USA vs. Other countrie's immigration process?

[yankeelimer 1]

Ok to start I am a USA citizen only, and I investigating the USA immigration process by reading people's experiences and posts.

Is it just me or does the USA seem overly bureaucratic, and just plain intimidating? Hell the US embassy looks like a damn fortress, like a temple to paranoia. I mean really? Other embassies look like a house, even large wealthy countries.

There are a million forms, and if you make a mistake on one they will just reject you and its left to you to puzzle out what went wrong. Why exactly can they not streamline the forms like other countries? Why does there need to be a million different forms to file instead of one with all the info combined.

The agents seem purposely hostile to everyone, forget asking them questions.

My only experience with immigration is Trinidad and I think the thing that impressed me most was while the agents are not going to put up with bullshit, they are not looking to disqualify people on technicalities and will actually answer questions helpfully and assist you. I actually had an interviewing agent say "I'll need more than this, if I submit this as is they're just going to reject it and it will waste you money" From what I have read I am dreading US immigration and filing.

[san diego 407]

1) First, US is not Trinidad.. Barely anyone wants to immigrate to Trinidad while entire world, especially 3rd world wants to immigrate to US. US just simply cannot afford taking everyone on board.

2) Homeland security issue: we need to protect our country from terrorists and people that wish us bad. Nobody cares about Trinidad..

3) Immigration to US is not a right but a privilege. All the forms that I filled out make total sense. Even with all those forms still plenty of people immigrate to US fraudulently and end-up as a burden to the Welfare system. I recommend looking at multiple posts from Morocco for example.. Do you see common trend? Older middle-aged women.. Younger men from the culture that has only older men marrying younger women.. Does it tell you something? Do you really believe that 25 year old guy fell madly in love with 50 year old woman within 3 days and they immediately got married? It may be politically incorrect but there is nothing that can make me believe this BS.. This process does not only protect our borders but also protects our citizens from fraudulent intentions. I just do not see any other way.. Do you?

[san diego 407]

In addition, Trinidad is trying to attract tourists.. This is their only source of GDP. They are instructed to be nice and helpful

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

UK was easier for me than the US was for my wife. Despite the new stricter rules, I imagine the visa process itself will still be much faster than here.

[Gingerpants 8]

Hahah yes, US immigration is a lot more involved than many other countries. But like San Diego said, with the amount of people the US has wishing to obtain visas / greencards it is understandable.

The only other immigration process I am familiar with is Ireland's because in 2009 we went through the process of getting me a visa there. It was much cheaper, much faster, and I only had to fill out 1 or 2 forms. The only difficult part was figuring out what I was suppose to send to them for our packet since there weren't any clear guidelines. POE in Ireland is also much more lenient. In November when I went to visit my parents in the US and returned to Dublin the next week I was worried they might give me a hard time. (My visa needed to be renewed but since we were leaving soon I was just going to re-enter on the 90 day waiver). The guard started to act as though he might give me a hard time but as soon as I told him my fiance was Irish he brightened up and said "ah that's grand it is! why didn't you say so!" And he waived me through.

Oh and yes, the US embassy in Dublin also looks like a fortress!

[ryna 132]

Hahah yes, US immigration is a lot more involved than many other countries. But like San Diego said, with the amount of people the US has wishing to obtain visas / greencards it is understandable.

The only other immigration process I am familiar with is Ireland's because in 2009 we went through the process of getting me a visa there. It was much cheaper, much faster, and I only had to fill out 1 or 2 forms. The only difficult part was figuring out what I was suppose to send to them for our packet since there weren't any clear guidelines. POE in Ireland is also much more lenient. In November when I went to visit my parents in the US and returned to Dublin the next week I was worried they might give me a hard time. (My visa needed to be renewed but since we were leaving soon I was just going to re-enter on the 90 day waiver). The guard started to act as though he might give me a hard time but as soon as I told him my fiance was Irish he brightened up and said "ah that's grand it is! why didn't you say so!" And he waived me through.

Oh and yes, the US embassy in Dublin also looks like a fortress!

Entering the US scares me sometimes even as a USC. Colombia, on the other hand... 8x/1 year/No prob!

Although I did look into their equivalent of a spousal visa - only permission to stay there not subject to 180 day/year limit, but not to work - and it was 1 or 2 pages. I don't remember exactly but it was very short.

Edited June 16, 2011 by ryna

[Helen Louise Pile 80]

entire world, especially 3rd world wants to immigrate to US.

Uuuh...not quite

People have told me I am crazy to move to the US.(...just pointing out, while it may bean attractive option for many, for others it is not and certainly not the entire world!)

Having said that, of course a lot of people do want to move here, which is why the immigration procedure is the way it is.

I found the UK system to be far worse when my husband was there. You used to have to apply for permission from the government to marry, even if you did not want to stay in the UK. This used to cost 300GBP ($500),then it was free but you had to submit your passport at the time of filing and the processing time was 3months...now they've decided it's unlawful to make people do that. And when my husband applied for a 2 year extension on his visa he could not ask about the status of his application (even if they had received it) for 14 weeks. When we went for his biometrics there, the people were unfriendly and we met a family there from Iraq in tears because they had just been given a 52 page application form with no help or instructions.

I make the UK sound awful...but the UK is extremely bureaucratic. (also, a lot of people want to move there too I guess)

The US isn't so bad. Just some bureaucracy and money money money.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Helen Louise Pile

[yankeelimer 1]

I'll admit I can only speak to what I know, which is Trinidad. But the country is not dependent on tourism much at all, and even then they want tourists not residents. I didn't get any special treatment, but once they are satisfied you have a legit claim and a legit relationship they are not going to be so indifferent as to let a paper mistake derail everything.

Just as example and yes it was my fault for using the US style date system when filling out my forms my file was misfiled. Eventually an officer said no way did you get this far without a file after a junior officer just said it must be lost, he actually went and found it in their records. I felt so stupid afterward for mindlessly writing the date in US style, but was grateful he actually cared enough to help. From what I have read here I'd bet the US would have just said sorry and make the whole process start over.

One bad thing is inefficiency, you will spend years waiting for the gears to turn. The US seems much faster overall, but also very indifferent to people.

I'm not saying I want fraud and baseless claims let through, but if someone has a legit claim and has proven themselves legit in interviews its horrible to let a small mistake derail everything for them.

I'm disappointed my country treats people that way.

[Helen Louise Pile 80]

I'll admit I can only speak to what I know, which is Trinidad. But the country is not dependent on tourism much at all, and even then they want tourists not residents. I didn't get any special treatment, but once they are satisfied you have a legit claim and a legit relationship they are not going to be so indifferent as to let a paper mistake derail everything.

Just as example and yes it was my fault for using the US style date system when filling out my forms my file was misfiled. Eventually an officer said no way did you get this far without a file after a junior officer just said it must be lost, he actually went and found it in their records. I felt so stupid afterward for mindlessly writing the date in US style, but was grateful he actually cared enough to help. From what I have read here I'd bet the US would have just said sorry and make the whole process start over.

One bad thing is inefficiency, you will spend years waiting for the gears to turn. The US seems much faster overall, but also very indifferent to people.

I'm not saying I want fraud and baseless claims let through, but if someone has a legit claim and has proven themselves legit in interviews its horrible to let a small mistake derail everything for them.

I'm disappointed my country treats people that way.

Do you have an immigration story you'd like to share with us?

[simel1110 4]

From what I have read I am dreading US immigration and filing.

Well you mean what you read on discussion forums? Not everyone runs into major problems.

My experience which might not reflect other's experiences are this:

1. Interviews..piece of cake

2. Forms...not overly burdensome, just read and reread, do exactly as instructed

3. Customer service on the national line...I give them a C, I've not gotten good answers or information from them, but to be fair, that is with any level 1 CSR anywhere you call.

4. Time waiting...that can be a bit unnerving, but they're not going to hold your hand through the process, you can't expect that

5. Immigration Officers...extremely helpful and nice

6. Correcting errors that the USCIS made on accident...ugh, not fun.

It seems daunting at first. But it gets better. You learn how to file and what to do. Just be sure that your husband looks into his responsibilities as a resident once he gets his green card. There's a responsibility that comes with that.

[Casprd 167]

It all depends on what country you want to go to and what country you are coming from. I have looked in to getting a resident visa in China and in general it is next to impossible. Unless you have a lot of money or a thriving business that you are going to bring there, your chances are nil if you are from europe or the US. Since my wife is Chinese, I can get a two year, 180 day stay visa, and I can get this extended at the PSB without too much trouble, but I would always be a temporary resident with none of the rights that an LPR has here. The other thing to consider is there probably isn't nearly as much fraud that these other countries have to deal with while I have seen reports that up to 30% of the family based visa petitions (spouse and fiance) are fraudulant. Throw in the fact that more than half of the current illegal immigrants in the US originally entered on a valid visa and that the US is an open country, meaning once you arrive you can go anywhere you want without restriction (many countries require you to register with the local police within 24 hours) and some of the restrictive aspects of the process make more sense. None of this explains away the beauracracy and the nightmares resulting from that however.

[Andy and Pui 16]

Mistakes can happen when filling out the paperwork. We discovered one we made when we got the NOA2 and then we told the embassy about it and they requested a copy of Pui's picture and info page of her passport. The Bangkok embassy requests those pages of the passport with packet 3 so we would have had to send anyways.

[Max1gk 68]

Even with all those forms still plenty of people immigrate to US fraudulently and end-up as a burden to the Welfare system. I recommend looking at multiple posts from Morocco for example.. Do you see common trend? Older middle-aged women.. Younger men from the culture that has only older men marrying younger women.. Does it tell you something? Do you really believe that 25 year old guy fell madly in love with 50 year old woman within 3 days and they immediately got married? It may be politically incorrect but there is nothing that can make me believe this BS.. This process does not only protect our borders but also protects our citizens from fraudulent intentions. I just do not see any other way.. Do you?

I couldn't have said it better. . and nor only from there,but also from other few other countries that pop up very often in the threads with similar characteristics.

Yankee,

for one reason or another one the US has the pulse on the hearts and minds of almost every person that want to leave his/her own country,even if that country might be Canada,Australia,New Zealand or Germany. If I was a citizen of any of those place, I'd never ever expatriate neither for a Visa to planet paradise..but that's not my business I guess. Anyway being the number of people that for a reason or another want to immigrate in the US, I perfectly understand that the process is lengty and burocratic; They can't let everyone in...It's not so easy like 60 or 70 years ago when they still needed people to fill up the country. I have no problem with this strictness,It's the law of your land (and soon mine) and so be it; what pisses me off instead is that while people here have to go through a journey that squeezes them of their energies,time and money, there are legislators who wants to pass immigration reforms or give amensty to those that entered illegally..that's the only issue I have about immigration in the US. It's a paradox that needs to be solved.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Max1gk

[san diego 407]

there are legislators who wants to pass immigration reforms or give amensty to those that entered illegally..that's the only issue I have about immigration in the US. It's a paradox that needs to be solved.

ahhh... don't even start.. Cannot agree more.. I already wrote to my representative about it.. and Obama's office.. annoying.. got back stupid explanation that our country is the land of immigrants. I wanted to write back saying: how about LEGAL immigrants.. useless anyway

[Darnell 8,478]

I like the Australia Points System much.