US citizenship gets costly
published: Thursday | February 1, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP):

The Bush administration is proposing to nearly double the cost of becoming a citizen of the United States and drastically raise the cost of becoming a legal permanent resident.

Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, yesterday announced that it wants to raise the application fee for citizenship from US$330 (J$22,110) to US$595 (J$39,865). It wants the fee for becoming a legal permanent resident to move from US$180 (J$12,000) to US$1,370 (J$91,790).

Improved service

"As a fee-based agency we must be able to recover the cost necessary to administer an efficient and secure immigration system that ultimately improves service delivery, prevents future backlogs, closes security gaps and furthers our modernisation efforts," said Emilio Gonzalez, CIS director.

The agency said the new fees would reduce average application processing times by the end of September 2009.

Fees for a wide variety of immigration services would rise an average of 66 per cent.

Applicants now pay a US$70 fingerprinting fee, and the agency wants to raise that to US$80. Fees are also paid for things such as work permits, replacing lost green cards and petitions to adopt orphans from other countries.

The proposed fee increases would not be final until after a public comment period.

Congressional Democrats last week warned in a letter to Gonzalez that they planned to review the agency's analyses behind any proposed immigration fee increases.

The letter was signed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and immigration subcommittee chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and immigration subcommittee chairwoman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren. All are Democrats.

Fee analysis every two years

Citizenship and Immigration Services covers its costs with application fees. The agency is required to do a fee analysis every two years to determine whether money raised from fees is covering costs. The agency last raised its fees in 2004, citing the cost of more intense background checks in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Immigrant advocates have long argued that the agency's costs cannot be absorbed by application fees. They want Congress to appropriate money to help pay costs.


Application fee for citizenship to increase from US$330 to US$595.

Application fee for becoming a legal permanent resident to move from US$180 to US$1,370.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

gotta fund the war some how

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I know you said
Why can't you just get over it,
It turned my whole world around
and i kind of like it
I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.
And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

Exactly my thoughts OBI!!!!

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Mine too... now I'm in a bad mood going to work.

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Sorry... they's have to pay me much more than that...

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The thing is, those fees are just the tip of the iceberg. With all the other paperwork you have to come up with and pay for, these figures are staggering.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

That is such a drastic increase for the application to become a legal resident...just not right.

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This is just another way for the Bush Administration to further isolate people from and within our country... such a proud moment George. God, please let Hillary win!!!!!!!!!!

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Having just been through the visa process, I can't help but say, I have been wondering how they do it on the money we pay. It's a lot, don't get me wrong. I would never say it was too cheap. But, all the channels it goes through to get to the end, I know it costs a lot of money to pay all those people to process. Paperpushers, people to verify info., people to scrutinize the tax and money situation, people to answer your questions, the mailing of everything all over the place, FBI checks, the biometrics process, all the scanning equipment needed to keep up......knowing how much people are paid for different things and all the people involved, it seems it would cost a lot to maintain all of it.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

And my thoughts are that they get paid too dyam much for the visa process. They can process one person in less than 2 minutes for $100 US. Highway Robbery! I guess that's what built that big new building on Hope Road for them, the hard earned dollars of Jamaicans. It makes me sick.

Yah, I suppose I didn't donate to the cause, huh?

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

I understand your point JG BUT look at how many thousands of people apply everyday in different parts of the world not just in the USA and for every application there is all those fees. I have a hard time thinking that ALL that money goes to pay employees.

Don't get me wrong I feel the same way about Canada as well, and for every person that gets turned down - thats money gone there is no refund!!! Look how many are turned down just in JA alone on a daily basis, they don't get he $100 back.

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You've been through it, Swell. You know all the channels it goes through to get back to you. Someboday has to be doing something with it the whole way through. I agree it is probably inflated; but then, again, isn't everything when it comes to paperwork. It cost me $15 to get my birth certificate that took them 10 minutes to process, $45 for a marriage licence, etc.

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...

I know - but I also know many sit in a pile for a long time before anyone touches it. I just dont think the prices are justified completly.

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Is anything anymore?

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If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame...