Speaking of illegal immigrants...

[sparks19]

I have not personally been there but my husband was deployed to Somalia for a year and he has LOTS of pictures. he had to live their "lifestyle" for a year. Not quite as bad as they did because he was there with the army but he could not eat food without eating a couple 10 or 20 flies. They eventually learned to just eat with their eyes closed and just give a quick blow on their food before they stuffed it in their mouths. I trust what my husband tells me

I also know MANY people from Somalia and they all tell me the same.

I have been to mexico. Mexico in real life does NOT compare to Somalia even in pictures. Have you?

LOL P.S - how did you know sparky is my real nickname LOL I love it

[Vio&Juni]

I never mentioned any country, nor Mexico, neither Somalia. Do you think a Somalian can get a Green Card? Most of them came and stayed illegally in the first place and then tried to get a refugee status, which again is not real immigration.

Just out of interest, you said you started your immigration process before you married. Was it a fiancee visa that you applied for?

[Karen]

Sparks19, from where are you emmigrating? Canada?

I know the rules are different from different countries, even the ones that border the US.

I worked with two young women, J and K.

J's mother was a Canadian by birth, her father was American.
K's mother was a Mexican by birth, her father was American.
Both mothers were legal immigrants, and had dual citizenship.
Both girls were born on US soil, spent time living in both countries as children, but most of their time in the US.

When J turned 18, she was granted dual citizenship.
When K turned 18, she had to officially chose - she could have American citizenship, or Mexican citizenship, but not dual citizenship.

Interesting, huh?

[Edwina's Secretary]

I went to school in Mexico the summer I turned 16. I lived and worked in Mexico years later for two years as an expatriate. I have also vacationed there many times. Trust me when I say...vacationing there is NOTHING like living there.

I have been to Africa, but not to Somalia.

[sparks19]

Sparks19, from where are you emmigrating? Canada?

I know the rules are different from different countries, even the ones that border the US.

I worked with two young women, J and K.

J's mother was a Canadian by birth, her father was American.
K's mother was a Mexican by birth, her father was American.
Both mothers were legal immigrants, and had dual citizenship.
Both girls were born on US soil, spent time living in both countries as children, but most of their time in the US.

When J turned 18, she was granted dual citizenship.
When K turned 18, she had to officially chose - she could have American citizenship, or Mexican citizenship, but not dual citizenship.

Interesting, huh?

That is very interesting. Yes I immigrated from Canada. My husband was told that if he immigrated to Canada and then became a citizen that the US would make him give up his US citizenship after a certain amount of time. I don't know how true that is but I thought that was very strange.

Vio&Juni, No it was not a fiancee visa. I originally started with trying to get a work visa and then work towards permanent residency. But when we got married all of the work I had done was null and void. Getting married changed my status in the US. NOW, If I had come here gotten married and not returned to Canada (which is perfectly legal) I could have processed my papers from here but I would not be allowed to leave the country until it was done.

You see you don't have to get a greencard to be a legal citizen. Especially before 9/11. you can get permanent residency or you can get a K visa which will allow you to live and work in the states and process your citizenship papers from here. I don't have my green card. I am not even close to getting it. But I am a legal resident. I haven't even started filing the papers for my green card. THAT IS immigration.

What do you think immigration is? apparently you and I have two totally different views on how immigration works. you do NOT have to stay in your country until you have your green card. They have processes to allow you to come here and work here until you can file your citizenship papers. YOu don't even HAVE to file for citizenship if you don't want to. you can just file forms to be a legal resident. You pay taxes, you can work, you can come and go as you please but you are NOT granted citizenship. Many people do that because I know sometimes the US will make you choose citizenship. Like I said my husband can be a legal resident in Canada and keep his US citizenship but if he becomes a Canadian citizen the US will make him choose just one.

Edwina, I know vacationing is not the same. They told us at the resort that we shouldn't wander too far. well we did anyway. I can't tell you where exactly we ended up but it was very seedy. But they had homes and no one looked like they were starving to death.

My hubby has been to 32 countries and some of the places just look like a wasteland. Dirty water, flies everywhere, constant sand storms, the people were starving. No real shelter, only make shift homes that threatened to fall everytime a sandstorm passed through.

I talk about immigration with everyone I can. They are more helpful to me than any lawyer or INS officer. I hear the different processes people had to go through depending on where they were from and what they were coming to US/Canada for.

P.S- Vio&juni Have you gone through the immigration process? spousal immigration or otherwise?

[Edwina's Secretary]

Edwina, I know vacationing is not the same. They told us at the resort that we shouldn't wander too far. well we did anyway. I can't tell you where exactly we ended up but it was very seedy. But they had homes and no one looked like they were starving to death.

And which government would you have expected to bail you out if you had gotten in trouble by not following directions? Would it have been the Mexican government's responsiblity or the US or the Canadian?

Some countries allow dual citizenship some do not. The concept is when you pledge allegiance to a country you cannot still have allegiance to another country. Most people who have two passports do not have them offically. (I.E. they were born to parents of one country in another country.) Often the problem comes up in countries with manatory military service. Serving in another country's military is a big no-no.

Canada and the US have some special arrangements under NAFTA that allow workers in some specialities to work "on the other side" without the so-called green card. There are also H1B's and student practical work visas.

[sparks19]

And which government would you have expected to bail you out if you had gotten in trouble by not following directions? Would it have been the Mexican government's responsiblity or the US or the Canadian?

Some countries allow dual citizenship some do not. The concept is when you pledge allegiance to a country you cannot still have allegiance to another country. Most people who have two passports do not have them offically. (I.E. they were born to parents of one country in another country.) Often the problem comes up in countries with manatory military service. Serving in another country's military is a big no-no.

Canada and the US have some special arrangements under NAFTA that allow workers in some specialities to work "on the other side" without the so-called green card. There are also H1B's and student practical work visas.

It would have been the Canadian governments responsibility. I am a Canadian citizen. If something were to happen and I, say, went to jail or something I think it would be Canadas responsibility to provide me with legal counsel or have me sent back to Canada to await sentencing there. I pay taxes there (well not now because I'm not living there lol but at the time I was). As for injury, I have travel insurance (it was either that or they wrap me up in styrofoam because I am dangerous to myself lol). so no concern there.

My hubby tried to come to Canada and work there but because of his skill set it was very difficult for him to find a job as a network architect. however it was quite easy for me to get a work Visa here. I don't know if it was because I don't have a specific skill set or what but I know it can be difficult if you have a very specific and very popular career. Everyone is an IT person these days lol.

[RICHARD]

can we deport this thread?

[Vio&Juni]

You see you don't have to get a greencard to be a legal citizen. Especially before 9/11. you can get permanent residency or you can get a K visa which will allow you to live and work in the states and process your citizenship papers from here.

I know it's not only Green Card that allows you to stay there. What you explained works for you, as a Canadian. Nationals of other countries would not be allowed to work in the US and get legal residency. They would have to enter the country either illegally and find a way to legalise their stay or legally as a visitor and change their status, but you understand that is illegal too - you have to enter the country with the proper visa.

They have processes to allow you to come here and work here until you can file your citizenship papers. YOu don't even HAVE to file for citizenship if you don't want to. you can just file forms to be a legal resident. You pay taxes, you can work, you can come and go as you please but you are NOT granted citizenship.

No national of any country is granted citizenship immediatelly, you need the permanent residency for a few years.

I hear the different processes people had to go through depending on where they were from and what they were coming to US/Canada for.

P.S- Vio&juni Have you gone through the immigration process? spousal immigration or otherwise?

I mentioned earlier that I have worked for a Visa Section - not US, another one.