Do someting, like other minorities do

Long immigration delays and solutions


Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

Do someting, like other minorities do
by James S Irani
23-Jan-2008
 

It does not matter where you live, what administration or government is in charge or what promises are made by politicians. In every government system in the world, the now-fully accepted terminology of ìbureaucracyî constitutes a routine part of that system.

We, Iranians, complain about unnecessary bureaucracy in Iran and we, Iranian-Americans, complain about the same beau racy in the United States. The point to make about the U.S. bureaucracy is the recent backlog and immense delays in the processing of immigration petitions with an increased fee and official promises to expedite them and remove the backlogs.

But, as you know it from your personal experience and I know it from my nationwide immigration practice, there has not been a slight and better change yet. A deluge of immigration applications in the months preceding a filing fee increase last year should have been foreseen, lawmakers told Bush administration officials recently.

Previous increases in immigration application fees have been preceded by spikes in applications, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Application increases have also been seen in years before elections because people want to vote, she said.

Some 1.4 million people applied for naturalization in the 2007 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The USCIS approximately receives between 300,000 to 400,000 applications on monthly basis for several benefits.

More than half of the naturalization applications were submitted in the summer months, just before Citizenship and Immigration Services, a Homeland Security Department agency, and significantly increased applications fees to $675.00. The flood of applications means people who applied after June 1, 2007 to become citizens won't naturalize in time to vote in the November' 2008 elections.

"This should not have been a surprise. It was totally predictable," Lofgren said after presiding over a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the applications backlog.

Emilio Gonzalez, Citizenship and Immigration Services director, said his agency did anticipate an increase in applications and the increase was manageable. "What we did not anticipate, and I'll be honest with you, is a 350 percent increase in one month," Gonzalez told the subcommittee.

Members of immigration groups said they warned Citizenship and Immigration Services as early as November 2006, about likely application increases. The groups raised the issue because they were launching a national campaign to help eligible immigrants in the U.S. become citizens and eventually register to vote.

With the fee increases announced, with the kind of debate this nation was having on the role of immigrants, and the thirst of applicants to become naturalized citizens, this surge in applications should have seen by the bureaucracy and people who run it. It seems that the agency was expecting increases to be confined to California.

Gonzalez said the agency will soon conduct six classes of 48 students each to train workers to deal with the increased workload. Also, the agency is hiring an additional 1,500 workers, about half of whom will be trained to adjudicate files. The agency has asked the White House for permission to transfer money between accounts to address the backlog, Lofgren said. But the agency faces the challenge of a backlog of FBI name checks that slow down application processing. What is the solution?

Whether to grant benefits to the applicants before their names are cleared or wait long delays and then grant the benefits. There is no easy answer to this question. Expensive litigations in Federal Courts have proven costly but necessarily productive.

However, We, Iranian-Americans, have to pressure our officially elected representatives and pursue the matter with them. We should not stand by and watch what other minorities do. The stand-by train has long left the station and we must proactively get engaged in pursuit of justice, liberty and happiness.

James S. Irani, Attorney at Law, The Voice of Iranian-Americans, 1170 Broadway, Suite 510, New York, New York 10001, Tel: (212) 683-7700.


Balatarin
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
default

Naturalization Security Delays

by Another Lawyer (not verified) on Fri Jan 25, 2008 06:37 AM PST

I disagree with the comment about checking with USCIS and congressmen regarding security delays. While one must make some inquiries in order to create a record, as a federal judge recently put it in one of my cases, those steps constitute an "excercise in futility". I have yet to see them achieve any results. My experience has been that in Naturalization cases where there is a 120 day limit to issu a decision on the application after the interview, litigation is the only way to move the case forward. It works, and I always advise my clients not to waste any time when security checks take too long, and file suit.


  •  
default

Go back to Iran, cry baby!!!

by Anonymous 8 (not verified) on Thu Jan 24, 2008 03:08 PM PST

Go back to Iran, cry baby!!!


  •  
Niki Tehranchi

I may regret this...

by Niki Tehranchi on Thu Jan 24, 2008 01:11 PM PST

but in answer to your question about rights of U.S. lawful permanent residents versus U.S. Citizens, the main differences as I see it is that:

 

1) You have the right to vote as a citizen whereas you don't as an LPR no matter how many years you live here

 

2) LPRs are pretty easily subject to removal for any number of criminal or non criminal offenses. For example, staying out of US for too long can be good enough for ICE to put you in removal (deportation) proceedings.  I can't count the number of clients who thought by having their "Green Card" they can come and go as they please, sometimes returning from 6 months, 1 year, 5 years (in one case 24 years!!!) abroad and then come to the shocking realization at the airport that they are taking their "Green Card" away.  On the other hand, there are extremely rare cases where naturalization is revoked. 

 

If you intend to make your permanent home in the US or any other country, I think there are great benefits to obtaining citrizenship.


  •  
default

Easy...

by alfa romeo male (not verified) on Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:09 PM PST

once you have applied for citizenship, you can get a ticket/number to go to a seperate waiting room at your local USCIS. You want to go early, since some district offices only have a limited number of Naturalization slots. Once you are called, you simply say "I have passed the exams, but am waiting for my Oath appointment letter." There is a good chance that they will give an appointment for your oath, in person. You need to repeat this at least once a month until they finally give you that slip.


  •  
default

REPLY : NATIONALIZATION; NATURALIZATION.....

by Faribors Maleknasri M.D. (not verified) on Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:54 AM PST

just out of a kind of academical interesst i wish to ask which more rights does a nturalized foreigner has ? I mean comparing with some body who has permanent residency? I assume a person with permanent residency and his primarily citizenship has the rights of both countries. I know for sure that in the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC of IRAN poeple with twice passports do not have much chances to get the best jobs in thier daily life. I think the same happens to these individuals also in the other country. many Iranians with two passports, the second from another country are supposded to do jobs for this second one. In the most extrem case: Spying. There are allready some examples. anyhiow I would be happy if I could get near Infos about the situation in the United States and else where. A commentatore complaines about lack of helpfull other Iranians who have got allready thier Green card ( Is that permanent residency allowance?) and thier citizenship and are not willing to explain how the things function actually. I should say that the general atmosphere is so that one can say: The worst enemy of Asylants and foreigner in USA and in EU are this asylants and foreigners. The Officials of the country arrange the thing such as in concentration camps. In those camps used the germans burn the Jews and Political opponents as far they were not good enough for the first line in the war. In those camps were the internees all against each other. Each one hopped to get free if he works for the controll personal and against his fellow-internee. So the foreigner do not help each other. Greeting


  •  
default

I applied for my dream

by mazi (not verified) on Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:05 AM PST

I applied for my dream citizenship 3 years ago, pass the tests, etc.. waiting for Uncle FBI to check my name... When .. I don't know.

I think 3-4 years waiting is usuall. What you think?

Mazi


  •  
default

Response

by James S. Irani, Attorney at Law (not verified) on Thu Jan 24, 2008 06:48 AM PST

Dear Friend:

I thank you for your comment on the article. Depending on which state you reside and when you took your test, repeated inquiries must be made with USCIS. COntact with reps and senators is a positive step to push the service and FBI to expedite the case. Litigation is also an option which must be carefully evaluated and considered. Recent court decisions do not always support litigation specially it is associated with high cost of stepping into District Court to prosecute a claim.


  •  
default

lucky

by Almost Citizen (not verified) on Wed Jan 23, 2008 07:55 PM PST

Well you are very lucky...
I applied for my citizenship, past the test and interview but still waiting for my FBI clearnace for the last two years.
I did not do much too so I am not sure what is the hang up. I wish I could vote this year and I wish somebody would explain the hang up. I will take the author suggestion and call my representative....
I am not sure if he accepts my case, I have heard of couple of lawyer getting 2000 dollars and sue on yoour behalf. I am not sure about that too,...In any case I would love to become a citizen so I feel I am part of US not just a permanant visitor....


  •  
default

"Not my problem attitude"!

by Wake up call! (not verified) on Wed Jan 23, 2008 06:09 PM PST

As long as we have lots of selfish Iranian-American who feel no urge to do anything unless their own luck runs out we will remain the least representd minority in this country. NIAC is the only organization I know of that from time to time addresses ssues of our community.

Folks wake up!!!


  •  
default

My Naturalization Case

by Anonymous this time (not verified) on Wed Jan 23, 2008 01:38 PM PST

I got my resident card some 20 years ago. A few years later it was taken from me and I was practically deported and had a lot of trouble coming back to my family. In the past when I was a student I had had bad credit, been arrested, been to court, jail (short time), traffic violations, you name it (I am not a criminal type I swear). I also post all kinds of political opinion on my web page and googling my name may not give FBI-approved results. Yet I applied for citizenship a year ago and it took 8 months for the whole process.

I think, unlike 99 percent of the time, I was lucky this time.


  •