Urgent Call to Action: Proposed Fee Increase by USCIS

December 10, 2019

On November 14, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed a fee schedule adjustment that would drastically increase fees for naturalization, asylum, DACA, work permits, and more. The proposed rule would also eliminate fee waivers for citizenship, lawful permanent residency, employment authorization, and other applications. In addition, it would increase fees for obtaining family history records through USCIS by 500% — a move that would have a significantly negative impact on genealogy and family history research.

These drastic fee hikes functionally change immigration policy by placing almost all immigration procedures out of financial reach. The fee for an application for citizenship, for example, would be raised from $640 to $1,170. This policy change will, therefore, have broad negative economic implications. When eligible immigrants become citizens, the benefits to society and to the economy are huge — societal benefits that this policy will significantly curtail.

Finally, the proposed rule would also transfer $207.6 million in application fees from USCIS to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), thereby deprioritizing legitimate immigration pathways. 

The rule is open for public comments until December 30, 2019. With such little time left, please go here immediately and leave a comment, and then encourage at least three others to also leave comments. This is how we make our voices heard as citizens in this great country! Act now. We will not be complicit by being complacent.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/14/2019-24366/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration?fbclid=IwAR036MMB3YkTI72bn40251xJXmo_n8UDYVeGBzynbXwwsG4NbRMze46j0-M#open-comment