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 (Mexicans) are the main
ones coming into the United States, 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 a better life and living for them and their family. They come here with the mentality
that they will make more money and will be able given aid that they arent given back at home.
When in reality they are kept form their rights as humans in the U.S, 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 Mexico passport. These two objects show a huge
difference, and as we all know its simply just a book but with access to it, you can do many
things. To fully understand what these two objects represent, one must have a thorough
background of their definition and process.
After doing extensive research as to why immigrants cant/dont have a passport, I first
thought of what in actuality a passport is, and what are the requirements to obtain a passport. 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, when traveling in and out of 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

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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. 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 1996-2014.

(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

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$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 travel anywhere.
On the contrary, when a citizen outside of the USA wants to come into the USA 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 common types
of visas are a tourist, student, work, and transit. The only 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. 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.

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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. Both passports
have the persons information in it with their name, date of birth, place of birth, sex, nationality,
passport number, etc. The difference is that the USA passport has several stamps from outside the

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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.

Workcited:

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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>.