US Immigration - yet another fiasco

[devilchicken]

I got my Green Card today. Great news you might think...

Sadly my happiness about not having to deal with 'those bureaucratic pricks at US immigration' for the next 2 years was short lived, when I discovered they'd spelt my (christian) name wrong on the card.

I had already faxed them 3 weeks ago to correct the error, after I received my receipt notice, only they didn't fix it.

So now... I face the prospect of paying up to $300 for the privilege of a new 'correct' Legal Permanent Resident Card. This apparently is the official policy - regardless of the fact that some numbnuts typo'd my christian name, the official policy is that I HAVE TO PAY TO FIX THE MISTAKE THAT THEY MADE!! This means another trip to the 'biometric' centre to have my fingerprints taken AGAIN, so I can effectively write off a whole day for that, not to mention most of the fortnights wages....

Not only that - but if the same bureaucratic numbnuts fouls up my details again - I will, yet again have to pay for it!

Bureaucratic incompetance knows no bounds...

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Woo, that sucks dude. Appalling that you have to pay even one red cent for their error.

[devilchicken]

What is the 'Federal Register'? Am I right in thinking it is the posting place for all proposed govt agency and judicial legislation, that the public can comment on before it formally becomes the 'law of the land'?

A guy on another forum put me onto it. The USCIS (US Immigration) put in a request for emergency approval of a waiver so that they don't have to follow a certain part of the US Reduction of Paperwork act. Essentially its to charge a $70 blanket fee for biometric data collection for anyone filing a 'Replacement of Legal Permanent Resident Card' form.

The comment period for this pending legislation is still open until July 11th, so being as pissed off as I am I'm going to send letters to the regulatory authority as well as my state senate and congress representatives.

None of this is going to change the fact that I have to pay yet again for biometric data collection, submit (yet again) for photographs and fingerprinting (surely a pointless duplication of work for US Immigration). Hopefully something positive can come out of this - I figure nothing ever got changed by keeping quiet.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

What is the 'Federal Register'? Am I right in thinking it is the posting place for all proposed govt agency and judicial legislation, that the public can comment on before it formally becomes the 'law of the land'?

Yeah, the Federal Register is basically where all notices, proposals and rules are published. I'm not sure about the public commenting on it contents.
More here.

Essentially its to charge a $70 blanket fee for biometric data collection for anyone filing a 'Replacement of Legal Permanent Resident Card' form.

8O

The comment period for this pending legislation is still open until July 11th, so being as pissed off as I am I'm going to send letters to the regulatory authority as well as my state senate and congress representatives.

Way to go! Get on it! With teeth!