If previously one citizenship application cost $330, now its price is $595. The cost of a green card has soared from $325 to $930, and a work visa from $195 to $475. Getting fingerprints taken, which used to be free, now costs $80.
This radical pricing policy of the Federal Immigration Agency is aimed at improving the quality of work in regulating immigration, which is overwhelming the US. In the past nine months alone, 458 thousand applications for permanent residence in the US were approved. More than half a million applications are pending. By increasing service fees, the agency's finance department expects to add one billion dollars to the organization's budget (on top of the existing $1.25 billion). The resulting profit is planned to be used for the comprehensive computerization of 250 agency offices worldwide, as well as hiring 170 detectives and 830 information collectors. Currently, 15 thousand employees work in this agency.
Official data on illegal immigrants in the US differ significantly from information provided by public institutions: 12 million people (U.S. Census Bureau) vs. 21 million (ImmigrationCounters.com). Unofficial data is based on reports from public funds, money transfer service data, and survey results in schools where children of illegal immigrants study. The source of official figures is reports from detectives and informants of the immigration agency. 'Guests of America' become illegal in two ways: Mexicans and Caribbean islanders through a 'hole in the border', others through an expired visa.
One of the most common ways to obtain legal status in the US is marriage. On average, about half a million US citizens enter into marriage with foreigners each year. Nearly 5 thousand marriages are investigated for fraud. Arranging such a marriage of convenience costs between $6 thousand and $35 thousand.
For the 22-year-old lovers - Belarusian Andrei and Russian Elena - the attempt to settle in America through sham marriages with Americans ended sadly. Elena successfully married an American sailor, and Sergei unsuccessfully married an immigration agency detective who was on assignment from her department. The young people were deported – each to their own country.
The second legalization scheme is 'anchor babies', children born on US territory. According to ImmigrationCounters.com, since 2002, over 2 million children have been born to illegal immigrants.
34-year-old Mira and 36-year-old Luis are illegal immigrants from Mexico. The couple met in the US five years ago; in September they are expecting their first child. To support the family, Luis works several jobs - plumber in a restaurant and on a construction site, waiter, roofer. He earns $5-6 per hour, although the minimum wage in Florida is $6.67 per hour. The family lives in a rented mobile home. 'Of course, I don't like these living and working conditions,' says Luis. 'But in Mexico we have elderly parents who need help. Besides, childbirth and the baby's paperwork will require a lot of money. And on top of that, the prices for legalization have increased so much. I calculated that for the three of us it will cost about $10 thousand. Now I'll have to work three times as much.'
According to the Latin American Center, 6 million Mexicans live illegally in the United States. Since 2006, $36 million has been transferred from the US to Mexico alone. 'These are people for menial jobs,' says 48-year-old American Steven Mercer, an employee of a consulting firm. 'We hire them for road and house construction, for cleaning. They work in workshops and on landscaping. America needs workers; no American would work so hard for such wages.'
And Greg Robson, owner of a small private business, believes that 'illegals keep prices down, and if they are all deported, then Americans taking their place will demand higher wages, resulting in a price surge for most goods and services.'
The issue of 'illegality' is not yet facing the spouses Sergei and Nadezhda from St. Petersburg. The head of the family, a 55-year-old engineer-inventor, was invited to work in the computer business six years ago. During this time, he settled into the US, made friends and professional connections. Therefore, the family's decision to stay and live in America was quite logical. The couple is now waiting for a green card: '50-50' is the Ivanovs' chance of getting the green light for permanent residence. 'We spent $9.5 thousand on immigration and legal services and mandatory newspaper advertisements,' says Sergei. 'That is a lot of money for us, even considering that I earn more than many Russians here.'
Over 44 million legal immigrants live in the US, of which 3 million are Russian-speaking. As a rule, they work for fellow compatriots. The annual income of the average American is $35-65 thousand, while that of a person from post-Soviet countries is $25 to $40 thousand.
For low-income newcomers, the Federal Immigration Agency provides benefits - accepting documents for processing without payment. To obtain such a 'bonus', one must fill out a special package of documents with the applicant's full financial report, as well as a petition for waiver of immigration fees. The paperwork is thoroughly checked.
As we can see, despite the opinion of many experts that the US position as a global economic leader has significantly weakened over the past 20 years, the myth of the 'American Dream' still lives in the minds of millions of people who strive by any means to become citizens of this vast country.
Based on materials from the BBC.