Getting a Green Card - Visualized



GreenCardApplicationProcess

​For this project, my partner and I selected to explain the Green Card application process. This in-depth process involves filling out numerous forms with personal information regarding one's ability to get a green card. This has the primary routes of through a family member, a business or employment opportunity, a refugee scenario, or a variety of other reasons (as specific as being an American Indian born in Canada). Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in applying for a green card is determining the easiest route to citizenship depending on the specific eligibility requirements. The paperwork for this application was not very long, but would certainly be complex to someone of foreign nationality. If I could change this process, I would make the application much simpler and provide a method for persons to submit supplemental documentation to help humanize the process and remind the government employees that their decisions are regarding humans, not checkboxes on a paper. Most likely, this system began with such an easy process, but as numerous paths to citizenship have been released, the complication of eligibility requirements has quickly multiplied. Lastly, with regard to filling out the Green Card forms for the purpose of the project, I would use fake information to ensure that the information could be distributed and made available for the public without any privacy concerns.
GreenCardApplicationProcess
GreenCardApplicationProcess

Attaining a Business Permit In Philadelphia

HowToGetABusinessPermit
HowToGetABusinessPermit
The flowchart focuses on the process towards attaining a business permit in the city of Philadelphia. The process is relatively straightforward once the person figures out what they want to do with their business. Before starting the process the one determines if their business is required to fill out an application. Charities or less than four residential spaces being rented, the application is not necessary. From there it is once files for a tax accounts and gets all their economic records on hand. The application for a business permit has many safeguards to protect against fruad so legal documents, social security, birth papers are also required to go through the process smoothly. Filing the actual application is an easier step once well prepared. As long as one has all their records it can be done in one sitting. Also one must decide how long they intend to have the business. The application fees change from annual to lifetime dependent on a persons preferences. If one plans on having a business longer than 6 years it is worth filing the lifetime application. The only real problem with the application is how vague some of the circumstance under which you do not have to fill it out are understated. The terminology used to excuse some from the application should be further up in the application. I'd question whether money would be refunded for an un-required application. Perhaps it is understated to give people more time to understand what the actually want to invest in. The application is paired with an explanation of each aspect in the form. This is probably a result of the former problems with the process.

Zac Efron

Zac Efron tiene el pelo moreno y corto y los ojos azul. En la familia, tiene un hermano mayor y una herman menor y dos tortugas. 
Screen Shot 2011-11-19 at 1.08.34 PM
Screen Shot 2011-11-19 at 1.08.34 PM

How to Apply for Welfare

ApplyingForWelfare
ApplyingForWelfare
Here's the link to the published flowchart 

Jason Davis and I decided to take on the task of filing for welfare, specifically cash and food assistance. In order to qualify for either of these, everyone in the household must be a citizen or at least allowed in the country as a permanent resident and have a social security number. Also, you need to show that you are either employed or are trying to be employed. Then, it all comes down to how much assistance you qualify for, which depends on your total income and how many dependents and disables are in the household. Welfare is only a temporary assistance, and before you are given any assistance you must fill out paperwork showing that you will work towards sustaining yourself after the welfare has run out. When trying to go through this task of learning about the process and making the flowchart, Jason and I focused on the paperwork at first. As soon as we realized that the paperwork doesn't actually explain anything clearly, I went digging into the website for Pennsylvania welfare and benefits. I found lists of the qualifications of the different types of welfare, and I went about connecting them. So, we finalized the flowchart and just finished up the paperwork. 

If anything, the paperwork was pretty straightforward, but tedious. It was all the expected questions about your demographics and your income. But, the only way you could really fill out this paperwork is if you had all your information in front of you on your utilities, health issuance, and information on every person in your household you are applying for. However, the paper work did come with explanation pages that outline certain information (which is why there seemed to be SO MUCH paperwork). If I really wanted to apply for welfare, going through the process of getting all that information and making sure it was all accurate would have taken a lot of resources. 

The most confusing part of this whole process is determining what kind of welfare you qualify for. Jason and I looked at the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families because our made-up person had a family with children. However, there is also General Assistance, and depending on how you stand with TANF and GA, you get certain benefits in food assistance (SNAP). If you don't qualify for TANF, you may qualify for GA. But, it doesn't make it exactly clear where the line is drawn. I figured out that the difference usually is that if the only reason you do not qualify for TANF is if you do not have any dependents or if it is because you are in certain circumstances where you cannot work (for a good reason), you could qualify for GA. It really isn't clear, so you would have to apply for both and just wait and see what you get. It was really frustrating. It needs to become more clear for people as to what they should actually apply for. 

So what have these systems become so frustrating and complex? I'm almost certain people went a little crazy with the "What if?" game. Going through the original paperwork, they might have seen a certain part and thought "What if this person is in the situation?" Obviously that part needed to change so it fit the needs of everyone applying. However, the people never went back into the systems after the What If game was played to see if they could simplify or make the different paths more distinct and clear. 

Alice slide

 My new slide has nothing in common with my other slide, mostly because looking at others slides bought me inspiration. I let my background bleed of the slide. With my words I made the chose to make the font white because it matched the teacup and the cards. The font chose I made because it goes with the team of Alice in wonderland, which is a very whimsical movie and book. So the curviness in the font matches the whimsicalness of the move. The quote “Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk” is from the movie it was sad by the Mad Hatter. 
Alice

Alejandro

Tiene el pelo moreno, liso y largo. Los ojos marrones y dos perros y dos gatos. Tiene dos abuelas y dos Tíos.
Photo on 11-18-11 at 2.14 PM
Photo on 11-18-11 at 2.14 PM

Borgore

Tiene el pelo moreno y corta. Tiene los ojos azules. Tiene un hermano y mayor. Tiene un pequeño negro chiuaua.
Screen Shot 2011-12-08 at 9.18.32 AM
Screen Shot 2011-12-08 at 9.18.32 AM

Social Security Disability Claim

1000x1000
1000x1000
The task me and my partner chose was the Social Security Disability Application ​process. Basically it is what someone would apply for after they have been deemed incapable of working for more than a year and needs permanent or short term compensation from the government to support their families. The process we went through was simple but it jumped around a lot before even getting to the paperwork for application itself. Before you can get the form you must qualify for four general subjects one includes an extensive background history of the person applying. The paperwork part of the process is a 10 page packet that has you fill out information that was asked of you in the check-box general info part of the chart. It mostly consists of contacts forms and doctors and all medical tests and facilities you've been at regarding your disability. In and of itself it is a pretty straightforward process. However if i could change something it'd probably be the clearness of the different types of disability insurance. One has to do with childhood disability and learning disorder which prompts a different type of benefit from the government. It took me a while to find the difference between the two types and get the info for the right one. I think the reason for such complicated systems is because it scares off the people who try to apply for no reason n apply to try n cheat the system itself. Social Security fraud is a big thing in today's society and the money from that can be used for anything without monitoring.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes Flow Chart <---- link to our join

By: Kern Clarke & Blase Biello

The task that was selected for the Bureaucracy Project was the individual tax return process. We did all the way from getting the actual forms to mailing them out after their finished. Our process started with obtaining the required forms in order to complete this process. These form could be obtained online, by phone, or in person at a local IRS office. The forms that were needed in order to complete this process were the 1040 tax return forms. Next they began to fill out the form  based on filing status, any household exemptions and then afterwards they filled out the rest of the information required by following the instruction manual that comes along with the 1040.

At first the paperwork seemed easy. Thats because everything we needed to fill out at the top was just information regarding the persons identity. After the first part we had to refer to the instruction manual for about every new section that was introduced. There were words I've never ever heard before and I needed to look them up in order to move on with the rest fo the form. If I could change one thing about the bureaucratic process that I flow charted I would probably change having to do different forms if you ha income come in from a certain place or from a certain process. This can be extremely tedious having to constantly refer to other forms that you hace filled out in order to complete the one that you are doing right now.

I think that the systems have become so complicated because as time progressed the government began to see many different scenarios in which someones income situation was not included on the form so they tried their best to cover almost all different types on the spectrum. Overall I thought that this project was a very learning process because most if not all of the processes that were done for this project someone in our classrooms will have to go through one day and this is a great way for us to get properly acquainted with the process beforehand.
image
image

Pierce Luck, Orange, NEW SLIDE

 From my constructive criticism my first change was too make my slide more plain. So as I look at presentations Zen I made sure it would be glance media. I made it so my slide you can glance at it one time and you'll get the meaning. Next I made my font really big so it would stand out. I made the colors of my words a light tan color to match with the white chess pieces in the background. I also made it this color so it could pop out from the darker colors. 

Brave - slide