brokers.
One of them, Qiming Ye of Washington, has already pleaded guilty and will be sentenced December 21.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Laws block British corporal’s move to Iowa
varUsername = “jeckhoff@dmreg.com”;document.write(“By JEFF ECKHOFF“);By JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 18, 2006
British
army Corp. Bob Pattinson was introduced to Iowa by soldiers in a
military camp outside an Iraqi palace. He fell in love, first with the
state’s people, then with the place.
“Friendships like that
don’t come around so often,” Pattinson explained last month. “So when
they do, you hold on to them because, like I tell my kids, true friends
will never leave you.”
But U.S. immigration authorities can –
and will – block an official “honorary Iowan” from legally beginning a
new life among the buddies he made in combat.
This is a story of
cribbage, football and the government red tape that has made it easier
for soldiers on both sides of the Atlantic to understand why immigrants
might chose to live illegally in this country.
“If somebody
truly wanted Bob and his family to be here, they could make it happen,”
said Ray Reynolds, a frustrated Iowan trying to help Pattinson
immigrate. “The way I look at it, if this guy’s good enough to drive
our colonels and generals around in Iraq, then he’s good enough to make
some kind of contribution here.”
The official certificate signed
by Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2005 to make Pattinson an “honorary Iowan” says
the career British military man befriended an Iowa National Guard unit
“with his positive attitude and infectious humor that greatly helped
ease soldiers’ fears and homesickness.”
Pattinson, a northeast
England native assigned to drive dignitaries around during the first
year of the Iraq invasion, discovered common souls the first time he
wandered into a camp of the Iowa National Guard’s 234th Signal
Battalion.
Soon, Pattinson began dropping by regularly to play
cribbage and chat about life back home. He taught the Iowans about
rugby; they schooled him in the importance of Hawkeye football. At
Pattinson’s invitation, the Iowans spent Christmas 2003 caroling at the
home of a British general while car bombs exploded outside.
“He
had this knack for giving us a piece of normal life, to make things
normal in an abnormal world,” said Reynolds. “It’s not so often that
you find somebody and you just click.”
Two years later,
Pattinson brought his wife and children to Iowa for a visit. Julie
Pattinson took her husband aside and quietly asked if they could stay.
“From
the first day, from the first person we met, I’ve loved it,” Bob said.
“I love the way of life. There’s no hustle, no bustle.”
And there’s almost no chance that the Pattinsons will get to embrace Iowa life anytime soon.
The
problem, according to Pattinson, Reynolds and local immigration
experts, is that there are few paths to legal U.S. residency for a
foreign citizen with no relatives in America: Pattinson can invest $1
million in an Iowa company (not an option), enter a lottery for one of
roughly 50,000 visas issued annually nationwide, or find a potential
employer willing to certify that Pattinson is uniquely qualified for a
job no American can fill.
Visas are awarded in October, but the
application deadline is in April. That means a long waiting period for
a 23-year military man with few special skills other than the ability
to teach soccer.
Potential employers would “have to apply in
April, then keep that job open until October,” Pattinson said. “That’s
not going to happen. I don’t need a business degree to know that.”
Even
if Pattinson had a blood relative who was already here, the backlog to
get a visa could force a wait of five or 10 years to enter the country
legally, said immigration attorney Michael Said.
“This gentleman
is not coming over, I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t care how nice he is,
he’s not coming over – not with the current immigration laws.”
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