Immigration Road Signs

On September 16, 2009, in Fun, Green Card, U.S. Immigration, by IR_Blog

A road sign is a board standing on the side of the road that provides information or instructions to travelers. Whether you are driving to the Grand Canyon, biking to work, or walking to a grocery store, you will see road signs everywhere. They are easy to understand. But if you are marching (or crawling) toward a green card, the signs you see along the Immigration Road may have different meanings:

I-485
	I-485 is a busy freeway: most people in the U.S. choose this route to get their green card. Unfortunately it has a speed limit of 10mph.
Speed Limit – miles per hour (mph)
	0mph speed limit doesn’t make much sense, but if you are travelling on the Immigration Highway, don’t be surprised if you see it more than once.
Road Condition
	Slippery
	Bumpy
	Flooded
No Honking!
	Nobody would listen anyway, why bother?
Directions
	USCIS sometimes gives out better, less confusing instructions, but not always.
Stop Sign
	Stop right there, and wait for further instructions. Department of Labor once put up a huge stop sign so that they could “centralize” all labor certification applications; it only took a couple years before traffic was moving again.
Road Closed
	If you pick the wrong route, or have a late start, you will see the road closed sign eventually. You need to find an alternative as soon as possible.
Traffic Lights
	The Department of State uses traffic lights (aka visa bulletin) to control who gets to proceed, and who has to stay. Unlike regular traffic signals, a red light here could last 10 years or more.
Car Pool
	If you married a U.S. citizen and the two of you are travelling together, you can take the carpool lane. There are multiple check points though, and people who get caught with only a dummy on the passenger seat will get into trouble.
Toll Booth Ahead
	Every road is a toll road. Journey to green card is expensive.
Welcome!
	You have reached your destination.