Filing fees will increase drastically

Atty. Glenn Rose, Feb 14, 2007
(from Philippine News)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing to nearly double the filing fees for people applying for U.S. citizenship and drastically increase the filing fees for people trying to get a green card.

The Immigration Service (a division of the DHS) announced last week that it wants to raise the filing fees for citizenship from $330 to $595 (almost double) and add an $80 fingerprint fee on top of that. The filing fee for applications for green cards will increase dramatically from $325 to $905 plus the $80 fingerprint fee.

The Immigration Service claims that the new fees would reduce processing times by 20% and provide money for increased background checks. The Service expects to raise more than $2 billion over the next two years due to the fee increases. In addition to the claim of better service, the money is to be spent on improving immigration offices, technology, and hiring and training of workers. Other filing fees for work permits, replacement of green cards, and family petitions are also expected to rise substantially. The amount of fee increases for some of the other petitions have not yet been announced.

The largest jumps in filing fees are for entrepreneurs who want to immigrate to the United States to invest in business and create jobs. The fees for their applications will jump from $475 to a staggering $2,850. Fees for people applying to become legal residents under the 1986 law granting amnesty will significantly rise from $180 to $1,370.

The last major increase in fees was put into effect in the spring of 2004. Fees were also increased by $10 for most petitions on October 26, 2005 to cover the increased costs due to inflation. The Service is required to do a cost analysis every two years to determine if immigration costs are covered by the fee structure. The Service claims that the present fee structure does not cover the costs of administrating immigration.

Presently, the average of cumulated fees for all applications is about $264. The average will now rise to $438. Most immigration advocates compare the plan to increase the cost of applications as tantamount to highway robbery. Immigrants have no choice but to pay these fees. Advocates complain that this giant jump will put immigration benefits “out of reach” for those in low paying jobs.

Last week, Senator Ted Kennedy highly criticized the fee increases saying they would “price the American Dream out of reach for some qualified immigrants.” On the other hand, anti-immigrant lawmakers claim that taxpayers should not bear the burden of paying for the costs of immigration. Representative Lamar Smith from Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said that “it was right for the people who benefit to pay the cost of that benefit, not [the] taxpayer.”

Some members of Congress want to review the Immigration Service’s cost analysis. However, unless Congress passes an oversight law, the Service’s fee increases are not subject to Congressional approval. Any immigration legislation passed by Congress during 2007 is likely to include a guest worker program. The new fee increases do not include the cost of administrating a guest worker program.

Constant fee increases will be a fact of life in the next several years. The present fee schedule will probably be increased drastically sometime in June of 2007. Persons who want to apply for citizenship or a green card should apply now before the fees go up. They should always work with a qualified immigration attorney when filing any (but the simplest) applications. An immigration lawyer can file applications much more efficiently because of their experience.

Attorney Glenn Rose is experienced in successfully filing all types of immigration applications. He was born in the Philippines, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of six. He is a naturalized citizen. His law office is located in downtown San Francisco at 580 California St. (415) 283-3281. He is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).



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