Petition to Reform the Legal Immigration System

[coyote 3]

I'm a member of VisaJourney and my husband is in the immigration process. Like everyone else, I've been shocked by how dysfunctional the system is. I'm circulating a petition that calls for specific changes that would institute greater transparency and accountability, but also calls for a commission that would examine the bigger picture, looking for ways to streamline the process, and update the corporate culture of legal immigration to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

I hope you'll sign and pass on to your families and friends!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/falling-in-love-with-someone-from-another-country-is-not-a-crime/

[Obama 2012 1,714]

What the petition asks for would cause fees to go even higher than what they are now.

There's a cost to everything, including this process.

People need to remember that immigrating to the US is not a right, no matter how your 'personal' feelings are.

At the end of the day, there's always the option of moving elsewhere if you don't like the system we have here.

It's not perfect, but it's in place to try to keep faux applications out and to let in who they feel will be beneficial to the nation. We're actually pretty damn lucky they offer marriage/fiance Visas to be quite honest....

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Visitor's visa (B2)

Make it easier for people to get a visitor's visa.

Applicant is allowed to post "bail" kind-of deposit which will be refunded when he or she leaves the US (in timely manner) again.

Alternatively, he or she can provide a US citizen guarantor who will sign a form taking full responsibility if the foreigner does not leave the country as scheduled. If a US citizen is used, the "deposit" is $1,000; if the foreigner does not leave in time, there is a fine of $1,000 per months up to 5 years ($60K) max. USCs who don't pay go to jail for $1K per month.

Relatives of US citizens.

Limit family immigration to immediate relatives of US citizens. That means only spouses, children, and parents can be petitioned for and only by USCs, not LPRs.

Limit of 1 spousal petition in a lifetime. If you imported a hot chick from the Philippines or Thailand and it didn't work out, you're not allowed to import another one. Find a spouse already in the US, as there are plenty of those.

Removal of Conditions

Switch from 2 years to 3 years, at which time they can become USCs anyway. No point in doing ROC for a few months. Just lots of money and hassle for nothing.

Qualified Foreigners

Issue immigrant visas to foreigners who are willing to pay $25K for a (conditional) Green Card. They have to prove that they have money to start a business and that they can support themselves by providing a tax return that shows sufficient income on a yearly basis (mail in tax return). They also may not get in trouble with the law. After 3 years, allow them to remove conditions like married couples and investors (remember, I moved that from 2 to 3 years).

Requirements

All potential immigrants need to pass a civic test (not as lax as the one for the N-400) and show proficiency (a working knowledge) in the English language. They also need to have completed a 12 years in school or education (already required for Green Card lottery winners!)

[Fandango 1,440]

Visitor's visa (B2)

Make it easier for people to get a visitor's visa.

Applicant is allowed to post "bail" kind-of deposit which will be refunded when he or she leaves the US (in timely manner) again.

Alternatively, he or she can provide a US citizen guarantor who will sign a form taking full responsibility if the foreigner does not leave the country as scheduled. If a US citizen is used, the "deposit" is $1,000; if the foreigner does not leave in time, there is a fine of $1,000 per months up to 5 years ($60K) max. USCs who don't pay go to jail for $1K per month.

Are you going to send your $60k?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Are you going to send your $60k?

Not much merit for personal attacks here, Lisa, but I grab the ball and run with it anyway.

If you implemented my suggestions for immigration reform as outlined by me above, I would have paid $25K for a Green Card in 1992 and I would have submitted a tax return showing sufficient income. Since I had a SSN since 1991, I paid income tax from the first year I moved to the US (1/2/92) and I never got in trouble with the law. Hence, USCIS would have had $25,000 more and that money could have been used to reduce the cost for other visa petitions, as USCIS is a self-funded, yet not-for-profit Government agency.

Now imagine 10,000 people are voluntarily paying $25K for a conditional Green Card, people who need to open a business and can't get in trouble with the law, and there's $250,000,000.00 (that's a quarter Billion with a capital "B") money right there and ten thousand new businesses. Doesn't that make a lot of sense, economically, for a country that's hurting and has millions of unemployed people?

P.S.

Don't tell anyone, but I would have paid $60K for a Green Card, had it been an option. That's a lot of money for me, and it "was" a gigantic amount of money for me in 1992, but I would have done it nonetheless.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Just Bob

[trillium13 84]

Removal of Conditions

Switch from 2 years to 3 years, at which time they can become USCs anyway. No point in doing ROC for a few months. Just lots of money and hassle for nothing.

[Fandango 1,440]

Not much merit for personal attacks here, Lisa, but I grab the ball and run with it anyway.

If you implemented my suggestions for immigration reform as outlined by me above, I would have paid $25K for a Green Card in 1992 and I would have submitted a tax return showing sufficient income. Since I had a SSN since 1991, I paid income tax from the first year I moved to the US (1/2/92) and I never got in trouble with the law. Hence, USCIS would have had $25,000 more and that money could have been used to reduce the cost for other visa petitions, as USCIS is a self-funded, yet not-for-profit Government agency.

Now imagine 10,000 people are voluntarily paying $25K for a conditional Green Card, people who need to open a business and can't get in trouble with the law, and there's $250,000,000.00 (that's a quarter Billion with a capital "B") money right there and ten thousand new businesses. Doesn't that make a lot of sense, economically, for a country that's hurting and has millions of unemployed people?

P.S.

Don't tell anyone, but I would have paid $60K for a Green Card, had it been an option. That's a lot of money for me, and it "was" a gigantic amount of money for me in 1992, but I would have done it nonetheless.

It's not so much as a personal attack, more along the lines of calling you out for your 'do as I say not as I do' mentality. You were out of status for years, personally, I wonder how you even worked all those years being out of status.

Now if I were being personal, I'd say that your presence here on VJ giving people advice on how to do things the right and LEGAL way when you yourself thumbed your nose up at immigration and disrespected our laws is just rich at best.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Lisa,

again, this thread is about suggestions for immigration reform. You continue to derail it by putting the focus on my personal immigration history. I have to ask you to stop this, as it is not beneficial in any way to anyone.

My suggestions to immigration reform are based on personal experience of shortcomings as well as what I learned here on VJ.

Many people face huge problems to get a visitor's visa, others simply can't get one. That's because immigration officials are afraid that visitors overstay their welcome, as it was the case with me back in 1994. If the US Government implemented a form of refundable deposit or, alternatively, the written guarantee of a US citizen guarantor, much of this would become a non-issue. Look at how many US citizens just wish to have their in-laws or siblings to attend their weddings, yet they can't. If the USC would have to personally guarantee that the foreigner leaves in time and have to put his or her money up in case that doesn't happen, overstays would be less common and perhaps reduced by as much as 80 to 90 percent.

The other thing is the investor visa. For every person who's able to invest a million US$, there's a whole truckload of foreigners who can invest $100K and would be willing to do so. The majority of these people worked hard for decades, built a small business in their home country, nothing fancy, just anything from a bakery to a shoemaker's shop and are willing to continue doing this in the US. These people are willing to pay $10K, $25K, $50K for a Green Card and the opportunity to invest more by opening a small business in the US and thus help the hurting economy of this country in more than one way. Therefore this is one of the changes I would implement on a comprehensive immigration reform.

I was pretty naive when I moved to the US in 1992, following quite a few of my friends who had gone before me. I believed immigration would fall in place, somehow, eventually. I made mistakes and if I could turn back the clock, knowing what I know today, wouldn't do it again. Yet my first hand experience is valuable when advising other VJ members on their journey, which is why the short version of my story is listed in my signature, instead of hiding it and pretending it never happened.

If you want to make your house intruder safe, ask someone who served time for breaking and entry. If you want to know what it's like to fight in a war, ask a veteran. If you'd like to know what to do if out of status, ask someone who walked in those shoes for many years. Where there is light, there is also shadow, and vice verse. Nothing is just black and white, not even blacks and whites.