| Username |
Post |
| KLV |
Posted
on 08-Mar-02 03:04 PM
The dual citizenship proposition is based on the assumption of tens of thousands of Nepalis living in the U.S. The number of naturalized U.S. citizen from Nepal is way smaller than currently being circulated (tens of thousands?). Personally, I will benefit from this provision in the future if allowed – at least emotionally. (No, not to save the visa fee! For the U.S. citizen, the visa fee to Nepal is $20 (30?), and to hold dual citizen you need to pay $50 for a Nepali passport. So, where is the saving by trying to avoid the visa fee? Unless you visit Nepal every year.)
If we look at INS data, a total to 476 persons born in Nepal got green card (immigrant) in 1998. It is almost a linear increase from 78 in 1987. You need to wait 3-5 years to apply for the citizenship. Small number of immigrants translates into even smaller naturalized citizen.
There are personal/economic/legal issues of becoming U.S. citizen. The citizenship application went up after the immigration reform acto of 1996. It will go up again after the 9-11 incident and treatment of some of the immigrants in the aftermath.
The number of Nepalis with U.S. citizenship is just too small to warrant any special treatment. Just look at the following number that will help you extrapolate. (FYI: The number of persons naturalized in 1999 who were born in Nepal was 149.)
PERSONS NATURALIZED BY REGION AND COUNTRY OF FORMER ALLEGIANCE FISCAL YEARS 1990-99 (Source: INS Statistical Yearbook)
Country of former allegiance: Nepal
Year Naturalized
1987 22
1988 31
1989 35
1990 37
1991 56
1992 43
1993 48
1994 62
1995 55
1996 88
1997 52
1998 73
1999 119
In whatever way you look at it, the cumulative number is still small!
Kanhaiya
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| ThereGoesTheMyth |
Posted
on 08-Mar-02 03:48 PM
There goes the myth of 'tens of thousands of Nepali' pouring in millions of dollars in Nepal. It will be better if we say ' a couple of people' trying to savour the comfort of dual citizenship for those people who want to have Nepali citizenship.
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| Suman |
Posted
on 09-Mar-02 06:37 PM
I personally know a couple of people who send every paycheck immediately to Nepal for fear unknown to me, each one sends $1200/month; a total of 28800/year. Of course the direct beneficiaries are the immediate families and the senders themselves, but it has a direct impact on the reserve NRB keeps of the foreign currencies.
I don't think it is wise to do so but I would like to say that for every dual citizen to enter Nepal they impose the same fee (or even penalty for many other things like "they are not there to corrupt the government and devour the budget to build personal properties") as for the visa (it's that simple). Is this fee system very difficult to implement? No!
Third world countries like Iran has accepted dual citizenship. India is on the track. I believe Taiwan (and Turkey) has dual citizenship (correct me if I'm wrong). Don't you think there must be a reason for that? Or they are dumber than us?
There is a very serious issue: while considering whether to allow dual citizenship, the fee for entry etc. should never be taken into account. Only thing is national interest of Nepal and sovereignity of Nepal that should matter. If for any reason dual citizenship in any form is dangerous to Nepal, it MUST NOT be allowed at any cost.
I'm personally for dual citizenship (OK, with limited loyality to Nepal's governement). From the point of view of materialism, I frankly don't need Nepali citizenship to do whatever I need and want to do on day to day basis. Compared to the amount of air fare I have to pay to go to Nepal, $20-$100 for visa is OK ( I agree). But Nepal is still my motherland, I go there whenever I can. I'm not probably contributing much to Nepal's welfare but I'm not sucking my mother's blood like some corrupt Nepali are. My mother may not be proud of me but I am of her. I've some liabilities towards my mother because all my knowledge, be it however small it may, I owe to my parents and Nepal and nobody else. I therefore want to pay visit to Nepal without having her call me a foreigner.
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| Pervert!! |
Posted
on 09-Mar-02 11:42 PM
naro ko dual citizenship....guuula jasto kura
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| uks |
Posted
on 10-Mar-02 11:07 AM
i am against dual citizenship because it threatens our very sovereignty. I am afraid that many Indians at least in UP, Bihar and West Bengal would prefer to have dual citizenship. Though we Nepalese could also benefit, the sheer size of these two countries' population will prevent us from benefitting much.Imagine the Indians dictating our policies.......... If they are allowed to have only one citizenship, then there is cost involved.........
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| ashu |
Posted
on 10-Mar-02 12:40 PM
Hi KLV-ji,
Long time, no hear!
Good to see you posting stuff on sajha.com
Your numbers, as always, make good sense.
With those data, it does now seem futile to be discussing the DC issue (America-Nepal), at least for some years.
Hope all's well in Oregon.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| InterestGroups |
Posted
on 10-Mar-02 12:54 PM
I don't know what to say to the proponents of DC. They were talking about 'tens of thousands of Nepali'. It is now obvious that they either didn't know what they were talking about, who they were representing or they were plainly lying. Better our interest groups improve themselves, and present coherent strategy with honesty next time to win over the heart of we from Nepal. My small suggestion only.
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| Babu Ram Maharjan |
Posted
on 10-Mar-02 10:47 PM
KLV ji
Thanx a lot for providing important data of naturalised Nepalese in America. from your posting I got total 721 naturalised Nepalese from 1987 to 1999. But I didn't get any number before 1987 and after 1999. If you have these data provide us please. It'd huge favour if you provide us web site for this.
I'm also interested to know naturalised Nepalese in Canada. Hope you'll provide this data if you know.
Thanx
BABU
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| ashu |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 12:43 AM
Babu Ram ji,
As someone who remains sympathetic to the issue of DC, I fail to understand
just what difference does it really make if you had had pre-1987 and post-1999 data, which you are requesting Kanhaiya to provide.
Even if you had had that data, Kanhaiya's conclusion, based on the data,
remains pretty convincing: "In whatever way you look at it, the cumulative
number is still small!"
And to that I would add: "to be thinking seriously about the DC issue
NOW".
There, the case rests.
Let's revisit the issue in, say, 2025 AD.
Meantime, and on a broader level, let us use the next 23 years learning to seek help from the ever-so-helpful reference librarians at any American public library to easily find the US government ko data that we can use to lend support to -- or,
as Biswo would say, buttress :-) -- our arguments.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| Gandhi |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 09:20 AM
Baburamji:
Because all Nepali naturalized to country other than Nepal are equal, the DC concept equally applies to people living in DC, Toronto, Sydney, London, Meghalaya, Asam, and many other areas in India, Bhutan and Myanmar. I strongly support your idea not to stop in 1987 but going back into past dates. May be 1935 would be the best date. this is the time when Nepal was exposed to outside through wars or through peace.
While you are getting more data on the people living in US, Canada, UK or Australia, please try to get the figures for India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. As poeple try to play with numbers, large number of naturalized Nepali in foreign country will justify why they should be allowed a DC status. It may help to solve Butanese refugees problem too - give them DC because there are many Nepali who were migrated from Nepal during the second world war and after that period (:~?. Hope your enthusiasm, energy and lobbying will help make better Nepal. (:<(
I have observed that many Indian-Nepali or Barmeli-Nepali families, after living there for three or four decades, were forcefully returned to Nepal. As racial or origin related sentiments plays violently in the area, there should be a plan to check the influx of those naturalized citizens back to Nepal. Don't you think so? May be you will be there to welcome thousands of families back to Nepal, but I can't.
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| ekalkate |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 10:08 AM
My point exactly. Dual citizenship cannot be only for Nepalese living in US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, and Hong Kong. It will have to include people of Nepalese origin living in India,Bhutan, Burma, Fuji and other lessor known places. Right now we are having problem with 150 thousand refugees from Bhutan. Does the country have economic means to support returning Nepalese should they choose to return, not in hundreds, but in thousands, not from America and Europe, but from neighbouring countries?
Again, what is stopping those Nepalese from investing in Nepal whether they are citizens or not?
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| KLV |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 11:49 AM
Babu Ram_jee,
Currently I don't have pre-1987 data on naturalized American of Nepali origin at my fingertips. However, you can go to your local library (may be) or State Library (definitely) for:
Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
Regarding Nepalis in Canada: I am not too familiar with Canadian data and I don't have access to the data files. If you like to do a little search (or buy data) on this topic, please go to Statistics Canada's web site: http://www.statcan.ca/
Good luck.
Kanhaiya
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| bik |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 01:53 PM
Perhaps the solution is not in dual citizenship but in a change in the way Nepal issues visas to visitors to Nepal. I am not an expert in this subject but I have many relatives who have acquired British citizenship and every time they visit Nepal to see their family and spend an extended period of time, they complain that they have to get tourist visas which need to be extended every month. And, that the government agency and personnel in charge of issuing such visas give them a very hard time, asking for bribes directly most of the time. What this means in reality is that, you either pay these corrupt government workers and take the easy way out or spend many days to just extend your 30-day tourist visa.
What if there is a separate category set up for people who have a more than a “tourist” connection to Nepal? Sort of like a Permanent Residence (Green Card) here in the US. If you were, let’s say born in Nepal or have immediate family in Nepal but have decided to become a foreign citizen, then you could still come and stay in Nepal for an extended period of time without having to reapply for visa every month. You would not be eligible to vote, but you would be eligible to invest in businesses and perhaps even be eligible for employment. Property ownership could get a little tricky but I am sure there is a solution for that too.
Just an idea. I must say I have not thought this thoroughly.
Also, does anybody know what Nepal’s policy is towards foreign men marrying Nepal women and wanting to immigrate to Nepal? I have a friend who is struggling with this problem. I have heard that the policy is different for Nepali men marrying foreign women vs. Nepali women marrying foreign men. Any truth to this?
Bik.
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| MLS |
Posted
on 11-Mar-02 02:37 PM
The idea of "like green-card" sounds more feasible than the dual citizenship. However, since these advocates of dual citizenship have boasted so much about the economic development of Nepal, I would like to propose a provisional
"green card"for them. They will be given a temporary green card for certain time period and provided that they invest>$100k (more the better and these are rich guys)in Nepal Or 25% of their 401K, then only proceed for more permanent solution. Like Biswo suggested we can go for two years of public service. I rather would ask them to donate certain % of the profit from their investment to social service organisation 'cause they love the development of Nepal so much.
Let them bring their own supply of "VIAGRA".
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