Paula Olave

Paula Olave
March 30, 2015
Inquiry Project
Immigration
Immigration has been a controversial and evolving topic for quite some time now. Our
world sees immigration as an issue that wont ever stop, simply because our world is growing.
When thinking of immigration everyone mainly thinks of Hispanics, paricularily (Mexicans,)
because they are the main ones coming into the United States in the new millennium. But many
people fail to consider that, when in fact there are many other immigrants who arent from Latin
America. A majority of most of the immigrants who come to the U.S, come with the mindset of
creating a better life and living for them and their family themselves and their families. They
come here with the mentality that they will make more money and will be able to obtain given
aid that they arent are not given back at home. However,When in reality they many hardworking
immigrants are kept form from theirgaining their rights as humans citizens in the U.S;
oftentimes, problems that immigrants face are not prioritized and are pushed aside just like it
would be and put to the side like back at home. With that being said, for my inquiry project I
have decided to do two passports, :one being a USA passport and the other being a Mexicano
passport. These two objects show illustrate a huge difference between the two countries., a nd as
we all know its simply just a book but with access to it, you can do many things. For many
Americans, the passport is just simply a book one carries on during their travels but to citizens of
other countries the passport means much more. To fully understand what these two objects
represent, one must have a thorough background of their definition purpose and the process
taken to obtain one.

Paula Olave
After doing extensive research as to why immigrants cant/dont have a passport, I first
thought of what in actuality a passport is, was the purpose of having a passport and the
requirement what are the requirements to for obtaining a passport one. A passport is issued to a
countrys citizens for international travel and identification (Ali 1). The passport is initially used
to verify and identify ones citizenship, whencitizenship when traveling in and out of of a
country.the persons country of citizenship. All the steps required to obtain a passport are found
on the U.S. Passports & International Travel website;, you are required to do the following: fill
out the Form DS-11, submit evidence of U.S. Citizenship, present identification, submit a
photocopy of the identification document, pay the applicable fee, and provide one passport
photograph. This whole process take about 4-6 weeks to process and then issue a passport within
3 weeks (U.S. Department of State). In reality, immigrants can only provide one of the
requirements above, sometimes two of them. Paying the applicable fee is not so much an issue
for immigrants, the issue is all the other requirements listed above. ; the inability to fulfill the
requirements is the problem that prohibits many immigrants from getting a passport.Theres a
rare chance that an immigrant can even pass requirement one because when presenting the Form
DS-11, the person also needs to show their social security card, and the majority of immigrants
do not have one. In the table below we see the increase and decreases within the years of 19962014.

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(U.S. Passports & International Travel)

In 2014 the number of passports issued was 14,087,757, which increased by 8,539,648 since
1996 (U.S. Passport & International Travel). This increase is due to the increase in population
size in the world, and the huge increase in 2008 of 16,132,536, passports issued due to the world
wide economy dropping. The prices for a passport are as follows: for an adult first time applicant
of ages 16 years and older the price is $110+$25, adult renewals of ages 16 years and older is
$110 for the book and $30 for just the card, and minor applicants pay $80+$25 for a book and
$15+$25. As a US citizen with a passport you can just about do anything, and including gaining
the ability to travel anywhere.
On the contrary, when a citizen outside of the USA wants to come into the USA country
they first need to apply for a VISA. A visa is not that much different from a passport, A visa is
official permission from a foreign countrys government to enter the country, the visa will
indicate how long you can visit a particular country as determined by that countrys government,
and the most common visa types are tourist, student, work , and transit visas (Ali 1). The most

Paula Olave
common types of visas are a tourist, student, work, and transit. The only BIG big issue with this
form of entry for an immigrant is the wait process, which can take up to months, sometimes
years. A family waited twenty four years for their visas, which they just got processed this year
(Zong and Batalova 1). This year, 2015, there was a worldwide total of 4,422.660 immigrant
applicants on the wait list for family visas, Mexico being the top with 1,323,978, Philippines
being second with 428,765, and India being third with 323,089 applicants. Also in 2015 the
employment waitlist was 2,733 with China being first with 22%, and India being 9.7% waitlist
(Immigrant Statistics). This isnt the only big issue with immigrants getting a visa but the price is
also a huge issue. Not only is the wait a big issue, but the prices are becoming an increasing
problem. Prices range from $0-$1,000. The process doesnt stop here, once you obtain a visa to
where you are traveling to, the countrys government has to give you permission on how long
you can stay in their country. There are two visas one can apply for is either a nonimmigrant
visa, meant to travel to the United States for a temporary time, and an immigrant visa, meant to
live permanently in the United States. Below is the process on how to obtain a visa.

Paula Olave

With this background I was able to create the two passports. I mentioned above to show
what a US citizens passport looks like and what an immigrant passport looks like. As previously
mentioned, the American passport and the immigrant passport contrast in many ways. Both
passports have the persons information in it with their name, date of birth, place of birth, sex,

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nationality, passport number, etc. The difference is that the USA passport has several stamps
from outside the U.S.A., this shows that the American citizen can go anywhere with their
passport. The Mexican passport is supposed to signify all immigrant passports. Inside the
Mexican passport have the persons identification, name, date of birth, gender, etc., but have a
red stamp all over the pages that says denied. This signifies that the immigrants visas to come to
the United States was denied or either have been put on the waitlist, and they cant use their
passport without the visa.

Paula Olave
Workcited:
-

Kliesner, Kenneth. "Poverty in Nicaragua - The Borgen Project." The Borgen Project RSS2.

11 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-nicaragua/>.

"Why Do People Immigrate to the U.S.?" U.S. Immigration. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

<http://usaimmigration.weebly.com/why-do-people-immigrate-to-the-us.html>.
"Fees for Visa Services." Fees for Visa Services. U.S. Department of State. Web. 7 Apr.

2015. <http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/fees-visa-services.html#permanent>.
"Passport Fees." Passport Fees. U.S. Department of State, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.
<http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/fees.html#EstimateC

ost>
"Passports Statistics." Statistics. U.S. Department of State, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.

<http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/statistics.html>.
"What Is a U.S. Visa?" What Is a U.S. Visa? U.S. Department of State. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.
<http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/frequently-asked-questions/what-is-a-u-

s-visa.html>.
"The Immigrant Visa Process." The Immigrant Visa Process. U.S. Department of State. Web.
7 Apr. 2015. <http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-

process.html>.
"Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants in the Family-sponsored and Employmentbased Preferences Registered at the National Visa Center as of November 1, 2014." Web. 7
Apr. 2015. <http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-

Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf>.
Ali, Aneesah. "What Is the Difference between a Passport and a Visa?" VISANOW Global
Immigration. 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://www.visanow.com/difference-betweena-passport-and-a-visa/>.

Jackson, Alex. "Mexico to USA Migration." Geography AS Notes. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
Zong, Jie, and Jeanne Batalova. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and
Immigration in the United States." Migrationpolicy.org. 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-andimmigration-united-states>.

Paula Olave