WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
A new tool of the non-lethal variety has been created for our
soldiers to navigate the US immigration process. Vince DiPortanova,
co-founder of the Charles Harvey, Jr. Foundation, states, "44,255 of
our bravest US Armed Forces members have yet to become citizens. These
men and women have a new web-based computer tool to shorten
application filing time from one to two days down to less than thirty
minutes."
"Our goal is to help new immigrant service members apply for
citizenship as part of their initial processing into the military. It
can get very busy for these young heroes," continued DiPortanova,
"once they are deployed overseas. If you just look at the current
44,255 finishing their application in a half an hour rather than one
to two days that is 244 man years saved among them."
The Charles Harvey, Jr. Foundation received a generous in-kind
donation of $2 million in software from Turbo Immigration, Inc.
enabling the foundation to create a new web-based tool that will be
available starting Memorial Day. This web-based tool will assist
soldiers in navigating the arduous application process for US
citizenship.
"While we cannot shorten the year or so it takes Custom and
Immigration (CIS) to process the paperwork," explains DiPortanova,
"the web application written by the Turbo Immigration folks, reduces
the error rate in filling out the citizenship forms by 98%. This will
save months of frustration for our immigrant servicemen and women from
returned applications do to errors," states DiPortanova.
While doing research on Turbo Immigration, The Charles Harvey, Jr.
Foundation heard of a US soldier who just finished his term of service
with the US Army. He was standing tall in line at the US immigration
department (CIS) in Virginia. After an hour wait, he made it to the
front of the line. He proudly proclaimed to the CIS official at the
desk, "I just got back from Iraq, and I want to become a citizen." The
CIS clerk asked, "Are you out of the Army now?" The soldier replied
politely, "Yes ma'am, I just finished my service with the Army." The
bureaucrat replied, "Too late, you should have done it while you were
in."
As of December 2007, the total US Armed Forces members that are
not citizens include: Army, 17,234; Navy 14,653; Marine Corps 6,537;
Air Force 1,580; and National Guard 4,251. Beginning this Memorial Day
all current and future immigrant servicemen and women will be able to
navigate the application process for citizenship, free of charge,
through The Charles Harvey, Jr. Foundation website. This free service
is a small token of appreciation for those who serve and protect us.
http://www.harveyfoundation.org
The Charles Harvey, Jr. Foundation
Vince DiPortanova, 202-577-5579
ainsley.glenn@harveyfoundation.org
Copyright Business Wire 2008
