New fees coming our way!

N

NIW_Engineer

Registered Users (C)
Hi all. Check this out:

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The CIS is proposing to increase AOS filing fees. The base fee for an I-485 would be increased to $905, with the biometric fee going up to $80. The fees for advance parole (I-131) and employment authorization (I-765) would also be increased to $305 and $340 respectively. If this proposal is adopted, then a typical AOS application (AOS plus AP and EAD) for an individual would involve filing fees of $1,630.

This is a proposal, not a final rule. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow (Thursday, February 1, 2007). Before it can take effect, the CIS must receive and consider public comment, then publish a final rule. The public comment and consideration process will take a minimum of a few months and could take up to a year. Usually, they give at least 30 days notice before a final rule takes effect.
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source: Gotcher Law Group
http://www.immigration-information.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2597
 
apparently they do!
:mad:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20070131-0746-immigration-fees.html

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The agency said the new fees would reduce average application processing times by the end of September 2009. The agency said it would raise $2 billion over two years from the fee increases. The money is to be spent on improving immigration offices, technology, background checks of immigrants and speeding up completing applications.

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Citizenship and Immigration Services covers its costs with application fees. The agency is required to do a fee analysis every two years to determine whether money raised from fees is covering costs. The agency last raised its fees in 2004, citing the cost of more intense background checks in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
 
My attorney just told me that eveything is going up 60 or 80% thats a lot!!!!
I guess they just want more money to make the service better...
 
Well, I did read something I liked in the official announcement:
(the official announcement is here:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/ProposedRule.pdf)
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This proposed rule would restructure certain fee arrangements that are currently perceived to provide disincentives for USCIS to improve efficiency in processing. For example, USCIS has long authorized certain customers, particularly applicants for adjustment of status, to apply for certain benefits while the initial application is pending, referred to generally as “interim benefits.” These include, most importantly, employment
authorization and permission to travel abroad and return to the United States to pursue the pending application. In the current fee structure, USCIS charges additional fees for interim benefits in addition to initial application fees. Thus, the longer cases take to adjudicate, the more total revenue is collected. This creates the perception that USCIS gains by processing cases slowly.

Through the provisions proposed in this rule, USCIS would eliminate its reliance on interim benefits as a significant funding source for base operations and address the problem that aliens are required to pay for services they would not need if the underlying petition were timely processed, while ineligible and fraudulent applicants receive work authorization and travel documents because of processing delays. Moreover, this change addresses the historic perception that because of the Congressional requirement that
USCIS be self-funded from fees, USCIS may make decisions that compromise
operational efficiency to ensure revenue flow. Under the proposed fee structure, an applicant for adjustment of status will pay a single fee. If USCIS is unable to process the base application within the established processing goals, the applicant will not pay separate fees for interim benefits, no matter how long the case remains pending.

...

USCIS estimates that the current application fees paid by an applicant for adjustment of status with interim benefits over a multi-year time period are approximately $800. The proposed rule would increase the adjustment of status application (Form I-485) fee for an adult applicant to $905, but exempts applicants who have paid that fee from any additional fee that otherwise might be payable to apply for advance parole or employment authorization. USCIS anticipates revising the Form I-485 accordingly, but
this proposed rule would give USCIS flexibility to continue to use the Forms I-131 and I-765 for adjustment applicants. Either way, no additional fee would be charged for a Form I-485 applicant who has paid the base fee that now includes the cost of processing interim benefits.

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