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Marching for the right to citizenship in a country you weren’t born in is a funny 2022 development. I’m Canadian working and living in the US on TN, but I don’t

Marching for the right to citizenship in a country you weren’t born in is a funny 2022 development. I’m Canadian working and living in the US on TN, but I don’t think I’d be taken very seriously if I walked around holding a sign about how I’m discriminated against as an immigrant to have only residency and not citizenship.

verdenti 4y ago
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
To be fair, your Canadian citizenship and passport offers you far more privileges in the US and around the world than people with Indian passports, so of course you don't understand their struggle, when you can just walz in anywhere with your Canadian passport, but I doubt you'd feel the same if you had the same restrictions of Indian nationals.
- joenot443 4y ago
  What concrete, legislative privileges do I get as a Canadian immigrant living in the USA that an Indian immigrant living in the USA would not? That's unquestionably what's under discussion here, so please be as specific as possible, Chuck.
  - rhaway84773 4y ago
    If you were to get an H1B visa you would have become a permanent resident within a few years, as opposed to 180 years for Indian born people. Also, this is a misconception. This has nothing to do with your passport. The separation is based on your country of birth. So if you were a Canadian citizen born in Canada, got an H1B visa, applied for and were approved for a permanent residency which is your right as per the H1B visa, you would get your permanent residency immediately. If you were a Canadian citizen born in India, got an H1B visa, applied for and were approved for a permanent residency which is your right as per the H1B visa, you would get your permanent residency approximately 180 years from now.
  - wenc 4y ago
    The ability to get a green card in 1-3 years (instead of 20 years) because you’re not part of the India/China quota (if your country of birth is neither). The ability to get NAFTA statuses like the TN at the border if you’re in a NAFTA profession. The relative ease of switching jobs and reapplying for a new TN adjudicated at the border. Visa free entry to the US without having to do visa runs to restamp. The ability to repatriate retirement funds due to joint agreements. There are so many privileges afforded to Canadians in the US that most other nationalities do not enjoy. It’s good to have empathy for folks who may not have what you have. Source: am Canadian.
    - codalan 4y ago
      Canadians kind of get the best of both worlds (at least for dualies) living in the US. You can max out your 401k on a pre-tax level; IIRC, you pay taxes both ways when investing in an RRSP. If you have a Nexus card and live close to the border, travel between the two countries becomes a non-issue. When you hit retirement age, you can move back to Canada and get provincial health care. As of today, $1.00 USD == $1.36 CAD. I will probably be depositing a lot more money back into my Canadian savings account over the next few years, just because I'll probably move back at some point in my life. So yeah, Canadians in the US definitely get a lot of advantages over other immigrants. The only trade off is filling a 1040 every year, but even that is reduced to one additional form when residing in Canada.
rhaway84773 4y ago
Are you approved for permanent residence already but being told to wait 180 years? Are you paying additional taxes, the benefits of which you cannot receive, entirely on the basis of the fact that you are eligible to get a permanent residency (small text: 180 years later).
rhaway84773 4y ago
Also? The H1B visa is explicitly a “dual intent” visa. The TN visa isn’t. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-dual-intent-visas.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-dual-intent... The entire intention of the H1B visa, set at its outset, is to allow people to become permanent residents. The same isn’t the case for the TN visa, which is explicitly a short term work visa. But this isn’t even talking about people applying to get the visas. This is about people who were on those visas, and have applied for a green card and have been approved for a green card. It’s an administrative sleight of hand. “Yes, you’re approved for the green card as we’re promised, but unfortunately, since you were born in China, we just don’t have the paper to print it out on for right now…Why don’t you come back 50 years later…ok now get out, I need to hand the paper I don’t have for you to the guy born in Greece behind you who has been waiting all of 2 days”. Finally, if you’re a Canadian with an intention of moving to the US as a permanent resident you can absolutely apply as an H1B. Just make sure you meet all The skill requirements, none of which exist for the TN visa, convince a company to hire you, with the condition that it will take them at least a few months to know whether you can actually work for them as the govt approves the visa, convince them to pay for the legal costs and processing fees because you legally cannot, and then convince them to renew that process every 1-3 years. Then you need to convince them to apply for your permanent residency, in a 3 stage process that involves proving that no one else born in the U.S. can do the job as wel as you, after having spent at least 6 months advertising, then spending another stage of applications proving you will contribute to the US’s benefit, and then finally getting approval for you to be a green card holder. Now, congratulations. As a Canadian citizen were you born in Canada, because then you will be shipped your green card tomorrow. But as a Canadian citizen were you born in China? Well, I guess 50+ years later we might ship you your green card. India? 180+ years. Oh, as an aside if you were in the latter 2 categories, do keep in mind that the 2 and 4 year old kids will have no path to remaining in the US once they turn 21.

verdenti 4y ago

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

To be fair, your Canadian citizenship and passport offers you far more privileges in the US and around the world than people with Indian passports, so of course you don't understand their struggle, when you can just walz in anywhere with your Canadian passport, but I doubt you'd feel the same if you had the same restrictions of Indian nationals.

joenot443 4y ago
What concrete, legislative privileges do I get as a Canadian immigrant living in the USA that an Indian immigrant living in the USA would not? That's unquestionably what's under discussion here, so please be as specific as possible, Chuck.
- rhaway84773 4y ago
  If you were to get an H1B visa you would have become a permanent resident within a few years, as opposed to 180 years for Indian born people. Also, this is a misconception. This has nothing to do with your passport. The separation is based on your country of birth. So if you were a Canadian citizen born in Canada, got an H1B visa, applied for and were approved for a permanent residency which is your right as per the H1B visa, you would get your permanent residency immediately. If you were a Canadian citizen born in India, got an H1B visa, applied for and were approved for a permanent residency which is your right as per the H1B visa, you would get your permanent residency approximately 180 years from now.
- wenc 4y ago
  The ability to get a green card in 1-3 years (instead of 20 years) because you’re not part of the India/China quota (if your country of birth is neither). The ability to get NAFTA statuses like the TN at the border if you’re in a NAFTA profession. The relative ease of switching jobs and reapplying for a new TN adjudicated at the border. Visa free entry to the US without having to do visa runs to restamp. The ability to repatriate retirement funds due to joint agreements. There are so many privileges afforded to Canadians in the US that most other nationalities do not enjoy. It’s good to have empathy for folks who may not have what you have. Source: am Canadian.
  - codalan 4y ago
    Canadians kind of get the best of both worlds (at least for dualies) living in the US. You can max out your 401k on a pre-tax level; IIRC, you pay taxes both ways when investing in an RRSP. If you have a Nexus card and live close to the border, travel between the two countries becomes a non-issue. When you hit retirement age, you can move back to Canada and get provincial health care. As of today, $1.00 USD == $1.36 CAD. I will probably be depositing a lot more money back into my Canadian savings account over the next few years, just because I'll probably move back at some point in my life. So yeah, Canadians in the US definitely get a lot of advantages over other immigrants. The only trade off is filling a 1040 every year, but even that is reduced to one additional form when residing in Canada.

rhaway84773 4y ago

Are you approved for permanent residence already but being told to wait 180 years? Are you paying additional taxes, the benefits of which you cannot receive, entirely on the basis of the fact that you are eligible to get a permanent residency (small text: 180 years later).

rhaway84773 4y ago

Also? The H1B visa is explicitly a “dual intent” visa. The TN visa isn’t. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-dual-intent-visas.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-dual-intent... The entire intention of the H1B visa, set at its outset, is to allow people to become permanent residents. The same isn’t the case for the TN visa, which is explicitly a short term work visa. But this isn’t even talking about people applying to get the visas. This is about people who were on those visas, and have applied for a green card and have been approved for a green card. It’s an administrative sleight of hand. “Yes, you’re approved for the green card as we’re promised, but unfortunately, since you were born in China, we just don’t have the paper to print it out on for right now…Why don’t you come back 50 years later…ok now get out, I need to hand the paper I don’t have for you to the guy born in Greece behind you who has been waiting all of 2 days”. Finally, if you’re a Canadian with an intention of moving to the US as a permanent resident you can absolutely apply as an H1B. Just make sure you meet all The skill requirements, none of which exist for the TN visa, convince a company to hire you, with the condition that it will take them at least a few months to know whether you can actually work for them as the govt approves the visa, convince them to pay for the legal costs and processing fees because you legally cannot, and then convince them to renew that process every 1-3 years. Then you need to convince them to apply for your permanent residency, in a 3 stage process that involves proving that no one else born in the U.S. can do the job as wel as you, after having spent at least 6 months advertising, then spending another stage of applications proving you will contribute to the US’s benefit, and then finally getting approval for you to be a green card holder. Now, congratulations. As a Canadian citizen were you born in Canada, because then you will be shipped your green card tomorrow. But as a Canadian citizen were you born in China? Well, I guess 50+ years later we might ship you your green card. India? 180+ years. Oh, as an aside if you were in the latter 2 categories, do keep in mind that the 2 and 4 year old kids will have no path to remaining in the US once they turn 21.