TIME TO FILE IS NOW - FEE HIKE ON THE HORIZON

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service plans on closing a $200 million dollar deficit by raising the filing fees for various immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications by an average of 10%. The only application that will not have its fees increased in the Naturalization application which is already at $675.00. Department of Homeland Security is considering increasing the applications fees for green cards from $930.00 to $985.00. The fees for a family based visa petition (I-130) will rise from $355.00 to $420.00. USCIS is considering adding new fees to the already fee heavy immigration process for immigrant investors, civil surgeons and to consular processing. Some visa petitioners will see relief in the form of reduction in fees for fiancé visa petition from $455.00 to $340.00. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for visa processing, is required to be self-sufficient and thus relies on application fees for 90% of its budget. USCIS urges the public to weigh in on the proposal at http://www.regulations.gov. The comment period runs Friday through July 26.

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