On November 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to adjust the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA) fee schedule.  The public comment period is open until December 16, 2019.

Unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee-funded.  According to the USCIS, fees collected and deposited into the IEFA fund nearly 96% of USCIS’ budget.  Federal law requires USCIS to conduct biennial fee reviews and recommend necessary fee adjustments to ensure recovery of the full cost of administering the nation’s immigration laws, adjudicating applications and petitions, and providing the necessary infrastructure to support those activities.

“USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis.  This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost of their applications and minimizes subsidies from an already over-extended system,” said Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of USCIS.  “Furthermore, the adjudication of immigration applications and petitions requires in-depth screening, incurring costs that must be covered by the agency, and this proposal accounts for our operational needs and better aligns our fee schedule with the costs of processing each request.”

USCIS indicates the proposed fee rule accounts for increased costs to adjudicate immigration benefit requests, detect and deter immigration fraud, and thoroughly vet applicants, petitioners, and beneficiaries and proposes to increase fees by a weighted average increase of 21%.  According to DHS, this is necessary to ensure full cost recovery because the current fee schedule would leave the agency underfunded by approximately $1.3 billion per year.  USCIS last updated its fee structure in FY 2017, by a weighted average increase of 21%.

Also included in the proposed rule are proposals to amend regulations to remove the $30 charge for dishonored payments and to change the 15 calendar days for premium processing to 15 business days.

The public is invited to participate in this rulemaking by submitting written data, views, or arguments on all aspects of this proposed rule. The 30-day public comment period will conclude on 12/16/2019.  After the 30-day comment period, the DHS will address the comments received and publish a final rule in the Federal Register.

Below is a sampling of proposed fee changes from Proposed Rule 84 FR 62280, as published in the Federal Register.

Table 19—Proposed Fees by proposed rule:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements

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