You must record your immigration costs and here’s a FREE printable expense tracker bundle for you to use. Read below to know why it is important.
To immigrate costs a serious amount of money!
Your wallet will surely agree with that statement because you need to shell out some serious dough to fund your immigration journey.
FACT: Every coin that you spend on immigration expenses is considered CAPITAL OUTLAY of which you will want to keep a record of.
At the end of this post, you will know why there is a need to keep records of all your immigration costs.
You may also download the FREE PRINTABLE EXPENSE TRACKERS we provided for this exercise.
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THIS POST IS ABOUT THE FREE PRINTABLE EXPENSE TRACKER BUNDLE TO HELP NEW IMMIGRANTS RECORD THEIR IMMIGRATION COSTS.
TAKE NOTE: The examples we used to fill out the tracker illustrations are loosely based on our experience. Hence, the terms used here are of PHILIPPINE SETTING circa early 2000’s. You may have different terms and requirements in your country (and situation) but you can still use these pages. Or at least make them as inspiration when you design yours.
Free Printable Expense Tracker Bundle
This free printable expense tracker bundle is made up of the following pages:
- General Expense Tracker
- Expense Tracker for verification of identity and civil status
- Expense Tracker for verification of education credentials and medical status
- Expense Tracker for character verification
- Expense Tracker for travel expenses
- IOU tracker
- Summary of expenses
In this post, we are going to narrate part of our immigration journey and how to fill out these pages in relation to that.
Truth be told, I should have been more diligent in my own record keeping when we started our immigration journey.
Expenses For The Verification Of Identity
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) – pre-2003 – required that we must verify our identity, individually, with government-issued supporting papers.
In the Philippines, this meant getting a VERIFIED COPY OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE from the National Statistics Office (NSO) for each person who is migrating. In some cases, a VERIFIED COPY OF BAPTISM CERTIFICATE from the church where the baptism ceremony was done, is also required. This is to strengthen one’s claim to identity.
There are some extra expenses that may occur in the aspect of IDENTITY VERIFICATION.
In my sister-in-law’s case, for example, where the birth certificate and the baptism certificate did not match – Eva on the birth certificate vs Ega on the baptism certificate.
To prove to the INS that she is one and the same person, my sis-in-law had to do the following:
- Have a lawyer draft an affidavit about the misspelling
- Have the case presented to court
- Have the COURT RULING be published in two newspapers
- Present to the INS that she did all these things and submit bundles of additional paperwork
And all these activities incurred huge expenses and further delays in the immigration process.
Now, on the topic of how to use this page of the tracker, you should:
- Name the page PER PERSON. If there are 4 members in the family who are migrating, have ONE page PER PERSON (print 4 sets of the bundle). In this way, it will serve as a checklist because it will be easy to review who has their documents and who has not.
- Name each document specifically (as opposed to a general term, like “document”) and what each cost.
- If the document is not readily available, take note of the date and time to go back to that office to get it.
- Do not forget all other expenses that you incurred. The gas or fare and the takeout food you had on that trip to get the document must all be on your tracker.
Expenses For Verification Of Civil Status
Part of verifying our names, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) – pre-2003 – required that we must verify our civil statuses, too.
In the Philippines, this meant getting a VERIFIED COPY OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE from the National Statistics Office (NSO). In the case of proving affinity to a deceased family member, a VERIFIED COPY OF DEATH CERTIFICATE from NSO is also required.
Also in the Philippines, there is a Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR), again from the NSO. This is a certification stating that a person has not been married or had not been contracted to any marriage. This document proves that, as far as any branch of government is concerned, the person in question has no record of matrimony/wedding or spousal obligation anywhere in the country and to anyone.
Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR) in the Philippines is based on Christian tenet and legal ruling that there can only be one spouse at a given time. Bigamy and polygamy are considered crimes in the Philippines. The only exception to this are those of the Islamic faith who practice polygyny (multiple wives), and as such, must be able to present a document that they are followers/believers of that religion.
Expenses For The Verification Of Education And Professional Credentials
If you want to find jobs related to your field of study and/or continue the career you had when you migrate to the US, then it is best to bring all possible proof when you come over. Having your VERIFIED/CERTIFIED copies of your diploma, grades and professional credentials will be vital.
Even as a young student coming over to the US, you need to present proof that you went to school. To continue your schooling in the US, it must be verifiable that you bring proof of the level of education prior to your migration.
If you have been employed or have been a member of a professional group or society – Real Estate Brokers Association, for example – you bring those documents. These papers may help you when you build your resume over here.
In the Philippines, before we got the physical copy of the diploma and copy of grades, we needed to pay for all remaining unpaid fees. (For example, overdue library penalties and payment for the broken laboratory beakers and pipettes, etc.) We had to pay for CLEARANCE first before we got proof of our education achievement.
We also needed to get transcript of grades of all our kids, starting from the youngest, who was in 3rd grade, to the oldest, who was a freshman in college.
Needless to say, the expenses to get all of these documents were not a joke.
TAKE NOTE: The examples we used to fill out the tracker illustrations are loosely based on our experience. Hence, the terms used here are of PHILIPPINE SETTING circa early 2000’s. You may have different terms and requirements in your country (and situation) but you can still use these pages. Or at least make them as inspiration when you design yours.
Expenses For The Verification Of Medical Status And Physical Condition
Even before the pandemic times, the INS was already strict in their medical requirements for everyone who wish to migrate to the United States.
For one, you need to be vaccinated against several known viruses to be able to qualify to enter the US. Second, you also need to have a thorough medical evaluation.
When processing our medical evaluation, there’s the case of the “baby books”. These tiny booklets that we bring to the pediatrician to document each vaccination and booster shot since a baby’s birth. One book for each kid.
We were told to bring these “baby books” to the US-INS designated hospital/clinic to be verified and certified. (We even brought the booklets to the US.)
During the medical evaluation and certification, if the kids, and us the adults, were missing a shot or two, the US-INS designated hospital or clinic will administer them. The same hospital or clinic will give us a thorough physical examination, bloodwork, and X-ray in compliance with immigration requirements.
Today, in pandemic times, it is no surprise that proof of vaccinations is emphasized more than ever.
To use this section like you would the above section:
- Name the page PER PERSON.
- Name each document and/or procedure and what it costs.
- Take note of date and time to go back, if needed.
- Take note of all other expenses that you incurred.
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Expenses For The Verification Of Good Moral Character
In our case in the Philippines around early 2000s, we were required to get a police clearance from each city or town where we stayed longer than 3 years since turning 18 years old.
One example is of a family member who grew up in one part of the country, went to college in another city and got married in yet another region of the country. She had to go back to each of these places to get 3 separate police clearances. (Hopefully, the system is better now.)
In addition to the police clearance, there is the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) where we need to apply for a national clearance. The Bureau will run our names of their databases and check if we have been convicted of any crime or at least had a police record.
If a name is made up of several names (as Filipinos are quite fond of doing that), the Bureau will do a thorough check and it will take longer time before the clearance is issued.
For example, if your first name is JUAN CARLOS, with the last name MIRANDA, and your mother’s maiden name is RUBIA – the Bureau will make sure that every iteration of your name is checked to see if you have committed any crimes in the past or present.
During our time, the issuance of GOOD MORAL CHARACTER CERTIFICATES or CLEARANCES was not exclusively done by government agencies only.
In many cases, schools also issue them to students, especially the ones who are switching schools. This practice is meant to inform the school that an incoming student is an upstanding one and had not been dismissed or expelled due to bad behavior.
Even past employers issue certificates through their respective Human Resource Offices to employees who are leaving the company for another job. It was customary to include the phrase that the employee was “of good moral character”.
Expenses For Miscellaneous Things
This is a “catch-all” section of all things that do not fit into the other categories. For example, if you needed to pay for photocopies of documents or stamps or mailing fee.
Jot down just about any expense that do not belong to any section, here.
My mistake was not to track every expense we had because “it was just a small fee” To dismiss a small fee because it was minimal was not wise. A drop multiplied several times can fill a bucket.
Travel Expenses To Leave Country Of Origin
The passports, tickets, cart fee, boarding pass, excess baggage, and the myriad of things that require payment before you board your plane are numerous!
Name them one by one, here.
Travel Expenses Upon Arriving In The New Country
You have arrived. Still, the things that require payment did not stop. And what’s more – they are now in US DOLLARS!
All the more that you need to track them! Name them one by one, here.
IOU Tracker
Unless you are one of the fortunate ones who have your own money to spare, most immigrants like us had to take loans to afford our migration journey.
This tracker is to make it clear-cut who your creditors are and where did you use the money you owed them. It is also best to know the exact amount of the loan you got from each creditor.
Take note of the currency, too. Did you receive these loans in US dollars or in your country’s currency?
Keep track of your IOUs. Your creditors are keeping track, too.
The average cost of a visa application is $200 per person as of this writing.
The expenses for the visa application is either shelled out by you, personally, or by others on your behalf.
In our case, this expense is placed as an IOU. Our family members in the US paid for them when they applied for our petition under FAMILY REUNIFICATION classification.
Summary of Expense Tracker
Use this page/section to summarize each person’s expenses to arrive at a grand total.
It is not always that everyone has the same set of expenses.
For example, while it is uncommon, say a godmother or a favorite aunt, may gift a kid with a plane ticket – that is credited to that kid’s expense only.
Why Track Your Expenses?
Why is it important to track your immigration expenses?
From our experience, it should have been beneficial to take note of every fee, loan and process we had.
On hindsight, a record keeping system of all immigration expenses is important because of at least 4 things:
- To keep an accurate (versus an approximate) record of the expense – the totality of it and in detailed form, too.
- To account for the correct amount of loan to the correct creditor. When the creditors come knocking, this record becomes helpful.
- To serve as a record and a reminder, like how this exercise becomes a teaching tool right now.
- To serve as a record of the many processes that we have to go through and where all the money went.
- And for these records to serve as an inspiration going forward.
We should think of this activity of record keeping as bookkeeping of the IMMIGRATION CAPITAL OUTLAY. The records could have shown us if we are earning interest from this outlay.
Were all the expenses -and the hardships- really worth it?
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We hope that you will find time to do a skills assessment and recommend it to others, too.
Share this article to a fellow immigrant.
Thank you!
Maria is just a chatterbox (on a mission.😋)
NO ONE AUTHORIZED her to spew all this MOMSENSE, but she is a complicated cat and so she feels that she must. Be advised and take a spoonful of salt for every opinionated post you read here. And please, please consult a professional for individualized advice on life-altering decisions.
Maria is just a chatterbox (on a mission.😋) NO ONE AUTHORIZED her to spew all this MOMSENSE, but she is a complicated cat and so she feels that she must. Be advised and take a spoonful of salt for every opinionated post you read here. And please, please consult a professional for individualized advice on life-altering decisions.
THE POST ABOVE IS THE FREE PRINTABLE EXPENSE TRACKER BUNDLE TO HELP NEW IMMIGRANTS RECORD THEIR IMMIGRATION COSTS.
Go to the FREEBIES page and claim these.
REFERENCES
https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/Skills/skills-matcher.aspx
https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/Skills/skills-matcher.aspx
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/onet
https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/Skills/skills-matcher.aspx
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/onet
https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/AmericanJobCenters/american-job-centers.aspx
