[gnulinux]

> the US is still extremely generous with immigration.

US is the WORST country on earth for immigration. I came to US >10 years ago, still NOWHERE near getting a Green Card. Will probably won't get well into my 30s or 40s. It's practically impossible to get it in the next 5 years.

The same time I started undergrad in US, my friend started undergrad in Germany. He was already a German citizen by the time we were working. I was still on F visa. This was like half a decade ago.

My biggest regret EVER was doing this in the US. If I got a PhD in Europe instead of US, I wouldn't be a person who doesn't have a country.

I understand that American people don't want immigrants. But let's not pretend immigration into US is easy. I've been trying my entire life to live here without getting kicked out and it's pure luck. One mistake and you need to wrap your entire life, leave loved ones and go back home. Again, I'm NOT saying I'm entitled to living in the US, I'm saying this is an extremely long, and complex process.

[riyakhanna1983]

Could the waiting be attributed to your country of citizenship? I know there's a long wait for citizens of a few countries because there are per-country limits on green cards.

[gnulinux]

Nope, I'm not from China or India (so I'm in the global pool). If you're from India, it's impossible to get citizenship this way (the waitlist is too long), you need to marry a US citizen if you want citizenship.

[sg47]

+1 to what you said. 18 years for me and no permanent residency in sight. I'd have been a citizen a few times over in any other country.

[ilikehurdles]

That's horrible. I have several friends from different origin countries (including USA) who have received Swiss citizenships (which the American right wing holds up as some sort of uber-restrictive standard) in half that time.

[vinay427]

The time to naturalize in Switzerland is now 10 years (it used to be a bit longer) unless married to a Swiss citizen, in which case it's shorter. Include that plus the processing time and assuming your friends were in one of the right residence status categories during their entire time in Switzerland, it would have taken them at least 11 years or so.