One of the main problems faced by immigrants who could apply for some immigration benefit is the lack of resources, which motivated the non-profit community development financial organization BlueHub Capital to launch the program One Percent for America, to grant credits to non-citizens to cover costs of processes before Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
In an easy way and with an interest of 1%, immigrants will be able to request the credit to apply for the first time or renew DACA, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the Legal Residence Permanent and citizenship.
“We have been looking at this for several years, we realized that there are about 9 million residents legally present here who would be eligible for citizenship, but most of them have not requested”, explained Elyse Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital in an interview. “Part of what we realized was that… people were having a hard time paying the fees. And then sometimes what happened is people went to high-cost lenders.”
Cherry adds that the analyzes of BlueHub Capital found that immigrants regularly used a credit card with minimum interest of 18%, but several went to lenders with interest rates much Taller.
The project was launched several weeks ago as a kind of “probe”, that is, to measure the response of immigrants, but this Tuesday, June 1, they will have a greater deployment, she indicated .
“BlueHub has been in existence for 35 years and we are a community development financial institution… we have learned a lot about lending money to low-income people and in low-income communities, although anyone can apply,” Cherry said. “So we established One Percent for America as an affiliate, and we’ve been funding it…it’s a separate entity within the Blue family.”
How much money will they lend
USCIS costs vary for each procedure, but immigrants may request the exact amount they require to complete the immigration process.
“We will cover all the forms related to the renewals of TPS, DACA and Green Card, as well as the citizenship application,” Cherry said. “So it depends on whether people need only one amount or another.”
For example, for the ‘dreamers’ who seek support to apply for the first time or renew their DACA and those who apply for TPS, they can request between $135 and $930 dollars, which is the estimated cost of protection and Employment Authorization.
For those who apply for citizenship or the Green Card, the amounts will be between $725 and $1,135 Dollars.
On how the amounts were arrived at, Jamie Scott, senior vice president of digital marketing at One Percent for America, explained that a national survey was conducted among naturalized citizens and those who would seek to apply for that benefit. migratory.
“Two main things we learned are that the two main deterrent factors are the length of the application process and not being able to pay the fees,” he said. “So our show really benefits both of us, right? So obviously our loan is to cover the fees, but by doing so, we’re also reducing the time it typically takes for people to apply for citizenship since they won’t have to save and go through all the challenges.”
The loan must be paid in one year, starting from the first month after the credit was granted, but there is no cost for the delay of the monthly payment.
“So that they don’t have to pay bank commissions, we don’t charge surcharges for late payment”, says Cherry. “But we really expect everyone to pay up. Because, you know, we borrow money that we lend to people. And so, if it is not returned, the company does not work”.
And what that means is that other people will not be able to borrow from us. So you know, there is a high expectation that people will pay and in our case it is an association. For our part, we offer a very simple process, the request takes less than 10 minutes. And the money is very inexpensive, and you pay it back in the space of a year or so. And then at the bar was that they have to return it.
Who can apply
The program is universal, that is, except for those people with a criminal record – who cannot obtain immigration benefits—any immigrant could have access to the loan. The organization confirms that the person’s name is not on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list.
“The only thing they need is to pass an OFAC check, which is their basic check by the government that they are not on a terrorist list, and can do business in the US .” Scott said. “The second thing is that they need is a valid bank account in the US … and third, they need an ITN number or a Social Security number.”
He added that the four-step process would take a person to apply at most minutes. The money will be sent in a check payable to USCIS.
930