You guys assume that I know what you know. Clearly I don't. I'm glad that you're filling me in.
Always happy to help!
Seriously, I have two pieces of information/experience to share. The first is brief; the second, I'm afraid, is not; sorry.
Item 1: I was chatting with an ESL teacher at the party tonight. A new student joined us, who was feeling very negative about his progress. This is what she told him:
It takes three years of study to be considered fluent in English at a day-to-day "street" level. It takes [i]five[i] years to become fluent enough to pursue academic studies in English.
Item 2: In 1999 and 2000 I had the opportunity to walk through the immigration process in preparation for a wedding. Let me tell you a little bit about that experience.
Taking a quick look at the ICE site, the forms I remember dealing with were
- Biographical information form (free) – 1 for him 1 for her, photos for each, multiple copies
- Petition for alien fiance (currently $450 or free, depending on circumstances)
- Application to change non-immigrant status (don't ask) (currently $300)
(This is a 4-page form with 9 pages of instructions) - Proof of citizenship (for me)
- Police background check
- Medical exam results
- Request for interview at the Embassy in his country
- Two forms relating to support: One to prove that I made enough money to support him if necessary for a full year (along with several years of tax info), and a second in which I agreed to provide that support if necessary.
In addition to the fees shown above (I seem to recall one form with a fee of over $500, but I could be wrong), the copying costs, registered mail costs, phone costs, and the medical exam, there were also
- One trip (overnight, with train fare, 500 miles) to the Embassy in his country
- Two car trips to consulates in this country (roughly 400 miles)
- Special INS-approved photos (50 mile round trip to qualified photographer)
- Hours of internet research
Remember that four-page form with 9 pages of instructions? The instructions are written in the same language and style as IRS instructions. Good high-school level English is required just to get started. Forms and instructions are available on the web in Spanish, but that's only for research – all the forms must be printed, filled out, and returned in English, whether you speak it or not.
I have a college education, English is my native language, I had internet access, and we had some financial resources. Without any one of those, we probably would have had to hire a lawyer, and the costs would have skyrocketed until they became a serious burden, if not a barrier.
Please remember the following:
- This was a fiance visa. Entering the US for employment is, from what I can tell,
more difficult.
- None of these forms or fees were applicable for green card/permanent residency status.
- This was before “9/11.”
As a result of this experience I fully believe that if you do not have a good education, good language skills, and a healthy chunk of change, your chance of making it through the immigration process are slim to none.
When someone says "why don't they just do it legally," this is what comes to mind: very likely, they can't. They don't have the money and the skills, and as long as they stay where they are, they're unlikely ever to get them.
For those who have been through the immigration process, I apologize for any details I missed; this was 7 years ago. But I thought that those who have NOT been through it might be interested in hearing what it's like.
