New Obama Immigration Reform

[BenC 0]

I know President Obama is working to reform our immigration system.

Have anyone experience any different so far? Or heard of anything in regard to speeding up the immigration visa process?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Only thing I have seen, some illegal workers were picked up in the state of Washington, were being processed to be deported, DHS decided that something wasn't right, drove them down to USCIS and gave them all EAD's.

So they went back to work. Even though they are here illegally.

I suppose you could say that speeded up the process for those workers.

[daboyz 36]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[soniew910 0]

I know President Obama is working to reform our immigration system.

Have anyone experience any different so far? Or heard of anything in regard to speeding up the immigration visa process?

FALSE. The immigration system is maintaining its status quo. You just have to wait like the other legals.

[Mononoke28 135]

Only thing I have seen, some illegal workers were picked up in the state of Washington, were being processed to be deported, DHS decided that something wasn't right, drove them down to USCIS and gave them all EAD's.

So they went back to work. Even though they are here illegally.

I suppose you could say that speeded up the process for those workers.

Let's keep our answers related to the topic please.

The answer to the OP would be no. The Obama Administration hasn't done anything about and I doubt it will since there are so many other issues at the moment that are far more important that an immigration reform, such as the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, etc.

We'll see what happens.

Diana

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I know President Obama is working to reform our immigration system.

Have anyone experience any different so far? Or heard of anything in regard to speeding up the immigration visa process?

I expect few, if any, changes in marriage and family based immigration which is already "fast" compared to other types of immigration. He will do something to try to appease Hispanic voters, probably nothing that amounts to anything for anyone but makes a good show and gets some sound bites on TV. Change you can believe in.

[Ed+Cindy 1]

I know President Obama is working to reform our immigration system.

Have anyone experience any different so far? Or heard of anything in regard to speeding up the immigration visa process?

Only a very small percentage of a percentage of US voters deal with legal family based immigration, which means it is not a priority for any lawmaker

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Only thing I have seen, some illegal workers were picked up in the state of Washington, were being processed to be deported, DHS decided that something wasn't right, drove them down to USCIS and gave them all EAD's.

So they went back to work. Even though they are here illegally.

I suppose you could say that speeded up the process for those workers.

Let's keep our answers related to the topic please.

The answer to the OP would be no. The Obama Administration hasn't done anything about and I doubt it will since there are so many other issues at the moment that are far more important that an immigration reform, such as the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, etc.

We'll see what happens.

Diana

How does my answer not apply to the OP?

Head of DHS was appointed by Obama - and he didn't stop her from doing that, so it is in essence, a policy shift.

[Mononoke28 135]

Diana

[BenC 0]

The reason I am asking this is that a couple friends of mine have been hearing things from their immigration lawyers. These things are the immigration process will become faster because of the Obama Administration.

According to them, one of the primary goals for Obama is to reunited family. He was challenge with questions such as, "How would we reunite with family when the process to bring a sibling over takes over 5-10 years?" Therefore, the process time will be improved.

I wonder if anyone here can give us more info with regard to this.

Edited May 29, 2009 by BenC

[ThaitoUSA 15]

The words "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" are a euphemism for blanket amnesty and open border policy.

It's telling that Obama's aunt who is illegally living in the US has had her deportation trial pushed back until 2010. Some cynics prognosticate that policy shall be changed by then, so that she may stay.

[BenC 0]

If he can cut the NOA1 to NOA2's K1 process time in half, I will definitely vote for Obama again.

[girarm 0]

As screwed up as thing are in the Government I wouldn't expect anything positive to come out of any fix proposed or enacted by this or any adminstration. Please Mr. Government stop helping us because all the help is killing us...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'm going to do something I don't usually do on internet forums, and I'm going to pontificate on a political subject, because this particular subject has become important to me.

The best way to streamline the K visa immigration process is to eliminate the things that currently slow it down; the potential for fraud and security risks.

The potential for fraud can be eliminated by removing the motive for fraud, which is to use the K visa primarily for the purpose of immigration rather than marriage. Fraudsters like the K visa because there is no annual quota, so they can get to the US in a matter of months rather than years. The current system is based on perceived intent, and puts the onus on USCIS and DoS to determine if the intent of the petitioner and/or beneficiary are sincere. The amount of scrutiny each case receives causes a bottleneck, and slows everything down.

Ok, fine. Leave the K visa without an annual quota, and allow beneficiary's to come to the US as quickly as possible. However, make them wait as long as other family members would have to wait before getting permanent legal status in the US. The green card should be temporary for 10 years. If they divorce during that 10 years, they have to return to their home country. If they accuse their US citizen spouse of abuse during that 10 year period (this is a HUGE loophole in the current law), then they still have to return to their home country. However, in that event, the US citizen spouse is required to pay their travel expenses, and also required to pay them spousal support (alimony) until the 10 year period is ended. USCIS can use the IRS to enforce the payments.

These changes would eliminate the motive to marry a US citizen, and then promptly divorce them when they get their 10 year green card or US citizenship. It would also eliminate foreign spouses who falsely accuse their US citizen spouse of abuse just to skip the 2 year wait, and go straight to adjustment of status. No more shortcuts to permanent residency. A couple who are sincere would have no problem accepting these conditions, because they have every intention of staying together.

A couple would no longer have to provide proof of ongoing relationship, nor have such proof scrutinized by the consulate. They're signing a contract to stay together for 10 years or abandon their claim to permanent residency. That should establish their intent to have a long term relationship, and it should be accepted without question by the consulate.

Also, eliminate all of the ####### required to prove that the couple have physically met within two years. Have the US consulate or embassy in the beneficiary's country issue a certification at the US citizens services unit. The couple only needs to go to the embassy or consulate together and get the certificate - bingo, they have proof they've met.

For security, require the beneficiary's country of origin to provide a guarantee that the beneficiary is not a security threat. This would work like a credit system. Where there is a low incidence of immigrants from a particular country getting into any legal trouble in the US, the country of origin would have a high security credit rating, meaning their security guarantee would be given a high degree of credibility. The more immigrants from a particular country get in trouble in the US, the lower the security credit rating of that country goes, and the less credibility their guarantee is given. At some threshold, the guarantee becomes worthless, and lengthy security checks go into force. This system would give the benefit of the doubt to countries that rarely send security problems to the US.

A special exemption should be provided for foreign beneficiaries who've been convicted of political or other crimes that would NOT be considered crimes in the US. In these cases, the normal system of examining police reports would go into effect.

I think these changes would get the K visa process down to a couple of months for most people, since the documents would only need to be rubber stamped in many cases.

Feel free to rip these ideas to shreds!

[daboyz 36]

I'm going to do something I don't usually do on internet forums, and I'm going to pontificate on a political subject, because this particular subject has become important to me.

The best way to streamline the K visa immigration process is to eliminate the things that currently slow it down; the potential for fraud and security risks.

The potential for fraud can be eliminated by removing the motive for fraud, which is to use the K visa primarily for the purpose of immigration rather than marriage. Fraudsters like the K visa because there is no annual quota, so they can get to the US in a matter of months rather than years. The current system is based on perceived intent, and puts the onus on USCIS and DoS to determine if the intent of the petitioner and/or beneficiary are sincere. The amount of scrutiny each case receives causes a bottleneck, and slows everything down.

Ok, fine. Leave the K visa without an annual quota, and allow beneficiary's to come to the US as quickly as possible. However, make them wait as long as other family members would have to wait before getting permanent legal status in the US. The green card should be temporary for 10 years. If they divorce during that 10 years, they have to return to their home country. If they accuse their US citizen spouse of abuse during that 10 year period (this is a HUGE loophole in the current law), then they still have to return to their home country. However, in that event, the US citizen spouse is required to pay their travel expenses, and also required to pay them spousal support (alimony) until the 10 year period is ended. USCIS can use the IRS to enforce the payments.

These changes would eliminate the motive to marry a US citizen, and then promptly divorce them when they get their 10 year green card or US citizenship. It would also eliminate foreign spouses who falsely accuse their US citizen spouse of abuse just to skip the 2 year wait, and go straight to adjustment of status. No more shortcuts to permanent residency. A couple who are sincere would have no problem accepting these conditions, because they have every intention of staying together.

A couple would no longer have to provide proof of ongoing relationship, nor have such proof scrutinized by the consulate. They're signing a contract to stay together for 10 years or abandon their claim to permanent residency. That should establish their intent to have a long term relationship, and it should be accepted without question by the consulate.

Also, eliminate all of the ####### required to prove that the couple have physically met within two years. Have the US consulate or embassy in the beneficiary's country issue a certification at the US citizens services unit. The couple only needs to go to the embassy or consulate together and get the certificate - bingo, they have proof they've met.

For security, require the beneficiary's country of origin to provide a guarantee that the beneficiary is not a security threat. This would work like a credit system. Where there is a low incidence of immigrants from a particular country getting into any legal trouble in the US, the country of origin would have a high security credit rating, meaning their security guarantee would be given a high degree of credibility. The more immigrants from a particular country get in trouble in the US, the lower the security credit rating of that country goes, and the less credibility their guarantee is given. At some threshold, the guarantee becomes worthless, and lengthy security checks go into force. This system would give the benefit of the doubt to countries that rarely send security problems to the US.

A special exemption should be provided for foreign beneficiaries who've been convicted of political or other crimes that would NOT be considered crimes in the US. In these cases, the normal system of examining police reports would go into effect.

I think these changes would get the K visa process down to a couple of months for most people, since the documents would only need to be rubber stamped in many cases.

Feel free to rip these ideas to shreds!

Not going to rip it shreds. But I think the OP was hoping that Obama would speed up the process. This aint gonna happen. In the E.U. this process takes 30 days. In the U.S. it takes a year. Can you imagine if Obama went on TV and said we are going to speed up the immigration process? Most people would equate that to allowing illegal immigrants to stay here. This is such a hot button issue in the U.S. that it will never go anywhere. It will continue to be a lumbering process.

What cracks me up about this process is that this is a country of immigrants unless you are native American. It's a "who came first" mentality.

So for all you intending immigrants, get here as fast as you can, and then you too can say "I was here first" and I don't want any more immigrants here.

I'll say it again. Best case 50% of the people involved in the process can vote. There is 0 incentive for them to anything to help legal immigration. I suspect they will attempt something to resolve the illegal immigration issue, but for all of us doing it the right way... forget about it. Aint gonna happen. Dig in and expect it to take a year, if it is sooner, Bonus.