subject: Public Opinion on the Revised Fees for the Immigration Benefit Applications and Petitions [print this page] U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have proposed a federal rule in order to revise the fee structure of the immigration benefit applications and petitions. USCIS is seeking the public opinion on the planned fee hike and has posted the proposal to the Federal Register. All applicants and petitioners will experience a 10 percent weighted average increase in the overall fees.
Since the USCIS is fee-based organization, with about 90 percent of its budget dependent on the fee from immigration benefit applications and petitions, it has become mandatory to review its fee structure. According to the law, review of the fee structure should take place every two years. This is to ensure that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is not facing any loss of income administering the nation's immigration laws, processing applications, and providing the infrastructure.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, expressed that the USCIS is taking into consideration other cost-cutting measures in order to reduce the percentage of the fee hike. He also added that USCIS understands the hardships that would be faced by people when the revised fee structure comes into effect.
During the fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the fee revenue was much lower than projected. Budget cuts of around $160 million and appropriations from the Congress were not enough to balance the costs and expected revenue. Therefore, revising the fee structure to recover the costs was unavoidable.
There would be three new fees, including a fee for regional center designations under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, a fee for applications on civil surgeon designation, and a fee to recover the cost involved in processing immigrant visas granted by the Department of State. The public views on the proposed rule can be posted through www.regulations.gov till July 26, 2010.
Public Opinion on the Revised Fees for the Immigration Benefit Applications and Petitions
