Trump Administration Continue To Attack Immigration, Imposes Fees

August 1, 2020

The US will join only three other countries -- Australia, Fiji, and Iran -- imposing asylum fees.

The Trump administration is dramatically increasing fees for dozens of immigration and work applications, including a more than 80 percent increase on naturalization applications and a first-time fee for asylum applicants.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for the country's immigration and naturalization system, updated and finalized its fee structure after a nearly nine month review.

The agency increased the cost of online naturalization applications from $640 to $1,160. The naturalization fee will represent the full cost to process the application, the agency says, plus a proportional share of overhead costs, a change from previous policy.

There will also be a $50 fee for asylum seekers.

Historically, asylum seekers around the world are not subject to application fees, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

The new fees take effect October 2.

The announcement comes as the agency is facing a significant budget shortfall and looming furloughs. USCIS closed offices and paused services due to the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting a request for $1.2 billion in emergency funds from Congress. Unlike most federal agencies, USCIS receives most of its funding from fee collection.

However, the new fees, which are assessed by law every two years, are unrelated to the current budget shortfall, according to a USCIS spokesperson. The agency faced a loss of approximately $4.1 million per business day before the pandemic, the spokesperson added.

USCIS, which oversees the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, (DACA), program, did remove a proposed $275 renewal fee for DACA recipients.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced it will not accept new applications for the Obama-era program that shields from deportation certain undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. And, the administration said it will limit renewals to one year instead of two while it reviews the program.

DACA fees for employment authorization and biometric services will remain at 2017 levels.

Source:

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/07/31/politics/uscis-new-fees/index.html?__twitter_impression=true