Immigration assistance

My wife and I were having an argument on immigration. She asserts that immigrants are given money (Her assertion is $5k) when they come here to live. I said I find that doubtful and asked for a cite :slight_smile: Well we both searched the net and couldn’t find anything. So we come to the Dopers for enlightenment. Do immigrants receive money when they come to the US? Also, and this is a question that I’ve wondered for awhile, do immigrants have a tax free status for a period of time?

Former immigrant, here. (But that was in 1971, so things have probably changed).

No, $5k when they arrive and no tax free status if they come to the States as immigrants.

She may possibly be thinking of people who come on refugee status, but even they don’t get those benefits (AFAIK).
I’m certain EvaLuna will be along shortly to give you an accurate answer and a cite.

we had a thread about this started by chique IIRC. It is all absolutely bogus and made up by ignorant people who feel threatened by new immigrants. Search for that thread because there was tons of good stuff there. It seems to me though that those making the assertion should be the ones required to prove it.

No $5k. No tax free status. However, changing countries mid-year can save you taxes. Example: say you earn $50k in one year. If you move after 6 months, you can end up owing the tax on $25k in each of two countries. With full allowances offset against that in each country, that can mean there is very little tax to pay.

This may well not apply to Americans moving elsewhere as I believe they have to pay US tax on worldwide income anyway.

Far from it–immigrants have to prove that they have their own money or a sponsor so as to guarantee that they won’t go on welfare here in the US.

I’ll back that up – my wife is an immigrant and I, the sponsor, had to prove that I had the income to support her, as well as sign an affidavit that should she ever go on public rolls that I would reimburse the government for those expenditures.

According to the country, even those on visitor visas (not immigrants) have to prove that they have motivation to return at the end of visitor status. It doesn’t have to be money, but it usually is. Actually, property is worth more than money, because it’s less liquid (with an ATM card, you effectively bring all your money with you worldwide).

The fact is, you have to pay to get into the USA with a visa – visa application fee, medical fees, record fees, visa issue fees – all in all we spent close to $500 getting my wife here in government fees alone.

Additionally, if your spouse wants to work in the US while in the process of getting an alien resident card (which may take two to three years), you have to get a work permit which, IIRC, is about $145 and only lasts for one year. Once you get the work permit, of course you get your SS#, work, and of course, yes, report to the IRS and pay taxes.

On the contrary, a legal immigrant to the US ends paying a good chunk of money thus investing on a U.S. citizenship that may take years.

If the $5K is true, well, shoot, my wife is still waiting for it.

But, in short, regarding your $5k, Nope.

XicanoreX

Urban Legends about immigrants getting special breaks not available to citizens are very common. See for example Snopes’ Tax Holidays for Immigrants

Wow, why didn’t I think of snopes? Thanks everyone.

Seems everyone else preempted me (I’ve been busy all day…this Jewish agnostic is hosting Christmas caroling tomorrow, so I’m busy cleaning up my place and steaming a figgy pudding, to be accompanied by a nice noodle kugel and some wassail: yeah multiculturalism!)

…but it’s absolutely correct that in general, immigrants receive no Federal government grants and no tax breaks. There is, however, some federal funding set aside to resettle refugees, who represent a very small fraction of legal immigration to the U.S. (about 70,000 refugee visas per year, a large chunk of twhich didn’t even get used this past fiscal year due to 9/11-related procesing delays). This funding is used for short-term living expenses, job training, and the like (it’s been more than 10 years since I worked in refugee resettlement, but back then, a family of 4 got something like $800/month for the first 4 months, plus our agency had separate funding for short-term job training programs, which we got as grants from the State of Illinois and used to set up things like data entry training programs, or sometimes a one-time grant for expenditures like tools for a trained mechanic or state licensing fees for a cosmetologist, things which got people supporting themselves quickly by equipping them to do in the U.S. what they’d done for many years in the Old Country…in the case of my agency’s clients, generally the former Soviet Union).

Eva Luna, immigration paralegal, former Office of the Immigration Judge employee, and former refugee resettlement worker (and also slightly buzzed on one glass of wine, so please forgive any typos)

Okay, I’m treading on thin ice here, but I’m gonna go for it anyway.

It seems that a large percentage (or a lease a sizable percentage) of convenience stores in this area are owned by immigrants whether they are Chinese, Indian, etc… I’m not sure if it’s like that elsewhere in the country, so I’ll keep things confined to my observations. How is it that so many own stores and why convenience stores? Is it that they come to the US with money are open the store with that? Is it because they come to the US, work hard and invest their money? Does India or wherever the majority come from have a higher per capita income? Or is it all just my own bias?

Foreigners from poorer countries do what natives from richer countries do not want to do. Running a convenience store, especially one located in a poorer neighborhood, is not something I’d want to do. I wouldn’t like to pick tomatoes or pluck chickens.

Immigrants often face discrimination in finding jobs and going into business for themselves is a way around that. A small store is something within their reach.

Immigrants often socialise with those from the home country who have been there longer and can give them information and share their experiences. If you are not sure what to do and your friend is telling you how he successfully took over a convenience store, then you might just try to do the same thing. Groups of people hang together and help each other out.

Okay, I can understand the discrimination factor and the helping each other out factor, but 711’s and Dunkin’ Donunts’ stores aren’t really that small and I imagine it takes a fair amount of capital to start one up. Are they coming to the country with the funds to start a venture like this?

This is just a WAG, but many of these immigrants are coming from countries without the sort of spending culture we have in the West. I would not be at all surprised to find that most of them started their businesses with money they’d simply saved up over the years working for other people.

Another point is that just because immigrants are working the counter (or even are the managers), don’t assume that they actually own the place. Sometimes these are owned by someone who doesn’t come in and work but merely hires people. If 7-11 is anything like the tire franchises my dad used to work with, this is particularly likely in urban areas where one guy (or a partnership) could own three, four, maybe even a dozen stores.

Also, some of the immigrant/aliens who are actually owners may well have started there cleaning the hot dog drippings 15 years ago and worked their way up to buy the place when the old owner retired.

–Cliffy

Yup, they save money. They also help newcomers by lending them money. And a small store does not take as much as you may think to get started. You rent the place after all, A 7/11 might take more but you also have people who have moved up or some of them had some money they saved or brought with them. If you had $40K in Afghanistan you might be top dog there but some might prefer to invest it in a more peaceful place and live quietly.

It definitely goes to show that people are not so much conditioned by racism and other externel factors as they are by their own ambitions and expectations.

Income earned abroad by US citizens is taxable, after the first $75,000. So, if you live in France, for example, and you earn 40,000/annum you don’t have to pay US taxes. Sure, why would you have to, if you’re not taking advantage of benefits (police, roads, etc). IIRC, you can only be in the States for up to 29 days in order to qualify for expatriate exemption.

In our case, we had a complicated tax year in 2001. We lived for six months in one state, but earned salary in another states (so that’s two tax forms so far), then we lived abroad the second half of the year (more forms to file for exemption) and wound up having to pay an accountant to sort it all out for us.

So, after that convoluted explanation:

If you an American who lives and works abroad, and earns less than $75,000/annum, you don’t have to pay taxes. But you still have to file for exemption and prove you’ve not been in the States for more than 29 days (though this may have changed).

But if you’re classified as self-employed, that self employment and social security tax can still bite you in the ass no matter how little you earn abroad.