I don't think absolute numbers tell the story. Also, it is not a complaint, really.

I think the citizens in the US have a right to decide as a polity how they want to structure their immigration policies. However, in order to make a good decision, it is important to start with the full context. Here are some facts:

US has 46.6 million in foreign born population and a total population of 333 million. [1][2] That makes about 13.9% of the total population to be foreign born.

Australia has 29.1% of its population that is foreign born. [3]

A little over 20% of the population of Canada is foreign born and it is projected to grow. [4]

[1] https://cis.org/Camarota/ForeignBorn-Population-Hits-Record-...

[2] https://www.census.gov/popclock/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign-born_population_of_Aus...

[4] https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/dai/btd/othervisuals/other006

Mostly through family reunion which is completely irrelevant to the issue discussed here.

The US has the most nonsensical immigration laws for skilled workers of the developed world. Even Japan or Korea are pretty straightforward in comparison.

The criticism is tying visa status to employer. No reason to do that unless you want to suppress wages for US residents.

That is why there are other visa types. You are talking about a type of visa specifically intended as a mechanism to fill a specific seat at a specific company. For other forms of immigration, there are other types of visas.

Like what? I went over the USCIS page and Wikipedia and there does not seem to be very many options for skilled workers besides H and L, both of which are tied to employers.

American used to promote VISAS based on what a person brought to the country, but that was revised to instead promote keeping families intact. Put it to a vote, if people prefer putting a $$$ value on immigrants instead of keeping families together we can change the visa program. But there are still other means for visas, you just don't like the priorities America puts on them. That doesn't mean you can abuse the purpose of H1.

O1 visas are for skilled workers without getting tied to a company. But you have to be really skilled!

You don't have to be all that skilled (depending on the field). You do need the money to self-petition though. Many pretty average people use the O-1.

I don't know of a single tech worker who could get an O-1 without a top PhD.

I know many who got it with a bachelors degree. Advanced degrees are not even a part of the eligibility criteria.

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-2-part-m-chapter-...

> The US allows more immigrants than any other country. What exactly is the criticism?

The system is unbelievably cruel. People die (or see their loved ones die) before they get greencards.

It is not a numbers game. If you can attract the best, you need to let them thrive instead of enslaving them.

> The system is unbelievably cruel. People die (or see their loved ones die) before they get greencards.

People die before many things, that's not really relevant and it's just an emotional statement. Compare the length and rate to other countries for an actual assessment.

A lot countries I've looked into take 5-10 years for citizenship, the US is 14.5 months on average.

I'm talking about the amount of immigrants taken in vs other countries. Yes the US is large and can take in a lot of immigrants, and we do, by far.

This shows a shocking level of ignorance about the US immigration system.

Just straight off the bat you need to be a resident for 5 years before you can even apply for citizenship ( https://www.uscis.gov/forms/explore-my-options/become-a-us-c... ).

The full process is the better part of a decade in the best case (e.g. expensive lawyers, STEM degree, immigrating from an easy country like Canada). If you're from a country like China or India where lots of other people are also applying for those slots - or if anything else is less than optimal - you're looking at between a decade+ and never.

You can shorten the time you need to be a resident to 3 years by marrying a US citizen: https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/ci...

Yes, US citizens can sponsor foreign nationals both within and outside the USA for green cards through marriage. The process itself (current status or no status) to green card easily takes 2 years. Once that person arrives, they can get citizenship (not residency) within 3 years.

The sentence structure though seems to imply marrying solely for status, which is fraud, and reflects very poorly on both applicant and petitioner. This kind of thing definitely happens which is why it takes 2 years for the honest applicants to get though, as the immigration system doesn't do a sufficient job filtering out fraud at the beginning stages of the petition and leaves too much of that work at the end of the petition stage (interview) which is where the biggest bottleneck is.

source: personal experience as petitioner

No implication to promote the commitment of fraud, simply stating a fact to correct the previous comment.

I'm not sure where you got the 14.5 months from. This is roughly how much time it took for my citizenship application to get processed, but it does not include the 5 year period of being a permanent resident (and applying for it also took ~1.5 years). Total time from setting my foot in the US on H-1B to getting citizenship was roughly 8.5 years.

> Most countries I've looked into take up to 10 years.

The set of countries you want to compare with are the countries that claim they want to welcome immigrants. You don't want to compare with countries that you like but are hostile.

America claims to be immigrant friendly but compared to other immigrant friendly nations, the process is brutal and eats away entire lives.

> A lot countries I've looked into take 5-10 years for citizenship, the US is 14.5 months on average.

This is misinformation as citizenship petition N-400 is merely the last step. This does not count the time for green card before this. Getting a green card could take 3-10 years. Then, they'd need to remain a permanent resident for 5 years before they can even apply for citizenship.

No 14.5 months is the average for naturalization.

https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/how-long-doe...

Total time is 18.5-24 months to wrap up everything, but the 14.5 months you're able to be in the US which is what matters.

How does that compare to other countries? What's your ideal country that has the best immigration times?

- edit -

Green card from nil is also just a year or so on average, in which case you are living in the US and able to work.

These numbers are very comparable and much better than most countries. Please provide your ideal country so we can compare numbers.

The parent tweet is someone from India.

Current green card wait times are approximately 10 years[1] right now. Given the length of the green card wait time you usually need some other visa (such as H1B) that will allow you to still live in the USA before you can actually apply for green card.

Currently the H1B lottery approves less than half of the people who apply.

So if you are trying to immigrate from India you are looking at: H1B (1-4 years depending lottery luck) Green Card (10+ years) Time to become US citizen (1-2 years from what you posted)

So as a highly skilled advanced degree holder from India (the case of this Tweet) the overall time is 12-16 years and that is still no guarantee due to H1B being a lottery.

[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/green-car... (See EB-2 and EB-3)

Better source:

54 years for eb2/eb3. And that was 2019 backlog. Covid should've added half a decade more

https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/immigratio...

Which means that, if your child a newborn (but not born in the US), they won't qualify. The process has to be completed before their 21st birthday.

Here's a better, more holistic overview, in case you want to see what starting "from nil" actually entails (hint: you don't just step off a plane and tell Uncle Sam that you want to be a citizen):

https://immigrationroad.com/green-card/immigration-flowchart...

> The time it takes to become a permanent resident varies dramatically, affected by many factors such as USCIS processing, visa availability, labor certification/background check delays, the applicant's qualifications, nationality, residence, profession, luck, and so on. Most people are probably looking at 5 - 15 years. Some also spent several years in a nonimmigrant status prior to starting the immigration process. After green card, add roughly 5 - 7 years towards citizenship

In addition to the time, as others said there's a high probability the path will fail for most. The process starts with winning a visa that allows you to immigrate (tourist/business/student visas don't count). I say "win" because you need to find a company willing to pay and apply for that on your behalf, go through a lottery based on degree to see if you even get the opportunity to apply, and then hope the application isn't rejected on the grounds of the job being something a U.S. citizen can do. if you studied in the U.S., you get 1-2 more years to work under your student visa on what's called "Optional Practical Training" to convince your employer you're worth the hassle of sponsoring an immigration visa. Once you have that visa (e.g., an H-1B visa), you have 3 years to try rise to a senior position and convince your employer that you are valuable enough to splurge on a green card application. If that fails, you can apply for a 3 year extension and try again. If that also fails, you must leave the country for at least a year, and start over. If you succeed, you wait some number of years depending on your birth country and quotas imposed on each before you get the chance to start applying for a green card and get this process rolling. Hence 10-22 years, for those lucky few who didn't get rejected at any of the aforementioned points.

You have to reside for 5 years on GC first. It can take years for GC to get processed so overall at present it can be close to 10 years.

> How Long Does It Take to Get U.S. Citizenship After Applying?

That's what the link is talking about.

AFTER you qualify, that's the time it takes for just the paperwork to go through. The easiest path to qualify is marriage, which takes about 3 years - 90 days. That also has a similar processing time for the paperwork.

Please, go learn a bit more about the system. You don't know anything about the subject.

Green card to naturalization is not the same as going from visa to green card.

> A lot countries I've looked into take 5-10 years for citizenship, the US is 14.5 months on average.

Year 6 here in the US, need to wait another 5 for the chance of becoming a citizen.

What’s that path you are talking about?

An imaginary one.

>14.5 months on average

The system is different for everyone. It depends on visa types, country of origin and a bunch of other factors.

Also, the 14.5 months on average is just the time it takes for USCIS to process the N400 application for naturalization. The actual time it takes for the naturalization is 18-24 months. And the biggest part that comes before you apply for naturalization for most immigrants is to obtain a Greencard, which takes the longest time, in some cases more than a few decades.

> A lot countries I've looked into take 5-10 years for citizenship, the US is 14.5 months on average.

Not even close. Heck, _permanent residency_ applications take longer than that. If your PERM gets audited, that step alone can eat more than one year. Even without that, 14.5 years for _residency_ would be shockingly fast. Some countries (like India) have a 100 year backlog, give or take a few decades.

After you get permanent residency, add 5 more years. 3 years if married to a USC.

There's NO WAY that any form of citizenship takes 14.5 months.

And for an Indian citizen, you might wait for 50 years for a green card.

Are you referring to the 7% cap on the number of people that can get a green card from any one country in a calendar year?

> Are you referring to the 7% cap on the number of people that can get a green card from any one country in a calendar year?

No. I am talking about the constant asking for paperwork, processing times that vary from 2 months to over 2 years and preventing people from traveling to their home countries, lest they get locked out.

This is how criminals are treated.

What is the processing time for European countries?

What would your ideal processing time be that wouldn't be "criminal"?

> What is the processing time for European countries?

IRRELEVANT

There's no reason why you should be prevented from traveling just because you applied for some document.

Next you'll argue that noone is being prevented from traveling, technically. Don't bother.

There's also no reason to require the _employer_ to handle all immigration matters. The initial application? Sure. But then allow the employer to file for his permanent residency. Let them file for visa extensions. Let them transfer employers without risk. Maybe get another source of income. _Let the spouses work!_ There's no reason to limit a household to a single income. And so on. That's how its done in many countries in Europe.

You may say "you should go to those countries then". Many have. But you don't know the full extent of the issue until you are in the system. At which time you have relocated your family, upended your life, and staked your career in the system.

> What is the processing time for European countries?

EU is not one country. Some countries have better timelines than others.

> What would your ideal processing time be that wouldn't be "criminal"?

My ideal would be asap. Make the decision quick. If you want to deny most applications, deny it. But do it quick.

Slow denials is a feature not a bug of immigration systems. Fast denials with systems that allow retries just quickly get backlogs of people applying again after finding a quick fix to the rejection reason, which makes it harder to give proper time to new applicants who may be more eligible.

> Fast denials with systems that allow retries

There's nothing that says quick retries are allowed, or that subsequent tries should even be adjudicated quickly. Take H1Bs. If you get selected and subsequently denied, you can only apply next year.

Some types of visas require a cooldown period outside the country after you have used them. And so on. This is all solvable.

My point was to compare European countries as they were suggested by the GP to be better.

Go ahead and choose one or so and come back with numbers to compare. You'll find the US is very good in comparison.

Germany offers a shorter and significantly cheaper path to citizenship, for instance.

Plus incredibly easier paths to immigration on a skilled work permit and access to permanent residence. Like most EU countries.

Discounting non immigrant visas, I’m not sure that this is true.