Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security

Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by firebird84 on Monday May 02, 2016 @11:25AM (#11612167)

That sounds about right. I married a foreigner - costs $1500 and about 6 months to process the paperwork that lets her stay. I got sticker shock when I first learned that. I've never before seen government fees that high.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by gnopgnip on Monday May 02, 2016 @02:00PM (#11613821)

Many of the services USCIS runs are dependent on the local American Consulate. It is relatively cheap when you compare it to what a lawyer would charge for similar services. Most of the support staff could be better paid working in the private sector.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by kogepathic on Monday May 02, 2016 @01:22PM (#11613440)

> costs $1500 and about 6 months to process the paperwork that lets her stay

Really not cool. Probably justify it by saying it takes a lot of time to process paperwork (that they created the requirement for in the first place...)

Did you know that it also now costs $2350 for someone to renounce their US citizenship?

It also takes an undefined amount of time (typically 12+ months) and they publish your name online on a State Department shame list of ex-Americans.

A decade ago, it was free to renounce your US citizenship. Around 2009 they started charging $450, and then suddenly raised the fee to $2350 in 2014.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by serge2k on Monday May 02, 2016 @02:26PM (#11614056)

Because people were renouncing to avoid the IRS, since US tax laws are completely screwed up.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by Scoundreller on Monday May 02, 2016 @07:19PM (#11616578)

Painful for those not trying to avoid taxes. A drop in the bucket for those trying to avoid taxes...

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by nitrogen on Monday May 02, 2016 @02:19PM (#11613988)

Regarding your last paragraph, maybe something else is in the pipeline that depends on it being difficult to renounce citizenship?

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by CrazyCatDog on Monday May 02, 2016 @02:33PM (#11614133)

Revoking citizenship is a costly exercise. It was previously subsidized by all tax-payers, now it isn't.

Not that it matters to the price/cost of doing it, but what do you think are the most common reasons for forfeiting US citizenship? I suspect it's tax-evasion.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by the_mitsuhiko on Monday May 02, 2016 @03:28PM (#11614701)

> what do you think are the most common reasons for forfeiting US citizenship? I suspect it's tax-evasion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by themartorana on Monday May 02, 2016 @11:42PM (#11617737)

Despite their lack of personal or business ties to the United States, accidental Americans have the same U.S. tax filing and payment obligations...

There's a business model! Claim someone is a citizen, boom they owe taxes!

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by 2a0c40 on Monday May 02, 2016 @03:02PM (#11614435)

Please read this: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2011/12/14/about-the-isaac-brock...

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by themartorana on Monday May 02, 2016 @11:48PM (#11617764)

That's fucked up.

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Re:Catching a Flight? Budget Hours, Not Minutes, for Security by emodendroket on Monday May 02, 2016 @12:31PM (#11612903)

The wait times are way up now.

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