Immigrants Assimilating Fast - From Refugees to Resettlement October visa cut off dates

From refugees to full American citizens, the Vietnamese American communities have grown to a total of almost 1.5 million members.    There is a very long list of first and second generation Vietnamese Americans whose names are known to many people in mainstream America.   Remember the boy who starred with Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”?  That was Jonathan Ke Quan.   There was also a 1995 Walt Disney Studios film called “Operation Dumbo Drop”, which starred Le Thien Dinh, a child actor that RMI helped bring to the US.

Viewers in the Bay Area have seen Thuy Vu, Emmy award-winning anchor and reporter for CBS-5 Television in San Francisco. Fashion Designer Chloe Dao was a winner on the TV show "Project Runway".   Tila Tequila was the most popular female on Social Media.

In Business, onebox.com and lala.com founder Bill Nguyen sold his two companies for 940 million dollars, and Trung Dung sold hisOnDisplay for $1.8 billion.  Frank Jao developed Little Saigon and the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster.

Famous Vietnamese names in politics are Janet Nguyen and Tri Ta in Orange County, John Tran in Rosemead, Joseph Cao in Louisiana, Madison Nguyen in San Jose and California State Assemblyman Van Tran.

NASA astronaut Eugene H. Trinh was the first Vietnamese-American to travel into outer space, and Inventor/Professor Tuan Vo-Dinh ranked Number 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses.

And the list goes on, and on, and on, showing that Vietnamese Americans are now very much part of the culture in the US.

Restaurants, and small businesses such as nail salons, food stores, and import-export shops, are niches where many Vietnamese are finding economic success.  Vietnamese own more than 100,000 businesses, employing more than 300,000 workers, with around $10 billion in sales.

These days, issues of intergenerational differences, family changes, political involvement and empowerment, as well as the development of economic centers around the United States, are becoming more important for forward-looking Vietnamese Americans.   Second- generation Vietnamese Americans that see themselves as Americans rather than as unwilling exiles from Vietnam.    Based on their achievements, the future looks positive.

According to a report from the Pew Research Center, it takes only one generation for immigrant families to make significant socioeconomic gains, including earning higher incomes, owning homes and attending college.   Second-generation Americans -- the adult U.S.-born children of immigrants -- are substantially better off than their immigrant parents.

The Pew report helps to show that today’s immigrants are quick to assimilate and support themselves.    Not only are they assimilating, they’re doing so relatively quickly and moving up the socioeconomic ladder, making better lives for themselves and their families.   Also, they express optimism about their future and their children’s future.

Among some of the Pew researchers’ key findings:

Adults in the second generation are earning a higher median income than those in the first  generation of immigrants ($58,000 compared with $46,000).

The second generation is doing better earning college degrees (36%, compared with 29% of the first generation).  About 90% of the second-generation Hispanic and Asian immigrants are fluent in English, a much higher rate than first-generation immigrants.

Many of the second-generation immigrants are bi-lingual.

When it comes to self-identity, the second generation considers itself well-assimilated. About six-in-10 adults in the second generation consider themselves to be a “typical American.”   

Almost all second-generation immigrants express a deep belief in hard work: 72% of Asians say if you’re willing to do the work, you’ll get ahead.    When the researchers asked other US citizens about the value of hard work, 58% said hard work will pay off but 40% said it was no guarantee of success.

As demonstrated in the 2012 election, second generation immigrants identify more with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. They also tend to describe themselves as liberals at a higher rate than the general population.

Seventy-five percent of second generation Asian Americans say their standard of living is better than their parents was at the same stage and 80% say that conditions are better for families in the United States than in Asia.

Because of high immigrant birth rates, Pew researchers project that by 2050, about 37% of the U.S. population, will be immigrantsor the children of immigrants.

Question (1) Can these successful immigrants file a working visa for their potential employee who lives in Vietnam?

Answer: Vietnam is not on the list of eligible countries for bringing foreign workers to the US for temporary jobs.   Employers would have to file a petition for skilled workers, in the category of H-1B Specialty Occupations.  Or, in some cases, an intra-company L visa may be available.

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Question #(2)  Will they be able to venture with EB-5 applicants from Vietnam? 

Answer: EB5 applicants are always welcome to invest at least $500,000 in approved projects.  Legal source of funds and creation of jobs for US workers are the main requirements.

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Question #(3)   What field of work makes an EB-5 application  approved?  -(where-house, production, Development, markets, convenience store, etc...)

Answer: There are many types of Regional Center projects that CIS has approved.  The focus is on creation of long-term jobs for US citizens, no matter what kind of business is involved.

OCTOBER 2015 IMMIGRANT VISA CUT-OFF DATES  (Does not Include India, Mexico, Philippines)

Source: US State Dep’t. (202) 663-1541 (24/7)http://travel.state.gov/visa_bulletin.html

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IR-1 SPOUSE OF US CITIZEN                             ALWAYS CURRENT 
IR-2 CHILD OF US CITIZEN, <21, SINGLE                                “                                   “
IR-5 PARENT OF US CITIZEN                                                                             “                                   “
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F1-1 CHILD OF US CITIZEN, >20, SINGLE:      15 JANUARY 2008 (+4 WEEKS)

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F2-1 (F2-A) SPOUSE OR MINOR, UNMARRIED

CHILD OF PERMANENT RESIDENT:          15 APRIL 2014 ( + 6 WEEKS)

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F2-4 (F2-B) CHILD OF PERMANENT

RESIDENT, >20, SINGLE:                                                             15 JANUARY 2009 (+ 3 WEEKS)

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F3-1 MARRIED CHILD OF US CITIZEN

(INCLUDES SPOUSE AND CHILDREN <21): 22 MAY 2004 (+2 WEEKS)

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F4-1 BROTHER/SISTER OF US CITIZEN

(INCLUDES SPOUSE AND CHILDREN <21): 08 FEBRUARY 2003  (+3 WEEKS)

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FIANCÉE:  There is no cut-off date for fiancée visa cases because there is no numerical limit for these cases. So, they are always "current".    After the Consulate receives the Packet 3 forms back from the applicant, the applicant is put in line for an interview - usually within 3 months after the forms are submitted to the consulate.