The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is thinking about raising immigration fees because of financial troubles worsened by the pandemic. They realize they need to review fees for different immigration processes.
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The proposed changes cover things like H-1B visas and green card applications and have caused disagreement, with over 6000 people and groups giving negative feedback.
One big change might be the H-1B E-registration fee going up a lot, from $10 to $215, a 2050% increase. The petition fee for an H-1B visa application may also go up by 70%, from $460 to $780.
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For citizenship applications, the fees might go up by 19%, from $640 to $760. The largest increases are proposed for EB-5 investors in the green card program. The initial I-526 petitions could go up by 204% to $11,160, and I-829 petitions to remove conditions on permanent resident status may increase by 148% to $9,525.
The final decision on the proposed fees is expected in December or January 2024, with the changes coming into effect 60-90 days later. USCIS says these increases are needed to match the agency’s capacity with the expected workload and prevent future delays.