Immigrants struggle with rising fees

[almaty 19]

SAN FRANCISCO - Supporting herself and a 7-year-old son on a preschool teacher's salary in suburban Marin County, one of the nation's priciest housing markets, keeps Russian immigrant Sveta Nikitina on a tight budget.

One expense she can't control is the rising cost of filing the forms she needs to work and travel in the United States while she waits to become a permanent resident.

Those fees have already pushed her careful bookkeeping into the red.

And now her plans — and those of many other immigrants — could be pushed out of reach by a proposal to increase the filing fees for more than two dozen forms by an average of 66 percent. The increases are likely to be implemented by summer.

"It was a huge amount of money for me," she said. "I went into overdraft to do it, but what else can I do — throw in the towel, just give up?"

The $350 Nikitina paid this year to the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services would go up to $645 annually. That is just for filing the forms to renew her work and travel permits.

For the vast majority of legal immigrants who are just starting the residency application process that Nikitina already has under way, the fees for filing forms and for being fingerprinting would go from $935 to $1985. Some people are allowed to file for free, including members of the military and refugees.

"A lot of them are making very difficult choices, between food and bills and rent and these fees, plus whatever they have to pay an attorney," said Susan Bowyer, managing attorney at the International Institute of the East Bay, a nonprofit organization that gives newcomers cut-rate legal help. "Even with our reduced fees, it would be a real hardship."

The federal agency, required by Congress to support its operations with fees, plans to use the funds to reduce lengthy delays in processing certain applications, strengthen its security and fraud investigations teams, and modernize equipment, said agency spokeswoman Sharon Rummery.

Some of the agency's goals — speeding up processing, putting files online instead of in boxes and clearing the backlog — are in the applicants' interest, she said.

"We've come very far," she said. "There used to be lines that would go around the block. We don't have that anymore."

However, immigrants and their attorneys fear the hikes will hurt people who are trying to follow the rules, stalling their immigration process or delaying their ability to bring over close relatives.

"The impact is ... likely to be immediate and profound," said Crystal Williams, of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Advocates fear some might try to cut costs by trying to navigate the complexities of immigration law without an attorney.

"Immigration law today is a much more dangerous thicket than it was a decade ago," said Williams. "The wrong mistake could not only cause a person to lose his shot at citizenship, it could cost him his green card and his ability to live lawfully in the U.S."

Last year, 730,642 immigrants applied to become U.S. citizens, and 497,005 applied to become permanent residents.

The federal government implemented smaller fee increases in 2004, to account for the additional costs of in-depth background checks required after Sept. 11, and again in 2005, to keep up with inflation.

Stephen and Simona Gaudet, who were recently married, say the fees mean they may have to indefinitely postpone her goal of becoming a citizen. Gaudet, a construction worker and landscape designer from Lynn, Mass., is on disability because of an injury and his wife, a Latvian immigrant, is holding down two jobs.

"It's definitely a priority, but for a young couple like us, it boils down to a money issue," he said.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

They better wait until after June when our I-751 has been filed. Oh, wait. Then there's the N-400 a year down the road. Does this never end?

[Boiler 45,496]

Advocates fear some might try to cut costs by trying to navigate the complexities of immigration law without an attorney.

Perhaps the real concern here.........

[TracyLuis 0]

They better wait until after June when our I-751 has been filed. Oh, wait. Then there's the N-400 a year down the road. Does this never end?

I don't think it does...

[meauxna 15]

They better wait until after June when our I-751 has been filed. Oh, wait. Then there's the N-400 a year down the road. Does this never end?

I don't think it does...

Yes, it does.

Courage!

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Just go illegal. After that, you'll have all kinds of groups willing to stand up for your right to free everything.

[Ban Hammer 13,335]

Just go illegal. After that, you'll have all kinds of groups willing to stand up for your right to free everything.

especially if one is a minority gay/lesbian illegal

[Heracles 417]

Just go illegal. After that, you'll have all kinds of groups willing to stand up for your right to free everything.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

They better wait until after June when our I-751 has been filed. Oh, wait. Then there's the N-400 a year down the road. Does this never end?

I don't think it does...

Yes, it does.

Courage!

Yeah, that's what I thought when I became a citizen.

And then I married a gal from overseas and started all over.

Should be done after this round, though, unless there are family members desiring to follow...

[peejay 327]

It's just George W. Bush's way of setting up the coming amnesty for the illegal aliens so his crooked Republican cronies can keep their cheap foreign labor. The high fees will ensure they won't become US ciitizens and vote Democrat. Do you really think these freeloading illegals are going to vote for the Republicans? They will vote for the party of food stamps, Section 8 housing, Medicaid, and all the other entitlements of the Lefties. These illegal aliens aren't stupid, but neither is Georgie Boy.

The only ones that are stupid is the American middle class that puts up with this retardedness.

[cbd2cai 0]

SAN FRANCISCO - Supporting herself and a 7-year-old son on a preschool teacher's salary in suburban Marin County, one of the nation's priciest housing markets, keeps Russian immigrant Sveta Nikitina on a tight budget.

I just question why she wants to live in Marin county?? I love the San Francisco area but I can't afford to live there and I don't struggle on a pre-school teacher's salary. Maybe a cheaper living location would help out with the budget. But I guess sometimes you can't control where you end up living.

Basically, yes, I agree, the fees going up suck big time and it is going to cause a hardship for some ppl. This whole process is a hardship and the constant "money pit" aspects of it certainly don't help.

Note: Texas is a cheap place to live . . . and we have lots of immigrants down here, hehe, legal and illegal!!!

Edited February 20, 2007 by cbd2cai

[almaty 19]

the question is...will this speed the process up ?

that is the goal of the increase at least, that is what they are saying...

[cbd2cai 0]

the question is...will this speed the process up ?

that is the goal of the increase at least, that is what they are saying...

I might be going out on a rather shaky limb here, but I will say probably . . . . FAT CHANCE . . .

[almaty 19]

the question is...will this speed the process up ?

that is the goal of the increase at least, that is what they are saying...

I might be going out on a rather shaky limb here, but I will say probably . . . . FAT CHANCE . . .

i agree

[eric&gen 0]

The illegal aliens that cross the borders get everything for free while the immigrants who goes through the process the right way don't get chit but a boot in the azz and a hike in the fees.