INS Issues Final Rule Raising Fees for Many Applications and Petitions

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence Status

INS ISSUES FINAL RULE RAISING FEES FOR MANY APPLICATIONS AND PETITIONS
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 16, No. 1, February 28, 2002

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has published a final rule in the Federal Register that increases the fees charged for numerous categories of applications and petitions. The rule adopts without modification the increases that were laid out in a proposed rule published on Aug. 8, 2001 (see "INS Proposes to Raise Fees for Many Applications and Petitions," Immigrants' Rights Update, Aug. 31, 2001, p. 6). The fee increases specified in the rule took effect on Feb. 19, 2002.

The INS periodically reviews its fee schedule to ensure that the fees it collects cover the full costs of providing all the agency's adjudication and naturalization services. Collected fees go into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA), which is the primary source of funding for the agency's Adjudications and Naturalization Program, as well as some other programs that Congress has directed be funded out of the account. Some of the common applications and petitions for which the INS has increased the fee are listed in the table below; the INS last reviewed and raised fees for some of these applications in 1999.

The rule also doubles the fee for fingerprinting by the INS, raising it from $25 to $50. In the supplemental information to the proposed rule, the INS raised questions regarding the methodology the agency used to set the $300 fee for legalization applications under the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (LIFE Act). At that time, the agency proposed keeping the fee in place pending further review. The supplemental information to the final rule explains that the INS has now decided to reduce this fee to $255-the same amount now set for other I-485 adjustment applications-and to refund the difference for applicants who paid the higher fee. The INS will publish a separate rule regarding the timing of refunds.

Form	Description	Fee in 1997	Fee Before Latest Increase	New Fee
I-90	Application for replacement green card	$75	$110	$130
I-130	Petition to immigrate relative	$80	$110	$130
I-212	Application for permission to apply for admission following deportation or removal	$95	$170	$195
I-485	Application for adjustment of status	$130	$220	$255
I-601	Application for waiver of grounds of inadmissibility	$95	$170	$195
I-765	Application for employment authorization	$70	$100	$120
N-400	Application for naturalization	$95	$225	$260

66 Fed. Reg. 65,811-16 (Dec. 21, 2001).