Drowning in red tape
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Sunday, July 15, 2007 | 
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
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By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lpark@standard.net
A Weber State University communications assistant professor thought the long wait to get a work-based permanent visa was finally over.
Dr. Mukhbir Singh from India has been trying for at least two years to get a permanent visa, commonly known as a green card. Singh is a legal worker with temporary status who wants to continue to live here.
Singh could even be considered a priority worker, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site, because of his education, which he received in this country.
His friend, Mehul Kapadia, an Ogden software engineer also from India, has been waiting since 2003 for permanent status.
"The U.S. is the land of opportunity," Kapadia said. "I came to make a better life and look for the American dream like any other immigrant in the past."
Both men have filed applications, paid fees and have waited and waited for a visa number to be assigned to them.
Since 9/11, the wait for federal government agencies to process documents, such as visas or citizenship applications, is longer than before because of increased security measures.
In June there appeared to be a glimmer of hope for Singh and Kapadia when the State Department announced that a number of employer-sponsored green cards would be available for skilled and professional workers as of July 1.
"I ran and got everything done," Singh said.
Both men filed their applications July 2, which was the first day they could submit them.
Later that day the State Department issued a statement saying employment visa numbers were no longer available.
The stated reason: The Citizenship and Immigration Services said it had processed 60,000 visa numbers in June, which took care of a backlog it had.
Singh doesn't understand how an agency that processed only 80,000 visa numbers in 2006 was able to process 60,000 within two weeks after the first announcement was made.
"What the heck is happening?" he asked.
On hold
Now both men are like thousands of others who submitted their applications -- on hold, again.
"The way the visa thing works out, it is six years before you know what you're doing with the rest of your life," Singh said.
"Four years is nothing," Kapadia said about waiting for permanent status.
Waiting, they said, is something thousands of legal immigrants do.
However, most don't understand why they must wait so long for permanent status or citizenship.
"We do everything the legal way and we spend years and years in limbo," Singh said.
For the two men, the wait may be longer because they are from one of the top three countries whose citizens seek to immigrate to the U.S., said Maria Elena Upson, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. The other two countries are Mexico and the Philippines.
Years go by
It is not unusual for someone who applies in one of those three countries for a U.S. work visa to wait 12 to 15 years, she said. Congress issues a certain number each year for each country, and when that country reaches its quota there are no more visas available.
The office of Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, gets many requests for his staff to inquire into why applications are taking so long, said Scott Parker, the congressman's spokesman.
"Our current immigration system is broken, and it's broken on both ends -- the illegal side and the legal side," Bishop said. "It's far too easy to get here illegally, but it's also way too cumbersome to try and come in here for the right reasons and to do it legally and without major delay."
Bishop said it's time to streamline the process so as not to "frustrate those who follow the rules."
Part of the problem contributing to the waiting period are the federal mandates following 9/11 concerning name checks, said Trent Pedersen, spokesman for the FBI office in Salt Lake City.
The FBI receives close to 70,000 name check requests a week, with almost 30,000 coming from Citizenship and Immigration Services for applicants seeking permanent residency or citizenship, Pedersen said.
Before 9/11, the FBI was required only to do name checks on any name that popped up in a primary FBI or federal investigation. At that time it was averaging 2.5 million checks every year, he said.
Required checks
Following 9/11, the FBI was mandated to check any name, date of birth or Social Security number that pops up in any investigation, whether that person is listed as a witness, as knowing someone or as a victim, Pedersen said.
The number of checks has increased to 4 million a year and the agency has received only minimal additional resources from Congress to conduct the investigations.
Ben Horsley, also with Bishop's office, said 90 percent of all names flagged are cleared quickly. It's the common names, like Mohammed, that take longer.
"That name shows up as part of an investigation somewhere and the majority of the time it's not the person being investigated," Horsley said.
"It's just someone with the same name."
Upson said the usual time after an application is filed for permanent status is generally 10 months if there are available green cards. For those seeking to become citizens, it could take six to eight months.
Daily additions
In Utah, on a daily basis, there are 28 applications filed for citizenship and 14 applications for a green card.
It's the 1 percent that come back with problems that delay the process, Upson said.
Meanwhile, Singh and Kapadia wonder if they'll ever receive permanent status. Singh said the biggest question he has is why the country allowed him to come here and get an education, but doesn't seem to want him to stay.
He said the U.S. should look to the models of Australia and Canada and base distribution of green cards on education level and skills.
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