Fact
Sheet: After Public Comment, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Announces Final Rule Adjusting Fees for Immigration Benefits
U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a final
rule adjusting fees for immigration applications and petitions.
The final rule follows a period of public comment on a proposed version of the rule, which USCIS published in the Federal Register
on June 11, 2010. After encouraging stakeholders to share their input,
USCIS considered all 225 comments received. The final rule will increase
overall fees by a weighted average of about 10 percent but will not
increase the fee for the naturalization application. The rule will also
reduce fees for six individual applications and petitions and will
expand the availability of fee waivers to new categories. The final rule
will be published in the Federal Register September 24, and the
adjusted fees will go into effect on November 23, 2010.
USCIS is a
primarily fee-based organization with about 90 percent of its budget
coming from fees paid by applicants and petitioners for immigration
benefits. The law requires USCIS to conduct fee reviews every two years
to determine whether it is recovering its costs to administer the
nation’s immigration laws, process applications, and provide the
infrastructure needed to support those activities. Remaining funds come
from appropriations provided annually by Congress. The final fee rule
concludes a comprehensive fee review begun in 2009.
USCIS’s Fee-based Budget
Fees
account for approximately $2.4 billion of USCIS’s $2.8 billion budget
request for fiscal year (FY) 2011. More than two-thirds of the budget
supports the adjudication of applications and petitions for immigration
benefits at USCIS field offices, service centers, customer service call
centers and records facilities. The remainder supports USCIS business
transformation efforts and the funding of headquarters program offices.
The adjudication areas supported by fees include the following:
- Family-based petitions - facilitating the process for close relatives to immigrate, gain permanent residency, travel and work;
- Employment-based
petitions - facilitating the process for current and prospective
employees to immigrate to or stay in the U.S. temporarily;
- Asylum and refugee processing - adjudicating asylum and processing refugees;
- Naturalization - adjudicating eligibility for U.S. citizenship;
- Special
status programs - adjudicating eligibility for U.S. immigration status
as a form of humanitarian aid to foreign nationals; and
- Document issuance and renewal - verifying eligibility for, producing and issuing immigration documents.
USCIS’s
fee revenue in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 was much lower than
projected, and fee revenue in fiscal year 2010 remains low. While USCIS
did receive appropriations from Congress and made budget cuts of
approximately $160 million, this has not bridged the remaining gap
between costs and anticipated revenue. A fee adjustment, as detailed in
the final rule, is necessary to ensure USCIS recovers the costs of its
operations while also meeting the application processing goals
identified in the 2007 fee rule.
Highlights of the 2010 Final Fee Rule
The
final fee rule will increase the average application and petition fees
by approximately 10 percent. In recognition of the unique importance of
naturalization, the final fee rule contains no increase in the
naturalization application fee.
The final fee rule establishes three new fees for:
- Regional center designation under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program (EB-5);
- Individuals
seeking civil surgeon designation (with an exemption for certain
physicians who examine service members, veterans, and their families at
U.S. government facilities); and
- Recovery of the USCIS cost of processing immigrant visas granted by the Department of State.
The
final fee rule adjusts fees for the premium processing service. This
adjustment will ensure that USCIS can continue to modernize as an
efficient and effective organization.
The final fee rule reduces fees for six individual applications and petitions:
- Petition for Alien Fiancé (Form I-129F);
- Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-539);
- Application to Adjust Status from Temporary to Permanent Resident (Form I-698);
- Application for Family Unity Benefits (Form I-817);
- Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document (Form N-565); and
- Application for Travel Document (Form I-131), when filed for Refugee Travel Document.
The
final fee rule eliminates two citizenship-related fees for those
service members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces who are eligible
to file an Application for Naturalization (Form N-400) with no fee:
- Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (Form N-336); and
- Application for Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-600).
Lastly, the final fee rule expands the availability of fee waivers to new categories, including:
- Individuals seeking humanitarian parole under an Application for Travel Document (Form I-131);
- Individuals
with any benefit request under the William Wilberforce Trafficking
Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008; and
- Individuals
filing a Notice of Appeal or Motion (Form I-290B) following a denial of
any application or petition that did not initially require a fee.
Final Rule: Schedule of Fees
The
following schedule lists the adjusted fees that will take effect on
November 23, 2010, alongside the existing fees in effect until that
date:
Form No. | Application/Petition Description | Existing Fees (effective through Nov. 22, 2010 | Adjusted Fees (effective beginning Nov. 23, 2010) |
I-90 | Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card | $290 | $365 |
I-102 | Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document | $320 | $330 |
I-129/129CW | Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | $320 | $325 |
I-129F | Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) | $455 | $340 |
I-130 | Petition for Alien Relative | $355 | $420 |
I-131 | Application for Travel Document | $305 | $360 |
I-140 | Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker | $475 | $580 |
I-191 | Application for Advance Permission to Return to Unrelinquished Domicile | $545 | $585 |
I-192 | Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant | $545 | $585 |
I-193 | Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa | $545 | $585 |
I-212 | Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the U.S. after Deportation or Removal | $545 | $585 |
I-290B | Notice of Appeal or Motion | $585 | $630 |
I-360 | Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant | $375 | $405 |
I-485 | Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status | $930 | $985 |
I-526 | Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur | $1,435 | $1,500 |
I-539 | Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status | $300 | $290 |
I-600/600A I-800/800A | Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative/Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition | $670 | $720 |
I-601 | Application for Waiver of Ground of Excludability | $545 | $585 |
I-612 | Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement | $545 | $585 |
I-687 | Application for Status as a Temporary Resident under Sections 245A or 210 of the Immigration and Nationality Act | $710 | $1,130 |
I-690 | Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility | $185 | $200 |
I-694 | Notice of Appeal of Decision under Sections 245A or 210 of the Immigration and Nationality Act | $545 | $755 |
I-698 | Application to Adjust Status from Temporary to Permanent Resident (Under Section 245A of Public Law 99-603) | $1,370 | $1,020 |
I-751 | Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence | $465 | $505 |
I-765 | Application for Employment Authorization | $340 | $380 |
I-817 | Application for Family Unity Benefits | $440 | $435 |
I-824 | Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition | $340 | $405 |
I-829 | Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions | $2,850 | $3,750 |
I-881 | Application
for Suspension of Deportation or Special Rule Cancellation of Removal
(Pursuant to Section 203 of Public Law 105–110) | $285 | $285 |
I-907 | Request for Premium Processing Service | $1,000 | $1,225 |
| Civil Surgeon Designation | $0 | $615 |
I-924 | Application for Regional Center under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program | $0 | $6,230 |
N-300 | Application to File Declaration of Intention | $235 | $250 |
N-336 | Request for Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings | $605 | $650 |
N-400 | Application for Naturalization | $595 | $595 |
N-470 | Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes | $305 | $330 |
N-565 | Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document | $380 | $345 |
N-600/600K | Application for Certification of Citizenship/ Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate under Section 322 | $460 | $600 |
| Immigrant Visa DHS Domestic Processing | $0 | $165 |
Biometrics | Capturing, Processing, and Storing Biometric Information | $80 | $85 |