The Immigration process for my Pops, 70+ years ago!

[HighCotton]

I call him Pops. He’s my Father-in-law and we’ve always been real close.
As we sat sharing stories, until the wee hours of the night, we had an interesting discussion on this illegal immigration debacle that we face today.
He shared with me a lot of information that I had never heard before and I thought it would be interesting to post it here just to give a perspective on what it used to be like to get into this country!
He and my Mother-in-law immigrated to the United States in 1956.
The process actually started for them sometime around 1950.
1. Only 3,500 were allowed to immigrate from the Netherlands per year.
2. They had to have an American sponsor to whom they would be accountable.
3. They paid about 3 years salary for all the fees including boat, train and airfare.
4. They had to pass multiple medical exams, enduring embarrassing “poking and prodding of every cavity of our naked bodies while in quarantine for 5 days.”
5. They signed a contract that they would learn to speak, read and write the English language. This was a 5 year process including night schools.
6. They and their sponsor were checked on periodically for 7 years by government officials to ensure that they had no illegal activity or record. One simple misdemeanor and they were sent back to Holland.
7. Pops had to declare a profession as the head of the home and primary bread winner. Holland officials would not let them go to America without representing the country in the utmost, upstanding position.

There might be other things but these were the notes I took from our chat!

[whitetaildave24]

Doing it the right way was the hard way. Now you just walk across the border and you’re in.

[freedomhunter]

That's a good story. My girlfriends grandparents went through the process italia and Poland.

[Ahawkeye]

So many people don't know how good they have it. My hat is off to Pops and his wife for taking such a risk to even start that journey.

[tjmurf]

Great story. I’m sharing this with others not on this site. The uninformed need to know what earlier immigrants went through to come to this country.

[hatchetjack]

My father came here from the Philippines in 1929. He graduated law school but could not become a citizen before 1948. Almost 20 years of waiting.

[esshup]

My grandfather came here through Ellis Island in the early 1900's. He went back and forth to Germany a few times to bring members of the family here before he became a Chicago Cop. He was a Chicago cop during the height of the gangster days in Chicago.....