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From foreign students with whom I have done business, I think this is a Japan requirement not US. They are sent here for education and then brought home to live and work. I could be way off but it might be that she needs to be working on this from the Japan side. Of course Japan has pretty good academic reputation so this might not be the case. The ones I have dealt with have been from Europe.

actually, this is a problem regardless of country of origin. I've had grad school friends from asia, europe, middle east, africa -- and, they all had similar issues and anxieties. it turns out it's pretty tough to get into this country to stay, even before 9/11. there are endless hoops to jump through, it's really no wonder people sometimes resort to the marriage route.
I was surprised to find out, years ago, that there is actually a 'green card' lottery that happens overseas, that allows winners to have a resident visa to the US. we're all pretty fortunate to be living here.

This sounds like a great time for Stallion the lawyer to do some Pro Bono work for SMU and the Mustang Nation.

BUS wrote:This sounds like a great time for Stallion the lawyer to do some Pro Bono work for SMU and the Mustang Nation.

The Dream Team

Stallion
JT
Ex18

EastStang, are you one of those fancy citified, bonafide attorneys?

I sense a Thad documentary coming on. Or at least give Faith a role in Josephine

Looks more like a line up at a bar than a dream team

Having adopted a child internationally, I have first hand experience at how ridiculous our immigration laws are, and how difficult it is to deal with USCIS. I basically figured out that there it's no wonder that so many people are here "illegally" because the legal way of doing it is expensive, confusing, and time-consuming.

I also work with 2 women, one of whom became a citizen, and one of whom is here on a work visa, and they have told me a number of stories about how ridiculous the system is, even for hard-working, law-abiding people who want to go about it the right way.

Another fine example of our fine government bureaucracy at work. I hope she is able to get it sorted out.

I find it amazing that so far out of all of us in the SMU community, no-one is in immigration (I did come top of my class in Immigration Law at lawschool though lol), but here are some more thoughts.

First of all, this is all about USCIS, and American law rather than Japanese law, secondly, she does not have to be more qualified than any American, she just have to find an employer to say she is or that they aren't getting good enough American applicants. Faith needs to find a public school that wants to hire her AND is prepared to do the paperwork, jump through the USCIS hoops. My H1B visa was the only one I used an attorney for and it cost me about $3000, as I recall.

The greencard lottery is another option but she would have to go home for a while (a likelihood in any case). I am guessing from what has been said that she has already used up the temporary internship extension on her F1 visa? You can, on such a visa, get a job for a limited period (I recall it as being a year but it might be 18 months) if that job can be classified as "practical training", in other words it has to be related to what Faith studied.

Contacting her congressman is not of any real use at this stage since there is nothing he can do. My greencard was arranged for by a US Congressman, the Irish Prime Ministers Office and a member of the European Parliament, and even all of those had to bow to the USCIS and could only work out a deal essentially expediting my return from international exile. The four year wait I had been given, suddenly ended up as 45 minutes when all the paperwork was in.....talk about a BS system.

I passed along info to Faith and an SMU law alum who has an immigration attorney in his group. Have to wonder if things arent too far along w/ respect to the calendar. Guess we'll see

mustangsabu is Irish

smupony94 wrote:mustangsabu is Irish

Haha....did you think I was Pakistani? "Abu" is the gaelic equivalent of "Go" as in "Go Ponies" = "Ponies Abu"!

Born and raised in Dublin's Fair City, where the girls are so pretty (but, not as pretty as they are in Texas! Hence the move)

Mustangsabu wrote:

smupony94 wrote:mustangsabu is Irish

Haha....did you think I was Pakistani? "Abu" is the gaelic equivalent of "Go" as in "Go Ponies" = "Ponies Abu"!

Born and raised in Dublin's Fair City, where the girls are so pretty (but, not as pretty as they are in Texas! Hence the move)

If you were Pakistani it would be Apu. I am Eurotrash - Irish, Scottish, French and Norwegian

Yes, I am one of those fancified attorneys. Unfortunately, unless the subject involves dirt, bidness, death or taxes, I'm a bit out of my element. Immigration is one of those areas that I literally know nothing except that there is something called a VISA and its not a credit card. She needs to get an attorney who does immigration law all of the time who can advise her as to how to proceed and credential herself to stay. If Stallion can't represent her, maybe he can marry her. He's single.

Thanks to everyone thus far that has offered to help or offered advice. I spoke with Faith and she is astounded by the outpouring of support. She will be in direct contact with a few of you that have sent PM's. Any and all ideas/help/advice/contacts continue to be greatly appreciated. Faith says thank you very much to the Mustang family.