The long awaited (20 years) overstay report has finally been released

[rutabaga 209]

the report is missing some key elements....like those who have the ever popular mind change at baggage claim, whether to get married to the porter or to attend classes at some No-Nam-o 'university or to join an ESL program....sorry, but anyone who can, ten minutes after arriving in the US, alter their lives so dramatically, had to have been an intending immigrant....that is why I firmly believe, as so many of you know, that Congress should, without costing us taxpayers a penny, end all AOS/COS from B2, F1, H3, J1 visas. Otherwise, these visas just are devices to be used and abused to avoid scrutiny and to get one of these visas by saying one thing, but doing another. Yea yea...we keep hearing about how people should be allowed to change their mind...fine....but end the possibility of changing their status! If they really want some other visa or status, go back home and apply for it there. you still get to change your mind, but now you will have to further demonstrate your bona fides.

People on F1 visas stay in the US for up to 8 years and even more (think Ph.D. students), how is it surprising that some of them meet, fall in love with, and marry Americans (by far the largest demographic on campus) during that time?

Edited January 22, 2016 by rutabaga

[Harmonia 211]

.it's quite simple....arrive as a tourist, leave as one, arrive as a student, leave as one, arrive as an au pair or summer work & travel candidate, leave as one. You 'change your mind' - great...airlines fly round trip to most countries....go home, apply for the new visa you are seeking....

Do you arrive in college at 18 single and then leave at 22 as single? Many people decide to get engaged then married, international students included. At the graduate level, international students can easily be here 6 or 8 years at a time when its natural to find your mate. I know international students who met and then married their US classmates and adjusted status. Probably quite common. You date, fall in love with, and marry people who you're with day in and day out for years.

As for marrying someone quickly to AOS, and needing more scrutiny, how in the world could that be justified when a US citizen can chat with someone online for a few months (often not even speaking a common language!), meet in person once, and then petition to bring them on a K1?

Edited January 22, 2016 by Harmonia

[HFM181818 750]

It's the F1 visa holder who marries either (a) ten minutes after enrolling in school or (b) 10 minutes after his or her H1b application was denied because the annual quota had been reached....or the F1 visa holder, who claimed to want to study ESL, but instead, just used this pretext to go shopping for a USC spouse....students who have been here a while obviously have had ample time to change their minds...it's the ones who are using the F1 for something else entirely that I have a problem with...

A USC can petition for just about anyone - getting it approved may be more difficult...a big difference...the online romances are, IMHO, scams....mostly men online searching for a foreign spouse who will put up with their k r a p or put away their socks and a foreign GF who desperately wants a GC......but that is another issue that we could debate for eons....I was never a big believer of online relationships and gave those cases considerable attention...

[yuna628 9,676]

It's the F1 visa holder who marries either (a) ten minutes after enrolling in school or (b) 10 minutes after his or her H1b application was denied because the annual quota had been reached....or the F1 visa holder, who claimed to want to study ESL, but instead, just used this pretext to go shopping for a USC spouse....students who have been here a while obviously have had ample time to change their minds...it's the ones who are using the F1 for something else entirely that I have a problem with...

A USC can petition for just about anyone - getting it approved may be more difficult...a big difference...the online romances are, IMHO, scams....mostly men online searching for a foreign spouse who will put up with their k r a p or put away their socks and a foreign GF who desperately wants a GC......but that is another issue that we could debate for eons....I was never a big believer of online relationships and gave those cases considerable attention...

My husband and I were introduced online. Not in the sense of someone that goes on a dating international website looking for love, but in a more traditional sense that a mutual and dear friend said to me, hey I know this lovely guy you should talk to.. We all belonged to a film discussion forum for many many years, and after our introduction, I was friends with him online for many years before we first met. That was years ago, and when we fell in love it was a very real thing, and I guess it wasn't also typical in that we took things slowly. Online romance is not for everyone but it is no less a relationship than any other. The world is changing and people don't meet in traditional ways anymore. That's not to say there aren't some online relationships that are pretty far out there and it's probably prone to huge fraud and scams. But I think many that met online and talk about the love they have for their fiancés and spouses on VJ is genuine. I hope that during your time, you found some of the relationships were real and genuine,

We know that there are far fetched stories and fraud probably in every visa class but I don't think that will ever change.

[RobertM54 36]

At the graduate level, international students can easily be here 6 or 8 years at a time when its natural to find your mate.

One of the largest professional societies in the USA - IEEE advocates scrapping H1B and giving a new type of work Visa to any one graduating from an accredited program (I think there was a caveat that it be STEM or business). The small print had some minimum duration of US based schooling.

[Ksenia_O 696]

the report is missing some key elements....like those who have the ever popular mind change at baggage claim, whether to get married to the porter or to attend classes at some No-Nam-o 'university or to join an ESL program....sorry, but anyone who can, ten minutes after arriving in the US, alter their lives so dramatically, had to have been an intending immigrant....that is why I firmly believe, as so many of you know, that Congress should, without costing us taxpayers a penny, end all AOS/COS from B2, F1, H3, J1 visas. Otherwise, these visas just are devices to be used and abused to avoid scrutiny and to get one of these visas by saying one thing, but doing another. Yea yea...we keep hearing about how people should be allowed to change their mind...fine....but end the possibility of changing their status! If they really want some other visa or status, go back home and apply for it there. you still get to change your mind, but now you will have to further demonstrate your bona fides.

+1

[MacUK 983]

But as was said earlier, it's doubtful that anything will ever be done about it. Except probably make it even easier!

I'd wager that the vast majority of the US public don't know about, understand or care about AOS.

Politicians tend to do nothing unless there's some benefit for themselves so none of them are likely to champion a cause that most of their voters know nothing about. And there'd probably be a very vocal group of people defending AOS, likely the same people who have or are hoping to benefit from AOS staying exactly as it is. I wonder why....

So, politically I doubt anything would happen. Not even the Trumps anti-immigration stand would likely be able to do anything to change the status quo.

What would help would be the authorities actually doing something about it. I've read stories on here of USCIS advising people to go the AOS route. Unsurprisingly lots of lawyers advising their clients to enter and adjust, even CBP officers allowing people to enter who admit they are going to adjust (admittedly, very few of those stories but I have read some).

Even this site, in my opinion, unintentionally promotes AOS fraud even though it is against the sites own TOS.

For every thread that gets locked down because the poster admits they are planning to go to the US and adjust there are many where the question never gets asked. Or where people admit that they entered with intent but as they are already in the US you get a dozen posters all screaming that it's ok because of Cavazos and Batista.

The system is broken, but unlikely to be fixed.

[HFM181818 750]

I wish I could disagree with the above... but the 'best' (?) Congress that money has bought lacks the 'juevos' or 'cojones' to make any difficult decision...with Big Biz lining their pockets (begging for cheap labor), our 'do nothing unless I get re-elected' Congress will always play both sides of the fence...they act tough, but when it's time to cast a meaningful vote on a piece of tough legislation, they take the E-Z way out, passing some allegedly tough law, but then offering a back door to those who are too irresponsible to adhere to those laws....(sigh...if I were King....)

[RobertM54 36]

With anywhere between 11 and 20 million people in this country illegally, I struggle to develop any emotional energy over those who follow the rules.

It is easy to whine and complain about "intent", but they are following the rules.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

With anywhere between 11 and 20 million people in this country illegally, I struggle to develop any emotional energy over those who follow the rules.

It is easy to whine and complain about "intent", but they are following the rules.

How? Yes it's a legal loophole, but following the rules would technically be returning Edited January 23, 2016 by Transborderwife

[Boiler 45,516]

How? Yes it's a legal loophole, but following the rules would technically be returning

Not as it stands, if you are in you can adjust,

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Not as it stands, if you are in you can adjust,

Right, due to the loophole

[RobertM54 36]

Right, due to the loophole

I think people underestimate the effort required to close the loopholes.

I lived in Arizona for several years and may yet have a winter residence there ( the snow is piling up here).

Every illegal I met was a fantastic human being.

When I had a crew working on my house the illegals were easy to pick out - they were working their asses off.

The Mexicans with legal status worked, but it was a more relaxed pace.

So at the intellectual level I am completely opposed to illegal immigration. I am almost pathological about this.

All of the ####### I have been through as a small business owner to scrupulously follow the rules.

Yet at the personal level, every illegal I met is a fantastic future American citizen. I know there are many exceptions, but I did not see them in construction.

So if you take my personal angst with kicking out actual illegals (and I want them all to self deport and come back in under a rational immigration policy)

and you may get some insight into the difficulty in making it harder to get in.

Edited January 23, 2016 by RobertM54

[MacUK 983]

I think people underestimate the effort required to close the loopholes.

I lived in Arizona for several years and may yet have a winter residence there ( the snow is piling up here).

Every illegal I met was a fantastic human being.

When I had a crew working on my house the illegals were easy to pick out - they were working their asses off.

The Mexicans with legal status worked, but it was a more relaxed pace.

So at the intellectual level I am completely opposed to illegal immigration. I am almost pathological about this.

All of the ####### I have been through as a small business owner to scrupulously follow the rules.

Yet at the personal level, every illegal I met is a fantastic future American citizen. I know there are many exceptions, but I did not see them in construction.

So if you take my personal angst with kicking out actual illegals (and I want them all to self deport and come back in under a rational immigration policy)

and you may get some insight into the difficulty in making it harder to get in.

The cynic in me says that I imagine that illegals would work a lot harder than legal immigrants simply because they would be much easier to fire if they don't work twice as hard.

[Boiler 45,516]

Only can speak to CO but the offspring born here are another issue.

Right, due to the loophole

Loophole I always thought is something unintentional and usually temporary.