Immigration Debate

Political asylum may be granted to people in the United States who are unwilling or unable to return to their home country because of persecution or a legitimate fear of persecution. This persecution can be due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or personal political opinions.

If an individual is granted asylum, that person will be able to live and to work in the United States. After one year, the asylum seeker is eligible to apply for permanent resident status. Under the current immigration laws, there is no maximum on the number of people who may be granted asylum in the United States each year. However, there is a limit on how many asylum seekers can adjust their status to permanent resident each year. Under the immigration reform measures of 1995, this number was increased from 5,000 to 10,000 people each year.

Approved asylum seekers must reside in the United States for at least one full year in order to apply for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status. One year of the asylum seeker’s residence period prior to adjustment is counted toward the naturalization residency requirement.

Asylum status and refugee status are very similar. The main difference between the two is the location of the person who seeks either refugee or asylum status. Asylum seekers are already in the United States while refugee status seekers are outside of the United States at the time of their request. All people who seek asylum must meet the definition of a refugee.

To have asylum status granted, there are a couple of procedures that must be followed. For starters, an asylum seeker must ask for asylum in the correct manner. The best way to seek asylum is by asking for it when entering the country through any port-of-entry (airport, border crossing, seaport). If that doesn’t happen, the majority of people have a year to file a request for asylum within one year of entering the United States.

It is possible to apply for asylum after one year has passed since entry if the conditions in the person’s country of origin have changed. This can be due to a coup d’état or other political situation in a country. In addition, if a person’s personal circumstances have changed, he or she may be eligible to seek asylum even after one year is up.

It is important to note that a person can apply for asylum status regardless of his or her immigration status. This means that if a person is even in the United States illegally, he or she can come forward and apply for asylum. Regardless of how lenient this is, the person must still meet the definition of a refugee to be awarded asylum.

If you are a Canadian citizen and have plans to visit the United States soon, organizing your travel documents is the utmost important part of your preparations. If you are not yet knowledgeable about the travel documents required for entering into the US from Canada, then hopefully this article will provide you the necessary knowledge in this regard. Obviously, you do need a Canada Immigration Passport. There is however certain other details that you need to know about the Canada Immigration Passport. Such details include when you need it, and what are other additional requirements.. By having an intricate knowledge of all this information, your trip to US will be a lot less complicated.

Your need for a Canada immigration passport is basically determined by your mode of travel. If you are traveling by air, then here is what you should take note of. A visa is not required for Canadians who want to visit the United States by air. However, citizens traveling by road are required to have a Canada immigration passport. This requirement was made effective starting last January 23, 2007. This was the time when the WHTI took effect. WHTI stands for Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. If you intend to enter the US by air but do not have a valid passport, you can still enter but you have to present a NEXUS card.

If you are traveling by sea or land, then a Canada immigration passport is not required. This rule will change however starting June 1, 2009. By then, whether you travel to the United States by water, land, or air, you will be required to present a Canada immigration passport. For now though, all you need is a photo ID that has been issued by the Government of Canada. Examples of this include driver’s license, identity card, birth certificate and others. Along with the ID you also need to present your birth certificate or your citizenship card. Even though not required, you can still present your valid Canada immigration passport if you do not have the photo ID, citizenship card, or birth certificate. A valid Canada immigration passport will still gain you entry into the US.

Canadian citizens from 15 years of age and below will not be required to present a Canada immigration passport when traveling to the US. Minors will only be required to present proof of their citizenship. Also, Canadian citizens that are 18 years old and younger may present proof of citizenship only when traveling in a group with an approved supervision of an adult. On the other hand, Canadian business visitors, investors and treaty traders, professionals and intra-company transferees are required to have TN visas instead of a Canada immigration passport. The TN visa will allow them to work in the United States. A citizen of a country under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) can have a professional occupation in another country that is under NAFTA, as long as the citizen applying for job in the foreign country meets the TN visa requirements. TN visas are valid for one year but are renewable indefinitely with yearly increments.

To summarize, the requirement for Canadians to travel to the US by air is only having a valid Canada immigration passport. However, if you think that your Canada immigration passport is not enough and you are still in doubt whether you will be granted entry, then go ahead and apply for a visa. Keep in mind there are different types of United States visas. Examples of the visa categories that are obligated to have a non-immigrant visa are Foreign Government Officials (A), NATO officials, and Employees and Officials of international organizations (G). Treaty traders (E-1), and Treaty investors (E-2). Essentially, any Canadian and non-Canadian citizen working and visiting the United States is required to have a non-immigrant visa as well. So, if you are a Canadian citizen looking to enter and work in the US, you will need a TN visa, not just a Canada Immigration passport.

One of the more famous lines in movie history is:

We’re not in Kansas anymore.

So just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, how can you tell that you are no longer home.

1) People Talk Funny

For some of you, the local language won’t be your first language. In this case, most of the words that will come out of people’s mouths will sound like an alien gibberish. You, I feel sorry for, but not too much.
The people who I do feel sorry are the people who speak the same language as the natives, but can’t understand a word they’re saying because they’ve either butchered the language beyond belief or speak with an accent only comprehensible to an underwater sea-horse.
To the both of you I wish God speed. Remember, one day you’ll look back and laugh at how you couldn’t understand a thing people were saying.

2) People Look Different

After many years of knowing what everyone is “supposed to look like”, all of a sudden people who defy your expectations crop up anywhere. The key here is to not get caught by too much surprise when you enter a train and realize that no one in the train looks like they are from your local village.

3) People Act Weird

You will meet people who think and act very differently from you. You probably won’t understand their jokes or see the fun in what they consider a hobby or recreational activity. You might even be tempted to spend a lot of time complaining to your family members just “how weird and silly” everyone is. Don’t do that. Try to figure out why they like what they like. You never know, you may just discover a new hobby.

Immigration law is confusing at its best and ridiculously complex at its worst. However, if you are planning on coming to the United States as a temporary worker, you will need to apply for a nonimmigrant visa. Rather than run the risk of applying for the wrong category or trying to work without getting a visa at all, it’s best to consult with attorneys who know what they are doing. Highly trained in the complexities of immigration law, they will be able to help you through the application process. Even if you think you have a passing understanding of what is involved in the application procedure, an attorney can handle the details of each category for you.

If you are applying for work as a temporary worker, you would be applying for an H-1B1 visa. There are some requirements you must meet to be issued with one of these visas. For instance, this category of visa is attainable by foreign nationals who hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (or an equivalent) who would be employed in a specialty occupation that requires the degree. Employment is specific to a named employer and your firm’s HR department must file attestations to the US Department of Labor saying, among other things, that you are getting the proper salary for the position. You can stay in the US for six years in this classification.

With regard to those who need training in the US, an H-3 trainee visa can be obtained so long as the training isn’t meant to provide employment in the US. You can remain in the US for two years in this category.

If you’re facing a situation where you’ve been transferred from one company location outside of the US to another within the borders of the US, then you need to apply for an L-1A/L-1B intracompany transferees visa. This is only applicable if you have worked for the company for at least one year in the three years immediately before filing your application. The L-1A is for managers/executive, allowing up to seven years in the US, and the L-1B is for employees with specialized knowledge who can remain in the US for 5 years.

In the five minutes it will take you to read this article, I will share with you the most important way of ensuring that your transition from native country to immigrant country is as smooth as possible.

Get Yourself a Guide

By a guide I am referring to:

A person or persons who live in the country you are immigrating to, who come from your native country and are living the type of lifestyle you would like to live. These people take you under their wing and show you how you can get settled in a new country in the quickest and best way possible.

In the above statement, I will zero in on one component that I think is quintessentially important

The Type of People Who are Living the Type of Lifestyle You Want to Live

When you land in a new country, you quickly realize that there is a plethora of ways to live ones life. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of ways to relate to God, the family, ones occupation, mission in life and almost every area of life you can think of. As a result, you should be very careful to select a guide (or guides) who are living a type of lifestyle that you see yourself living that day.

Remember these guides will help give you the skills and knowledge to settle in a new country, the best way they know how. Their way is not the only way, and if you don’t like the way they go about doing things, let me suggest you find yourself someone new.

Who is the Best Guide or Rather Who are the Best Guides?

The ideal guides that you want are a nuclear family that have been overseas for a long duration of time and have members in a variety of age groups. Simply spending time with them gives you wide impression of how the immigrant experience affects different people across age and socioeconomic status. In addition to that, when you deal with a family, there are more members to show you around and help you out, when other members might be busy.

How to Get a Guide

Don’t make things hard for yourself. Start with the easiest and quickest way to get a guide and work outwards. Look through your family first to find out if there is anyone who has immigrated overseas. Almost every extended family by this point has members who live internationally. Should this prove futile, then begin to venture out beginning with your close friends and then your acquaintances. Have any of them immigrated to the country you shall soon be descending on? Do they know anyone who has?Keep moving outwards in this direction and eventually you should find someone. Should this prove impossible, then make friends with people at the organization or agency that is helping you immigrate over. Begin the search from their family members and work outwards just like you did in your own circle of influence. The key to all this is to try and get as much pre-existing rapport and familiarity between you and your guide family as possible. This should work to make the “settling in” process much smoother.

Here’s to your settling into a vast new land just brimming with opportunity.

As many of you leave your countries of birth and resettle overseas, you are leaving your physical homes behind. Just because you are leaving your physical home doesn’t mean that you have to leave behind the feelings that make a place feel like home. In this article we’ll discuss how to go about “feeling at home “anywhere.

What Makes You Feel at Home?

The first step is figuring out the type of feelings that being at home evokes in you. Typically being at home evokes one of the following feelings:

1. Safe
2. Secure
3. Free to be yourself
4. At peace
5. Loved
6. Comfortable
7. Taken care of

It is possible that you may feel a combination of the above feelings.It is important that you be clear on just what a place needs to make you feel for you to call it more than a house. So please take a moment and perform this exercise.

What About Home Made You Feel the Way You Did?

The next step is to understand what specifically made you feel the way you did when you were at home. Did trustworthy people make you feel safe? Did the hustle and bustle of a busy home make you feel at peace? Did getting a home cooked meal make you feel taken care of? Immediately after reflecting on the feelings that a home evokes, reflect on what people, events or places evoked these domestic feelings in you.

Final Step

With this critical awareness you can then engage in the final step. Begin to seek out people, places and experiences that evoke the same feelings that home did. Example:

If trustworthy people make you feel safe, which makes you feel at home, seek out trustworthy people, perhaps at your local place of worship.

If hustle and bustle makes you feel at peace, perhaps schedule time to go sit in a busy bus stop everyday.

The key is to experiment and try out different places and experiences with a variety of people until you can confidently say:

“I feel at home”

The is a very action based, process of trial and error, so I suggest you begin now! Go home