Thanks for the speedy first comment so it has pushed me to write my second post. I actually came here in 1996 and have been here on a G1 Visa thanks to my Dad who works for the UN. I went to part of my middle school, all of High school and finally college here. Through this time i never thought it was so hard to get a visa. To most people i was just as American as they were. There is some misperceived view out there that if you live here in the US for five years then you can just stay here, how wrong this is. After visiting a immigration lawyer in November, actually a very good one here in NYC they explained all of my options and none seemed to work. We went over everything and sponsorship was my only option. My most recent decision was to now switch from this G1 to a F1 student visa and then gain the one year OPT training period. But will this one year training period really change anything. I have a feeling ill end up at the same position just one year later.
Thanks for the first comment
January 14, 2008 · 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
2 responses so far ↓
Richard // January 15, 2008 at 9:38 am
You are welcome. I am glad you are willing to speak up about your situation. There are so many young people who find themselves in your position. They have lived in the US most of their lives, some with no family in their country of origin, yet still have no viable means of gaining a permanent status.
You are correct about the misinformation. Most of the people opposing immigration reform that I have encountered have little or no understanding of how the system works or how incredibly difficult it is to gain a permanent status.
laurentk // February 20, 2008 at 11:04 am
It’s a real headache, and even though you seem to have many options, which is true, companies are usually only sponsoring in H1b.
And to add to the complexity of the game, last year there were so many applicants that they offered the visas (H1-b) on a lottery basis.
Good luck again, and tell us about the outcome !
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