Gibsonton

Road to citizenship

A new business, Simple Solution, helps immigrants with passports, immigration forms and ID cards.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 7, 2003

GIBSONTON -- Steve Fierro has always wanted to be a businessman. And he has always known he would be happiest helping his community, with the same enthusiasm that his mother helped their South Bronx neighborhood during his childhood.

So to Fierro and his wife, it seemed fitting to pour $5,000 of their "nest egg" into Simple Solution, a 3-month-old business that guides local immigrants through the complicated process of becoming U.S. citizens.

Out of a small storefront on U.S. 41 in Gibsonton, Fierro, 34, takes pictures for passports, immigration forms and ID cards. Fluent in Spanish, he helps people fill out immigration forms, and copies and faxes documents for customers. His wife, Monica, a Palm River Elementary teacher by day, moonlights as a notary.

"I don't charge anything to listen, or to just sit and talk and try to answer some of their questions," he said. "I'm not a lawyer, but I can show people where to go for help. They come in here desperate sometimes."

Fierro said he keeps his prices "reasonable," because he knows his customers don't have much to spare.

"It's bad enough for them to pay all the filing fees," he said.

The INS would not comment specifically on Fierro's business, but Florida spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said the agency encourages people who need help to contact the Florida Bar to determine whether an organization is acting lawfully.

The application and processing fee to become a U.S. citizen is $238, according to the INS. A green card, the document that gives an immigrant the legal right to live and work permanently in the United States, costs $96.

To renew a green card, Fierro charges $35 to fill out the customer's two-page application, make any necessary copies or faxes, and take photos.

Since he opened in November, Fierro has heard from area residents -- most of them Mexican -- who are confused, frustrated or overwhelmed by what's required to become a citizen. He hears from people who failed the citizenship test not because they didn't know the answers, he said, but because some of the questions were beyond their new English skills.

"So my wife and I are thinking of offering an English tutoring class," Fierro said. "I'll keep adding services as I see the need."

Fierro, a longtime security officer, and his wife moved to Brandon from Miami about a year ago. He got the idea for Simple Solution at work -- he is a security officer at the INS support center in Brandon.

"People would come in and their forms were all messed up, or they didn't know what documents they needed, or their pictures were wrong," Fierro said. "So I told my wife, 'We can serve this community and fill a need.' "

Simple Solution reminds Fierro of his mother, Magda, who recently died.

"She was always helping people, and she helped bring the Bronx back a little bit," he said. "My friends see me now with this business, and say, 'Look, you're just like your mother.' That feels good."

-- Staff researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 661-2426 or svansickler@sptimes.com.

More information

To contact Simple Solution, 10013 U.S. 41 S, call 741-9005, or e-mail owner Steve Fierro at SSimpleSolution@aol.com.

For information about the Immigration and Naturalization Service forms, fees and fingerprints, visit www.ins.gov/graphics/formsfee/index.htm.

The Tampa Sub Office of the INS, at 5524 W Cypress St., serves Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee, Manatee, Sarasota, De Soto, Charlotte and Lee counties. The office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call the National Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-800-375-5283 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information.

The Tampa Application Support Center, where applicants can get fingerprinted, is at Bay Plaza 1, Suite 401, 9225 Bay Plaza Blvd. You must have an appointment. Call the National Customer Service Center to schedule an appointment.