USCIS Proposes Rule to Adjust Immigration and Naturalization Fees
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently proposed increasing certain immigration and naturalization application costs. Government fee increases are normally a non-starter for most consumers.
But the government believes increasing certain immigration fees would allow USCIS to better serve corporate and individual stakeholders, reestablish and maintain timely case processing and prevent the accumulation of the kinds of immigration case backlogs that hurt U.S. employers and laborers with staffing shortages since the pandemic era.
Agency operating revenues declined substantially after the onset and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to a dramatic reduction in immigration related filings for employers and families, resulting in a temporary decrease in agency revenue by 40 percent. End-user customer service suffered because work permits and employment visas were stalled.
If increases are reasonable and actually improve the delivery of work permits and immigration benefits to employers and laborers, then the government’s proposal may be productive. USCIS apparently anticipates growth in immigration filings and is intent on having sufficient funds to improve customer service operations to manage the anticipated incoming workload. If enacted, the new fee schedule would apply to functions like biometric services, premium processing timelines and online filings.
A comparison of the current fees and proposed fees for employment-based petitions can be found here.
Because the current proposal to increase user fees originated from a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), fees will remain stable for the next 60 days and would not increase until final rules become effective.
Corporate interests, human resource managers and individual stakeholders should look for additional information concerning proposed fee increases after the first quarter of 2023.
For more information, advice or guidance about immigration benefits in the employment and family space, please reach out to Brandon Davis, Laura Buck or any member of Phelps’ Immigration Team.
