Going through the US Immigration Process is a long and tough process, especially, if it is for Green Card. Not only is it difficult to wait that long, but it is also very expensive. You need to fill the I-485 form to apply for your Green Card, which includes an application fee payable to the Department of Homeland Security.
If you have hired an immigration attorney, which you should, ideally, you need to pay the fees for consultation followed by filing. Once you’re through this, there is the immigration medical exam waiting right around the corner. You will need to pay fees to the USCIS civil surgeon for conducting the medical and signing the I-693 form once the exam is completed. You will need to submit this form in a sealed envelope to USCIS with your I-485 form.
Pay the fee online as instructed on the website of USCIS. The fees for filing I-485 with the USCIS $985 per person along with $85 per person biometric fee. For those younger than 14 years of age or older than 79, this fee is waived.
Immigration attorneys usually charge the initial consultation; they charge a fee later on once the USCIS approves your application. The total fee can range from anywhere between $6000 to $15000 depending on your situation and attorney.
The civil surgeon will charge anywhere between $200 and $1000 depending on where you live for conducting the immigration medical exam. Medical Insurance does not cover the cost of the exam.
The medical examination can easily take 4-6 hours of your time so you may need to skip a day at work. This can easily cost you $150 for the skipped day. There is a follow up to check the result of some tests and certain vaccines require follow-up dose. So, you may need to skip a few hours again easily costing you $75.
The total conveyance charges will cost you $500 approx. which again depends on the geographical area. The total expenditure can easily range between $8000 and $18000.
In order to save money, you should hire an immigration lawyer near you to save up on the conveyance and time. Likewise, you must find USCIS approved civil surgeon near you. You can do this on easyIME.com for free. You can also compare their charges and schedule an appointment with them for your desired date and time. All it takes is a click. You can do all this for free!
US President Barack Obama said recently that his government is willing to split the immigration bill into various parts, if it will help getting the bill passed. But he also said that the final package should be created keeping certain vital elements in mind, one of which include the process to citizenship . This has drawn a lot of opposition from the Republicans.
If one may recall, the sweeping bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate with bipartisan support in the month of June. The bill has not been passed and is still in limbo due to an array of differences between Republicans and Democrats in approving it. Thought the Democratic-led Senate passed the Bill the Republican-run House has not taken action on the issue. President Obama, who has already offered the piecemeal approach before, said that a final immigration package should include border security with stronger features, punishment for businesses that consciously hire undocumented workers, apart from the modernization of the immigration system.
But one is yet to find out as to what the pieces of an incremental immigration plan might look like. Critics have voiced their strong disavowal to the Bill- they wonder how he could possibly justify a plan that will double the flow of immigrants into the country, especially at a time when millions of Americans are outside the labor force. The Republican side says that it wants to take a step-by-step approach to the whole issue. Many people have opposed the bill in its entirety, stating that it comes at a time of unemployment and high wages.
Immigrants implored the President to use his executive order to stop the deportation of the 11.5 undocumented immigrants, a threat that is beginning to loom large over the immigrant populace in the United States of America.
The President is ready to accept a piecemeal approach to passing immigration reform if the GOP is ready to let all pieces of the bill pass through. In an interview with Wall Street Journal Business Leaders forum, he made it clear that he preferred the Senate version of the bill; however, he is ready to support the piecemeal approach advocated by the Republican Leaders in the house.
Obama made it clear that as long as the core values are delivered, he doesn’t care if the Republicans chop the bill into pieces. However, he asserted that he didn’t want the easy parts such as agricultural jobs pass while leaving behind other tougher issues.
The Executives at Wall Street Journal CEO Council considered immigration reform their top priority believing it would provide an instant impetus to the US economy. Obama believes the Congress would pass the bill by the end of the year.
Shortly after the President finished the address, Rep. Paul Ryan said the bill would not get done this year as there wasn’t enough time to debate upon it. He further added that it was irresponsible to rush into the bill just because it is the end of the calendar year.
Ryan gave a ray of hope to Democrats when he said that some GOP House members supported the pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented. However, he said the House wanted to intentionally make the pathway to citizenship tougher and longer to encourage future immigrants to immigrate legally. The Senate Bill provides a 13 year pathway to citizenship.
The House GOP is reluctant to take up the piecemeal approach as of now as they feel that the piecemeal approach would lose out to the Senate Bill in the House-Senate conference committee to resolve bill disagreements.
easyIME.com is a free service, which streamlines the immigration medical process for green card aspirants by helping them locate the right USCIS Civil Surgeon and schedule their green card medical exam online. Green card aspirants can also find immigration lawyers near their zip code through this service.
According to Michelangelo Landgrave of policymic, although, the immigration reform is dead, there is still a solution to the problem of legalizing the undocumented. The solution includes the expansion of North American Trade Agreement to include the labor market. If this system is implemented, citizens of any nation involved in the trade agreement would get to travel freely, work and live in the US.
Under the NAFTA provisions, individuals who are registered workers can also become naturalized US citizens. This way immigrants a fiscal cost to the US welfare system would also not arise. Such individuals would also need to pay their own private health insurance. It would also prevent mass immigration to the US.
Immigrants in the US are mostly from Latin American countries including Mexico. Since, these individuals would retain their home citizenship the pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented would not arise. Seasonal farm workers would be able to travel easily back to their home country after the season ends. This way the agricultural labor shortage too would be addressed. Similar would be the case for other workers. Employers too would have access to more labor.
There are similar agreements elsewhere in the world such as the Schengen Area covering Europe, the common travel area in the UK and Ireland and many Central American countries. There would be major adjustments needed in this plan; however, such examples prove this can work if implemented well.
