2007 USCIS Fee Increase Seems…Insufficient

Most of our clients and readers remember the summer of 2007 when USCIS raised the filing fees for certain services by a substantial amount (in all fairness, USCIS decreased the fees for certain services) (see the archived May 29, 2007 USCIS press release).  One of the motivating forces behind this fee increase was the collection of an additional funds which would lead to a 20 percent reduction in average application processing times for I-90, I-140, I-485 and N-400 petitions.

The jury is still out on whether there is a notable and sustainable decrease in processing times for petitions filed with USCIS.  However, in an article from today Business Week reports that the government has collected much less (hundreds of millions of dollars) than originally anticipated when the new USCIS fees went into effect.

The 2007 USCIS fee increase had a collection target of an additional $1 billion.  However, the agency is now expecting that it would collect about $282 million short of the $2.33 billion target for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2009.

According to Director Majorkas, “[g]iven the current economic climate, we anticipate that the current filing trend will continue. We will therefore continue to make the necessary adjustments while remaining dedicated to delivering on our public service mission.”  As a result, the agency costs are expected to far exceed its revenue and will have to seek ways to bridge its budget shortfall.  There are requests for money from Congress and it is possible that there may be some fee adjustments, although no official information has been made available.