Immigration: gettng in legally takes a long time

HERRIMAN — Immigrating to the United States couldn't have been smoother for Ali Bahadur.

After a simple interview at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, he was given a sealed packet to take with him to New York, where he went through customs.

"Within half an hour, I got a (green) card, right there," he said of the identification allowing him to live and work in the United States. "It was so easy."

That was in 1978, when Bahadur moved to the Salt Lake Valley from his native Pakistan. His brother sponsored his green card. During the next two years, Bahadur was able to bring his wife, Parveen, and their four children to the Salt Lake Valley.

But Bahadur, now a U.S. citizen, shakes his head when he hears about how difficult it is to immigrate legally today. A nephew had to wait a decade for permanent residency amid a growing waiting list for a limited number of visas. Security checks are stringent, and interviews more complex.

"It's too long now, it's very hard," he said. "I have two sisters back there, but there's no way for them to get a visa right now."

There are now so many more applicants than available visas that there is currently an 11-year wait to sponsor a sibling for immigration from most countries, according to the State Department's July Visa Bulletin.

U.S. State Department officials say there are more petitions being filed today to sponsor immigrants, but there's no comparison to the 1970s because the numbers and types of visas have changed.

During the early 1970s, there were separate limits for the Eastern and Western hemispheres, which totaled around 290,000 visas. Then, legislative changes did away with the split and reduced the worldwide limit to 270,000.

Then in 1990 the preference categories were raised to 226,000 for family and 140,000 for employment. Any unused visas can be used the next year.

There is also a limit of how many visas can be allocated to each country. The Philippines has traditionally had one of the longest waits. In July, 1978, the wait was 10 years. Today, it's nearly 23 years. And pending legislation in Congress would make even more changes, but it is debated whether it will cause a bigger backup or alleviate the wait, observers say.

Avelina Staker hopes the 11-year wait won't get even longer. She's recently applied for citizenship and hopes to sponsor her sister's immigration from Venezuela after she's naturalized.