Today, our Green Cards arrived in the mail.

The process started on March 23 2005 when our applications were accepted. So, slightly less than four years later, the process is complete. At least for 10 years.

I want to thank the lawyers who handled this for us, and my employer for sponsoring me and going through this, well, special process.

Being a Canadian in the United States for the last nine years has been an interesting adventure, to say the least. Although our nations are neighbours, there can be two more different approaches to the same problem so close to each other.

I can’t claim to be an expert on how Canada processes new immigrants, but I can say that it has to be better than what has happened in the US.

Nine years ago, I started out on the NAFTA Free-Trade visa, the TN-1. This is a non-immigration visa, which is restrictive in the occupations that you can work in, but essentially allows highly-skilled Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans to work in the free trade zone, a term I use very loosely in this context.

In 2001, my status was migrated by my previous employer to an H1-B. This is a much more formal visa and is used for skilled workers from around the world. It is also infamous for its quota system, and is the bane of most (if not all) high-tech firms who insist on recruiting the best talent from around the world to work in the Unuted States.

In some respects, while the off-shoring trend that was so big a concern a few years back (still?) is founded on a number of different economic realities, the driving force was the restrictive nature of the H1-B visa. I encountered a version of this when I changed employers and transferred my H1-B from employer A to employer B. When I did this, I could not leave the US, for any reason, until I had my new H1-B without forfeiting the entire process.

One of the conditions I had for switching employers was that employer B would start the Green Card process for me and my family. This process alone has taken 3.5 years, and from what I can tell, being an employment-based application from a Canadian means that I haven’t had to wait nearly as long as some of the people who apply under other circumstances or from “less friendly” nations.

This process is approaching (we hope) its final phase, as there is talk from the people assisting us that there is a chance that we may be processed through the final stages in late 2008 or early 2009. But, as with all things related to this process, this is still very much speculative.

Whew.

So, as a citizen of the United States reading this, you are likely saying “So what?”, or “How does this affect me?”. Frankly, it doesn’t. But, in a fundamental way, it does.

As a nation built almost completely on immigration, the United States has become increasing isolationist, especially in its immigration policies. Mostly at a political level. Where the conflict appears to be developing is between the political agenda and the economic needs of the US economy. US firms are reliant on importing the best and the brightest from around the world. These same firms are now finding increasing resistance from these highly-skilled employees who are looking at the current state of the US economy and the incredibly restrictive immigration criteria, and choosing to walk away, or choose other more lucrative and less restrictive opportunities.

As a person involved in this process, I can say that up until late last year, when I recieved my EAD, I was in effect an indentured serf, beholden to the company for which I worked, which none of the options or flexibility that my US colleagues had available to them.

I own a house. My children go to school in the town where I own my house. I pay US, not Canadian, taxes. I pay property tax.

However, in the eyes of the United States government, I am considered “three-fifths of a person”. A person bound to this country but not of this country.

The truly American among you may say “Shut up and become a citizen”. I chose not to. I have chosen to retain my personal Canadian Identity, those things that I hold dear that separate Canadian and Americans. I retain my Canadian passport. My youngest son holds dual-citizenship.

I have chosen to make a life in the United States. However, the process that I have been involved in does not allow me to recommend this path to any other Canadians.

To other Canadians, I say: Stay home. Make Canada the best it can be. Make it a truly integrated player in the Global Economy.

To the United States, I say: Wake up. Your destiny has come, and gone. And the way you treat your immigrants is a clear demonstration of that.

Some have said that the United States is a fading empire, most-often compared to the Roman Empire. However, as this piece in the LA Times states, even an ancient empire, in its fading glory, understood how you become great: You become more than the sum of your parts.

After 12 hours on the road, 20 minutes in Canada (well, Quebec), and a night in a really crappy hotel room, we are back home, with freshly minted I-94s.

In the immigration office, they were hesitant to hand us the I-94s because we still have valid H1-Bs. I had to insist that they give us them to support our Advanced Parole renewal. This is way too complicated (and expensive) and I just want my Green Cards…now.

So, a tip for all you travellers out there: Regardless of your status, and the insistence that you don’t need I-94s, never let them take them away, and try to get the border agents to issue them for EVERY crossing. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s more of a pain in the ass to have to go back and get them.

On July 20, the family crossed over the border back into the US after attending Samantha’s grandmother’s funeral in Toronto. It had been a great weekend, a chance to get reacquainted with Samantha’s extended family and introduce the boys to some of these folks.

We crossed the border at the Peace Bridge, and got an Immigration officer who obviously did not know what she was doing.

To describe our current status: We are in the US on EADs with Advanced Parole documents which allow us to travel in and out of the country. The sheer complexity of our status (which is not an unusual one) perplexed this Immigration officer, and she processed us under our old status (H1-B/H4) and then did not issue us I-94s!

For the American readers among you, an I-94 is a little slip of paper stating when and where you last entered the US. Every person in an Immigration process (and many foreign nationals) are required to get either the white form (Immigrant) or the green form (visitor).

We are now in the process of renewing our AP documents and EADs, and one of the items they need is a copy of our most recent I-94s, which this Immigration official at Peace Bridge kindly removed from our passports without issuing new ones.

So, tomorrow, we have to drive up to the Derby Border Crossing in Vermont (the closest to our home) and get new ones issued so that we can renew our APs and EADs.

The main gripe I have with this is that the US Immigration service appears to be hideously inconsistent in when and where they enforce their own rules. As well, with the AP, it is now harder to get into the US than it was with the H1-B.

To sum up, this process frustrates me, and it is no wonder that between this sort of confusion and hearing that Green Card applicants can get thrown in jail and ignored until they die that makes me wonder if it is all worthwhile.

For those of you with Green Cards: Is it all worthwhile?

Ok, as someone who is waiting for his Green Card, the story of the treatment allegedly received by Hiu Lui Ng frightens me. [BoingBoing link here. NY Times here ]

My Green Card has been in process for more than three years. We are supposedly approaching the end of the long road. But how do I know I won’t be thrown in jail and deported because of some silly clerical error?

We are all enemy aliens until proven otherwise. No wonder US corporations are finding it harder and harder to sell the idea of emigration to the US to potential employees from outside their boundaries.

“Yes, it is possible that you will be thrown in jail and mistreated because of some silly clerical error. It’s more likely that we will just keep you in fear and treat you like second-class indentured servants for 3-4 years until we’re done with you. Now, about our medical plan…”

So, on New Years Eve, due to the vagaries of modern air travel, the family will be spending seven hours at Sea-Tac waiting for the second leg of our trip home.

For me, this is usually not an issue, as I can huddle up in a corner with my wireless connection and while away the hours with work and general interest. However, we will be a one laptop family, and my children need to be entertained.

Likely at least an hour of the trip will be handled by immigration as they subject us to the joys of entry with our Advanced Parole documents. It’s now harder for us to get into the US via air as late process Green Card applicants than it is if we were simply visiting the country.

After that, who knows.

Does anyone out there in blog land have any great suggestions for entertaining a family for seven hours at an airport?

Landed in the US on a one-day business trip today. The family is enjoying Christmas with the grandparents in Victoria, BC, and I need to work remotely to cover the time.

I flew into Seattle for a one-day trip, with my brand-new Advanced Parole documents. Figured it would be speedy.

90 minutes later, they let someone who has gone through a number of security checks and other body scans into the US.

Have to wonder what people from other countries have to go through.

Technorati Tags: Green Card, Advanced Parole, immigration, strip search, body cavity

This morning we dragged the family out of bed at a ridiculous hour for an adventure into downtown Boston.

It was a big day in the Green Card Process: We were off to get fingerprinted and have our pictures taken. This is a big step, as we can now be cross-referenced against all of the major security databases to verify whether we are criminals or not.

However, the biggest step came about 10 days ago when we got our Advanced Parole documents.

For those of you who have managed to avoid this happy process, an Advanced Parole document is a document that states that I have the rights and privileges of a Green Card holder, but I am on double-secret probation.

The other big deal with this is that I can take on contract work, and Samantha can get a job if she so desires.

Our fortunes may be looking up?

Technorati Tags:
Green Card, USCIS, Advanced Parole, Immigration

Well, now that I’m certified, the slope gets slippery very quickly.

We have until early August to get all of our docs to the lawyers before the August 17 deadline.

Many calls, pictures, doctors appointments, and huge expense.

Going to be a fun month.

Well folks, I got the good news last night: I am Department of Labor Certified.

This means that I can now actually apply for a Green Card.

Oh yeah, and based on some of the other happenings in the world of US Immigration (here and here), I am part of the group that is either going to be royally screwed over, or be part of some sort of general amnesty due to political manipulation and greed entering into the process.

Could be a fun month.