Everyone seems to have gone wild about Harry!
Or rather his revelations…
It’s not surprising that the release of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ has started a heated but relatively healthy debate over on our Brits in LA Facebook forum. Many seem to have strong opinions although I’m not sure if they were formed by actually reading the book. I raise my hands and admit that any judgements I make are based solely on whatever snippets have been shared on the internet. Whilst I’m in the camp of being not keen on oversharing or washing my dirty laundry in public it was quite enlightening to read the arguments for it. I came to the conclusion that although it’s not particularly pleasant for those that are disparaged, does it actually really matter?
One thing I would recommend not sharing publicly – especially if if you are here on a visa or a green card holder – is any kind of drug use. Apparently Prince Harry admits to using various substances in his book. This could cause problems down the line if he chose to omit this information (when asked) from his immigrant application forms. It’s easy to forget that even though marijuana and cannabis products are legal in the state of California they are still illegal under Federal Law – so if you are not a US citizen it could possibly jeopardize your status here – many dispensaries scan your I.D when you make a purchase and this could therefore be linked to your immigration file. I hear that colleges and universities send out memos reminding their foreign students to be aware of this fact too.
Talking of which a proposal has been submitted to change several of the filing fees that fund the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. A few are going down (including Green Card renewals and replacements), but a lot are going to get a hefty increase if this gets approved – if you are a conditional resident with a two-year Green Card you will be paying an extra $515 (currently $680) to get the conditions removed.
It’s unlikely the proposed USCIS fee increase will go into effect before mid-March 2023 so if you have been putting off filing any USCIS forms make sure to do it before then, unless you are one of the lucky ones who should be getting a decrease. For the full list visit the Federal Register via this link tinyurl.com/USCISFees2023
Have you been putting off renewing your British Passport? Be warned that their prices are going up too! Increase goes into effect from February 2nd so save yourself a few quid and apply before then and don’t forget you can renew up to 9 months before your current one is due to expire. The turnaround time is approximately 10 weeks although several Brits in LA members say that they received theirs in half that. Don’t stress about your unexpired visas. Send your previous passport with the visa attached to it with your application. Your previous passport will be returned to you, usually via DHL. You’ll still be able to use the visa if you carry both passports.
My last money saving tip before I go is to help with the eye watering utility bills many of us received this month from SoCalGas. Mine went up over 200%! I immediately dashed over to the thermostat to turn the heating down! Thankfully there is a solution – SoCalGas offer a plan called “Level Up” which basically averages your use over 6 months and you pay a flat monthly affordable rate. This means I will pay slightly more than I usually do in the summer, but won’t get any more nasty surprise bills during the colder months.
Hopefully it will help some of you too. Log in to your online account for more details.
If you have any questions, comments, news or handy tips to share you can drop us a line at BritsinLA@gmail.com or find us on Facebook @BritsinLa
Cheers !
Eileen
