![]() The USCIS budget is currently facing a $560 million budget shortfall and has determined that the current fee structure is not able to cover the cost of its services. One promise the USCIS made in 2007 was that the fee increase would help drop the average time it takes to process an application from seven months to five months today, the average processing time is under six. USCIS is required to do a fee study every two years and propose fee levels proportional to the costs they are incurring. USCIS is primarily a “fee-based” agency, more than 90% of USCIS operating costs are covered by fees paid for immigration services and applications. Fees for issuing Green Cards for new immigrants (Immigrant fees) and for biometrics (fingerprinting) remain the same. The fee adjustment, that will be in effect starting December 23, 2016, starting at $15 per application and going up to as much as hundreds of dollars for certain immigration categories. While fees for some petitions will remain the same, more than three dozen immigration and naturalization forms will see significant increases, as well as applications and other similar services. Applications or petitions mailed, postmarked, or otherwise filed on or after December 23, 2016, must include the new fees. ![]() ![]() The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) a part of the Department of Homeland Security that oversees lawful immigration to the U.S., will increase filing fees by an average of 21%. ![]()
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