N-400 Fees Scheduled

N

N400-MN

Registered Users (C)
I heard that the application fee for N-400 will go up beginning of April 2007. (Right now it is $330.00 for the application and $70.00 for the fingerprint). Is that the true statement or anyone knows when the changes will be in effect though and how much will it be?

Thanks
 
if passed, the N-400 fee(including biometric) will increase from $400 to $665.







http://www.ilw.com/articles/2007,0326-lee.shtm

2. S. 795/ H.R. 1379 propose important restrictions on U.S.C.I.S. fee hikes and FBI name checks.

Senate Bill 795 and its House counterpart, H.R. 1379, innocuously titled the "Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007" may well be remembered not for its citizenship provisions, but for its warning shot across the bow that fee hikes of such magnitude as proposed by U.S.C.I.S. recently (86% weighted average increase on all fees) and long out drawn-out delays in immigration cases because of FBI name checks will not be allowed. The legislation was introduced on March 7, 2007 in both chambers by Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL).

In U.S.C.I.S.'s proposed rule of February 1, 2007, astronomical fee raises were proposed including for I-485 applications (to adjust status to permanent residence) from the current fee of $325 to $905, I-751 petitions (to remove conditions on residence) from $205 to $465, I-601 applications (for waivers of grounds of excludability) from $265 to $545, and N-400 applications (for naturalization) from $330 to $595 (all fees given without the $70 biometrics fee). The reasons cited by U.S.C.I.S. were Congress' transforming legacy INS into a fee based agency in the past, and that the collection of fees must not only ensure recovery of full costs of adjudications and naturalization services, but also pay for U.S.C.I.S.'s infrastructure. Much of the increase would go to fund the agency's ambitious plans to upgrade its infrastructure. However, the magnitude of the increase fueled much negative reaction. The proposed legislation would change U.S.C.I.S. from a totally fee based organization to one only partially dependent upon collection of fees by authorizing annual appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security for an amount equal to the difference between the fees collected by U.S.C.I.S. and the cost of providing the services. The DHS would be allowed to set fees to ensure recovery of full costs of providing such services or only a portion. It is certainly time for Congress to move the operations of U.S.C.I.S. back to partial funding as immigrants by and large have proved a positive force to this country's economy. It is difficult for lawyers in this field a long time to grasp the enormity of these fees as we can remember a time when I-130 petitions cost the applicant $10, I-485s $30, and N-400s $15. A retired Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Legacy INS, Victor W. Johnston, writing in the Immigrant's Weekly publication of ILW.com, on February 12, 2007, summed it best in remembering fees costing $10 for an immigrant petition and $50 for an application for citizenship, stating that he did not believe that there are enough people to justify such exorbitant fees even if CIS was so technologically advanced that it would be in the 23rd century, and to pay him $50 each, give him access to the system, and he would do as many naturalization applications as anyone wanted and save the taxpayers and users a bundle.
 
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