krishmunn
09-30 11:58 AM
Unfortunately NO. you cannot declare anything while leaving India.
Not correct. You can declare your stuff , including Jewellery, right after immigration check at customs counter when leaving India. I did it once for my laptop long back.
Also, carry your Indian receipts.
Not correct. You can declare your stuff , including Jewellery, right after immigration check at customs counter when leaving India. I did it once for my laptop long back.
Also, carry your Indian receipts.
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mirage
03-06 01:03 PM
Just a little update, Called up my Senator's office this morning..Started talking about country Cap issue, the guy knew everything about it, he took notes & promised he will pass it on to the Senator. Here's what I suggested him
1) Lift the Country Cap for Temporary period of time, may be just for 2 years.
2) Limit the Maximum waiting time, say if one applicant is waiting for 5 years than country cap should be exempted and he should be given a preference over a person who�s PD is just 1 year old.
He specifically told me 'your second point is very good, I'll certainly share these with the Senator'...
I urge you guys to contact your senators & Congressmen/Congresswomen
We have a group which is focusing on this issue, if you want to join us here's the link
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yourvoiceiv/
1) Lift the Country Cap for Temporary period of time, may be just for 2 years.
2) Limit the Maximum waiting time, say if one applicant is waiting for 5 years than country cap should be exempted and he should be given a preference over a person who�s PD is just 1 year old.
He specifically told me 'your second point is very good, I'll certainly share these with the Senator'...
I urge you guys to contact your senators & Congressmen/Congresswomen
We have a group which is focusing on this issue, if you want to join us here's the link
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yourvoiceiv/
Michael chertoff
04-07 05:58 PM
Please stop this discussion about US university and Indian university or for that matter about octopus
This thread is about Retrogression, priority dates and Visa bulletins so if someone has seen the May 2011 VB lets talk about it
Agreed. just talk about Bulletin.
This thread is about Retrogression, priority dates and Visa bulletins so if someone has seen the May 2011 VB lets talk about it
Agreed. just talk about Bulletin.
2011 Humorous Quotes (Attitude
eb3_nepa
11-10 12:27 AM
And shat exactly is the point of this discussion again? More ranting?
You know, maybe few people have noticed this, but when it comes to selecting the "lawyer", you have to pay, if you want your own lawyer. A lot of ppl are very happy that the company pays. So people want their cake and eat it too. They want the company to pay for the lawyer, BUT BUT they want the lawyer to work for them and even let them, when they can leave the employer without negatively affecting their GC process.
The problem is not just the lawyers or the HR ppl guys. The problem is also partly US. If we were to insist that WE pay for the process and we hire our own lawyers, we would have a LOT more control on the process. However, I understand that not all of us have that option, but then those of us who do not have that option, have to thank their stars that they did not end up paying close to $10K for this whole process. Face the facts guys, if your company is paying ur lawyer, ur lawyer is working for them NOT you. Your company and NOT you is the lawyer's client, so he is LEGALLY REQUIRED to serve them and NOT you.
We curse the USCIS everyday (I do too), but we have to admit, they have done an EXCELLENT job these past few months and almost everyone I know has received their EADs, APs and FP notices within the stipulated 90 day period. Let us commend the USCIS for that. We criticized and cursed them when the the time had come to do so. Now they have done a good job so let us commend them for it. Some USCIS centers are even doing actual finger printing on Saturdays (in the state of CT. My friend actually did his on a Saturday). They do not have to do any of this, BUT THEY ARE DOING IT.
About HR, again we all hate them, but they do the best they can. Ah what the heck i'll give you guys this one ;) Go ahead curse away :p. Although I will say this, some HR ppl are rather helpful. I have worked for 2 companies and touch wood both helped me a lot with paperwork and were quite prompt.
You know, maybe few people have noticed this, but when it comes to selecting the "lawyer", you have to pay, if you want your own lawyer. A lot of ppl are very happy that the company pays. So people want their cake and eat it too. They want the company to pay for the lawyer, BUT BUT they want the lawyer to work for them and even let them, when they can leave the employer without negatively affecting their GC process.
The problem is not just the lawyers or the HR ppl guys. The problem is also partly US. If we were to insist that WE pay for the process and we hire our own lawyers, we would have a LOT more control on the process. However, I understand that not all of us have that option, but then those of us who do not have that option, have to thank their stars that they did not end up paying close to $10K for this whole process. Face the facts guys, if your company is paying ur lawyer, ur lawyer is working for them NOT you. Your company and NOT you is the lawyer's client, so he is LEGALLY REQUIRED to serve them and NOT you.
We curse the USCIS everyday (I do too), but we have to admit, they have done an EXCELLENT job these past few months and almost everyone I know has received their EADs, APs and FP notices within the stipulated 90 day period. Let us commend the USCIS for that. We criticized and cursed them when the the time had come to do so. Now they have done a good job so let us commend them for it. Some USCIS centers are even doing actual finger printing on Saturdays (in the state of CT. My friend actually did his on a Saturday). They do not have to do any of this, BUT THEY ARE DOING IT.
About HR, again we all hate them, but they do the best they can. Ah what the heck i'll give you guys this one ;) Go ahead curse away :p. Although I will say this, some HR ppl are rather helpful. I have worked for 2 companies and touch wood both helped me a lot with paperwork and were quite prompt.
more...
fromnaija
07-31 11:06 AM
Hi,
My wife is on H4 and I am on H1. We both have EAD. How ever, I have not converted to EAD and intend to be on H1 till i get my GC. Also our H4 and H1 3 year extensions are pending with CSC. My wife has a job offer for which she will need to use her EAD. The question is:
1) Can she change her status to EAD while her H4 extension is pending ?
2) Will her working on EAD jeopardise her H4 extension adjudication ? We want to maintain valid H4 as a backup.
3) What is the process for her to convert from H4 to EAD. Do we have to inform uscis ?
4) Is required, can she change her status form EAD to h4 (if we maiantain valid H4 as well)
Your quick response is appreciated. Thank You.
As far as I know, EAD is not a status but an interim benefit based on the fact that you have a pending adjustment of status. I believe your wife could work and this will not jeopardize your status. (Please note that I am not a lawyer. My answer is based on common knowledge and you may want to ask a lawyer for a legal opinion).
My wife is on H4 and I am on H1. We both have EAD. How ever, I have not converted to EAD and intend to be on H1 till i get my GC. Also our H4 and H1 3 year extensions are pending with CSC. My wife has a job offer for which she will need to use her EAD. The question is:
1) Can she change her status to EAD while her H4 extension is pending ?
2) Will her working on EAD jeopardise her H4 extension adjudication ? We want to maintain valid H4 as a backup.
3) What is the process for her to convert from H4 to EAD. Do we have to inform uscis ?
4) Is required, can she change her status form EAD to h4 (if we maiantain valid H4 as well)
Your quick response is appreciated. Thank You.
As far as I know, EAD is not a status but an interim benefit based on the fact that you have a pending adjustment of status. I believe your wife could work and this will not jeopardize your status. (Please note that I am not a lawyer. My answer is based on common knowledge and you may want to ask a lawyer for a legal opinion).
Kalidindi
07-30 12:46 PM
I have got my case approved as well. I also received my GC cards. Thanks for all the info and Best of Luck,
more...
gimme_gc_asap
12-27 12:03 AM
Thank you. always good to hear some sane voices.
Please think:
A. WHY will ACLU assist us? Only because Ms. Singh is there?
B. WHY should Dr. Singh or Mrs. Gandhi assist us? We are trying to emigrate FROM India, NOT immigrate to India, after all.
C. Please do not formulate random "minority community" statements. It is kind of ironic to do so, given the fact that we, the EB immigrants, are usually parts of various minority communities in the U.S., and are desperately trying to make our case to the power structure here...
Please think:
A. WHY will ACLU assist us? Only because Ms. Singh is there?
B. WHY should Dr. Singh or Mrs. Gandhi assist us? We are trying to emigrate FROM India, NOT immigrate to India, after all.
C. Please do not formulate random "minority community" statements. It is kind of ironic to do so, given the fact that we, the EB immigrants, are usually parts of various minority communities in the U.S., and are desperately trying to make our case to the power structure here...
2010 quotes on attitude with images
sathishav
03-07 09:51 AM
Once you I140 is approved, you lock the PD. Only time you lose it is, if USCIS cancels it for fraud.
Else, layoff or revocation does not matter. You just have to start another new PERM again.
Else, layoff or revocation does not matter. You just have to start another new PERM again.
more...
aau
08-08 10:34 AM
Sorry to hear about your friend's situation.
If she is qualified enough ask her to find a new employer who is willing to sponsor her a H1B.
She can transfer her status from H-4 to H1B and it will not be counted against the annual H1B quota.
Ppl please at least give a disclaimer. This sentence, said with such authority is completely false! The ONLY way you are not counted against the annual H1B quota is if you are RENEWING your existing H1B (and you have years left on it of course).
Think before you write..
If she is qualified enough ask her to find a new employer who is willing to sponsor her a H1B.
She can transfer her status from H-4 to H1B and it will not be counted against the annual H1B quota.
Ppl please at least give a disclaimer. This sentence, said with such authority is completely false! The ONLY way you are not counted against the annual H1B quota is if you are RENEWING your existing H1B (and you have years left on it of course).
Think before you write..
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ski_dude12
12-26 12:21 AM
What is the name of your employer? Atleast that will help other members in making the right choice.
Thank You all for your support by answering my queries. Will keep you posting the progress. Hope things will work out fine.
Sure, would contribute to IV, you are doing great service.
Thank You all for your support by answering my queries. Will keep you posting the progress. Hope things will work out fine.
Sure, would contribute to IV, you are doing great service.
more...
gg_ny
10-02 03:26 PM
I can't imagine why people do not want to give whatever I-94 they had collected between two trips out of US. NOt sure of the rules, but the common procedure is to surrender original I-94 AND the ones you got with each H1B. I haven't heard so far that I-94's not returned gained monetary value on ebay or people could use them for anything else. For me, I see surrendering all of them as one ( or some) more document(s) not to worry about.
But see that is exactly my question. Say u surrender All your I-94 copies. however on entering they still give you a BRAND new I-94 on the airplane (assuming you are crossing by airplane ofcourse). Now That has a totally new I-94 number than what your H1B I-94 had. That is where i get confused.
But see that is exactly my question. Say u surrender All your I-94 copies. however on entering they still give you a BRAND new I-94 on the airplane (assuming you are crossing by airplane ofcourse). Now That has a totally new I-94 number than what your H1B I-94 had. That is where i get confused.
hot attitude quotes pics. Amazing Quotes On Attitude
anai
06-04 10:36 AM
Thank you, guys! It is not clear whether Statistics is a STEM major, but I think it is reasonable that it is, since Statistics is a branh of Math. Some universities have Statistics departments and others have Statistics as a concentration in a Math graduate program.
As a statistician, can you not live with something like "There's an 80% chance that statistics is considered part of the "M" in STEM"?
(Couldn't resist. Just trying to find something humorous in our common misery.)
As a statistician, can you not live with something like "There's an 80% chance that statistics is considered part of the "M" in STEM"?
(Couldn't resist. Just trying to find something humorous in our common misery.)
more...
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king37
01-18 11:00 AM
i applied in 2003 and got in 2005.. its very simple actually .. u can write to me i can help you out
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onemoredesi
06-21 10:53 AM
In case the I-485 is filed concurrently with I-140 or on the basis of a I-140 "pending approval", if the "I-140" is rejected (say because it was incorrectly classified as EB-2 when it should have been EB-3), then is the I-485 also automatically rejected? (My guess: YES)
If this happens to you, does this mean you may not be able to resubmit I-485 if your "priority date" is not current at the time you came to know it got rejected? (My guess: YES... and this is a scary scenario.)
Finally, if the I-140 (EB2) is mentions the requirement to be "BS + 5 years of post BS experience", but the the reviewing officer thinks that the 140 application is not supported by "proper" evidence of 5 years of progressive post BS experience.... then would it generate an RFE or would it straightaway cause a rejection of the I-140?
Experts, please comment. I may have to face this scenario.
Thanks!
Abhijit
Contribution so far: $100
Abhijit,
This happened to a very close friend of mine a couple of years ago when he was in hi 6th year. He luckily found a labor substitution at that time and was able to immediately file.
I-140 is probably most important of the entire green card process.. it is what proves the employer's capability to pay the prospective employee.
To your question, if I-140 is rejected, your entire application is denied.. I-485 is immediately nullified.
You might want to talk to your attorney if you have the slightest of the doubts..
If this happens to you, does this mean you may not be able to resubmit I-485 if your "priority date" is not current at the time you came to know it got rejected? (My guess: YES... and this is a scary scenario.)
Finally, if the I-140 (EB2) is mentions the requirement to be "BS + 5 years of post BS experience", but the the reviewing officer thinks that the 140 application is not supported by "proper" evidence of 5 years of progressive post BS experience.... then would it generate an RFE or would it straightaway cause a rejection of the I-140?
Experts, please comment. I may have to face this scenario.
Thanks!
Abhijit
Contribution so far: $100
Abhijit,
This happened to a very close friend of mine a couple of years ago when he was in hi 6th year. He luckily found a labor substitution at that time and was able to immediately file.
I-140 is probably most important of the entire green card process.. it is what proves the employer's capability to pay the prospective employee.
To your question, if I-140 is rejected, your entire application is denied.. I-485 is immediately nullified.
You might want to talk to your attorney if you have the slightest of the doubts..
more...
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nrakkati
08-15 12:28 PM
Congrats and welcome to IV, hope you become an active member and contribute your efforts to IV.
Sure...Just contributed $100, will do more in coming months.
Sure...Just contributed $100, will do more in coming months.
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bestofall
12-30 09:56 PM
How did you find out , that files are assigned to I/O
more...
makeup (Attitude-Quotes-words-quotes
WeShallOvercome
07-30 02:34 PM
You are correct, they get a copy.
but we do get the original FP notice , right?
but we do get the original FP notice , right?
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arnab221
03-18 10:32 AM
Hello :
Does the core team who have their boots in Washington have any knowledge of the date when the CIR will be introduced by Mr Kennedy . Days have turned to weeks then to months and we have been just hearing stories of the bill getting introduced "Next Week ".The press is spilling gallons of ink and the onliners are creating Gigabytes of forum data on Immigration Legislation and its outcomes, but nothing seems to come out of Capitol Hill , they are just going around in circles .Are they actually going to do something this year or is it just another eyewash ?
Does the core team who have their boots in Washington have any knowledge of the date when the CIR will be introduced by Mr Kennedy . Days have turned to weeks then to months and we have been just hearing stories of the bill getting introduced "Next Week ".The press is spilling gallons of ink and the onliners are creating Gigabytes of forum data on Immigration Legislation and its outcomes, but nothing seems to come out of Capitol Hill , they are just going around in circles .Are they actually going to do something this year or is it just another eyewash ?
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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
eilsoe
10-03 12:14 PM
yeah, check my post "What grids can look like" in the "Drawing and design" threads...
THAT looks weird... notice how the grid pattern fits perfectly with a mosaic render...! :)
THAT looks weird... notice how the grid pattern fits perfectly with a mosaic render...! :)
i4u
07-26 09:29 AM
I ported from EB3 to EB2 recently and if its all goes well, my PD of May 06 might be current. Is there any way one can determine if their finger prints, photographs, security checks, etc., are valid and the application is pre-adjudicated and ready for approval.
Since, I ported recently I didn't notice any LUD's in my I-485 application. Any thoughts. Please share your experiences.
have you tried infopass?
Since, I ported recently I didn't notice any LUD's in my I-485 application. Any thoughts. Please share your experiences.
have you tried infopass?
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