Do you know what you're getting into?

Millions of people especially from poor countries wish to immigrate to the U.S. every year. This creates a lot of stress on the U.S. immigration system, the basic framework of which hasn't changed in decades even though global economy has changed enormously.

Immigration is a low priority issue for the U.S. as aspiring immigrants are willing to be patient and accept the process as a way of life while the U.S. gets brilliant folks educated by foreign nations pratically for free. This desire to migrate to U.S. among the really bright persons in foreign countries has only been popular for the last 2 or 3 decades and coincidently(?) that's the time when the U.S. has prospered to become the world's largest economy and the only superpower.

However, lot of the people coming to the U.S. have a wrong impression of the U.S. socioeconomic picture before they come here. They assume that merit stands above everything and they will have a fair opportunity to succeed in their chosen field. Many decide to make life here permanent and decide to embark on the journey called permanent residency and that's when they get humbled and face the reality of their worthlessness to the U.S. economy and the U.S. population in general. They are treated not as humans that add value to the nation but as files and case numbers in an indifferent immigration system.

The U.S. immigration system is like an old computer sitting in the corner. It works fine as long as no one is paying attention to it but the moment it starts getting used, it comes to a grinding halt and everyone wonders what the computer was for anyway.

Let's start at the numbers to see the underlying problem. (Source: ImmigrationVoice)

Demand:
The first step in getting a green card is to get labor clearance. There are approximately 350,000 cases pending labor clearance since 2000. Assuming getting labor clearance, the next step is to file an immigrant petition or form I-140. There are another 271,000 cases pending in this stage since 2002. Total cases requiring visa numbers is over half a million.

Supply:
There are only 140,000 immigrant visas available per year and each country has a 7% cap. That means only 9,800 persons per year from India including spouse and children can get green cards. Due to processing delays and inefficiency not all 140,000 visa numbers may be used up in a year and the left over go unused or wasted.

Problem:
How long will it take to get your green card if you file today? You do the math.

Solution:
Increase the numbers of visas per year temporarily or extend green card benefits to people who are stuck in the process. In fact some measures were introduced in a bill in the U.S. Congress late 2005 to alleviate the problems.

Opposition:
Groups like NumbersUSA and WashTech are against immigration and find a way to relate all problems with public welfare to immigrants. They are very organised and they lobbied hard against the measures introduced in Congress. With the support of anti-immigration Congressmen like Tom Tancredo, they succeeded in removing the measures from the final bill. They even tried to increase the fees instead but that move failed.

Don't live here permanently. Work for a few years and take your money home. The U.S. dollar is loosing value compared to other major currencies and at the same time, home economies are growing at 8% or higher. Think about what you want and decide about your future before its too late.