5 ms·

This article really hit home with me. My girlfriend is an international student, so I'm all too aware of the ridiculous things these people have to deal with ev

This article really hit home with me. My girlfriend is an international student, so I'm all too aware of the ridiculous things these people have to deal with even in normal times. With COVID-19 and current politics, the immigration system has gone from slow to glacial, and now they're trying to cut staff. We've had to worry about work authorization in the past -- i.e. that my girlfriend might not be able to get a job after college because the approval is taking so long and that she would be forced to leave the country if she couldn't get a job within the allotted time. Right now, she can't legally drive (!!!) because her work authorization renewal, which she applied for with ample time, hasn't come through yet. In a couple months, we'll be back to worrying about job loss and deportation... It's so stressful to worry about your transportation, your income & career prospects, your education, your friends & loved ones, and your entire life in the States being taken away because of politics that change with the whims of the current administration. My heart goes out to the people who have lost the chance to attend great universities, work at great companies, and live in the States because of this. Hurting them only comes back around to hurt us.

EE84M3i 6y ago
Could you clarify how her pending work authorization is connected to her ability to legally drive?
- quadrifoliate 6y ago
  As an immigrant, your driver's license is often tied to the date on which your visa expires. However, you are also sometimes legally allowed to be in the US while you're in some kind of pending state -- for example, if your old visa/work authorization is expired but your new work authorization is pending and a decision hasn't been made about it yet. The DMV needs an end date in the future, so they won't give you a license without one. So you can be legally present in the US, but not able to legally get a driver's license.
thaumasiotes 6y ago
> We've had to worry about work authorization in the past -- i.e. that my girlfriend might not be able to get a job after college because the approval is taking so long and that she would be forced to leave the country if she couldn't get a job within the allotted time. Right now, she can't legally drive (!!!) because her work authorization renewal, which she applied for with ample time, hasn't come through yet. In a couple months, we'll be back to worrying about job loss and deportation... What if she were your wife?
- dheera 6y ago
  That is one legal route, but it takes time, and immigration being the reason for a hasty greencard marriage that the couple wasn't already naturally for, is never a good thing for the relationship and mental health of the couple. It does make me wonder though why there isn't a "long-term relationship visa" for people who haven't reached marriage yet but want to be together and be eligible to work, and require some evidence that the two have been together stably for some period of time. In many cases one party is a US citizen and it would be in the best interest of the mental health of that US citizen to allow his/her partner to be together with them, and from the government perspective would thus be indirectly in the best interest of the country.
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    > It does make me wonder though why there isn't a "long-term relationship visa" for people who haven't reached marriage yet but want to be together and be eligible to work What purpose would this status serve that marriage wouldn't? What is the idea behind planning to be in a permanent relationship, but not marrying?
    - dheera 6y ago
      > What is the idea behind planning to be in a permanent relationship, but not marrying? What? This seems perfectly normal to me. At least for me any serious relationship is always with at least the vision of permanence, starting from the very beginning of when you call yourselves official -- unless it fails at some point. Considering most such failures occur in the first couple years, as you're still getting to understand each other, it's probably a bad idea to jump the gun into marriage that early while you still don't have a full understanding of each other. But that doesn't make it any less "planning to be permanent". I'd also say that people who meet "the one" earlier on should arguably stay unmarried for longer. If you meet at 20, I'd say wait till 25+ till you marry. A lot can change in a person between 20 and 25. If you meet at 30, you can cut that shorter a bit and that's fine because most people know what they want in life at 30. But a 22 year old US citizen who has been in a 2 year stable relationship with an F1 student, possibly living together, with permanent intent? I'd say don't rush them into marriage, but for goodness sake, let them be happily together.
FabHK 6y ago
> Right now, she can't legally drive (!!!) Not to be flippant, but since you emphasised the severity of that predicament so much: In a country with decent public transport (ie most countries) that wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve only ever owned a car in the USA; no need elsewhere.
- jkaplowitz 6y ago
  Quite a lot of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Australia, etc have bad public transport. From your username and use of the British-style "transport" rather than American "transportation", I'm guessing you have some connection to Hong Kong. I am quite willing to believe that's one of the places with good transport. But it's nowhere near the global norm if you look at the over-200 countries and separately administered regions/dependencies/teritories around the world.
  - FabHK 6y ago
    Hong Kong does indeed have excellent public transport, and you are right that public transport is mediocre in many territories, particularly in rural areas. But most places really don’t require you to have a car (for starters, because many people cannot afford one). Thus, there is almost always a relatively cheap and decent option to get around, from matatus in Kenya, jeepneys in the Philippines, songthaew in Laos, to the agua guagua in Puerto Rico and the marshrutka in the former USSR. That has been my experience in all the places you mentioned except the USA and Australia. Let me rephrase my point a bit - independently of the quality of public transport, not being able to drive is not a big deal in most places except the USA. (An additional indicator for that might be the fact that the driver’s license operates as the de-facto ID card in the US.)
  - marcus_holmes 6y ago
    I've lived in Europe, SE Asia, Australia, and very briefly America. I used to own a car in the UK about 20 years ago. Since then, bicycle and public transport (and renting a car if I need one). Europe (I now live in Berlin, but I've been most places in Europe) is obviously fine. There's 3 different rail systems, plus trams, plus buses. Plentiful bicycle lanes. Big wide pavements made for walking. And the city is so compact it's possible (even pleasant) to walk to the other side in a few hours. Australia (Perth, one of their least pedestrian-friendly cities) was sometimes a pain. Do-able - I lived there for almost 10 years with no car, but it was unusual enough to be remarked on. There is public transport, and it's mostly excellent; on time, affordable, clean and safe. But the scale of the city makes transport tedious regardless of method (half the population of Berlin, about 10 times the size). In SE Asia the "public" transport was non-existent, but you could get a tuk-tuk/red car/whatever to wherever for a few dollars (a 6-hour tuk-tuk ride in Sri Lanka cost us $20, getting anywhere in Phnom Penh was $2). And walking is usually fine - hot, sweaty, and fascinating. Transport is never a problem there. In San Diego, there was nothing. No pavement. No bus service (and I was advised not to take whatever bus there was because it was dangerous). Walking to the local 7-11 half a mile away was a 20-minute adventure dealing with road systems that made no provision for pedestrians at all. Obviously I haven't seen a bunch of the places you mention (they're on the list), but so far the USA (well, San Diego) is a completely different experience from the others. I would not want to live in San Diego without a car.
grugagag 6y ago
If you get married you can make all the headaches go away. Just saying.
- agdtdudhegsjhs 6y ago
  Sorry but that’s flatly silly to encourage an accelerated timeline for a couples marriage
- charliebrownau 6y ago
  Anyone found a goverment willing to hold women accountable and doesnt treat marriage like welfare and weal redistrubtion (socialism)for women funded by MALES - While all the repsoiblties are towards MALES, all the AUTHOIRTY is the state I recommend all MALES go check out MGTOW before you even consider - Dating with a girl - Living with a girl - marrying with a girl The system has been designed to remove all responsible and accountability for women, while giving males no power yet holding him accountable with zero authority its a raw deal Slowly males are waking up to the SCAM globally - no fault divorce - "settlement" - Child support + Alimony Its a methods to squeeze money from men to give to women via STATE FORCE

EE84M3i 6y ago

Could you clarify how her pending work authorization is connected to her ability to legally drive?

quadrifoliate 6y ago
As an immigrant, your driver's license is often tied to the date on which your visa expires. However, you are also sometimes legally allowed to be in the US while you're in some kind of pending state -- for example, if your old visa/work authorization is expired but your new work authorization is pending and a decision hasn't been made about it yet. The DMV needs an end date in the future, so they won't give you a license without one. So you can be legally present in the US, but not able to legally get a driver's license.

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> We've had to worry about work authorization in the past -- i.e. that my girlfriend might not be able to get a job after college because the approval is taking so long and that she would be forced to leave the country if she couldn't get a job within the allotted time. Right now, she can't legally drive (!!!) because her work authorization renewal, which she applied for with ample time, hasn't come through yet. In a couple months, we'll be back to worrying about job loss and deportation... What if she were your wife?

dheera 6y ago
That is one legal route, but it takes time, and immigration being the reason for a hasty greencard marriage that the couple wasn't already naturally for, is never a good thing for the relationship and mental health of the couple. It does make me wonder though why there isn't a "long-term relationship visa" for people who haven't reached marriage yet but want to be together and be eligible to work, and require some evidence that the two have been together stably for some period of time. In many cases one party is a US citizen and it would be in the best interest of the mental health of that US citizen to allow his/her partner to be together with them, and from the government perspective would thus be indirectly in the best interest of the country.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > It does make me wonder though why there isn't a "long-term relationship visa" for people who haven't reached marriage yet but want to be together and be eligible to work What purpose would this status serve that marriage wouldn't? What is the idea behind planning to be in a permanent relationship, but not marrying?
  - dheera 6y ago
    > What is the idea behind planning to be in a permanent relationship, but not marrying? What? This seems perfectly normal to me. At least for me any serious relationship is always with at least the vision of permanence, starting from the very beginning of when you call yourselves official -- unless it fails at some point. Considering most such failures occur in the first couple years, as you're still getting to understand each other, it's probably a bad idea to jump the gun into marriage that early while you still don't have a full understanding of each other. But that doesn't make it any less "planning to be permanent". I'd also say that people who meet "the one" earlier on should arguably stay unmarried for longer. If you meet at 20, I'd say wait till 25+ till you marry. A lot can change in a person between 20 and 25. If you meet at 30, you can cut that shorter a bit and that's fine because most people know what they want in life at 30. But a 22 year old US citizen who has been in a 2 year stable relationship with an F1 student, possibly living together, with permanent intent? I'd say don't rush them into marriage, but for goodness sake, let them be happily together.

FabHK 6y ago

> Right now, she can't legally drive (!!!) Not to be flippant, but since you emphasised the severity of that predicament so much: In a country with decent public transport (ie most countries) that wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve only ever owned a car in the USA; no need elsewhere.

jkaplowitz 6y ago
Quite a lot of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Australia, etc have bad public transport. From your username and use of the British-style "transport" rather than American "transportation", I'm guessing you have some connection to Hong Kong. I am quite willing to believe that's one of the places with good transport. But it's nowhere near the global norm if you look at the over-200 countries and separately administered regions/dependencies/teritories around the world.
- FabHK 6y ago
  Hong Kong does indeed have excellent public transport, and you are right that public transport is mediocre in many territories, particularly in rural areas. But most places really don’t require you to have a car (for starters, because many people cannot afford one). Thus, there is almost always a relatively cheap and decent option to get around, from matatus in Kenya, jeepneys in the Philippines, songthaew in Laos, to the agua guagua in Puerto Rico and the marshrutka in the former USSR. That has been my experience in all the places you mentioned except the USA and Australia. Let me rephrase my point a bit - independently of the quality of public transport, not being able to drive is not a big deal in most places except the USA. (An additional indicator for that might be the fact that the driver’s license operates as the de-facto ID card in the US.)
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  I've lived in Europe, SE Asia, Australia, and very briefly America. I used to own a car in the UK about 20 years ago. Since then, bicycle and public transport (and renting a car if I need one). Europe (I now live in Berlin, but I've been most places in Europe) is obviously fine. There's 3 different rail systems, plus trams, plus buses. Plentiful bicycle lanes. Big wide pavements made for walking. And the city is so compact it's possible (even pleasant) to walk to the other side in a few hours. Australia (Perth, one of their least pedestrian-friendly cities) was sometimes a pain. Do-able - I lived there for almost 10 years with no car, but it was unusual enough to be remarked on. There is public transport, and it's mostly excellent; on time, affordable, clean and safe. But the scale of the city makes transport tedious regardless of method (half the population of Berlin, about 10 times the size). In SE Asia the "public" transport was non-existent, but you could get a tuk-tuk/red car/whatever to wherever for a few dollars (a 6-hour tuk-tuk ride in Sri Lanka cost us $20, getting anywhere in Phnom Penh was $2). And walking is usually fine - hot, sweaty, and fascinating. Transport is never a problem there. In San Diego, there was nothing. No pavement. No bus service (and I was advised not to take whatever bus there was because it was dangerous). Walking to the local 7-11 half a mile away was a 20-minute adventure dealing with road systems that made no provision for pedestrians at all. Obviously I haven't seen a bunch of the places you mention (they're on the list), but so far the USA (well, San Diego) is a completely different experience from the others. I would not want to live in San Diego without a car.

grugagag 6y ago

If you get married you can make all the headaches go away. Just saying.

agdtdudhegsjhs 6y ago
Sorry but that’s flatly silly to encourage an accelerated timeline for a couples marriage
charliebrownau 6y ago
Anyone found a goverment willing to hold women accountable and doesnt treat marriage like welfare and weal redistrubtion (socialism)for women funded by MALES - While all the repsoiblties are towards MALES, all the AUTHOIRTY is the state I recommend all MALES go check out MGTOW before you even consider - Dating with a girl - Living with a girl - marrying with a girl The system has been designed to remove all responsible and accountability for women, while giving males no power yet holding him accountable with zero authority its a raw deal Slowly males are waking up to the SCAM globally - no fault divorce - "settlement" - Child support + Alimony Its a methods to squeeze money from men to give to women via STATE FORCE