Final Fee Rule For Immigration Petitions Announced By UscisBlog
The final fee rule for processing immigration petitions has recently been announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS.) On June 11, 2010, USCIS published the proposed rule in the Federal Register. The final rule has been announced after taking into account the 225 comments received from stakeholders on the proposed rule.
As per the final rule, the overall processing fees for immigration petitions will be increased by an average of about 10 percent. The increase in fees does not apply for the naturalization applications. The adjusted fees will be effective from November 23, 2010.
Alejandro Mayorkas, USCIS Director expressed his gratitude to the public who submitted their comments on the proposed rule. He also added that USCIS will work towards enhancing the services that they provide.
The final fee rule includes the following three new fees.
Regional center designation fee under the Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Pilot Program
Civil surgeon designation fee
A fee to cover the costs borne by USCIS in the processing of immigration petitions
Further, processing fees for service members and for a few experienced members of the U.S. armed forces have been reduced and eliminated. USCIS has also expanded the availability of fee waivers for certain USCIS forms.
USCIS is obliged to carry out fee reviews once in two years. The fee review is done in order to arrive at the funding levels required for processing of immigration petitions, for managing the nations immigration laws, and to set up the infrastructure that is convenient for those activities.
The fee revenue in financial years 2008 and 2009 was lower than it was planned and it continues to be low in financial year 2010. Although USCIS reduced its budgeted expenditures by about $160 million, the gap that existed between costs and expected revenue was not bridged. Thus, the final fee rule is expected to recover the operations cost and also meet the application processing goals that was determined in the 2007 fee rule.
Petitioners requesting for immigration benefits can visit Usa-green-Card to get assisted in the preparation and submission of visa applications.
As per the final rule, the overall processing fees for immigration petitions will be increased by an average of about 10 percent. The increase in fees does not apply for the naturalization applications. The adjusted fees will be effective from November 23, 2010.
Alejandro Mayorkas, USCIS Director expressed his gratitude to the public who submitted their comments on the proposed rule. He also added that USCIS will work towards enhancing the services that they provide.
The final fee rule includes the following three new fees.
Regional center designation fee under the Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Pilot Program
Civil surgeon designation fee
A fee to cover the costs borne by USCIS in the processing of immigration petitions
Further, processing fees for service members and for a few experienced members of the U.S. armed forces have been reduced and eliminated. USCIS has also expanded the availability of fee waivers for certain USCIS forms.
USCIS is obliged to carry out fee reviews once in two years. The fee review is done in order to arrive at the funding levels required for processing of immigration petitions, for managing the nations immigration laws, and to set up the infrastructure that is convenient for those activities.
The fee revenue in financial years 2008 and 2009 was lower than it was planned and it continues to be low in financial year 2010. Although USCIS reduced its budgeted expenditures by about $160 million, the gap that existed between costs and expected revenue was not bridged. Thus, the final fee rule is expected to recover the operations cost and also meet the application processing goals that was determined in the 2007 fee rule.
Petitioners requesting for immigration benefits can visit Usa-green-Card to get assisted in the preparation and submission of visa applications.