[Article] Immigrants Are Facing Big Increases in U.S. Fees

Ruu_Old

Just part of the article from here ..all I can say is..ouch.

Federal immigration authorities proposed yesterday to raise fees for visas and citizenship documents by an average of 66 percent, promising to use the added money to modernize and speed up an antiquated, overburdened bureaucracy.

Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the increases were necessary because the agency’s fees were not covering the costs of processing more than seven million applications a year and about 135,000 security background checks a day. Since 1988, Congress has required the agency to pay for its services entirely with the fees it collects.

In exchange for higher fees, Mr. Gonzalez pledged, the agency will reduce the average time to process documents, currently about six months, 20 percent by 2009.

Fees would continue to be waived for refugees seeking asylum and for immigrants who are victims of human trafficking or sexual violence. Otherwise, the increases would vary by document, but some would be large. The fee for an application to become a citizen would rise to $595 from $330, an 80 percent increase. The cost for an employer to bring in a foreign worker would jump to $475 from $195, an increase of 144 percent. For an American who wanted to bring a foreign fiancé to live in the United States, the cost would be $455, up 170 percent from $170.

Perhaps the most daunting proposed increase is for immigrants seeking to become permanent residents, whose fee would rise to $905 from $325. Immigration officials argued that the jump would not be as great as it appeared, because the fee would be charged only once. Under the current system, they said, immigrants seeking resident status often have to pay interim fees while they are waiting for their application to inch through the bureaucracy, making the average cost $800.

SoBe

thanks for the heads up ruu,thankfully my fiance visa is already sent before the increase,but when im there ill probably get hit with the increases for the rest

Ruu_Old

Don't think its going ahead just yet but they'll get their way, I think I heard in the summer of this year. Its one hell of an increase!

SoBe

have to agree with you,its a savage increase.but i already know its going to be a long drawen out expensive year for me but the end results will be worth it

Ruu_Old

Yep, when its all said and done you'll be happy. I am waiting for my conditional residence to be removed so then my greencard won't expire for another 10 years, that'll take the pressure of me. That used to cost $200 but they increased it to $275 (75 for biometrics instead of the standard 2x2 photographs). Ah well, at least I'll be done with them for a while shortly.