having gone through the immigration process once to get my residency, i can tell you there is nothing simple or cheap about it. and the odds are stacked against you from the get go. even without a lawyer we spent over $4000 between 2004 – 2006 for filing fees, medical, notarised copies. vic and i are native english speakers and are fairly intelligent people and it would take us hours to decipher the instructions for most of the forms.
that said, we’re about to jump back into the fray, thanks to the generous contributions of friends, i’ve got the necessary funds to start my citizenship application. and with this multipage submission begins a new descent into the bureaucratic hell hole that is USCIS. more copies of our married and divorce decrees, tax returns, proof of address.
plus there are the biometric services, ie photographing and fingerprinting, bearing in mind that i’ve been photographed and fingerprinted by this same organisation on multiple occasions and it’s not covered by the $585 filing fee you’re required to submit with the forms.
why am i doing this again? so i can enjoy the same illusion that everyone else has – my vote can make a difference. wish me luck.
next january will be three years since i got my green card, time flies when you’re having fun. although i have my green card, i can’t vote.
after many years of writing in none of the above on various ballots in elections in trinidad, i find myself in a position that is truly frightening. i don’t even have the option to voice my dissent in a public forum. isn’t this how the boston tea party happened? the people were tired of paying unreasonable taxes without having a voice. some friends of mine just moved from DC back to Trinidad and i was meaning to ask them for their tags so i could put one on the front of my car. i think the thing that burns me is my inability to make a contribution to in any form about where my taxes dollars are spent.
i’m not about the handout. not to anyone, the bear sterns bailout pisses me off just as much as the people on welfare for years. i firmly believe there should be a cutoff point for welfare, what do you mean you can’t find a job. in the last three years there have never been less than four W-2s delivered at the end of january, in 05, i think we had an all-time high of seven and two 1099s and these were concurrent jobs. maybe that’s why there’s a problem in the labour market, we’ve got all the jobs. and the concept i’m paying to bailout a privately held billion dollar company makes my blood boil.
and i wonder how many people are in the same boat i’m in, i’d be curious to see actual numbers. what percentage of taxpayers are non-citizens? what percent of the tax burden is carried by these people, especially considering all the people in specialty industries on H1B visas?
in january, i’ll have had my permanent card for three years which makes me eligible to apply for citizenship. on the face of it, it’s another $600+ to the USCIS, plus whatever documentation they require and the indeterminate wait, a trip to Memphis for an interview and the quiz. it will give me the right to participate in government – local, state and federal and as i understand it i wouldn’t have to give up my Trinidadian citizenship however the downside of this is an issue with the tax system that that forces citizens to pay taxes when they live abroad. how is that fair or right to pay tax on income in the country of residence and the country of citizenship? basically you’re paying a premium to be a US citizen.
