Posted on 05/30/2007 7:16:09 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
The price of becoming a U-S citizen is about to double and the fee for seeking legal permanent residency will triple.
Immigration officials announced Tuesday they will increase the fees to help with services, the hiring of more workers and improving offices, equipment and systems to process applications.
Starting July 30th, citizenship fees will rise from 330 to 595 dollars, plus 80 dollars for required electronic fingerprints, an increase of ten dollars. For legal permanent residency and fingerprints the cost will be one-thousand, ten dollars for those over 14. The cost now is 325 dollars.
Many immigration groups and some Democratic members of Congress have protested the fee increases, saying they will put citizenship and legal immigration out of reach of many immigrants. They also question whether better service will follow.
Greens fees tripling? That’s an outrage!!!!!!.....
One more slap in the face to those who seek to do things the legal way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/washington/30fees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
“This is a fundamentally flawed system of financing our immigration services,” Mr. Ramos said. “It places an unfair burden on folks who want to become citizens and participate in all the nation has to offer.”
Immigration lawyers predicted that the increases would in effect disenfranchise many legal immigrants who might otherwise vote in 2008.
“A large proportion of people eligible for citizenship are low-wage workers, and they will have to save their pennies to pay these fees,” said Crystal Williams, deputy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “The practical effect will be that they are going to miss the 2008 election.”
Thinking like a Republican. Love it!
“If we sell enough citizenships, we can balance the budget!”
Why is it always the people who follow the rules who are punished?
That'll ensure they come outta the shadows now, won't it?
Sure they will.....;^)
WTF?? What idiot came up with this damned idea? My wife might as well become an illegal with all the red tape and crap they are pulling now.
So meanwhile, when the bill is signed and those who broke the law have access to all the services (who don’t want to become citizens anyway), those who do things the long, costly, legal way will be punished.
What the hell is wrong with him? Who’s paying for this anyway... the taxpayers. And about the speech in Georgia at the border guard training center, can you imagine standing there after you signed up for this job and the man has a bill coming re: you will no longer guard, but help folks to fill out Z visa paperwork (hidden nugget). That’s a slap in the face. I’m not trying to hear our president’s nativist malaise BS on this issue... period.
I have too many friends pissed off and broke doing things right. Folks in the military fighting and having a hard time for years getting their wives here. Yet we have border guards in prison and a drug dealer brought over to testify and let go.
And i’m being nice.
More like how dare you ask them pay five thousand (which will never happen anyway, down the road); Well, if they can pay those labor and delivery hospital bills every year... oh, my bad... we pay for those.
I’m really hoping this is a psy-op to kill the bill... just like this one (which the libs will love):
Emergency detention plan: ‘This way to the camps!’
Directive from Bush allows president extraordinary powers in national crisis
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55925
Better yet, why bother with a green card when you can get all the government handouts for free without one.
Indeed - not mentioned are the surprise fees that keep coming up during the whole process (including the “we didn’t get around to processing your application on time, so you have to reapply and pay again” fee).
And the President says “Give us a chance”?!?!?
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