dtekkedil
07-06 09:17 AM
If somebody wants to create a seperate message, release it, I can dig it.
I am specifically interested in getting media mileage out of this. I feel, you can get media mileage, if the media is alerted before hand, otherwise 50-60-100 or 200 boukets of flowers by itself wont be enough to get attention.
Iv has not endorsed it, probably because we have been trying to get serious media attention, and we have not gotten as much as we would like. If you are going with this flower idea - Make sure you get some reporters already involved, otherwise wont be worth it. (My take).
Check out the plan of action here -
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6029
I am specifically interested in getting media mileage out of this. I feel, you can get media mileage, if the media is alerted before hand, otherwise 50-60-100 or 200 boukets of flowers by itself wont be enough to get attention.
Iv has not endorsed it, probably because we have been trying to get serious media attention, and we have not gotten as much as we would like. If you are going with this flower idea - Make sure you get some reporters already involved, otherwise wont be worth it. (My take).
Check out the plan of action here -
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6029
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h1b_tristate
07-28 07:53 AM
U will get a 3 year H1-B with the new employer.
i donot have experience with PERM. From what i know it varies from state to state. typically 6 months, may be longer or shorter.
--MC
Thanks for the reply Mchundi, however, if i CHANGE the job does the rule for a 3 year H1B STILL apply? I mean how does the 3 year thing apply to me? I only have a little over 1 year on this current H1 (out of SIX years).
i donot have experience with PERM. From what i know it varies from state to state. typically 6 months, may be longer or shorter.
--MC
Thanks for the reply Mchundi, however, if i CHANGE the job does the rule for a 3 year H1B STILL apply? I mean how does the 3 year thing apply to me? I only have a little over 1 year on this current H1 (out of SIX years).
Desertfox
06-01 08:39 PM
Your current salary has nothing to do with your Labor Certification. LC is for a future job offer and you are supposed to get that salary only after your I-485 approval. Hence there is nothing to worry about it.
As your current salary is per H1 LCA, you are absolutely ok and there is nothing illegal in your nonimmigrant status as well. There might have been issues during your I-485 adjudicatiion if you were not being paid per your H1 LCA, since that is considered as abuse to your nonimmigrant status.
As your current salary is per H1 LCA, you are absolutely ok and there is nothing illegal in your nonimmigrant status as well. There might have been issues during your I-485 adjudicatiion if you were not being paid per your H1 LCA, since that is considered as abuse to your nonimmigrant status.
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ufo2002
09-05 06:12 PM
Dems getting the house and improve our situation? Doubt it.
Does anyone remember what Ted Kennedy said about us legal migrants?
He said we don't have the same issues with the illegals regarding coming into
this country.
And what about Diane Feinstein? She's pro-agriculture and anti-IT.
Remember: Republicans are a party with bad ideas, Dems are a party with no ideas.
Reps: "We got a really bad idea!"
Dems: "We can make it sh*ttier!"
Does anyone remember what Ted Kennedy said about us legal migrants?
He said we don't have the same issues with the illegals regarding coming into
this country.
And what about Diane Feinstein? She's pro-agriculture and anti-IT.
Remember: Republicans are a party with bad ideas, Dems are a party with no ideas.
Reps: "We got a really bad idea!"
Dems: "We can make it sh*ttier!"
more...
bsbawa10
11-24 03:16 PM
I just started using SBI global and I am happy with their services. One question though. I am sending money to my own account. I know we have to declare the accounts more than 10K. Is the interest earned on that money taxable in US ? Another question is , since we are here is that money taxable in India also ? If yes, how do we manage our indian taxes while living here(tax returns etc). Any help would be great.
Dustinthewind
01-04 10:48 AM
Here you go:
YouTube - Promise Land First Look Teaser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7b3YogQ06M&hd=1)
I hope we can get a lot of people to watch the film so we can spread more awareness about issues faced by legal immigrants as well.
YouTube - Promise Land First Look Teaser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7b3YogQ06M&hd=1)
I hope we can get a lot of people to watch the film so we can spread more awareness about issues faced by legal immigrants as well.
more...
eilsoe
10-03 01:15 PM
:::snicker:::
SPAM*INFINTY+1!!!!!
::::runs like h*ll::::
:::::evil laughter scares peasants:::::
SPAM*INFINTY+1!!!!!
::::runs like h*ll::::
:::::evil laughter scares peasants:::::
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MYGC2008
01-20 08:30 PM
I renewed my Passport at NY. and they are accepting valid EAD. It is not true.
But Initially they gave for 1 year when I renewed on July 1st week 2008.
Later on 2nd Junary 2009 I went and they gave me full 10 year.
I am on EAD abd travelled using AP. I even did not show my H1B I797. The Stamping on Old passport was expired way back in 2007.
Let me know if u need more info.
Also I met lot of people and they were given 10 years (may be 1year first and later renew for 9 more)
Hi friends,
My brother in NJ got his new passport at NY Indian consulate (since old one was expiring soon). They gave new passport which was valid for only one year - saying that they need valid unexpired visa-stamp to give 10 year validity passport.
They said that they will NOT accept
- valid unexpired EAD
- valid unexpired AP
- valid 485 receipt
- even valid unexpired H1 approval notice (my brother still has H1 in addition to AP)
...Now it is so absurd that, even if my bro went for visa stamping (which he isn't planning), he will not probably be issued 3 yr visa as passport is valid for very short duration. A chicken and egg problem.
In addition why do Indian consulate worry about our visa status for determining passport validity duration ? If they do care then at least they must accept the legal documents (ead/ap/485 receipt/h1 approval notice) to make a decision.
I will appreciate if anyone has a solution to this problem. All answers appreciated.
I am so sad (and mad) that lawmakers of our country are still haunting us while we are away from our country and trying to contribute to its progress.
But Initially they gave for 1 year when I renewed on July 1st week 2008.
Later on 2nd Junary 2009 I went and they gave me full 10 year.
I am on EAD abd travelled using AP. I even did not show my H1B I797. The Stamping on Old passport was expired way back in 2007.
Let me know if u need more info.
Also I met lot of people and they were given 10 years (may be 1year first and later renew for 9 more)
Hi friends,
My brother in NJ got his new passport at NY Indian consulate (since old one was expiring soon). They gave new passport which was valid for only one year - saying that they need valid unexpired visa-stamp to give 10 year validity passport.
They said that they will NOT accept
- valid unexpired EAD
- valid unexpired AP
- valid 485 receipt
- even valid unexpired H1 approval notice (my brother still has H1 in addition to AP)
...Now it is so absurd that, even if my bro went for visa stamping (which he isn't planning), he will not probably be issued 3 yr visa as passport is valid for very short duration. A chicken and egg problem.
In addition why do Indian consulate worry about our visa status for determining passport validity duration ? If they do care then at least they must accept the legal documents (ead/ap/485 receipt/h1 approval notice) to make a decision.
I will appreciate if anyone has a solution to this problem. All answers appreciated.
I am so sad (and mad) that lawmakers of our country are still haunting us while we are away from our country and trying to contribute to its progress.
more...
WeShallOvercome
08-03 12:55 PM
You are a jack ass
What kind of a person would reply with "You are a jack ass" to some one saying
"Apology accepted and now i ask you to contribute for DC rally.....will you do that?
Even am not a pro, i joined IV just couple of months back, but i never opened a thread for simple questions. I am not bashing you here....i am trying to educate you on this.....when we have something to ask we should look for appropriate thread and then post it there.
I got my checks cashed on aug 1st, but i didn't opened a thread to tell everyone that, but i have seen people whoever got receipt they opened a new thread.
"
We all now know who is what !
Peace and Am not visiting this thread anymore or any other started by the author of this one !
What kind of a person would reply with "You are a jack ass" to some one saying
"Apology accepted and now i ask you to contribute for DC rally.....will you do that?
Even am not a pro, i joined IV just couple of months back, but i never opened a thread for simple questions. I am not bashing you here....i am trying to educate you on this.....when we have something to ask we should look for appropriate thread and then post it there.
I got my checks cashed on aug 1st, but i didn't opened a thread to tell everyone that, but i have seen people whoever got receipt they opened a new thread.
"
We all now know who is what !
Peace and Am not visiting this thread anymore or any other started by the author of this one !
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rraina
05-21 02:56 AM
When your second I-140 under EB2 gets approved do you have to apply for a new I-485 ??
more...
go_guy123
01-11 09:47 AM
The second part also sounds pretty reasonable to me:
This PAV would be issued upon successful completion of an application process that would involve the following:
1. Providing documentary evidence (school records, doctor�s records, etc.) that the applicant was in the United States before he or she reached their thirteenth birthday and be no older than twenty-five at the time they file their application;
2. Background checks for any prior convictions involving fraud, assault, reckless driving or DWI, failure to appear at any immigration hearing, or any past record of voluntary or involuntary deportation. Any such convictions would lead to a presumption of an unsuccessful application;
3. Evidence of the withholding of any relevant information, or submitting false information would result in the automatic failure of an application. Any failure of an application would result in the applicant returning to his previous immigration status;
4. Failure of an application due to withholding information or providing false information would subject the applicant to expedited removal proceedings;
5. Waivers of any requirement connected with the application process could only be made on a case by case basis by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security setting out in detail the "compelling evidence" underlying such a waiver and the evidence used to support such a determination.
The Permanent Administrative Visa would carry with it the following authorizations:
1. PAV holders would be allowed to legally work and obtain a U.S. passport (on the condition of turning in any other passports) for foreign travel;
2. It would allow holders to establish residency in any state according to that state's requirements and be on equal footing with other legal immigrants with regard to state and local laws and policies;
The Permanent Administrative Visa would carry with it the following prohibitions:
1. Holders of the PAV would not be able to sponsor family members and relatives for LPR status;
2. Holding an PAV would not imply any safe harbor for applicant's family members;
3. Holders of PAVs would not be eligible to receive means-tested public welfare benefits;
4. Holders of PAVs would not be able to adjust their immigration status for a period of 10 years and then only through an administrative hearing in which the holder presented compelling evidence that such an adjustment is in the public interest. Such evidence would consist of, but not be limited to, applicant's work history, community service, military service, family circumstances, and the results of policy and security checks.
A One-time Only Policy: Consistent with the knowledge that adjusting the status of illegal immigrants brings with it the expectation that adjustments of the same kind will be made in the future, the language authorizing this initiative will explicitly state that:
1. That no further adjustments to legal status will be made for children brought into the country illegally after the date on which this bill becomes law;
2. That parents who bring their young children into the country illegally after the date of enactment will be subject to expedited removal proceedings.
This is still riddled with amnesty....more punitive versions will surely come which the democratic party will oppose for sure.
This PAV would be issued upon successful completion of an application process that would involve the following:
1. Providing documentary evidence (school records, doctor�s records, etc.) that the applicant was in the United States before he or she reached their thirteenth birthday and be no older than twenty-five at the time they file their application;
2. Background checks for any prior convictions involving fraud, assault, reckless driving or DWI, failure to appear at any immigration hearing, or any past record of voluntary or involuntary deportation. Any such convictions would lead to a presumption of an unsuccessful application;
3. Evidence of the withholding of any relevant information, or submitting false information would result in the automatic failure of an application. Any failure of an application would result in the applicant returning to his previous immigration status;
4. Failure of an application due to withholding information or providing false information would subject the applicant to expedited removal proceedings;
5. Waivers of any requirement connected with the application process could only be made on a case by case basis by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security setting out in detail the "compelling evidence" underlying such a waiver and the evidence used to support such a determination.
The Permanent Administrative Visa would carry with it the following authorizations:
1. PAV holders would be allowed to legally work and obtain a U.S. passport (on the condition of turning in any other passports) for foreign travel;
2. It would allow holders to establish residency in any state according to that state's requirements and be on equal footing with other legal immigrants with regard to state and local laws and policies;
The Permanent Administrative Visa would carry with it the following prohibitions:
1. Holders of the PAV would not be able to sponsor family members and relatives for LPR status;
2. Holding an PAV would not imply any safe harbor for applicant's family members;
3. Holders of PAVs would not be eligible to receive means-tested public welfare benefits;
4. Holders of PAVs would not be able to adjust their immigration status for a period of 10 years and then only through an administrative hearing in which the holder presented compelling evidence that such an adjustment is in the public interest. Such evidence would consist of, but not be limited to, applicant's work history, community service, military service, family circumstances, and the results of policy and security checks.
A One-time Only Policy: Consistent with the knowledge that adjusting the status of illegal immigrants brings with it the expectation that adjustments of the same kind will be made in the future, the language authorizing this initiative will explicitly state that:
1. That no further adjustments to legal status will be made for children brought into the country illegally after the date on which this bill becomes law;
2. That parents who bring their young children into the country illegally after the date of enactment will be subject to expedited removal proceedings.
This is still riddled with amnesty....more punitive versions will surely come which the democratic party will oppose for sure.
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satishku_2000
08-24 04:20 PM
Thanks so much for the info, satishku_2000. That is very good info.
My RFE, which was issued on July 20, 2007, was for my employer's ITR . My lawyer said the deadline is 12 weeks from the RFE date. I think she has not been updated on the new ruling. Now we only have up to next Friday to submit everything. I'm so so worried!!!
If you have access to the RFE from USCIS , try to get a copy of it . It should say how much time you have to respond. They will mention "On or before a date". I dont know if all the services centers have implemented the flex time response for RFE/NOIDs. Be on top of things , just dont let your lawyer or employer say anything else.
My RFE, which was issued on July 20, 2007, was for my employer's ITR . My lawyer said the deadline is 12 weeks from the RFE date. I think she has not been updated on the new ruling. Now we only have up to next Friday to submit everything. I'm so so worried!!!
If you have access to the RFE from USCIS , try to get a copy of it . It should say how much time you have to respond. They will mention "On or before a date". I dont know if all the services centers have implemented the flex time response for RFE/NOIDs. Be on top of things , just dont let your lawyer or employer say anything else.
more...
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GCAmigo
11-30 02:42 PM
I would say don't do anything.. if the card comes in mail, enjoy it.. else enjoy the wait!
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dreamworld
12-13 04:05 PM
I'm thinking about pursuing maser degree of Biostatistics.
I heard the job market demand is high and
most jobs require master degree at least.
As a research assistance, biostatistician, research analyst..
Could I apply as EB2 ?
Am I qualifed?
To your question:
Yes, You can apply under EB2 with Masters degree.
But do your own research on pursuing masters. It will take alteast 2+ years to complete and land on a job. The GC process and Economy might swing back or forth without your control.
I heard the job market demand is high and
most jobs require master degree at least.
As a research assistance, biostatistician, research analyst..
Could I apply as EB2 ?
Am I qualifed?
To your question:
Yes, You can apply under EB2 with Masters degree.
But do your own research on pursuing masters. It will take alteast 2+ years to complete and land on a job. The GC process and Economy might swing back or forth without your control.
more...
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gc_mania_03
01-27 03:39 PM
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23346
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23347
Idiot, why are you creating a thread for each company. you could have mentioned Home Depot, Catterpillar and pfizer in the same thread.
Before creating a thread, you should think that you are eating space and band width of a site which is run by a non - profitable organization.
I think you may be venting your anger on some spam bot. If you didnt notice the name of the blogger is LayoffBlog which is also the name of a website with this information.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23347
Idiot, why are you creating a thread for each company. you could have mentioned Home Depot, Catterpillar and pfizer in the same thread.
Before creating a thread, you should think that you are eating space and band width of a site which is run by a non - profitable organization.
I think you may be venting your anger on some spam bot. If you didnt notice the name of the blogger is LayoffBlog which is also the name of a website with this information.
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solaris27
03-12 10:16 AM
Congratulations
more...
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jr8rdt
01-06 06:55 PM
I am interested with this topic as well. can somebody confirm that once we use AP to travel we can still work on H1 and don't have to invoke EAD?
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sixburgh
08-13 12:25 PM
Did she get Paystub, If not you are good.
I don't think she can have both H4 & EAD. But once she started working on EAD and got paystub....Paid taxes etc.....I'm sure her status will be EAD and no H4 furthur...By any chance if USCIS got hold of it. Might cause problem for her 485 approval.
USCIS gives whatever we ask for. We should be careful and take advise from Attorneys. Not one 2-3 Attorneys as some of the attorneys have limit knowledge. Best suggestions your Employer if he has good knowledge.....As they might have seen lot of cases for their employers.
She did work and yes she got paystub's.
Oh boy.
I am deeply worried now.
What is the corrective action for this?
I don't think she can have both H4 & EAD. But once she started working on EAD and got paystub....Paid taxes etc.....I'm sure her status will be EAD and no H4 furthur...By any chance if USCIS got hold of it. Might cause problem for her 485 approval.
USCIS gives whatever we ask for. We should be careful and take advise from Attorneys. Not one 2-3 Attorneys as some of the attorneys have limit knowledge. Best suggestions your Employer if he has good knowledge.....As they might have seen lot of cases for their employers.
She did work and yes she got paystub's.
Oh boy.
I am deeply worried now.
What is the corrective action for this?
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alkg
08-13 08:41 PM
see the paragraph in bold letters.................
Greenspan Sees Bottom
In Housing, Criticizes Bailout
August 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Alan Greenspan usually surrounds his opinions with caveats and convoluted clauses. But ask his view of the government's response to problems confronting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he offers one word: "Bad."
In a conversation this week, the former Federal Reserve chairman also said he expects that U.S. house prices, a key factor in the outlook for the economy and financial markets, will begin to stabilize in the first half of next year.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009," he said in an interview. Tracing a jagged curve with his finger on a tabletop to underscore the difficulty in pinpointing the precise trough, he cautioned that even at a bottom, "prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond."
A long-time student of housing markets, Mr. Greenspan now works out of a well-windowed, oval-shaped office that is evidence of his fascination with the housing market. His desk, couch, coffee table and conference table are strewn with print-outs of spreadsheets and multicolored charts of housing starts, foreclosures and population trends siphoned from government and trade association sources.
An end to the decline in house prices, he explained, matters not only to American homeowners but is "a necessary condition for an end to the current global financial crisis" he said.
"Stable home prices will clarify the level of equity in homes, the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world's mortgage-backed securities. We won't really know the market value of the asset side of the banking system's balance sheet -- and hence banks' capital -- until then."
At 82 years old, Mr. Greenspan remains sharp and his fascination with the workings of the economy undiminished. But his star no longer shines as brightly as it did when he retired from the Fed in January 2006.
Mr. Greenspan has been criticized for contributing to today's woes by keeping interest rates too low too long and by regulating too lightly. He has been aggressively defending his record -- in interviews, in op-ed pieces and in a new chapter in his recent book, included in the paperback version to be published next month. Mr. Greenspan attributes the rise in house prices to a historically unusual period in which world markets pushed interest rates down and even sophisticated investors misjudged the risks they were taking.
His views remain widely watched, however. Mr. Greenspan's housing forecast rests on two pillars of data. One is the supply of vacant, single-family homes for sale, both newly completed homes and existing homes owned by investors and lenders. He sees that "excess supply" -- roughly 800,000 units above normal -- diminishing soon. The other is a comparison of the current price of houses -- he prefers the quarterly S&P Case Shiller National Home Price Index because it includes both urban and rural areas -- with the government's estimate of what it costs to rent a single-family house. As other economists do, Mr. Greenspan essentially seeks to gauge when it is rational to own a house and when it is rational to sell the house, invest the money elsewhere and rent an identical house next door.
"It's the imbalance of supply and demand which causes prices to go down, but it's ultimately the valuation process of the use of the commodity...which tells you where the bottom is," Mr. Greenspan said, recalling his days trading copper a half century ago. "For example, the grain markets can have a huge excess of corn or wheat, but the price never goes to zero. It'll stabilize at some level of prices where people are willing to hold the excess inventory. We have little history, but the same thing is surely true in housing as well. We will get to the point where there will be willing holders of vacant single-family dwellings, and that will no longer act to depress the price level."
The collapse in home prices, of course, is a major threat to the stability of Fannie and Freddie. At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability. He acknowledges that a government backstop for the shareholder-owned, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, was unavoidable. Not only are they crucial to the ailing mortgage market now, but the Fed-financed takeover of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. also made government backing of Fannie and Freddie debt "inevitable," he said. "There's no credible argument for bailing out Bear Stearns and not the GSEs."
His quarrel is with the approach the Bush administration sold to Congress. "They should have wiped out the shareholders, nationalized the institutions with legislation that they are to be reconstituted -- with necessary taxpayer support to make them financially viable -- as five or 10 individual privately held units," which the government would eventually auction off to private investors, he said.
Instead, Congress granted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson temporary authority to use an unlimited amount of taxpayer money to lend to or invest in the companies. In response to the Greenspan critique, Mr. Paulson's spokeswoman, Michele Davis, said, "This legislation accomplished two important goals -- providing confidence in the immediate term as these institutions play a critical role in weathering the housing correction, and putting in place a new regulator with all the authorities necessary to address systemic risk posed by the GSEs."
But a similar critique has been raised by several other prominent observers. "If they are too big to fail, make them smaller," former Nixon Treasury Secretary George Shultz said. Some say the Paulson approach, even if the government never spends a nickel, entrenches current management and offers shareholders the upside if the government's reassurance allows the companies to weather the current storm. The Treasury hasn't said what conditions it would impose if it offers Fannie and Freddie taxpayer money.
Fear that financial markets would react poorly if the U.S. government nationalized the companies and assumed their approximately $5 trillion debt is unfounded, Mr. Greenspan said. "The law that stipulates that GSEs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is disbelieved. The market believes the government guarantee is there. Foreigners believe the guarantee is there. The only fiscal change is for someone to change the bookkeeping."
In the past, to be sure, Mr. Greenspan's crystal ball has been cloudy. He didn't foresee the sharp national decline in home prices. Recently released transcripts of Fed meetings do record him warning in November 2002: "It's hard to escape the conclusion that at some point our extraordinary housing boom...cannot continue indefinitely into the future."
Publicly, he was more reassuring. "While local economies may experience significant speculative price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity," he said in October 2004. Eight months later, he said if home prices did decline, that "likely would not have substantial macroeconomic implications." And in a speech in October 2006, nine months after leaving the Fed, he told an audience that, though housing prices were likely to be lower than the year before, "I think the worst of this may well be over." Housing prices, by his preferred gauge, have fallen nearly 19% since then. He says he was referring not to prices but to the downward drag on economic growth from weakening housing construction.
Mr. Greenspan urges the government to avoid tax or other policies that increase the construction of new homes because that would delay the much-desired day when home prices find a bottom.
He did offer one suggestion: "The most effective initiative, though politically difficult, would be a major expansion in quotas for skilled immigrants," he said. The only sustainable way to increase demand for vacant houses is to spur the formation of new households. Admitting more skilled immigrants, who tend to earn enough to buy homes, would accomplish that while paying other dividends to the U.S. economy.
He estimates the number of new households in the U.S. currently is increasing at an annual rate of about 800,000, of whom about one third are immigrants. "Perhaps 150,000 of those are loosely classified as skilled," he said. "A double or tripling of this number would markedly accelerate the absorption of unsold housing inventory for sale -- and hence help stabilize prices."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121865515167837815.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
Greenspan Sees Bottom
In Housing, Criticizes Bailout
August 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Alan Greenspan usually surrounds his opinions with caveats and convoluted clauses. But ask his view of the government's response to problems confronting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he offers one word: "Bad."
In a conversation this week, the former Federal Reserve chairman also said he expects that U.S. house prices, a key factor in the outlook for the economy and financial markets, will begin to stabilize in the first half of next year.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009," he said in an interview. Tracing a jagged curve with his finger on a tabletop to underscore the difficulty in pinpointing the precise trough, he cautioned that even at a bottom, "prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond."
A long-time student of housing markets, Mr. Greenspan now works out of a well-windowed, oval-shaped office that is evidence of his fascination with the housing market. His desk, couch, coffee table and conference table are strewn with print-outs of spreadsheets and multicolored charts of housing starts, foreclosures and population trends siphoned from government and trade association sources.
An end to the decline in house prices, he explained, matters not only to American homeowners but is "a necessary condition for an end to the current global financial crisis" he said.
"Stable home prices will clarify the level of equity in homes, the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world's mortgage-backed securities. We won't really know the market value of the asset side of the banking system's balance sheet -- and hence banks' capital -- until then."
At 82 years old, Mr. Greenspan remains sharp and his fascination with the workings of the economy undiminished. But his star no longer shines as brightly as it did when he retired from the Fed in January 2006.
Mr. Greenspan has been criticized for contributing to today's woes by keeping interest rates too low too long and by regulating too lightly. He has been aggressively defending his record -- in interviews, in op-ed pieces and in a new chapter in his recent book, included in the paperback version to be published next month. Mr. Greenspan attributes the rise in house prices to a historically unusual period in which world markets pushed interest rates down and even sophisticated investors misjudged the risks they were taking.
His views remain widely watched, however. Mr. Greenspan's housing forecast rests on two pillars of data. One is the supply of vacant, single-family homes for sale, both newly completed homes and existing homes owned by investors and lenders. He sees that "excess supply" -- roughly 800,000 units above normal -- diminishing soon. The other is a comparison of the current price of houses -- he prefers the quarterly S&P Case Shiller National Home Price Index because it includes both urban and rural areas -- with the government's estimate of what it costs to rent a single-family house. As other economists do, Mr. Greenspan essentially seeks to gauge when it is rational to own a house and when it is rational to sell the house, invest the money elsewhere and rent an identical house next door.
"It's the imbalance of supply and demand which causes prices to go down, but it's ultimately the valuation process of the use of the commodity...which tells you where the bottom is," Mr. Greenspan said, recalling his days trading copper a half century ago. "For example, the grain markets can have a huge excess of corn or wheat, but the price never goes to zero. It'll stabilize at some level of prices where people are willing to hold the excess inventory. We have little history, but the same thing is surely true in housing as well. We will get to the point where there will be willing holders of vacant single-family dwellings, and that will no longer act to depress the price level."
The collapse in home prices, of course, is a major threat to the stability of Fannie and Freddie. At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability. He acknowledges that a government backstop for the shareholder-owned, government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, was unavoidable. Not only are they crucial to the ailing mortgage market now, but the Fed-financed takeover of investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. also made government backing of Fannie and Freddie debt "inevitable," he said. "There's no credible argument for bailing out Bear Stearns and not the GSEs."
His quarrel is with the approach the Bush administration sold to Congress. "They should have wiped out the shareholders, nationalized the institutions with legislation that they are to be reconstituted -- with necessary taxpayer support to make them financially viable -- as five or 10 individual privately held units," which the government would eventually auction off to private investors, he said.
Instead, Congress granted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson temporary authority to use an unlimited amount of taxpayer money to lend to or invest in the companies. In response to the Greenspan critique, Mr. Paulson's spokeswoman, Michele Davis, said, "This legislation accomplished two important goals -- providing confidence in the immediate term as these institutions play a critical role in weathering the housing correction, and putting in place a new regulator with all the authorities necessary to address systemic risk posed by the GSEs."
But a similar critique has been raised by several other prominent observers. "If they are too big to fail, make them smaller," former Nixon Treasury Secretary George Shultz said. Some say the Paulson approach, even if the government never spends a nickel, entrenches current management and offers shareholders the upside if the government's reassurance allows the companies to weather the current storm. The Treasury hasn't said what conditions it would impose if it offers Fannie and Freddie taxpayer money.
Fear that financial markets would react poorly if the U.S. government nationalized the companies and assumed their approximately $5 trillion debt is unfounded, Mr. Greenspan said. "The law that stipulates that GSEs are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is disbelieved. The market believes the government guarantee is there. Foreigners believe the guarantee is there. The only fiscal change is for someone to change the bookkeeping."
In the past, to be sure, Mr. Greenspan's crystal ball has been cloudy. He didn't foresee the sharp national decline in home prices. Recently released transcripts of Fed meetings do record him warning in November 2002: "It's hard to escape the conclusion that at some point our extraordinary housing boom...cannot continue indefinitely into the future."
Publicly, he was more reassuring. "While local economies may experience significant speculative price imbalances, a national severe price distortion seems most unlikely in the United States, given its size and diversity," he said in October 2004. Eight months later, he said if home prices did decline, that "likely would not have substantial macroeconomic implications." And in a speech in October 2006, nine months after leaving the Fed, he told an audience that, though housing prices were likely to be lower than the year before, "I think the worst of this may well be over." Housing prices, by his preferred gauge, have fallen nearly 19% since then. He says he was referring not to prices but to the downward drag on economic growth from weakening housing construction.
Mr. Greenspan urges the government to avoid tax or other policies that increase the construction of new homes because that would delay the much-desired day when home prices find a bottom.
He did offer one suggestion: "The most effective initiative, though politically difficult, would be a major expansion in quotas for skilled immigrants," he said. The only sustainable way to increase demand for vacant houses is to spur the formation of new households. Admitting more skilled immigrants, who tend to earn enough to buy homes, would accomplish that while paying other dividends to the U.S. economy.
He estimates the number of new households in the U.S. currently is increasing at an annual rate of about 800,000, of whom about one third are immigrants. "Perhaps 150,000 of those are loosely classified as skilled," he said. "A double or tripling of this number would markedly accelerate the absorption of unsold housing inventory for sale -- and hence help stabilize prices."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121865515167837815.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
pd_recapturing
03-07 08:46 PM
I have a quick question on salary issue with 485. My EB2 I-140 states that my yearly salary 87k per annum. It got approved last year. I realized that my w-2 only reflects 64k for last year. I did not work for 2 months because of some personal reason. Is this less salary going to affect my 485 application? I thougt, GC is for future jobs so its okay. Can somebody please clarify this ?
reddymjm
12-17 03:53 PM
New job must match the LC...that's the trick. If it doesn't, it will get rejected and potentially, GC denied.
Career progression from Junior Programmer to Senior Programmer is possible. But to manager with less technical stuff and more management stuff, then it might get rejected because of huge difference from LC.
Always remember, get a job that is according to your LC because that is the one certified.
It is risky.
Career progression from Junior Programmer to Senior Programmer is possible. But to manager with less technical stuff and more management stuff, then it might get rejected because of huge difference from LC.
Always remember, get a job that is according to your LC because that is the one certified.
It is risky.
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