5 Things I've Learnt About the US Immigration Process

[Jawaree 717]

[Sirliner 26]

I enjoyed reading your post. Having just started this visa journey, I can't comment on whether I agree or disagree. I will say this, though. So far, USCIS seems to be no different than any other branch of the government. Federal, State, County or City. Over my long lifetime as a born and raised American, I've danced, to one degree or another, with them all. Your paragraph headings apply to every one of them(the IRS is the absolute worse, count your blessings if you never tango with them). However, your last paragraph makes me believe this time will be "all worth it".

[Wendy71 26]

Thanks for sharing your blog it gave me a good laugh especially the stressful section. All the best with your future

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

Thanks for all the nice comments, glad you liked it

[Al422 221]

What about the secrecy? You all know what I am talking about. How decisions are made like it is the Star Chamber. First the rest of your life is decided upon by some nameless, faceless adjudicator. Criminals have more rights than we do. They at least get a judge, and he is there in person, where you can interact with him before he decides your fate.

Then there is Administrative Processing. Can't tell you when we will be done and can't even tell you who will be doing what. It is all secret. This process makes the Star Chamber look tame. Oh yeah, did I forget can't tell you what your crime is either. Sometimes your crime is having a name similar to that of some clown on the terrorist watch list. Imagine getting arrested and being told in an open court that you are in jail because you have a name similar to that of a know terrorist. Obama? Osama? If the courts did what the State Department did, the president would be in trouble. But of course criminals have rights. We on the other hand have fewer rights than a virus, all for the crime of falling in love with a person whose home address is behind a line on a map.

Got an approved interview? Think the terror is over? HA HA HA HA HA HA! My fiance got approved five days ago, thanks in no small part to her brilliant performace at the intervew. And now we are in the queue for visa issuance. When will we get it? Can't tell you. Maybe two weeks, maybe two months. Will some bureaucratic numbskull who needs to justify his job pick up the file and decide to make hay while the sun shines? Can't tell you.

While all this is happening, while US citizens who do the right thing and spend thousands of dollars to get their lady or man here and agonize for countless months for some nameless, faceless cureaucracy to elevate them from the status of virus to that of bug, millions of illegal aliens continue to pour across the border from Mexico. No papers, no fees, no medical exam, no interview, no waiting. And here they are. And unlike us viruses, these people, the ones who thumbed their noses at our immigration laws instead of dutifully following them, have rights. YOU CAN"T SEND THESE PEOPLE BACK! Yet if we fail AOS for the dumbest reason, USCIS has no problem whatsoever sending us back. Why are we the viruses and they the respected "immigrants". When did they immigrate? What POE did they pass through to get here? Why is our system so backwards? Why are they allowed to make a mockery of what we worked so hard to get, waited so long to get, spent so much money to get, and can lose at some bureaucrat's whim?

As long as the government continues to coddle those who sneak across the border in the middle of the night and abuse those who follow the law, nothing will ever change. We do need immigration reform, but not the one kicking around Washington. The immigraton reform we need is the one that treats US citizens as, well, US citizens, respects those who want to come here legally and obey our laws, and makes it clear to those who thumb their noses at our laws that doing that will not get them even one iota of consideration from the country they are sneaking into.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Al422

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

What about the secrecy? You all know what I am talking about. How decisions are made like it is the Star Chamber. First the rest of your life is decided upon by some nameless, faceless adjudicator. Criminals have more rights than we do. They at least get a judge, and he is there in person, where you can interact with him before he decides your fate.

Then there is Administrative Processing. Can't tell you when we will be done and can't even tell you who will be doing what. It is all secret. This process makes the Star Chamber look tame. Oh yeah, did I forget can't tell you what your crime is either. Sometimes your crime is having a name similar to that of some clown on the terrorist watch list. Imagine getting arrested and being told in an open court that you are in jail because you have a name similar to that of a know terrorist. Obama? Osama? If the courts did what the State Department did, the president would be in trouble. But of course criminals have rights. We on the other hand have fewer rights than a virus, all for the crime of falling in love with a person whose home address is behind a line on a map.

Got an approved interview? Think the terror is over? HA HA HA HA HA HA! My fiance got approved five days ago, thanks in no small part to her brilliant performace at the intervew. And now we are in the queue for visa issuance. When will we get it? Can't tell you. Maybe two weeks, maybe two months. Will some bureaucratic numbskull who needs to justify his job pick up the file and decide to make hay while the sun shines? Can't tell you.

While all this is happening, while US citizens who do the right thing and spend thousands of dollars to get their lady or man here and agonize for countless months for some nameless, faceless cureaucracy to elevate them from the status of virus to that of bug, millions of illegal aliens continue to pour across the border from Mexico. No papers, no fees, no medical exam, no interview, no waiting. And here they are. And unlike us viruses, these people, the ones who thumbed their noses at our immigration laws instead of dutifully following them, have rights. YOU CAN"T SEND THESE PEOPLE BACK! Yet if we fail AOS for the dumbest reason, USCIS has no problem whatsoever sending us back. Why are we the viruses and they the respected "immigrants". When did they immigrate? What POE did they pass through to get here? Why is our system so backwards? Why are they allowed to make a mockery of what we worked so hard to get, waited so long to get, spent so much money to get, and can lose at some bureaucrat's whim?

As long as the government continues to coddle those who sneak across the border in the middle of the night and abuse those who follow the law, nothing will ever change. We do need immigration reform, but not the one kicking around Washington. The immigraton reform we need is the one that treats US citizens as, well, US citizens, respects those who want to come here legally and obey our laws, and makes it clear to those who thumb their noses at our laws that doing that will not get them even one iota of consideration from the country they are sneaking into.

You've got some points.

But really - you've got no clue about the family immigration systems of other countries.

If you did, you'd be proud to bits of ours.

[Al422 221]

You've got some points.

But really - you've got no clue about the family immigration systems of other countries.

If you did, you'd be proud to bits of ours.

Maybe other countries have worse ones than we do. They also have worse criminal courts than we do. But that is no excuse for ours

American is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, so we have no excuse to have anything less than the greatest immigration system in the world. And ours leaves a lot to be desired.

Edited May 27, 2014 by Al422

[JohnR! 5,495]

I would add: It's not for everyone.

I wrote a slightly tongue in cheek blog article about what I've learnt about the visa process now that I've been approved and I was curious as to whether people agree/disagree with this so thought I'd share it.

It’s Expensive

The Visa process is not cheap, and that’s before you even factor in the costs of a long distance relationship. There are filing fees; $420 for the I130, $88 for Adjustment of Status, $230 for the IV phase and $165 for ELIS. Then there’s the other costs, £240 to prove your gentleman vegetable isn’t riddled with syphilis at the medical and £40 for the “Police Certificate”- a piece of paper that says you are not a criminal (unless of course you are). Fiancé Visas cost even more. I understand why these things cost money of course and it’s admirable that USCIS is largely user funded but I’m willing to bet if the system was more efficient then the costs wouldn’t need to be as high.

It’s Extremely Frustrating

You know the scene, you’re in the car and the right hand lane is closed for roadworks so everyone queues in the left hand lane. There’s always one (99% of the time an ####### in a BMW or Audi) who just has to drive in the closed lane until the end and push in front of the queue. That’s how the Visa process often feels. Someone who files three months after you gets approved before you or the USCIS ignores spousal visas while fast tracking the petitions of children of illegal immigrants. It’s immensely frustrating but the frustration is with the agency not with your fellow filers and it’s something that you have to get used to or the process will seem very long indeed. The best way to not get frustrated is to use the wait productively, whether preparing for the next stage of the Visa process or putting pressure on USCIS over its latest backlog.

It’s Bad News For Trees

Although some parts of the process are done online, there is an awful lot of paper being used for the Visa application. When you see the folder they open with your file inside at your interview you can’t help but notice how thick it is. There’s the initial I-130 submission which is a lot of paper and then copies and photocopies of original documents. Added to this, things have a habit of getting lost during the process so a lot of people print everything in duplicate or triplicate just in case. Hopefully in the future everything can be done online and people will have digital copies of everything they’ve filed rather than printouts.

It’s Stressful

The desire to be with your loved one is so strong that the Visa process turns normally rational people into nervous wrecks. I’ve seen people read about some of the medical issues they check for at the medical and convince themselves that they have it. Although some of the questions for the medical are silly, like “have you ever had leprosy?” Damn I was going to hide it but when my fingers came off when we shook hands it gave the game away! When it came to my interview date I must have checked that I had everything 50 times and I left so early that I got to the Embassy before 7AM. There’s also the fear of being denied at the interview and you convince yourself that your case has more red flags than the minefield between the two Korea’s when actually your relationship is genuine and you have huge amounts of proof. As soon as you have finished the interview it’s a huge anti-climax after such a long process.

It Was All Worth It

I had my interview earlier this week and in a month I’m emigrating to the US to live with my wife. It’s been a long, stressful and emotional 11 months but now we can be together it’s definitely worth it. Luckily we won’t have to go through this again, unless we ever decide to relocate to the UK!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

American is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, so we have no excuse to have anything less than the greatest immigration system in the world. And ours leaves a lot to be desired.

North Korea tells their citizens they are the greatest county in the world too.

[JohnR! 5,495]

North Korea tells their citizens they are the greatest county in the world too.

Not to mention Russia. Putin has turned it into the new Eldorado!

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I don't know why.. But there is a part of me that misses the whole process.

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

North Korea tells their citizens they are the greatest county in the world too.

Well when the great leader designed and created the internet himself and won every gold at the olympics how can they not be proud of their achievements?

[Al422 221]

North Korea is based on suppression of the media and they lie. It is so bad that prisoners in labor camps think the whole world lives just like they do. I am not making this up as I heard an interview with a North Korean who esacaped from one and said exactly that.

As for Russia, I was there. I was in Moscow, Ekaterinburg, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk. And I talked to a lot of the Russian people. Few were under any sort of delusion that their country is the greatest. They know living in Western Europe and the US is better. But they are not driven to necessarily live in the greatest country in the world. They are quite content with their country because it has what they value the most: Their culture. And the living there is a hell of a lot better than in third world hellholes like Somalia. It is just a different culture.

And BTW getting a tourist visa to Russia was easy as pie. Took me 5 days tops, and the only reason it did not take only 2 days was because I was not in enough of a hurry to pay for express mail.

[Al422 221]

The point of my post is that the secrecy is wrong. No amount of national security concerns can posiibly justify this 21st Century Star Chamber. Even the terrorists at Guantanamo get to face their accusers and state their cases.

Every US court, quasi court and administrative tribunal is open, at least to the people involved, if not to the public. Every one that is, except two: The State Department and USCIS. Funny how you should mention North Korea and Russia because these two agencies act like they have been trained by Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin. And they get away with it, right under our noses, in the greatest democracy in the world.

Why is that?

Edited May 28, 2014 by Al422

[JohnR! 5,495]

I don't know why.. But there is a part of me that misses the whole process.

That would be your masochistic part... (Just kidding...)