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Some things in your story don't pass my BS test as an immigrant from Canada preparing to Naturalize in a year or so...

naturalized, but not US citizens

Naturalization means to become a citizen of a country other than by means of birth. Hence, you can't naturalize and not be a citizen by definition. Did you mean they were / are lawful permanent residents?

becoming citizens would mean swearing an oath to defend the US, which they will not do as pacifists.

From the USCIS Guide to Naturalization (PDF links in page, quote is from Chapter 5):

Waiver or Modification of the Oath of Allegiance.

In certain circumstances there can be a modification or waiver of the Oath of Allegiance. These circumstances are as follows:

  If you are unable or unwilling to promise to bear arms or perform noncombatant service because of religious training and belief, you may request to leave out those parts of the oath. USCIS may require you to provide documentation from your religious organization explaining its beliefs and stating that you are a member in good standing.

  If you are unable or unwilling to take the oath with the words “on oath” and “so help me God” included, you must notify USCIS that you wish to take a modified Oath of Allegiance. Applicants are not required to provide any evidence or testimony to support a request for this type of modification. See 8 CFR 337.1(b).

  USCIS can waive the Oath of Allegiance when it is shown that the person’s physical or developmental disability, or mental impairments, makes them unable to understand, or to communicate an understanding of, the meaning of the oath. See 8 USC 337.

Frankly, USCIS is remarkably accepting here, and if it was brought up to an immigration officer I'm certain they'd advise your parents of the possibility of a modified Oath. So either your parents don't know about this, are assuming it can't be modified, and haven't tried, or your whole story is fabricated.

• The National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This is what's used to check who can buy a gun. It's currently a kludge, works differently in some states, and is up only 17 hours a day. (It's down on Xmas.) There should be an app for that.
• E-Verify , for checking whether someone is authorized to work in the United States. There should be an app for that. Then there would be no excuse for not checking.

One app for the left, and one app for the right.

foreigners who invest 500,000$ plus, buy property worth that much, create jobs, etc. can become U.S. citizens. to a billionaire, that peanuts, and probably alot less than some of his taxes! USCIS Immigrant investor VISA after he sells his citizenship, he can probably buy it back anytime.

The laws that apply on the ship will be those of the flag country - www.blueseed.co/faq.html#laws

Cruise ship shave a 30+ year precedent of ensuring order and safety aboard.

Google and Yahoo! have been started by immigrant founders. Now they're employing tens of thousands of people. The US of A is quite desperately looking for ways to boost entrepreneurship. The USCIS has an Entrepreneurs in Residence program to understand startups better. The White House supports that too, see Strengthening Immigrant Pathways for Job-Creating Entrepreneurs.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

OK, wait. You're right if you only count family classes, but you're entirely discounting every other way to get one, and those don't even count the dual intent visas that allow one to adjust status to Permanent Resident (i.e. get a green card) which is how most work-related green card holders get them anyway.

And I say this as a K-1 family class immigrant. Look, immigration in the US can suck if you're not one of the favoured classes but let's not lie about it.

That's because Australia requires classification of all video games for socially objectionable elements, and the XBLIG business model cannot afford to pay the Australian Classification Board $2,040 per title. If you want to play unrated games, you could try becoming a skilled worker.

And are you sure about the communist party affiliation thing? I thought that kind of shit stopped when the red scare stopped (or at least when the soviet union fucking collapsed).

Quite sure. I've lived in the US for a generation now, and looked into what it would take to become a US citizen.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400.pdf
(It's a government form, but crippled to only work with one vendor's PDF reader. But I ascribe that one to incompetence and not corruption.)

not an exact match, but close enough for government work

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H-1BPetiRecApp_040403.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/H-1B/h1b_fy05_characteristics.pdf

not an exact match, but close enough for government work

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H-1BPetiRecApp_040403.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/H-1B/h1b_fy05_characteristics.pdf

Yeah, an oath of allegiance is ridiculous!

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Source

Everyone who seeks to become a U.S. citizen (i.e. Non-Americans until they're naturalized) have to take this exact oath. I would think it's standard practice for immigrants wishing to become citizens in nearly any civilized country.

Immigration Services seems to disagree with you. "To be eligible for naturalization under section 316(a) of the INA, an applicant must ... Be able to read, write, and speak English..." The two exceptions are if you're 50 and have lived in the US for 20 years, or you're 55 and have lived in the US for 15 years. And I suppose that if you're born in the US there's no requirement to learn English...

In practice, this usually means writing a complete sentence (e.g. Today's weather is good.) in front of an immigration officer and answer a few easy questions about US history (e.g. Who was the first presidents of the United States?). For the latter part, there are bilingual list of usual questions and answers available. The business in my neighborhood used to distribute a Chinese language Yellow-Pages that has them in the "immigration FAQ" section.

Here's another citation for you needing to be able to speak English to be a citizen citation .

And if thats not official enough for you, then I don't what is.

But you *do* have to demonstrate a proficiency in English to become a naturalized citizen of the US... From General Path to Citizenship:

Eligibility Requirements

• ...
   
• Be able to read, write, and speak English and have knowledge and an understanding of U.S. history and government (civics).
   
• ...

Immigration Services seems to disagree with you. "To be eligible for naturalization under section 316(a) of the INA, an applicant must ... Be able to read, write, and speak English..." The two exceptions are if you're 50 and have lived in the US for 20 years, or you're 55 and have lived in the US for 15 years. And I suppose that if you're born in the US there's no requirement to learn English...

There's no insistence from the US to give up your previous citizenship when you become a US citizen.

Yes, it does. See, e.g, p.28 of the Guide to Naturalization produced by US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The State Dept even has a page about it:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

This does not contradict the US requirement to renounce foreign citizenship as part of the naturalization process. It just recognizes that foreign countries don't automatically give effect to that renunciation and that the citizenship that still exists (under the laws of the country at issue) may have consequences for the traveller.

Note that the State Department is responsible for providing assistance to Americans travelling abroad, and this is travel information about the effects of status as recognized by other countries. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for the process of people becoming US citizens.

Neither the UK nor the USA require that you renounce your UK citizenship when you take US citizenship. See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html [state.gov]

That page has nothing to do with citizenship and naturalization, it has to do with travel and entry requirements.

However, you should note that the first thing you swear in the signed oath of allegiance required for naturalization is that "I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen" (emphasis added)

Chile doesn't allow dual citizenship? That does make it a tough decision.

If you're sure you will never make a mistake and never be convicted of a crime that makes you deportable, and you have no desire to participate in the American political process, then being a Legal Permanent Resident is practically the same as being a citizen. The problem is that everyone makes mistakes. Once you become a US citizen, assuming you committed no fraud in the process, nobody can take that citizenship away from you. You can't be deported for anything! But what kind of crimes would cause a resident to be deported? How about getting into an argument with your wife, and having the police show up to arrest you for grabbing her wrists? Domestic violence will get you deported. What about leaving your kid in the car while you walk in to pay for gas and the cop sees that as "child abandonment"? What about renting a car and getting pulled over for speeding and the cop finds cocaine in the ashtray in the back seat? What about after the divorce, after the restraining order when you go back to get your favorite leather jacket from her house? Violating a protective order will get you deported. All crimes that can be horrible, but also crimes that result in convictions due to misunderstandings and mistakes. Judges often convict people for these crimes and give them lenient sentences, or even no sentence, but immigration law is clear. Convictions of certain crimes, regardless of sentence, make a permanent resident deportable.

It's easy to sit back and say that you will never make such a mistake, but I doubt very many people that have lost their residency ever planned for it to happen, either... Being a US Citizen means you never have to worry about being deported from the United States. Ever.

http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-5672.html

Nope. Identity only:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf

Now immigration status by itself is sufficient to ask for papers.

According to federal law, they are required to have those on them anyways. Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 264(e):

(e) Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d). Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

As far as racial profiling: Yes, technically this law and the governors executive order prohibit racial profiling. In reality it's impossible to enforce this law without relying heavily on racial considerations. We know that driving-while-black is still a real problem in this country, and you want me to believe that the police won't interpret this law to give them license (or even require them to) profile?

Based on my own experience, most of the people claiming to have been "profiled" have, by their own conduct (and not skin color) already drawn attention to themselves. People who are not taught how to behave in stressful situations, especially the 10 basic rules, seem to crop up more in the latino, black, and "white-trash" communities - indicating it's an economic, not racial, thing.

You will note that the video I link above begins with a kid claiming he was "profiled", and maybe he was, BUT his own conduct made the situation much worse.

What we're going to have, most likely, is some dumbass who happens to be latino, may or may not be an illegal alien, will try to start a fight with the cops and then his lawyer will later scream "profiling" anyways. And when that happens, I'll have little sympathy in the matter, because I prefer that to watching the cops get gunned down by illegal aliens.

#1 You are required to produce your license as proof of your right to operate a motor vehicle, NOT as proof of identification. The fact that a driver's license provides both is ancillary, not a requirement of law. This may seem likea fine distiction, but it is crucial. You cannot be arrested for failing to provide identification, but you CAN be arrested for operating a vehicle while not carrying a license to do so.

Regardless, a drivers license is not proof of citizenship or legal status. Many states do not even check legal status before issuing licenses, yet they remain valid forms of identification and right to drive in states that do. Even in states that do check legal status, the existence of a license only indicates that the person in question was legal at the time the license was issued. See the IRS I-9 form for documents that establish citizenship or right to work status. Only documents in columns "A" and "C" establish citizenship or right to work, columns "B" merely establishes identity. Obviously a Foreign Passport with current visa would be just as good in this case, since they only need to establish a right be here, not work here.

2) If you are a passenger you must "identify yourself" not "provide identification". Again, a critical distinction. If I say, "Yeah, I'm Bob Smith, but I don't have my wallet on me." I can't be arrested fro failing to carry my wallet while riding in the passenger seat. Later if they could prove I lied (and wanted to bother) they could conceivably charge me with something,but simply not having an ID on me is not a crime. I identified myself. I have complied with the law.

3) See above. Demands that I "identify myself" are not the same as demands that I "provide identification". If I lie, I can be in trouble, but I don't have to prove my identity on the spot. There was in fact a story right here on /. a week or so ago about someone suing the police for arresting him merely because he refused to show ID. The police are fighting to cover their asses because they know they can't do that.

Tl;dr: I am never "required" to carry identification as a US citizen. I am required to provide proof of my right to drive if I am driving, I am required to prove my right to be on military property if I am found on it (Military ID), I might be required to prove my age to buy certain products, but I am never, per se, required by law to carry ID.

The only reason I mention that is because a social security card is also 'required' for employment

No, it's not. A Social Security card is one of several documents that can be presented to prove work eligibility. A passport, a birth certificate, or several other documents can used with the I-9 form.

Right, and currently you need a SS card to work so your employer can pay their share of your SS.

I haven't seen my SS card in 25 years and I've had no trouble getting a job. My passport is good enough (list A). The SS card shows up on list C, but so do birth certificate so even without a passport I still wouldn't need my SS card to work.

for employment, photo ID is required by federal government

for independent contracting- no

passport (col a) or photo ID + something like ss card
a social security card is not actually required- but a valid # is
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf
see instructions on the actual government form

The following URL is a petition for permanent residence in the United States of America.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-485.pdf

Part 3 is the part that catches terrorists.

General Eligibility Requirements for U.S. Citizenship

To apply for U.S. citizenship, applicants must:

        *
            Be at least 18 years old at the time of filing the Application for Naturalization, Form N-400
        *
            Have been lawfully admitted to the United States
        *
            Have resided as a permanent resident in the United States for at least 5 years or 3 years if you meet all eligibility requirements to file as a spouse of a U.S. citizen
        *
            Have demonstrated continuous permanent residence
        *
            Have demonstrated physical presence
        *
            Have lived for 3 months in the USCIS district or state where the Application for Naturalization, Form N-400 is filed
        *
            Demonstrate good moral character
        *
            Show an attachment to the U.S. Constitution
        *
            Be able to read, write, speak, and understand basic English
        *
            Demonstrate a knowledge of U.S. civics (history and government)
        *
            Take the oath of allegiance to the United States

Please see the links on the right of this page to learn if you are eligible and how to apply for U.S. citizenship.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ce2b2cd1f7e9e010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=96719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

I beg to differ with you. We most definitely have a huge criminal element who comes here, with NO DESIRE to become citizens. Drug mules, money launderers, etc etc ad nauseum. Oh yeah, the human trafficers.

But, aside from the worst of criminals - most of our 20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS became criminals by reason of having come here ILLEGALLY. The United States is, after all, a sovereign nation, which has the right and obligation to limit immigration. Millions are breaking the law by being here. Hence, criminals. We don't need no more criminals - we have more than enough.

Would you kindly ask you government why it's much MUCH easier to get an H1-B visa (so; move to the US, work for 3 years, then take half your earnings and all your experience home) than it is an EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 ( http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=84096138f898d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD ) or similar visa for people who actually want to move full time to the US? EB-1-3 visa have waiting periods of about 3-4 years, vs 6 months for H1-B with 1 month express processing apparently an option...

No, they didn't accept knowingly forged SSNs. There is only one legal way to check an SSN prior to hire without violating equal opportunity laws - and that is by paying a background check company to run every potential hire (if you only run one race you are in for trouble according to the auditor I spoke with). And even that only works well if the SSN and name are mismatched.

Okay, I've lost my mod points, but I had to respond to this so I could correct this misinformation.

Apparently, too few people have heard of "e-verify". This is how employers are supposed to check whether or not a new hire is legitimately allowed to work in the US. It's free, quick, simple, and secure. It doesn't store or maintain any information about who checked what, it just gives the verification. Some SSNs used by illegal workers are shared around and they often have hundreds of names all under the same SSN.

There was an executive order that was supposed to require Federal contractors to use e-verify for all their new hires, but it's been suspended for now, and it looks like the whole system will go off-line at the end of September, because it has a sunset date and the current administration seems to want it to go away, even as a voluntary program.

As it stands now, it looks like about 300,000 of the jobs that the stimulus bill is supposed to create will actually be filled by illegal immigrants. That seems a little unfair, considering they could have gone to some of the Americans laid off, or the many immigrants that are here following the rules, and are probably also struggling in the bad economy.

The rest of the world can only download the same content illegally.

Immigration to the United States is not necessarily illegal.

The H1-B program is evil, but even if anyone that qualified for an H1-B could ask for a green card instead, it'd still be painfully slow. Let's look at the Green Card process. How long does it take for people who have jumped through all the hoops to get one?.Take into account that, depending or where you come from, it could have taken close to a decade to get to this step:

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/Processtimes.jsp?SeviceCenter=NSC

I-485 processing times, the last, step in the process: It takes over 9 months for people seeking asylum, And close to two years for employment-based applications. Someone with an October 2007 filing date probably has another year or two left, given the flood of applications they had that summer.

So it's not just the H1-B process that is slowing people's mobility. The H1-B's trying to stay, and that work for companies willing to jump through all the hoops for them, have flooded the Green Card process anyway.

after probably having spent lots of money in educating them.

Wrong. Take a look at these US govt links.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=bac7d92e8003f010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1847c9ee2f82b010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Q : What is an H-1B? The H-1B is a nonimmigrant classification used by an alien who will be employed temporarily in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=6408ec897643f010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18dc4d88889010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Q : What is a specialty occupation? A specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge along with at least a bachelorâ(TM)s degree or its equivalent. For example, architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts are specialty occupations.

So - it's most likely that the visa holders, such as I used to be, were educated elsewhere. The USA would not bear the cost of their education.

Of course it is possible that the H1B holders are all models "of distinguished merit and ability" but having seen many Microsoft employees I doubt it.

after probably having spent lots of money in educating them.

Wrong. Take a look at these US govt links.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=bac7d92e8003f010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1847c9ee2f82b010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Q : What is an H-1B? The H-1B is a nonimmigrant classification used by an alien who will be employed temporarily in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=6408ec897643f010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18dc4d88889010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Q : What is a specialty occupation? A specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge along with at least a bachelorâ(TM)s degree or its equivalent. For example, architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts are specialty occupations.

So - it's most likely that the visa holders, such as I used to be, were educated elsewhere. The USA would not bear the cost of their education.

Of course it is possible that the H1B holders are all models "of distinguished merit and ability" but having seen many Microsoft employees I doubt it.

There are conditional green cards which expire after two years. They're for certain circumstances such as when you get your card through marriage to a citizen and you've been married for fewer than two years (guess they don't want people getting hitched just to earn residency status). http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=fe17e6b0eb13d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

It is criminal for any business or organization to hire an illegal immigrant who doesn't have the right papers to be in the United States. That is what I hate, and our Government doesn't do anything to such businesses.

My ancestors from Spain and Germany did things the right way, and thus they were allowed to remain in the US and become naturalized citizens of the US.

Whats stopping you from coming over?

I don't meet the US immigration requirements at the moment. I have little formal education. Unless my wife (who has a degree) wins the lottery, my best bet is the immigration through investment. I can visit, but I'm still a while off being able to immigrate.

You being from Australia, I probably wouldn't agree with your politics

Most Australians don't agree with my politics.

but I agree with your moral fiber expressed on your post and believe it would be an asset to the nation.

Thank you. I look forward to being a contributor to you great country.

So... my girlfriend was here on the one-year OPT (Optional Practical Training) extension to the F-1 student visa. When the announcement was made about extending it from 12 months to 29 months, I was ecstatic.

However.

It turns out, after she consulted her company's HR -- who subsequently consulted her company's corporate lawyers -- her company refused to sign up for the free eVerify system that was required for the extension. As I understand it, this extension is available only to STEM students whose host companies sign up for this eVerify system, not just to all of them. Apparently, her corporate lawyers noticed that if they sign up for eVerify, they were also signing up for DHS to come into their facilities any time they wanted to without notice and audit them. Corporate lawyers said "pass."

I'm sure I have the story slightly mangled, but I think the gist of it is solid: the OPT extension was a farce. Her old university's international programs coordinator said that less than 1% of the students eligible for this would get it 'cos their companies wouldn't sign up for eVerify. Surely a fictitious statistic, 1%, but the point is that it's absurdly low.

And yes, before you ask, she is hot.

Read further, my friend. Bachelor's degree with an F-1 is all it takes, which can be accomplished with one academic year at a less-competitive school. Perhaps you're confusing this latest action with the H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption, which sets aside 20,000 H-1B visas for foreign workers with a Master's or higher level degree from a U.S. academic institution.

You might be right on the lottery vs. visas elimination, it hadn't occurred to me.

As for the rest, what types of immigration to the US are there? If I am correct, there are employment visas, family based visas, the DV which is small as you say, and some minor forms such as for refugees, through investment etc. I am reading all this from here.
If there are other forms, plz enlighten me.

Employment based visas require some form of sponsorship (if I'm not mistaken), so I would expect mostly highly skilled workers there. That's very good, but not exactly low class low brow. Family based visas on the other hand are for people having a close relative that is a citizen. Also very thoughtful, but applies only to families that are already halfway there. So I wouldn't count it either. I don't want to go on and on, I hope you get the idea of what I am saying. In the previous centuries, it used to be relatively easy to get to the land of the free. It is more mature now, a developed nation, and nobody really wants to leave the gates open. It's still great for those inside, but letting too many people in might jeopardize what has been accomplished. And I am not bashing anybody here, it's simply the way it is. I am only trying to point out that because of this, the US has moved closer to being like Europe in many ways. So I will insist, the US might still be taking the most immigrants from any other country, but the people and their mindset has changed.

Best Regards!..

Perhaps you are not familiar with Form I-9?

http://www.uscis.gov/i-9

*All* US employers are required to keep a Form I-9 for *every* employee for three years from inital hire date to one year after termination, whichever is longer. All we really need to add to this is a requirement to file those forms with DHS and IRS, and a mechanism for reviewing the forms.

This can be easily done at far lower expense to the public than this "no-work" database proposal.

It's called form I-9, I have to fill it out every time I start working somewhere:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf

All employees, citizens and noncitizens, hired after November 6, 1986, must complete Section 1 of this form at the time of hire, which is the actual beginning of employment. The employer is responsible for ensuring that Section 1 is timely and properly completed.

And you thought you were not registered in whatever you do! You always need to be register to work at least by a SSN and a drivers license if nothing else.

The only thing I have is a copy John Smith's SS card that may or may not be real along with his W-4 that I have no way of verifying

It just sucks being held criminally liable to verify something that I can't verify

You know that you CAN verify if an SSN is ligit and if it belongs to that person right? You also know that you are supposed to have a new employee fill out a I-9 form, which includes instructions on verifying employment eligibility, right? Look at it and hit page 3. Assuming all you have is an SSN card and a drivers license (typical for new hires) then you can verify that the SSN is ligit through the SSA. If your new hire thinks ahead (I did) they will bring their passport and save you the trouble.

Either way, it's pretty easy to verify that somebodies SSN isn't fake and that they can legally work. The tools are there for those that want to use them. The problem is that the people hiring illegals don't care.

Section 1101 is definitions. 1101(a) sets out definitions for the entire chapter on immigration, while (b) and (c) give definitions for different subchapters. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15) defines "immigrant" as "every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes", then lists 22 classes of "nonimmigrant aliens". For example:

• Class A covers foreign ministers, ambassadors, and public officials.
• Class C covers people who are stopping over in the US on their way to another country or the UN.
• Class K(i) covers people who are engaged and entering the country to get married within 90 days.

Class H(i) sets out three types of nonimmigrant aliens:

• H(i)(b): aliens coming to the US to work in "specialty occupations" or as a fashion model**
• H(i)(b1): aliens coming to the US under the free trade agreement with either Chile or Singapore
• H(i)(c): aliens coming to the US to be registered nurses.

• be licensed by a State to engage in the occupation (if that licensing is required),
• have an appropriate post-secondary degree, or
• have experience equivalent to a degree AND "recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions relating to the specialty".

The numerical limit comes from 1184(g). According to 1184(g)(1) and (g)(2) there can be up to 65,000 H(i)(b) visas granted per year and 66,000 H(ii)(b) visas, not counting spouses and children. The H(i)(b) quota was as high as 195,000, from 2001 to 2003. 1184(g)(3) says that petitions are granted first-come, first-serve. With 150,000 H(i)(b) applications for 65,000 slots, it's reasonable that the USCIS would refuse further applications.

* H(ii)(a) covers seasonal agricultural workers. H(ii)(b) covers everyone else (except foreign doctors entering to practice medicine), provided that "unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found in this country". H(iii) covers aliens in the US to receive (non-medical) training, if they are not training for the purpose of getting a new job.
** Doctors coming over under H(i)(b) have to meet special requirements. See 8 U.S.C. 1182(j)(2).