[sgjohnson]

One thing I find really, really weird about the US immigration system is that immigrating illegally is trivial (apparently even more so nowadays than it was 15 years ago), and it even comes with a loophole that can make you a legal immigrant later, yet legal immigration is a very tedious and often impossible path.

I have a relative that 15-ish years ago simply overstayed their tourist visa and never left. Some 5 years later he found a chick and put a ring on it (and because he married a US citizen, all his overstay was instantly forgiven). Then he had a immediate US citizen relative who sponsored him for a green card, which he got a couple of years ago. In a couple of years he can apply for naturalization. Yes, he couldn't leave the US until he had the GC in his hands, but I'd say it was a small price to pay for a massive shortcut.

For a married European that would love to live in the US, like myself, legal immigration paths are simply not viable. I would not accept a non-immigrant visa (like H1B), because it doesn't come with any guarantees that I'll be able to stay in the US, and legal immigration paths are basically limited to winning the DV lottery or coughing up $900k for the EB5, as no company in the right mind would sponsor me for an EB2/3.

And for many people from oversubscribed countries (like India and China), marrying a US citizen is the ONLY viable path to a green card.

US immigration system is fundamentally broken.

[sunshowers]

Having been through it myself, I agree that US immigration is fundamentally broken. With that being said:

> One thing I find really, really weird about the US immigration system is that immigrating illegally is trivial (apparently even more so nowadays than it was 15 years ago)

For the immigrants most at risk (not the ones overstaying visas), this has never been true. Many immigrants have to cross the Darien Gap: https://www.cfr.org/article/crossing-darien-gap-migrants-ris...

The system had serious negative consequences on my health, but my personal suffering isn't even a hundredth as bad as what hundreds of thousands have gone through.

[bubblethink]

>For a married European that would love to live in the US, like myself, legal immigration paths are simply not viable.

As a European, you have several options. H1, O1, L1, etc. are all fine. None of them have any guarantees, but realistically, you'll be able to apply for a green card through an employer and get one within a couple of years under EB2/3. You can also apply for EB2-NIW or EB1A by yourself even from outside the US if you qualify, and you don't need to get a visa at all. You'd get a green card directly.

[thomasahle]

> simply overstayed their tourist visa and never left. Some 5 years later...

How did he make money during those 5 years?

[sgjohnson]

> How did he make money during those 5 years?

Worked in jobs that didn’t ask for proof of employment authorization.

Being white also probably helped a lot. I’m actually willing to bet that most americans aren’t even aware that white people can also immigrate illegally.

[alwayslikethis]

I have difficulty believing that. There are lots of white people in South America.

[kyawzazaw]

The perception is very different. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2023/09/29/german-rome...

[sgjohnson]

> Congress is considering a bill that would grant the Romeikes permanent status as legal residents, with a possible pathway to citizenship. U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., filed the bill on Sept. 12, and it is being reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee.

Jesus Christ. Might as well just amend the Cuban Adjustment Act to extend to people from several other countries at that point.

[selimthegrim]

The Irish American FBI/CBP agents deporting illegal Irishmen in Boston certainly are.

[NovemberWhiskey]

>And for many people from oversubscribed countries (like India and China), marrying a US citizen is the ONLY viable path to a green card.

That's obviously not true, by both analysis and observation.

[sgjohnson]

How so? There’s a 100+ year wait on EB2 and EB3 Green Cards for people born in India. Only 7% of GCs can go to people of any one country. At the current cap of 49000, it means only 3400 EB2 GCs can actually be issued to Indians per year. An approved application doesn’t equate to a green card actually minted and issued. There’s a 12 year backlog on applications alone. (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v...)

H1B is neither a green card nor a path to one.

There is one category that has no cap at all however. The “Immediate relative of a US citizen” one.

[NovemberWhiskey]

>There’s a 100+ year wait on EB2 and EB3 Green Cards for people born in India.

No-one knows what the actual wait period is until the priority date for applications established - this is all based off estimates and extrapolations. A priority date is not a backlog in applications - it's the date which, if you applied before then, that you can file for adjustment-of-status which is more or less a pro-forma process.

The link you've provided shows a priority date of 2012 for people born in India looking for EB-2 visas. Priority dates for that combination have had implied wait times of between about 8 and 12 years since 2014.

EB-1 visas have priority dates in 2020.

[bubblethink]

>this is all based off estimates and extrapolations

This is not exactly rocket science. The supply is largely fixed (a few thousand a year), and the pending inventory is ~1M (based on published data). Barring legislative change, the extrapolation, even if off by several factors, moves the dates in the range of years or decades. There is no meaningful difference once you are past a few decades. At that point, the worker is at the end of the career and unless (s)he gets residency through some other path, the original work path is moot.

>wait times of between about 8 and 12 years since 2014

This is not a fixed delta. It was close to 10 years for someone in 2010; it's not 10 years if you file today - it is several decades. Demand has vastly outpaced supply.

[sgjohnson]

> EB-1 visas have priority dates in 2020.

Very few people qualify for an EB-1. They are far out of reach for most people.