Have you been waiting patiently to get your green card through your employer? Do the following quotes somewhat echo what you are going through? “My labor certification has been pending at the DOL for over 3 years”, “My priority date is Dec. 2003, but it seems like it take 3-4 years before my turn to apply for I-485 comes up”, “I am in my 9th year extension, and unable to accept promotions, or change jobs, because if I do, I will lose my priority date and have to wait another decade for my green card.

If the above quotes sound familiar, then please know that you are not alone. You are in the company of over ½ million people stuck in the endless backlogs and bureaucracy. Recent data on backlogs indicates that as of April 2006, 255,000 applications were pending at the DOL – some since 1999. Per latest Ombudsman's report, there are between 170 to 230 K applications pending at the USCIS. Just one glance at the numbers is sure to send shivers down the spines of most individuals who haven’t even entered the green card queue.

With unbounded passion and a sense of urgency few individuals came together in December 2005 to form Immigration Voice (IV). Immigration Voice’s mission is to resolve this crisis facing numerous highly skilled, and highly educated individuals and make lawmakers aware of the issues that have adversely affected the quality of life for our members.

Immigration Voice has successfully lobbied Congress to enact sensible legislation that will clear backlogs, reduce wait time, and improve the quality of life of individuals. Immigration Voice has played a key role in the following very positive changes: (1) Removal of 10 % hard country quota from Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation. We made lawmakers aware of this issue so it will never arise again. (2) Inclusion of Immigration Voice’s goals in the bipartisan Managers' amendment to CIR viz, (i) I-485 filing without visa number availability, (ii) 3 year H-1B and EAD/Advance Parole extensions for green card applicants, and, (iii) Generalization of Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) exemptions to more applicants. This item also greatly serves the national interests of the US.

Immigration Voice has also raised awareness about backlogs and bottlenecks in the legal immigration process through an aggressive publicity campaign in the print and broadcast media (Washington Post, Roll Call, WSJ, MSNBC, amongst many others). You can check them out here. Immigration Voice core members continually engage the media on a regular basis to raise awareness.

Immigration Voice works closely with Quinn Gillespie and Associates (QGA) to generate awareness amongst lawmakers of our cause and to create bipartisan support for it, but we need a significant membership base as well as a tremendous financial muscle. The lobby opposed to legal immigration is very strong, and has extensive reach on the Hill. We need to raise funds with great urgency and vigor to keep up the struggle and strengthen our partnership with QGA, without whom our success is limited.

All members of Immigration Voice are bonded by the same problems arising from the backlogs in legal immigration. The unwavering and unfaltering commitment of the Immigration Voice core team, and the support shown by our members, both monetary and in spirit, has propelled Immigration Voice to succeed and hardened the core team’s resolve to continue this work until our goals are achieved.

Immigration Voice’s membership has grown to more than 6000 members in about 7-8 months, but this number pales in comparison to the half million people currently in some stage of their green card process. We urge you to join us and become a member of Immigration Voice. You will receive regular updates and inside news of several activities that Immigration Voice is undertaking in Washington DC. Moreover, you will get the satisfaction of being part of this important effort, which has a good chance of succeeding, and be able to share your worries as well as get solutions to your personal queries through our free ask-a-lawyer conference calls.

Please visit http://www.ImmigrationVoice.org" rel="nofollow">LINK and see first-hand the enthusiasm and energy of our existing members who are contributing their time and resources to a very important cause. We are sure you will join us.

Thank you,

Immigration Voice Team

Immigration voice is a non-profit 501 (c) (4) (pending) organization. All of Immigration Voice’s financial transactions will be audited by a CPA, submitted to the IRS.