That’s a feature, not a bug. You don’t have to kick people out if they can’t renew, you just don’t let them back in.
When I was living in the US, I was on an E-3 visa and my wife was on an F-1. My visa lasted for 2 years, however my I-94 (which permits me to remain in the US) lasted for 3. My wife's visa was for a single year but her I-94 was for the entire duration of her study.
What this means in practice is that if you travel internationally during the period in which you have a valid I-94 but no valid visa, you have to renew. However if you _don't_ travel and just stay in the US, you don't have to bother.
I can't imagine how this is anything but a bug. The US wants my wife to demonstrate intent to return home (e.g. by frequently visiting) but actively discourages her from doing so (by forcing a burdensome visa renewal each time).
As someone who went through the H1-B process and had my status threaten a number of times (downsizing), it was just a reality - if I lose my visa I go back home and maybe try again.
It never stopped me from major live decisions like buying a house.
Immigrating to a new country is taking the risk that you can’t stay. I accepted that when I immigrated.
No one would complain if H1B was a transparent and clear system (like a points-based immigration system). In reality its often arbitrary, with your visa status hanging on the political tides of the country, or how a visa/border officers day is going. That kind of unpredictability wasn't clear to me when I got the H1B and isn't any kind of well-defined risk you can accept before going down that path.
But it doesn't need to be so tenuous.
Emigrating to the Netherlands seems like a friendly walk in the park compared to the capricious bullshit that immigrants to America are subjected to. I'm ashamed my country treats people like this.
It's idiotic to make it hard for immigrants to get back on their feet, it's not like working immigrants cost money..., what cost money is to lose them to a competing country...
But in essence you're right anyway: immigration is a privilege, complaining about it is really unfair to a country that was never forced to take you in in the first place. The only thing we the immigrants and the host countries can do, is compete on entry condition, to bring the most high skilled, high asset immigrants.
H1B is based on a lottery. Which there are organized that openly abuse the system and the US gov doesn’t do much about it.
You either let people in or out. H1Bs are stuck in limbo for years with false hope. It’s a very sad way to live and it’s not good for the country either.
But US gov bends to corporations and H1Bs fucked up system helps them keep the wages low.
So there’s that.
Most countries have a graduated immigration system - you start with a work visa, you try and get permanent residence, then try for citizenship.
The US isn’t alone in this except for maybe the fact that the demand to immigrate to the US far outstrips the limits.
You can absolutely renew your status in the US. It's just when you travel that you need to make sure you have it stamped to return.
>> Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization?
Assuming you are: you answer yes and you get denied a visa (duh). Answer no and the gov doesn't know, what happens? You commit terrorist activities on American soil and get charged with that activity, which I assume is FAR worse than the punishment for lying on a Visa (if it isn't, somethings wrong). Can we not kick out a terrorist (found out after they entered) without this question?
It seems like the same goes for every single one of the above questions (except the first one, "Have you ever done drugs"). Every one of these questions is always going to be answered with a no, so doesn't that just create noise in the data?
I can see that with the "have you ever done drugs" question, but terrorism or human trafficking? That's quite a stretch. You don't have to ask the question for someone to know that those activities would bar entry. I'd have to see pretty strong evidence to believe that a question like that is going to even give pause to people like that.
Of course not. They would lie. And then the US government can then kick them for fraudulently obtaining their citizenship. That's a lot easier and simpler than having to convict them on terrorism charges. So the US government, is doing this assuming they will lie.
Of course no one will answer yes, but if the govt finds out later you did commit a terrorist act, they have the power to boot you out.
Because they have to prove it in court. And the defendant can ask for a lawyers. And then both the cost, and the level of proof required is a lot higher. Will the US have enough time and resources to go to the originating country and inspect all the evidence, check the archives and so on? Probably not for every case.
The alternative they just need to prove they lied on a form and they signed and acknowledged that lying on it means getting kicked out. That's a simple and shut case most of the time.
It seems pointless.
(Not a lawyer nor an immigration expert on US law, though.)
In terms of booting them out, the question makes it much easier. If they are a member of a terrorist group and they said “no”, well it’s an open and shut case of lying on an immigration application. If they didn’t ask the question, sure they could still boot them out, but it may be a prolonged process.
Wouldn't the terrorist act do the trick?
And don't we mostly imprison people forever when they do those?
Even if you were willing to answer this honestly it can even become extremely hard to actually answer: what it is deemed a “terrorist” organisation? Maybe your home country would not consider some group as such but the US does? What about drug usage? It’s not even consistent across US states, let alone a different country.
To properly fill this you’d have to be a law expert in both US law, your home country’s, and probably international law too to resolve the impedance mismatch between both.
You simply get kicked out pretty much immediately if they find out you lied. It can mean also the revocation of citizenship as it is now considered obtained fraudulently. That all can be done rather "easily" since it's procedural, without a long legal battle involved.
Now all kinds of "funny" things can happen there. Say someone belongs to an organization which was created and sponsored by the CIA and was not a terrorist organization 10 years ago. A new administration comes in, and the "friendly freedom fighters" are now the "evil baby killing terrorists". What should happen then? Can the government go back and kick out all the members they might have taken in? Technically they lied and they are now a part of the terrorist organization...
If you played for a team, you were a member of that team.
If 10 years after you leave, that team goes on to win the championship, you are not and were never part of a "championship team."
>> Do you seek to engage in terrorist activities while in the United States?
Who are they hoping to catch with these questions? Honest spies and terrorists? Or maybe they hope to say in court: “You committed a terrorist attack sir, but even worst is that you lied about it on the form!!”
All jokes aside I think these questions are designed for psychological effects to promote the messaging that US is in a never ending war on terror.
To verify my thesis i would see what are the effective conviction times between foreigners and citizens and expect the latter to get harsher convictions on this alone.
> member or representative of a terrorist organization
This is an ambigious question. For example, some groups are considered terrorists by one country and "legitimely elected government" by other. So the terrorist by opinion of country A can answer "No" without lying because in country B he is not considered a terrorist. So maybe they should add "from the point of view of the US government" to the question.
>> Have you ever committed, ordered,
incited, assisted, or otherwise
participated in torture?
I suppose this is could be an issue for graduate students, but I don't know of any foreign undergrads that don't go home at least once a year.
Of course those people don't need a visa; the US has no problem with terrorism, torture, or extrajudicial killings as long as it's home grown.
This social media requirement is as ridiculous and I won’t be surprised if other first world countries follow suit.
In general, immigrants are less of a threat than a citizen, by the way.
This isn't even actual scrutiny either. These are stupid questions. If someone answers yes to being a terrorist, for example, congrats. You've barred someone stupid from entering the country. This is the same tactic used by "nigerian" scammers.
I'll add that some of these are completely outside of a person's control: Things your parents did. I can only imagine having a parent involved in human smuggling and then being barred from travel because of it.
Weeeeeell. No, not entirely. If you think "terrorist" you probably think ISIS and Al-Queda. But someone could have been a member of the IRA 30 years ago, and should still technically answer "yes" to this question. In theory, that shouldn't bar them from entry(given that everything else is ok). But lying on this form and saying they have never been a member of a terrorist organisation would ban them for life from visiting US if they were ever found out. So this question is not as stupid as it seems.
Ever been to Korea? Ever had a Chinese visa? How about India on a visa? If Indians want an easier time with US visas, then the Indian government should stop with their draconian visa process. Chinese and Korean work visas aren’t much better. Americans trying to get work visas for the EU also have a very difficult time as well. A DUI on your record years ago can mean an American can’t even visit Canada. Those complaining about the US visa process seemingly have limited experience with the rest of the world. You can get 5 year visas to the US; unheard of for Europe or many other countries.
I'm pretty sure you can't simply "get" a 5 year visa without paperwork, fees, and other such things either. IT isn't that you can't get them in other countries, it is simply that they are called different things - usually something that alludes to being a resident (which is correct).
Work permits in Norway used to be 3 valid for 3 years at a time, but they've had to shorten this to 2 years due to EU requirements. If you get permanent residency you also have to renew it every two years by making an appointment and visiting the police station. Luckily they don't charge you for renewals of permanent residency, just the initial application.
Not any more.
That's not everybody.
That's not most people.
So even this is a noteworthy point of distinction between NL and here.
I was primarily responding to the point that 5 year visas are unheard of in Europe (which is plainly false).
I'm not really sure what you're trying to say.
In addition to asking for details of every school you went to, every job you had, every country you've been to, they ask you questions like this:
>> Have you ever violated, or engaged in a conspiracy to violate, any law relating to controlled substances?
>> Are you coming to the United States to engage in prostitution or unlawful commercialized vice or have you been engaged in prostitution or procuring prostitutes within the past 10 years?
>> Have you ever been involved in, or do you seek to engage in, money laundering?
>> Have you ever committed or conspired to commit a human trafficking offense in the United States or outside the United States?
>> Are you the spouse, son, or daughter of an individual who has committed or conspired to commit a human trafficking offense in the United States or outside the United States and have you within the last five years, knowingly benefited from the trafficking activities?
>> Have you knowingly aided, abetted, assisted or colluded with an individual who has committed or conspired to commit a severe human trafficking offense in the United States or outside the United States?
>> Do you seek to engage in espionage, sabotage, export control violations, or any other illegal activity while in the United States?
>> Do you seek to engage in terrorist activities while in the United States or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities?
>> Have you ever or do you intend to provide financial assistance or other support to terrorists or terrorist organizations?
>> Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization?
>> Have you ever ordered, incited, committed, assisted, or otherwise participated in genocide?
>> Have you ever committed, ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in torture?
>> Have you committed, ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in extrajudicial killings, political killings, or other acts of violence?
>> Have you ever engaged in the recruitment or the use of the child soldiers?
>> Have you, while serving as a government official, been responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom?
>> Have you ever been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of the population controls forcing a woman to undergo an abortion against her free choice or a man or a woman to undergo sterilization against his or her free will?
>> Have you ever been directly involved in the coercive transplantation of human organs or bodily tissue?
And now, this.
And don't get me started on the stupid fact that you cannot renew your US visa within the US, and in the end people on student/work visas have to take the pointless trip to Canada/Mexico just to get a new visa.
I hope someone eventually realizes visa applicants are people too.