Reality check

[Enigma11561 336]

There are several petitions both here and elsewhere regarding the speeding up of the immigration process.Although there may be a speed up in one type of visa to the detriment of another type of visa, not much is going to change. Here, in my opinion , is why.

There are countries around the world where foreign nationals may choose to immigrate.But not like here, in the "good ole US of A". I live in New York. They say if you stand on a street corner for 15-20 minutes you will hear many different languages. I tried that in a busy midtown avenue. In about 10 minutes I heard, stopped and asked : Spanish ( Spain, Phils, Mexico, etc..), French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Jamaican, Haitian, and some others. People want to come here. Legally or illegally.

So when you have tens and tens of thousands of different visas being applied for each year, how long should the process take?

Six months, two months, 5 days? You cannot simply hire more and more workers to process all this without incurring more expense and therefore higher visa fees. You can only streamline the info required so much or you defeat the purpose of ensuring legality. And you cannot just say, enough immigrants for awhile until we catch up.

What we CAN do:

1. Understand the system and how it works before even starting ( READ !!)

2. Be patient

3. Understand that the process takes time ( really know this )

4. Be patient

5. Give them the proper documentation so you do not slow YOURSELF down

6. then be patient

7. Understand some people will go faster than others

8. Some people will go slower than others

9. Some countries (consulates/embassies) are just going to be a pain in the butt

10.And for goodness sake...have some patience.

And..to complete my venting...to all those who absolutely, positively, just gotta be with your loved one NOW. NO. You don't. You will not die. You will not suffer any illness. Life and civilization will not end tomorrow ( unless maybe if you are Mayan) because your hormones are in over drive. You will survive. And be better for it. See numbers 2,4,6,and 10.

PS. After you are married for maybe 5-10 years, come back here and tell us how fast you want your wife to come back from shopping with the kids when you and the guys are drinking beer and watching the game on TV. Really.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Enigma11561

[apple21 953]

So true.

[Waiting234 18]

Actually, you have your economics completely wrong. The more visas to process, the cheaper the process becomes and the more money the government can make per application, unless there is a shortage of workers somewhere, but that only happens if the government puts a stop on hiring to fill the requirement. As long as each applicant covers the cost of the average visa application, then the government does not need to spend more money doing anything. Unfortunately, our government prefers idealism to economics and would prefer to lose money per application to keep costs artificially lower than they really are, and stop hiring employees, which increases the cost and processing time on a per-application basis.

You are right, however, about the artificial need which arises from the passion you feel while apart from your immediate spouse. It is funny how that will change AFTER they are here. Haha

In summation, there IS a solution to the immigration problem. It could also decrease our unemployment rate... imagine that.

Bottom line, sign the petitions! Knowing our federal government, they might make it cost more, but it doesn't have to.

Another thing. The government DOES say, "enough immigrants for now, time to catch up" on many different types of visas. Usually the ones with yearly limits on the number of acceptances, like the permanent resident spousal visas. Those take years to get (3-5) because they only allow a certain amount per year.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Waiting234

[Waiting234 18]

The length of time to wait is also not a deterent to illegal immigration like some might believe. It would actually be better to have more people file (and pay the fees) and have a higher rejection rate. Then, at least we know that our system is working and that illegal immigrants don't get accidentally accepted because an immigration officer is overworked.

[Moomin 292]

We just have to eliminate words such as "easy", "fast", "loopholes" from the USCIS vocabulary. Those words simply don't exist when speaking about anything regarding USCIS or immigration. Problem solved.

I completely understand why there's no patience whatsoever. After having been in the US for a while, I figure that's the approach to almost everything. It's gotta be fast and no patience to wait. To be honest, it starts there. Paying for something doesn't make it go faster.

People are driving around for 5 minutes to find a parking place that's two minutes closer to the entrance of a shop. win/win? No, the opposite - they just lost 2 minutes driving around instead of just parking right there and spending a minute extra walking. Same goes for being impatient with all this waiting. Sure it's hard but how about getting something out of it? Again - after being in the states for a while I begin to appreciate more and more the last months spent living in Denmark. I wouldn't want to go through it again. But f I had to, I wouldn't wish for a faster processing. So many other things to do than watching a kettle boil. While both my husband and I were more than ready to start our lives together, we weren't dying(if we were, we'd have the petition expedited).

[travelfairy 22]

As painful as it is, and as difficult the forms are, people bitchin' and moanin' should try the immigration process in France. Makes the US seem like a weekend at the beach.

Patience is good. Understanding that the wheels turn slowly is good. Every country has bureacracy, and I'd rather deal with the in depth paperwork, and waiting, than have corruption and under the desk payments to every person who touches the file.