USCIS saving jobs with delayed processing? due to chronic overspend?

[hateadminforms 19]

New Administration change, pressure for budget and income, how do you protect your job? You work slower and let the case load mount up.

Already over spending, major IT project costing too much - how do you control cost - collect the fees and work slow on the cases and keep administration costs low.

There are no real measurements in the public domain or are there to help us understand the true situation (except for that below or similar - link to full publication at end), yet I have a feeling the BUDGET OVERSPEND MISCALCULATION is far worse.

That does not bode well for hopefuls like us in the future.

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The Federal Register - DHS proposes to increase USCIS fees by a weighted average of 21 percent and add one new fee. In addition, DHS proposes to clarify that persons filing a benefit request may be required to appear for biometrics services or an interview and pay the biometrics services fee, and make a number of other changes.

USCIS calculates its fees to recover the full cost of USCIS operations, which do not include the limited appropriated funds provided by Congress. USCIS anticipates if it continues to operate at current fee levels, it will experience an average annual shortfall of $560 million between IEFA revenues and costs. This projected shortfall poses a risk of degrading USCIS operations funded by IEFA revenue. The proposed rule would eliminate this risk by ensuring full cost recovery. DHS proposes to adjust fees by a weighted average increase of 21 percent.

Finally, this rule accounts for and is consistent with congressional appropriations for specific USCIS programs. Appropriated funding for USCIS for FY 2016 provided funding only for the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program in the amount of $119.7 million. See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Public Law 114-113, div. F, #######. IV (Dec. 18, 2015) (DHS Appropriations Act 2016).

B. Full Cost Recovery

See id., para. 5. Full costs include, but are not limited to, an appropriate share of:

• Direct and indirect personnel costs, including salaries and fringe benefits such as medical insurance and retirement;
• Physical overhead, consulting, and other indirect costs, including material and supply costs, utilities, insurance, travel, and rents or imputed rents on land, buildings, and equipment;
• Management and supervisory costs; and
• The costs of enforcement, collection, research, establishment of standards, and regulation. Id.

Second, this proposed rule would set fees at a level sufficient to fund overall requirements and general operations when no annual appropriations are received, fees are statutorily set at a level that does not recover costs, or DHS determines that a type of immigration benefit request should be exempt, in whole or in part, from payment of fees.

As noted, Congress has provided that USCIS may set fees for providing Start Printed Page 26907adjudication and naturalization services at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing all such services, including the costs of similar services provided without charge to asylum applicants or other immigrants - full document to be seen on https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/05/04/2016-10297/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule