Thread: Foreign scientists stung by immigration bureaucracy

Foreign scientists stung by immigration bureaucracy

High visa demand strands thousands of workers overseas

By Emily Wax

THE WASHINGTON POST
2:00 a.m. April 13, 2009

NEW DELHI, India – When Surojit Sarkar got a call that his father had suffered a paralyzing stroke, he packed a small suitcase, kissed his wife and 10-month-old daughter, and rushed to the airport for the first leg of his flight from Atlanta to India. Sarkar, an only child, wanted to be by his father's bedside, prepared for the worst.

Sarkar thought he would be in New Delhi for just a few weeks. Now, more than three months later, his father is in physical therapy, but Sarkar is still in India, trapped in administrative limbo over his U.S. work visa status. He said consular agents flagged his renewal application for security reasons.
Sarkar is one of thousands of highly skilled scientists, professors and technology workers from Beijing to Belarus who have been stranded in their home countries in recent months, upsetting their lives, their jobs and their children's schooling. Many wonder whether the United States still wants its foreign scientists.

“When I said I have a Ph.D. and worked with vaccines, the visa officer abruptly stopped what he was doing. I must have uttered a keyword for some security threat,â€

I do feel sorry from them not being able to study here. Most universities do allow a certain number of students on visas. They pay the same as out of state tuition unless it is a private university where everyone pays the same. These students are not a burden on resources as they must folow strict visa rules or they get deported. One thing is that they must have proof of medical insurance as based on the governments's minimum standard if not more. They also are not allowed to work unless they have dire circumstances and then immigration has to approve it and they are limited on how many hours they can work and only on campus. I would rather they go to college or university here as opposed to illegal aliens.

swatchick wrote:

I do feel sorry from them not being able to study here. Most universities do allow a certain number of students on visas.

Mr. Sarkar is not a student. He obtained his education here and stayed. Who's to say that India wouldn't benefit from his U.S. education? Just because we educate them doesn't necessarily mean we have to guarantee them a life-long job too.

Actually I would like to know how he stayed here. When I went to school here as an international student we were told you were not allowed to stay once you finished school. We were told by both the international student office and immigration lawyers. I was able to stay because I moved down here to join my husband who was a legal resident and became a citizen. He sponsored me and our child. I had to be off my visa in order to do it. This is much different than the Indian person's situation.

The "fence hoppers" should be sent back to Mexico and/or their country of origin and the only foreign workers allowed to work in our country should be professionals and the professionals must pay taxes like Americans citizens.

Originally Posted by ELE

The "fence hoppers" should be sent back to Mexico and/or their country of origin and the only foreign workers allowed to work in our country should be professionals and the professionals must pay taxes like Americans citizens.

Any foreigner who comes here and takes a job is taking a job away from an American citizen,
whether they pay taxes or not.

I agree. My feelings are that I don't mend them going to school here but that is where it ends. As I said before I wonder how they are allowed to stay after they graduate. It too is illegal but then many illegals overstayed visas and some are being caught over 10 years later such as the Gomez family in Miami.