The Bush administration formally announced on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 its proposal, "Building an Immigration Service for the 21st Century", for raising fees for immigration services by an average of 66%. Under the proposal, the cost to applicants for application and petition fees will now average about $438, compared to the current average of $264. Most notably, the current fee of $330 to apply for citizenship (naturalization) will rise under the proposed rule to $595 and the $70 fingerprinting fee is set to rise to $80. The fee for Form I-485 for adjustment of status is also set to rise from the current fee of $325 to $905. The proposal, however, will eliminate fees for applications for certain "interim benefits," such as applications for work or travel while one's Form I-485 is pending. The proposal also contains an exemption of fees for initial applications for benefits for certain individuals, including those seeking T-Nonimmigrant status (Victims of Human Trafficking) and applicants seeking immigrant status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Other fee waivers based on "inability to pay" will still exist under the proposed rule, although the USCIS plans on modifying and clarifying eligibility for these waivers.

The USCIS uses the fees to cover its costs for processing immigration and naturalization benefit applications and petitions, biometric services and associated support services. The USCIS has stated that the increase is based on a determination that the current fees are not allowing the Agency to recover the full costs of services. The last significant fee increase occurred in 2004, when the CIS cited more intense background checks in the wake of September 11, 2001 as the reason for fee hikes.

Immigrant advocates have argued that USCIS costs cannot be absorbed by the application fees alone and have suggested in the past that Congress should appropriate money to help pay for costs. Advocates fear that the proposed fee increase creates a significant hardship on applicants, keeping lower-income and less-educated individuals from becoming citizens.

The proposal for this fee increase will be published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007 and undergo a 60-day comment period before it may be finalized. Fee increases will take effect no sooner than 120 days after the February 1, 2007 publishing. If you would like to comment on the proposed fee increase please visit http://www.regulations.gov to view the proposed rule and to submit a comment.  You may also fax a comment to the Federal eRulemaking portal at 866-466-5370 or mail a comment to (please reference DHS Docket NO. USCIS-2006-0044 in your correspondence):

Director, Regulatory Management Division
U.S. Citizenship & Immig. Services, DHS
111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor
Washington DC 20529

13Apr09

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