The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that adjusts US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) fees by a weighted average increase of twenty percent. The updated fees are effective October 2, 2020, and any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must include payment of the new, correct fee. Since these fees fund nearly ninety-seven percent of USCIS’ budget, the agency claims the weighted increase is necessary to avoid a budget shortfall of an estimated $1 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy, said. “These overdue adjustments in fees are necessary to efficiently and fairly administer our nation’s lawful immigration system, secure the homeland and protect Americans.”
Read moreUSCIS Proposes to Dramatically Increase Filing Fees
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced earlier this month a proposed rule to adjust the fee schedule by a weighted average increase of twenty-one percent. In making the announcement, USCIS noted that unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee-funded and claims the current fees if left unchanged would underfund the agency by approximately $1.3 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of USCIS, said in a statement. “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.”
Read moreBehind the News Story: NY Times: “Bronx Woman’s 10 Marriages, Not All of Them Over, Lead to Fraud Charges”
Earlier this spring, the incredible story of Liana Kristina Barrientos was all over the news. According to numerous sources, Ms. Barrientos had married at least ten men over an eleven-year period, claiming on each marriage application to have never been married before, and without obtaining divorces from the prior husbands (well, at least some of them). News sources openly speculated that the marriages were entered into for immigration benefits, pointing out the criminal investigation about Ms. Barrientos’s polygamy had been initiated following a tip from investigators from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which administers immigration benefits through US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) and investigates and prosecutes immigration law violations through Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ms. Barrientos, a native of the Dominican Republic and a US citizen, allegedly married the men in order for them to obtain Green Cards. The men were identified only by their initials and their countries of origin.
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