USCIS hikes fees after no comments made

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had informed the public that it would increase its fees in May this year. They waited for comments from the public but after receiving none they went ahead with the increases, this time to take effect on Dec. 23.

The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker nonimmigrant visa is included in the visa classification that increased the filing fee. The CW-1 is a visa classification where businesses in the CNMI are allowed to employ foreign workers provided that they would transition to the U.S. immigration system within a certain period of time.

The CW-1 visa uses the I-129 form where the filing fee would increase from $325 to $460 per head.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said yesterday there are costs in processing documents with USCIS. “No one likes to see fees increased, but there are costs involved in processing immigration and naturalization benefit requests.

“USCIS has an obligation to recover the cost of those services. A comprehensive fee review concluded that the current fees do not allow full cost recovery,” said Sablan.

He pointed out that the proposed fees were first posted on the Federal Register. “The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed fee schedule in the Federal Register in May this year. No comments were received and the new rule takes effect on Dec. 23.”

USCIS’ funds come from the fees paid by applicants and petitioners that want to avail of immigration benefits. This new adjustment of filing fees for immigration applications and petitions is the first time in six years.

Federal law requires USCIS to conduct reviews of its fees every two years “to determine the funding levels necessary to administer the nation’s immigration laws, process benefit requests and provide the infrastructure needed to support those activities,” said USCIS in a statement.

“This increase is necessary to recover the full cost of services provided by USCIS. These include the costs associated with fraud detection and national security, customer service and case processing, and providing services without charge to refugee and asylum applicants and to other customers eligible for fee waivers or exemptions.”

“This is our first fee increase since November 2010, and we sincerely appreciate the valuable public input we received as we prepared this final rule,” said USCIS director León Rodríguez. “We are mindful of the effect fee increases have on many of the customers we serve. That’s why we decided against raising fees as recommended after the fiscal year 2012 and 2014 fee reviews. However, as an agency dependent upon users’ fees to operate, these changes are now necessary to ensure we can continue to serve our customers effectively. We will also offer a reduced filing fee for certain naturalization applicants with limited means.”