USCIS Proposes Significant Increase in Filing Fees
Posted Feb 09, 2007
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The USCIS is trying to raise fees for immigration filings; a move that as caused controversy within the immigration world. The USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007. This notice sets forth the proposed fee increases, and the logic behind those proposed increases. The 56 page document is the result of the USCIS's "comprehensive review" of the costs involved in providing their services. The increases are intended to address funding gaps, which the USCIS attributes in part to increased security requirements, as well as new complexities in immigration requirements. Using the USCIS's own calculations, they project that the proposed fee adjustments will result in an increase of 66 percent over the current average.
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Timing of the Potential Fee Increase
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The regulation is in the proposed rule stage, with a sixty-day comment period that ends on April 2, 2007. Fees, therefore, will remain as they are until at least that date. The USCIS then has to review and consider the comments and send the proposed regulation for review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It is difficult to predict when the increase might go into effect, or if fees will remain at their current levels. The initial 60-days is the only period of certainty, at this time.
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The existing filing fees, which are always available through the forms page on MurthyDotCom, must be paid until proposed changes become final. Cases filed with incorrect fees are generally rejected. Individuals who are filing cases to reach in early April 2007 may thus wish to consider sending two checks to their attorneys, so that the appropriate fee will be forwarded to the USCIS.
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Cases Types Affected by the Increase in Fees
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The list of forms or case types affected by the substantial fee increases is fairly comprehensive. The increases would affect H1Bs, L-1s, and most other employment-based, nonimmigrant categories. Family- and employment-based green card cases would increase, as well as U.S. citizenship cases. The full list is available in the Notice. Examples of the commonly-used forms that would see fee increases are:
 

Form

Petition Type

Current
Fee

Proposed
Fee

I-129

Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker

$ 190

$ 320

I-130

Petition for Alien Relative

$ 190

$ 355

I-485

Application to Register Permanent Residence
or Adjust Status

$ 325

$ 905

I-140

Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

$ 195

$ 475

N-400

Application for Naturalization

$ 330

$ 595

Proposed Elimination of "Interim Benefits" Fees
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The Proposed Rule advocates an elimination of fees for what are referred to as interim benefits. These are the I-765, Application for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and I-131 Application for Travel Document (Advance Parole, only), that are issued based upon the foreign national's having a pending I-485, Application for Adjustment of Status. Since the I-485 fee would almost triple, however, there does not seem to be a cost savings for most individuals. Additionally, not every I-485 applicant needs or wants the EAD and AP, although many do renew them annually.
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 Submit Your Comments to USCIS by April 2, 2007
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Anyone may comment on the proposed regulation. Those interested in commenting should take time to review the proposed regulation and formulate logical, potentially persuasive statements. Comments will be made public, as they will be posted as submitted at www.regulations.gov. One should NOT include any personal detail unless s/he is willing to share it freely. While no one likes prices to go up, simply complaining about the increase in costs is unlikely to have an impact.
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Comments must be received by April 2, 2007 and must reference the agency name (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), as well as the docket number (USCIS-2006-0044). Comments may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via mail or hand-deliver / courier, in hardcopy, disk, or CD-ROM form to:

Director, Management Division
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Department of Homeland Security
111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor
Washington D.C.  20529

Conclusion
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Voicing your opinion makes you a part of the democratic process, and this is how the U.S. government and legal systems are supposed to work. Although many may hesitate to publicly comment, the government does carefully consider the content of comments, as well as the sheer number of those responding. When the USCIS introduced regulations to reduce the time for B-2 tourist visits from six months to 30 days, for example, there were more than 10,000 comments. That convinced the USCIS to shelve the proposal.

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