Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Go forth and multiply
This morning I got an email from my client who just got his citizenship last Friday. He and his wife worked very hard with a teacher to learn to read and write in English. This was partly so they could apply for citizenship, but mostly so they could be full participants in our “culture”. Both of them faced the daunting citizenship interview. It’s challenging because the candidate must study all 100 civics questions in order to answer at least six correctly. They do not know ahead of time which 10 of the 100 items will be asked. That is a lot of information to keep in mind while being interviewed by a US Immigration official.
They have five children. Now that they are citizens, they want me to apply for citizenship certificates for each child because their children are also now citizens. I’ve explained that the best way to prove citizenship is to get a US passport for themselves and for each child. In our government’s view, a passport is a bonafide identification document. I hope they will take my advice and go through the process. However, for he and his wife, having their citizenship validated on an official government document is the big prize. And, they want that for their children as well.
Getting these certificates is incredibly expensive and often takes over a year to achieve. Fortunately there is a “fee waiver” option for people of limited finances – otherwise each child’s application would cost them $1,070. That is a lot of money for a piece of paper. My clients live on a small income that has to cover the needs of 7 people. The fee waiver, for which they will qualify, will ensure that the certificates will be available for their kids. The kids could care less, but their parents want that extra security.
So this means five more cases for me to work on. This immigration benefit is not too complicated, but each application involves a lot of paper. We’re dealing with the government after all.
After his citizenship ceremony was over, as he waited in line to register to vote, I asked him if he had family in Iraq. I asked because now that he is a citizen he can petition for certain family members to come to the United States and become Lawful Permanent Residents. He and his wife were astonished at this revelation. Their mothers live in Iraq and they both teared up as they asked if they could petition for them. Indeed they can.
Because they are US Citizens, they can petition for visas for their moms without waiting years for a visa to become available. Parents are considered “Immediate Relatives” and are eligible for visas much sooner than other relatives, like siblings. I would say immediately, but that’s not the case. Even being US Citizens, they will likely wait at least a year for their moms to be approved by Immigration, followed by a complicated, lengthy, and expensive process that takes place through the Department of State. It involves being interviewed at the Consulate in their country. The problem there is that the offices in Iraq are closed, and their mothers will have to travel to Turkey for their interviews.
There is nothing simple within the world of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS is who we immigration people deal with. It is practically impossible for me to pick up the phone, call USCIS customer service, and speak to a live person. The robot lady who answers the calls is easily annoyed and if she doesn’t like me repeating that I want to talk to a representative she will arbitrarily hang up on me. If I do manage to convince her that I really need a live person it is not unusual to be on hold for 40+ minutes.
Now I have the prospect of 7 new cases. That’s how it works, according to my boss. She says once we complete a case we become the person’s immigration specialist for life. It’s really quite an honor.