Feds Punish Business For Engaging In ‘Citizenship-Discrimination’

[wayneflorida 0]

http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/02/feds-punish-business-for-engaging-in-citizenship-discrimination/

from article:
A lawful permanent resident’s card expires, but their right to work is permanent, and in this case Culinaire was requiring employees to present a renewed permanent resident card to be verified as work-eligible. The Justice Department claimed this violated a provision in the INA that prohibits employers from requiring extra documentation from non-citizen employees.

If it is permanent why does it expire.

So the DOJ couldn't just say "Hey guys you are doing it wrong, expire doesn't really mean expire. This is how you do it right."

Nope, it is "here is your fine. You are lucky you are not in jail"

[GeorgiaDon 340]

It's a "carrot/stick" the government came up with some time ago to encourage people to move from permanent resident status to naturalized citizen. Once you are granted permanent residency, that is for life unless you are convicted of a felony, or voluntarily relinquish it. Previously, the physical "green card" that showed proof of permanent resident status was also good for life. Also, many permanent residents never applied for citizenship, although they were eligible after five years. After all, as a permanent resident you can live here, work, travel outside the country, etc; the only things you can't do is vote and serve on juries, and many people consider that a plus. One impediment that was noticed was that it cost a significant amount of money to apply for citizenship; why pay several hundred dollars for the privilege of serving on juries? The solution that the government came up with was to require permanent residents to renew their physical copy of the "green card", I believe every 10 years, and of course there is a fee for that in the same ball park as the fee to apply for citizenship. Now the choice is "do I pay several hundred dollars to renew my green card, and keep doing that every 10 years forever, or do I pay the same several hundred dollars to apply for citizenship and only have to do it once". Of course, put that way many people say "what the heck" and apply for citizenship.

If you are still confused about the difference between the permanent resident card and permanent resident status, think of it this way: do you lose your citizenship just because your passport expired?

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[cgriff 0]

Does this mean we get to have a new flame war regarding the DOJ now?

'We shouldn't worry about this, because there are good people in the DOJ too.'
"No, they're all child eating monsters."
'I knew a guy who worked for DOJ once and he didn't beat his wife'

[stayhigh 2]

It is not several hundred dollars to go from permanent alien to full citizenship status, it costs several thousand dollars; mainly for the lawyer fee. You can file it on your own and not pay the immigration lawyer, but many choose to hire a lawyer just like many choose to hire someone else to do the tax for them.

Filing for a citizenship is much more complicated than filing 1099 at the end of the year.

Also you have to study for the citizenship test, which includes speaking ability and the basic US history. Most applicants often think that they have to speak perfect english and know the entire US history. Which isn't true, but that kind of perception discourages people from trying in first place.

Do you think DMV's line is bad? go and try waiting in line at INS office.

However it is couple hundred bucks to renew the permanent alien card and it requires no test.

Which one do you think most green card holder will choose? Most of them wants to have US citizenship. US passport is like golden ticket so that people can travel anywhere in the world, and the government will bail your ass out if one gets in trouble. (most likely)

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[tkhayes 126]

http://www.uscis.gov/n-400

I don't know about several thousand dollars. According to the form itself, $595 plus biometrics, which still makes is about $700. I have no idea why anyone would need a lawyer to fill out a simple application for naturalization unless you fall into some funky category.

Mine cost $400 several year ago so obviously the price went up.

If you have had a permanent resident card for 10 years, then you pretty much qualify. Fill out the form and send it in with payment. Did mine myself with relative ease. There is nothing on the application that requires an attorney that I could see.

And they offer you and send you all the study materials for the history stuff, including a CD you could listen to int he car and practice the questions. Not only was it well laid out, it was fairly educational too.

They contact you to schedule an appointment, you do that - it took 2 hours out of my day given that almost everything now is done by appt and not just standing in line, and they scheduled the ceremony right there.

Getting permanent residency was by far, an order of magnitude more difficult. Citizenship was a piece of cake once I had 'done the time'

[kallend 1,625]

wayneflorida

If it is permanent why does it expire.

The card expires, the status does not.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[GeorgiaDon 340]

Quote

It is not several hundred dollars to go from permanent alien to full citizenship status, it costs several thousand dollars; mainly for the lawyer fee.

I can't think of a reason why someone would need a lawyer, unless you had complicated your situation by being arrested during your time as a permanent resident. The naturalization form is simple, I think even simpler than the 1099EZ. As tk said, the process for permanent residence is much more complicated.

My experience regarding the cost was more in line with tk as well, $400 is about what I paid. No doubt it has gone up since then. I am well acquainted with USIS lines, thank you very much. The fact that you refer to "INS", when the agency has not gone by that name in at least 15 years, indicates to me that you either have no personal experience with the system, or if you do your experience was much farther back in time than mine.

Nothing you wrote refutes any of my points about why the green card was changed to expire periodically when previously it was good for life.

Quote

US passport is like golden ticket so that people can travel anywhere in the world, and the government will bail your ass out if one gets in trouble.

Overall my Canadian passport will get me into more countries with less hassle than my US passport. Canadians are not targeted as political poker chips,as Americans are by some countries, so Canadians tend to be left in peace. When trouble does arise, the Canadian government is at least as successful as the American at intervening, and with less drama.

Don

_____________________________________
Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996)
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

[zoobrothertom 5]

tkhayes

http://www.uscis.gov/n-400

I don't know about several thousand dollars. According to the form itself, $595 plus biometrics, which still makes is about $700. I have no idea why anyone would need a lawyer to fill out a simple application for naturalization unless you fall into some funky category.

Mine cost $400 several year ago so obviously the price went up.

If you have had a permanent resident card for 10 years, then you pretty much qualify. Fill out the form and send it in with payment. Did mine myself with relative ease. There is nothing on the application that requires an attorney that I could see.

And they offer you and send you all the study materials for the history stuff, including a CD you could listen to int he car and practice the questions. Not only was it well laid out, it was fairly educational too.

They contact you to schedule an appointment, you do that - it took 2 hours out of my day given that almost everything now is done by appt and not just standing in line, and they scheduled the ceremony right there.

Getting permanent residency was by far, an order of magnitude more difficult. Citizenship was a piece of cake once I had 'done the time'

Hey, TK.

Your situation was different from, for example, my wife.
All of your required home country documents were probably already in English. The hassle starts when your required documents have to be translated to 'their' standards.

Even if you speak English as a native speaker, you're not allowed to translate your own documents. Now you have to pay a 'professional' translator who often does worse than I do. Our solution was to translate them ourselves and find a translator to approve and rubber stamp them.

Things like birth certificates are not universal. In S. Korea, for example, your birth certificate is your father registering your birth on a form that does not require your father to include your mothers name. You can bet that goes over well with immigration!

Because a registered attorney with INS officially certifies that the documents are correct to the best of his knowledge, it goes much faster. If there is a problem, the letter of requested clarification or correction goes to an English speaking registered attorney.

It sucks! Welcome to America if your spouse's language isn't English and you have money!

BTW, I have a law degree but do not practice law. I can fill out the forms quickly, but the delays remain the same unless you're registered as an attorney with immigration.

Cheers

____________________________________
I'm back in the USA!!