santb1975
06-23 10:34 PM
It has been a real busy year with long working days and multiple complex projects that have been taking away my weekends when I first saw the news about Advocacy days planned by Immigration Voice in Washington D.C. That was definitely not another thing I had time and energy for. My first thought about the event was that I will make it if I can. As days went by I did not want to miss this event. I thought I would regret if I missed this. After a couple of years of no talks about immigration, Advocacy days provided a good opportunity to focus and advocate for issues we all have been living with for many years with many more to come. My vacation request was sent for approval to all the project managers I have been working with and got approved.
I landed in D.C saturday evening and went to the situation room on Sunday. The situation room was filled with passionate people who have made a choice to dedicate their time to advocate for issues faced by our community. All of us had a lot to accomplish over the next three days. Every one of us had anywhere between four to eight meetings with people who write laws that shape this nation and determine its future. There were a few events happening in the situation room throughout the day like registering members, giving out meeting schedules, tracking schedule changes, training members on how to handle meetings with law makers, mockup lawmaker meetings, preparing meeting materials, printing business cards, making sure everyone has necessary accommodation, making sure everyone knows where their meetings are, who their team members are etc. Towards the end of the day, former USCIS Ombudsman made a visit to the situation room and told all of us how important it is for us to take our issues to law makers and keep up with the work we have done when we go back home. Things don�t happen in life if we don�t try. He really felt bad for all of us who had to walk between House and Senate offices for our meetings over the next couple of days. It was around 11 PM when most of us were ready for the next day. I met my team before I left the situation room and I knew our team was high performing and would do really well. A few people stayed back to finish up and it turns out everyone who stayed back were up until 4 AM.
We had five meetings scheduled for day 1 in three different buildings on the same side of the capital building. We picked up an additional meeting over the ones we were already scheduled for since we had additional time. Everyone we met knew our issues and were very supportive. No one needed an introduction. Our team accomplished a lot on day and we felt really good. Towards the end of the day and my foot started screaming. Walking between three large buildings which serve as offices for House of Representatives and climbing steep staircases gave me one less blister compared to what I normally get after finishing a half Marathon and next day was not going to be a day of rest.
My second day turned out to be more exciting compared to the first one. I had five meetings scheduled and I was going solo for my first two lawmaker meetings. I had an opportunity to give a process overview of obtaining permanent residency (Green Card) for highly skilled legal immigrants in one office and that felt really good. After my second meeting I met my IV friends from Southern California and we all headed to our next meeting together. We went to the Rayburn cafeteria to get lunch after. Just when I thought I had luxury of having a 90 minute lunch and only two more meetings to go to for the day my foot really started screaming. The dress code on the hill did not allow me to take my shoes off and stretch my foot or wear sneakers. It felt better to sit for the next 90 minutes in the cafeteria compared to walking or standing. Our next meeting was in the Senate building which was on the other side of the Capital. Normally it would take about 10 to 15 minutes to walk to other side but it took over 40 minutes to reach the office we were supposed to get to only to find out that our meeting got rescheduled to 4:30 PM. I had a 5 PM meeting scheduled as well which did not give me enough time to stay for this meeting and head to the building I came from earlier. I split from my team and started walking towards the other side of the capitol hill for my 5 PM appointment almost an hour early because of my foot issues. I couldn�t really walk for long after I left the senate building. I walked to the nearest bench in front of the capital. I didn�t care about anyone watching me and just took my shoes off and sat down for the next 30 minutes before I could walk again. Our 5 PM meeting was with a Congressman himself and had a Core team member, myself and another member who was later offered an unpaid Internship by a lobbying firm. Just when we were wondering why the position would be unpaid we were told that the reason for being unpaid was because the green card process for the member accepting the position would be reset since It would not fall under same or similar category which made all of us crack up.
Our next stop was the congressional reception which gave us an opportunity to spend the evening with present and former USCIS Ombudsman, representatives from law maker�s offices, personnel from our lobbying group and a few prominent Immigration attorneys. Our reception was wrapped out around 8 PM and we headed to the situation room for our closing meeting. Our closing meeting went on until 11 after which each one of us took our Action items and next steps to take back to our districts. Everyone we met over the past couple of days told us to keep up the work we have been doing for the past few years. Good work and great follow through always leads to good results.
I landed in D.C saturday evening and went to the situation room on Sunday. The situation room was filled with passionate people who have made a choice to dedicate their time to advocate for issues faced by our community. All of us had a lot to accomplish over the next three days. Every one of us had anywhere between four to eight meetings with people who write laws that shape this nation and determine its future. There were a few events happening in the situation room throughout the day like registering members, giving out meeting schedules, tracking schedule changes, training members on how to handle meetings with law makers, mockup lawmaker meetings, preparing meeting materials, printing business cards, making sure everyone has necessary accommodation, making sure everyone knows where their meetings are, who their team members are etc. Towards the end of the day, former USCIS Ombudsman made a visit to the situation room and told all of us how important it is for us to take our issues to law makers and keep up with the work we have done when we go back home. Things don�t happen in life if we don�t try. He really felt bad for all of us who had to walk between House and Senate offices for our meetings over the next couple of days. It was around 11 PM when most of us were ready for the next day. I met my team before I left the situation room and I knew our team was high performing and would do really well. A few people stayed back to finish up and it turns out everyone who stayed back were up until 4 AM.
We had five meetings scheduled for day 1 in three different buildings on the same side of the capital building. We picked up an additional meeting over the ones we were already scheduled for since we had additional time. Everyone we met knew our issues and were very supportive. No one needed an introduction. Our team accomplished a lot on day and we felt really good. Towards the end of the day and my foot started screaming. Walking between three large buildings which serve as offices for House of Representatives and climbing steep staircases gave me one less blister compared to what I normally get after finishing a half Marathon and next day was not going to be a day of rest.
My second day turned out to be more exciting compared to the first one. I had five meetings scheduled and I was going solo for my first two lawmaker meetings. I had an opportunity to give a process overview of obtaining permanent residency (Green Card) for highly skilled legal immigrants in one office and that felt really good. After my second meeting I met my IV friends from Southern California and we all headed to our next meeting together. We went to the Rayburn cafeteria to get lunch after. Just when I thought I had luxury of having a 90 minute lunch and only two more meetings to go to for the day my foot really started screaming. The dress code on the hill did not allow me to take my shoes off and stretch my foot or wear sneakers. It felt better to sit for the next 90 minutes in the cafeteria compared to walking or standing. Our next meeting was in the Senate building which was on the other side of the Capital. Normally it would take about 10 to 15 minutes to walk to other side but it took over 40 minutes to reach the office we were supposed to get to only to find out that our meeting got rescheduled to 4:30 PM. I had a 5 PM meeting scheduled as well which did not give me enough time to stay for this meeting and head to the building I came from earlier. I split from my team and started walking towards the other side of the capitol hill for my 5 PM appointment almost an hour early because of my foot issues. I couldn�t really walk for long after I left the senate building. I walked to the nearest bench in front of the capital. I didn�t care about anyone watching me and just took my shoes off and sat down for the next 30 minutes before I could walk again. Our 5 PM meeting was with a Congressman himself and had a Core team member, myself and another member who was later offered an unpaid Internship by a lobbying firm. Just when we were wondering why the position would be unpaid we were told that the reason for being unpaid was because the green card process for the member accepting the position would be reset since It would not fall under same or similar category which made all of us crack up.
Our next stop was the congressional reception which gave us an opportunity to spend the evening with present and former USCIS Ombudsman, representatives from law maker�s offices, personnel from our lobbying group and a few prominent Immigration attorneys. Our reception was wrapped out around 8 PM and we headed to the situation room for our closing meeting. Our closing meeting went on until 11 after which each one of us took our Action items and next steps to take back to our districts. Everyone we met over the past couple of days told us to keep up the work we have been doing for the past few years. Good work and great follow through always leads to good results.
wallpaper Audi A3 2.0 TDI Sport
bsbawa10
09-14 11:19 AM
Please stop taking out the frustrations on IV. It is very easy to do. All you need to do is write a post. But doing some real action is the challenge.
We are all like you and in this together. We try to create action items and guide and try to lobby within our limited time, energy and means. Everything else is dependent on members. If members contribute funds we lobby hard. If members are not even willing to contribute $5, and we can only get less than 5K in more than 2 months, how can we accuse core? If members write letters to administration or USCIS, call lawmakers, meet lawmakers etc that directly helps everyone. Members need to involve their big employers and have them contact administration and local lawmakers. We all need to contact media and raise awareness. We all need to create publicity of this effort so that more people can join it and make it successful. We will help you all the way in this effort. Come and travel to DC with all your state chapter members and meet officials. Try taking part in conference calls, answer emails and calls from all kinds of members and non-members, media outreach and mundane official work of IV yourself during office hours and you will see how difficult it is to manage this for IV team.Take days off from your work spend your own money on travel and hotel and visit offices and talk to lawmakers in DC. We will help you with the meetings. IV core has been doing that and we get such brickbats through such posts.
Just accusing IV, writing posts about ideas or action, and asking IV to wake up will not solve anything. This is a community effort and each IV member is responsible for the failure or success. IV leaders already devote lot of time from their professional and personal life on this effort. Individual members need to step up if they want more and take it upon themselves to get active.
I am sorry to say this Pappu, but honestly I do feel one thing. There are some things that IV can do without spending money(which I think are not being done). For example, it can lead everybody everybody to send letters to USCIS and congressmen and the press for justice highlighting abrupt actions of USCIS. I made so many pamphlets in the thread "Lets get Organized" which can be sent alongwith to make an impact. It is not about eb2 or eb3, it is about accountability and transparency from USCIS. It does not involve any money from anybody excepting a 41 cents stamp on the letter which I think most of people should be ready to spend. However, the push from IV seems to be missing.
We are all like you and in this together. We try to create action items and guide and try to lobby within our limited time, energy and means. Everything else is dependent on members. If members contribute funds we lobby hard. If members are not even willing to contribute $5, and we can only get less than 5K in more than 2 months, how can we accuse core? If members write letters to administration or USCIS, call lawmakers, meet lawmakers etc that directly helps everyone. Members need to involve their big employers and have them contact administration and local lawmakers. We all need to contact media and raise awareness. We all need to create publicity of this effort so that more people can join it and make it successful. We will help you all the way in this effort. Come and travel to DC with all your state chapter members and meet officials. Try taking part in conference calls, answer emails and calls from all kinds of members and non-members, media outreach and mundane official work of IV yourself during office hours and you will see how difficult it is to manage this for IV team.Take days off from your work spend your own money on travel and hotel and visit offices and talk to lawmakers in DC. We will help you with the meetings. IV core has been doing that and we get such brickbats through such posts.
Just accusing IV, writing posts about ideas or action, and asking IV to wake up will not solve anything. This is a community effort and each IV member is responsible for the failure or success. IV leaders already devote lot of time from their professional and personal life on this effort. Individual members need to step up if they want more and take it upon themselves to get active.
I am sorry to say this Pappu, but honestly I do feel one thing. There are some things that IV can do without spending money(which I think are not being done). For example, it can lead everybody everybody to send letters to USCIS and congressmen and the press for justice highlighting abrupt actions of USCIS. I made so many pamphlets in the thread "Lets get Organized" which can be sent alongwith to make an impact. It is not about eb2 or eb3, it is about accountability and transparency from USCIS. It does not involve any money from anybody excepting a 41 cents stamp on the letter which I think most of people should be ready to spend. However, the push from IV seems to be missing.
tcsonly
07-17 08:06 PM
I thank all new contributors, I think the efforts from members in the last 2 weeks are truly inspiring.
If you haven't done already, please consider contributing and donating some money to IV. It is entirely run from our donations (and the shortfall made up by the core team).
Talk is cheap guys, put your money where your mouth is so we can continue fighting for us all! The battle is won, the war is far from over
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=25#HowToContribute
:D
I cannot thank IV more. I just contributed $100.00 thru' Google checkout.
Every member,
Make sure you add a donation to IV as part of 485 filing expenses, and it'll be worth a lot more than you can imagine.
If you haven't done already, please consider contributing and donating some money to IV. It is entirely run from our donations (and the shortfall made up by the core team).
Talk is cheap guys, put your money where your mouth is so we can continue fighting for us all! The battle is won, the war is far from over
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=25#HowToContribute
:D
I cannot thank IV more. I just contributed $100.00 thru' Google checkout.
Every member,
Make sure you add a donation to IV as part of 485 filing expenses, and it'll be worth a lot more than you can imagine.
2011 -2000 Audi A3 T Quattro
tabaliya
02-17 09:19 AM
Hi all,
I have been following this thread and some posts suggest that the Observation on the passport for correcting the name is sufficient. Here is my situation:
My passport had the name as:
Surname: A***********
Given name: P****
The correct name should be (since this is how I use it in the US now and it applies to all my docs here - GC, DL, school records, everywhere).
Surname: P****
Given name: A***********
I got this corrected in the Indian passport through an "Observation" on Page 3 which states:
The name of the passport holder appearing on Page 1 has been corrected to read as:
Surname: P****
Given name: A***********
Since this is not a "name change" as such but simply a re-alignment of the last and first names (often a source of confusion from India), I hope this is sufficient and I don't have to go through a name change to get a new passport book issued.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
AP
I have been following this thread and some posts suggest that the Observation on the passport for correcting the name is sufficient. Here is my situation:
My passport had the name as:
Surname: A***********
Given name: P****
The correct name should be (since this is how I use it in the US now and it applies to all my docs here - GC, DL, school records, everywhere).
Surname: P****
Given name: A***********
I got this corrected in the Indian passport through an "Observation" on Page 3 which states:
The name of the passport holder appearing on Page 1 has been corrected to read as:
Surname: P****
Given name: A***********
Since this is not a "name change" as such but simply a re-alignment of the last and first names (often a source of confusion from India), I hope this is sufficient and I don't have to go through a name change to get a new passport book issued.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
AP
more...
pr02
07-17 08:25 PM
Thank you to the IV core, thank you to the members of this board.
Thank you to all the people who took the initiative, and also to the people who had the foresight to support those initiatives.
Thank you to all that contributed money( I myself have contributed only once; I pledge more in the future), time, and effort.
Finally thanks to every one who lent us a sympathetic ear, to every one who doubted IV, to all the nay sayers who strengthened our resolve.
Finally once more to IV for uniting us all.
Thank you to all the people who took the initiative, and also to the people who had the foresight to support those initiatives.
Thank you to all that contributed money( I myself have contributed only once; I pledge more in the future), time, and effort.
Finally thanks to every one who lent us a sympathetic ear, to every one who doubted IV, to all the nay sayers who strengthened our resolve.
Finally once more to IV for uniting us all.
Pagal
06-09 11:48 PM
Go IV!!
more...
sk2006
08-13 05:49 PM
I am confused now!:D
I thought that with the Sept 2009 bulletin ( PD shifted to 01 Jan 2005 for EB2 India), my PD is current!
Am I missing something?
Best
Fred
Your PD is not yet current.
If they have issued GC to you, it was a mistake and you should report it to USCIS to avoid future problems.
There were several discussions on this forum about this issue.
Report to USCIS ASAP that you have been approved by mistake.
I thought with PD of 2004 by now you should be well aware of how Visa bulletins work. :confused:
Either you went into hibernation after filing for your GC back in 2004 or you are just faking your profile.
I thought that with the Sept 2009 bulletin ( PD shifted to 01 Jan 2005 for EB2 India), my PD is current!
Am I missing something?
Best
Fred
Your PD is not yet current.
If they have issued GC to you, it was a mistake and you should report it to USCIS to avoid future problems.
There were several discussions on this forum about this issue.
Report to USCIS ASAP that you have been approved by mistake.
I thought with PD of 2004 by now you should be well aware of how Visa bulletins work. :confused:
Either you went into hibernation after filing for your GC back in 2004 or you are just faking your profile.
2010 Next. Audi
desi3933
08-27 04:41 PM
.........
Someone gave a RED and left these comments...
......
......
Just gave you green.
Someone gave a RED and left these comments...
......
......
Just gave you green.
more...
abhijitp
11-27 02:29 PM
you can also use donations at immigrationvoice.org in paypal for any amount.
So just go ahead and contribute to the one and only organization that is working extremely hard to bring relief to YOU!
So just go ahead and contribute to the one and only organization that is working extremely hard to bring relief to YOU!
hair AUDI A3 1.6 sport, 3
amitjoey
07-05 03:00 PM
People are talking about the flowers to USCIS Campaign.
http://me2rai.blogspot.com/
http://me2rai.blogspot.com/
more...
paskal
11-20 02:53 AM
I never claimed any amount for this holiday gift on this thread yet but what if I want to donate $31 or per say $ 81 one time, I do not have that option now and so I will end up not donating now and wait and donate when I feel comfortable with $ 100/- or its multiplications. That is called turning away and if you guys do not see any danger into it I do not have any further words.
Fund raising is an art and I believe our current startegy is lacking that art. If you guys see the base of any major successful fund raising (Grass root level not Political ones, mind well we claim ourselves grass root level organization)you will always find donors with $ 1 to donors with $1 million donatiing as per their will. Grass root level fund raisings can not afford constraints which normally goes successful in political and/or industrial fund raisings.
Some of the strong supporters of current policy, in their argument, automatically assume that willing donor always used to spend $ 100/- frequently for drinks or food and may be living lavish life style. But they are partly wrong in their assumption...I myself never eat outside frequently. Even on a travel trip I cook my food by myself and I normally do not drink sodas or alcohol so what abhijitp has given a example at least does not remain valid for me but I can not say that it is completely out of proportion, as it has some valid logic but it can not be true for everyone.
Point is if we make a wrong based fund raising policy, we may hurt ourselves only. I know my option, if I want to donate odd figure now, I will not be able to donate it now, and I will have to wait till I feel comfortable donating $ 100/- and/or single digit multiplications of $ 100/- but would that be considered a good and wise option?
For an example, I am emotionally charged today and I want to donate $ 61/-(As I may plan that much only..for whatever reasons) but I am not able to donate so I will not donate and say after 4 months I will be able to plan $ 100/- but what if at that time I may not be emotionally charged to donate all together? So end effect would be I will end up donating nothing ( This is just an example..:))
And for the sake of argument if you enrolled yourself $50/- recurring, you did it willingly and so would you change to $ 25/- recurring if $ 25/-option is available to you? (Note: I think most people on this board fear that with having a minimum amount option, most people will turn to that only but that may not be 100% true. and even if it may become true it will end up having more donation flow) For most people answer is no, I believe, They will stick to $ 50/- recurring option as they can afford and they did it willingly. But with current policy we are completely turning away the people who may otherwise donate, for an example $ 20/- monthly-recurring policy may turn 40 new commited donors in whereas $50/- recurring option is creating only 10 donors and thus we may be ending up $ 300/- confirmed donation loss per month. This is just an example and based on assumption that less amount would attract more commited donors.
Having said all this, if majority memebrs and core still feel that this will be the only future standard for accepting donations then as I mentioned above, I will have only one option left and that is to wait till I become comfortable for donating $ 100/- ( I will remain emotionally charged...:))
when we had options to donate $20, a large number of members came out with the same argument for reducing it to $10!
meanwhile the check option usually allows flexibility and is temporarily down for some circumstances beyond immediate control. it will be back though.
Fund raising is an art and I believe our current startegy is lacking that art. If you guys see the base of any major successful fund raising (Grass root level not Political ones, mind well we claim ourselves grass root level organization)you will always find donors with $ 1 to donors with $1 million donatiing as per their will. Grass root level fund raisings can not afford constraints which normally goes successful in political and/or industrial fund raisings.
Some of the strong supporters of current policy, in their argument, automatically assume that willing donor always used to spend $ 100/- frequently for drinks or food and may be living lavish life style. But they are partly wrong in their assumption...I myself never eat outside frequently. Even on a travel trip I cook my food by myself and I normally do not drink sodas or alcohol so what abhijitp has given a example at least does not remain valid for me but I can not say that it is completely out of proportion, as it has some valid logic but it can not be true for everyone.
Point is if we make a wrong based fund raising policy, we may hurt ourselves only. I know my option, if I want to donate odd figure now, I will not be able to donate it now, and I will have to wait till I feel comfortable donating $ 100/- and/or single digit multiplications of $ 100/- but would that be considered a good and wise option?
For an example, I am emotionally charged today and I want to donate $ 61/-(As I may plan that much only..for whatever reasons) but I am not able to donate so I will not donate and say after 4 months I will be able to plan $ 100/- but what if at that time I may not be emotionally charged to donate all together? So end effect would be I will end up donating nothing ( This is just an example..:))
And for the sake of argument if you enrolled yourself $50/- recurring, you did it willingly and so would you change to $ 25/- recurring if $ 25/-option is available to you? (Note: I think most people on this board fear that with having a minimum amount option, most people will turn to that only but that may not be 100% true. and even if it may become true it will end up having more donation flow) For most people answer is no, I believe, They will stick to $ 50/- recurring option as they can afford and they did it willingly. But with current policy we are completely turning away the people who may otherwise donate, for an example $ 20/- monthly-recurring policy may turn 40 new commited donors in whereas $50/- recurring option is creating only 10 donors and thus we may be ending up $ 300/- confirmed donation loss per month. This is just an example and based on assumption that less amount would attract more commited donors.
Having said all this, if majority memebrs and core still feel that this will be the only future standard for accepting donations then as I mentioned above, I will have only one option left and that is to wait till I become comfortable for donating $ 100/- ( I will remain emotionally charged...:))
when we had options to donate $20, a large number of members came out with the same argument for reducing it to $10!
meanwhile the check option usually allows flexibility and is temporarily down for some circumstances beyond immediate control. it will be back though.
hot hair Audi A3 1.6 Sport Back
psagarn
04-16 12:19 PM
What exactly do you mean to do? Throw in your ideas and nothing will be spared...
I was watching TV the other day and saw an infomercial from National Association of Realtors promoting some kind of reform for home finance. They had interesting stats like "Home ownerships contributes ~ 2 trillion USD towards nation economy. So anything that promotes home ownership should help economy come out of recession". I am thinking if we can gather some useful stats around how much NRIs (non-GC holders from US) have invested in Indian Real Estate and how much of that could have been invested here in US (and other numbers like these), and then use them to convince those in power that an expedited GC process for those who want to be a part of main stream US resident population would help US economy.
I was watching TV the other day and saw an infomercial from National Association of Realtors promoting some kind of reform for home finance. They had interesting stats like "Home ownerships contributes ~ 2 trillion USD towards nation economy. So anything that promotes home ownership should help economy come out of recession". I am thinking if we can gather some useful stats around how much NRIs (non-GC holders from US) have invested in Indian Real Estate and how much of that could have been invested here in US (and other numbers like these), and then use them to convince those in power that an expedited GC process for those who want to be a part of main stream US resident population would help US economy.
more...
house tattoo audi a3 sportback
eb3_nepa
08-25 02:56 PM
Can you please post the USCIS link to the revised bulletin memo that you printed out?
Thanks
Thanks
tattoo Used Audi A3 2.0 TDI SPORT 3DR
santb1975
11-21 11:59 PM
I was thinking of typing up an email and sending it to the state chapter leaders to post on their Forums. It would be nice to type instructions on how to donate less than 100$..
more...
pictures Audi A3 Cabrilet Black Edition
qualified_trash
12-18 11:27 PM
just contributed
dresses Audi A3 2.0 Tdi Sport Black
ItIsNotFunny
03-09 05:10 PM
Its 17% Goal achieved. I wish I could see 25% today.
Yes We Can.
Yes We Can.
more...
makeup Audi A3 1.9 Tdi Sport Black
Libra
03-09 12:13 PM
Contributed $25
girlfriend 2006 Audi A3 2.0 Sport Black
gccovet
03-09 12:20 PM
Just sent $25 via Paypal as pledged.
GCCovet
GCCovet
hairstyles Audi A3 1.9 Tdi Sport Black
Daisy
04-12 06:02 PM
I have sent my story to shrey@immigrationvoice.org again.
jbr
03-07 12:33 AM
Thanks for effort; I will contribute.
anilsal
09-07 11:15 PM
Jobs in America is for Americans. If at all it gets outsourced to your country then it is yours. But as long as that job is in my country, I will defend it and not let some Strive or Skill act take it away from me.
How did you assume that our IV members do not have the will to gather together and ask for what they desire?
This IV community will show you at the DC rally and in the future.
You and your so called followers of an antiquated philosophy should read my signature below.
How did you assume that our IV members do not have the will to gather together and ask for what they desire?
This IV community will show you at the DC rally and in the future.
You and your so called followers of an antiquated philosophy should read my signature below.
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