DNA Tests for U.S. Immigrants
To speed up the citizenship process, starting in the 90’s, some immigrants to the U.S. began paying for DNA testing to prove family relationships. Costs range from $300-500 per person on average.
That is what motivated Joseph Mataley, a Ghanaian who paid $1,500 for testing on himself and his four young daughters soon after he filed their U.S. residency applications. Immigration officials did not request such tests.
It was a lot of money for Mataley, who works two jobs in Denver, but “it probably would have taken another year without doing the DNA so quickly,” he said. He was reunited with his daughters in April after a three-year application process.
Although some people have valid birth certificates to prove parent-child relationships, DNA testing apparently seals the deal. The U.S. government claims that no other genetic information on applicants is retained.
ABC News, July 27, 2006
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] Annnd DNA testing gets ever more ubiquitous– see the new issue highlighted by Genetics and Health Blog: To speed up the citizenship process, starting in the 90’s, some immigrants to the U.S. began paying for DNA testing to prove family relationships. Costs range from $300-500 per person on average. [...]
[...] from Ghana. As I wrote last summer, immigrants are increasingly being asked by the US government to prove their family relationships using DNA. But Isaac, a new US citizen, had no idea that he’d unearth a [...]