Once upon a time, Yogesh, a vibrant young dreamer set out for the US on an H-1B visa with his wife and child. Now, 10 years later, he is still on the waiting line for an elusive green card. Immigration has increasingly become a waiting game, and a numbers game. The sheer math of it all is overwhelming.
There are thousands of Yogeshs waiting for their number and in Trump’s America, it may never come. “If you were born in India and you are being sponsored for a green card today, the wait time can range anywhere from 50 years to 150 years,” says Cyrus Mehta, an immigration lawyer who heads Cyrus Mehta & Partners in New York. “In terms of H-1B being denied, earlier the denial rate was 6 per cent, but in the third quarter of 2019 fiscal year it rose to 24 per cent for initial employment and 12 per cent for continuing employment.”
He points out that now when you apply for an extension of an H-1B visa, there is a risk that the case might not get approved. “What the Trump administration has done is to heighten scrutiny on the H-1B visas of qualified skilled applicants,” says Mehta. “Each time they apply for an extension, there is a risk of being denied. They have been waiting years for the green card and there is now more uncertainty.”
He cites the case of Arjun who had travelled to India to meet his parents after 10 years. He has not yet been able to return to the US because of extreme vetting. Says Mehta: “The counsellors have just held up the application for weeks and I hope this does not keep on extending, as he could be in jeopardy of losing his job.”
Esta historia es de la edición March 01, 2020 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March 01, 2020 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Trump And The Crisis Of Liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
