Facing a budget crunch, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is planning to raise the cost of applications.
The federal agency generally updates its fee schedule every few years, the last time being 2016. During the Trump administration, there was an attempt to raise costs dramatically, as well make it harder for poor immigrants to qualify for fee waivers, but federal judges eventuallyKaren Sullivan, the director of advocacy at Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
The proposed fee changes are a means to allow USCIS to keep up with incoming inventories and avoid future backlogs, the agency said.Under the proposal, applying for a green card with biometrics, or biological measurements, will go up from $1,225 to $1,540. Biometrics — which include fingerprints, a photo and signature — are often required for green cards and other forms.
"For people who are born here and never had to deal with the immigration system, they don't have a great understanding of how difficult it really is," Klos said.USCIS does offer fee waivers to some low-income immigrants and fee exemptions for humanitarian reasons, such as for refugees, asylum-seekers and domestic violence victims.
"To offer a discount if you're filing online helps the most privileged of immigrants, but truly doesn't help the most marginalized," said Thomas of the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.
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