Dear Readers:

While the House and Senate Immigration Subcommittees have yet to be named and while comprehensive immigration reform legislation has yet to be introduced, all indications are that Congress is set to get moving on passing a major immigration bill. Certainly that seems to be the mood in Washington given all the rhetoric we’re hearing from Democrats. And President Bush is expected to make immigration a key part of this week’s State of the Union Address. But we still have nothing concrete to report on the progress of this legislation.  

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While Europeans are finding it easier and easier to travel to their neighbor countries, travel in North America just got more complicated. As of this week, all Americans must now have passports to fly to Canada , Mexico or countries in the Caribbean . The same is true for nationals of those countries seeking to visit the US . Tourism officials in all of these countries are deeply worried that people will decide simply not to travel. And I can understand why. I traveled with my family out of the US in December and was not happy at the price tag presented by the State Department. All five of us needed new passports because ours had recently expired. And because the decision to take the trip was taken at a relatively late date, we needed to expedite processing. Here’s the bill:  

Passport fees for two adults: $134

“Execution” fees for two adults: $60

Passport fees for three children: $156

“Execution” fees for three children: $90

Expedite fee for five applications: $300  

Total fees: $740  

Even if we did not have to pay the expedite fee, the price tag for the passports was high enough to make many middle class Americans seriously rethink traveling internationally. And that is really sad because international travel is one of the best ways to promote international understanding. Our government may be charging exactly what it costs to process passports, but we should seriously think about subsidizing the cost to encourage people to travel.  

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I spent part of my travels earlier this month in Las Vegas where I attended the Consumer Electronics Show. As I do every year, I’ll be writing a magazine column for Immigration Law Today showing my favorite new gadgets for the immigration lawyer (or anyone else who just likes cool new toys). This year I’ll also be writing about all of them on my new technology blog at gregstips.blogspot.com. This blog joins five others I’m now maintaining. You can see what I’ve been blogging in our new column “Notes from the Visalaw Blogs” later in this issue.

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In firm news (http://www.visalaw.com/news/), I have been named again to Business TN Magazine’s list of the top 150 lawyers in my home state of Tennessee . I also had an article on I-9 responsibilities for employers published by Memphis Lawyer which is reproduced in this issue of our newsletter. Jack Richbourg of our Memphis office is also quoted in the latest issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal in an article entitled “ Liberty , Justice For All: A new program in Memphis connects immigrants with the pro bono legal help they need”. Jack has played a critical role in developing an immigration pro bono in Memphis .

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As always, we remind readers that if they are interested in Siskind Susser handling their immigration matters, you can call our office at 901-682-6455 to set up an appointment. Have a great weekend!

Regards,  

Greg Siskind

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