**UPDATE**

[*JG* 2]

Not really much of a difference from what it is now when you include all that stuff in one fee.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Not really much of a difference from what it is now when you include all that stuff in one fee.

It would have been a big difference for us. We didn't apply for EAD or AP.

[Urge To Race 2]

My bad

Still a huge chunk of change though.

Yeah, no kidding. Ouch :crying:

[~Nini~ 2]

I better start saving up now...

[rebeccajo 14]

Not really much of a difference from what it is now when you include all that stuff in one fee.

It would have been a big difference for us. We didn't apply for EAD or AP.

As long as it is taking USCIS to adjudicate some I485's, that's not as good an idea as when Marlene filed, John. You know what I mean?

With automatic EAD's and AP's, petitioners will be worry free if they need to travel. They also won't have to worry about employers picking at them regarding an expiring EAD.

I know it's a big fee increase, but honestly, everytime I read a post where someone says they aren't filing for interims because 'greencards come so quick these days', I get ill. Betting your ability to work and travel against the USCIS bureaucracy is pretty risky, and I've got the 17-months of AOS battlescars to prove it.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Not really much of a difference from what it is now when you include all that stuff in one fee.

It would have been a big difference for us. We didn't apply for EAD or AP.

As long as it is taking USCIS to adjudicate some I485's, that's not as good an idea as when Marlene filed, John. You know what I mean?

With automatic EAD's and AP's, petitioners will be worry free if they need to travel. They also won't have to worry about employers picking at them regarding an expiring EAD.

I know it's a big fee increase, but honestly, everytime I read a post where someone says they aren't filing for interims because 'greencards come so quick these days', I get ill. Betting your ability to work and travel against the USCIS bureaucracy is pretty risky, and I've got the 17-months of AOS battlescars to prove it.

We didn't need for Marlene to work. The only thing we would have gained early with the EAD would have been a driver's license and she wasn't in a hurry to learn to drive. If it had taken longer, we might have applied for AP to visit her family, but it was a full year before we got around to doing that anyway.

[rebeccajo 14]

Not really much of a difference from what it is now when you include all that stuff in one fee.

It would have been a big difference for us. We didn't apply for EAD or AP.

As long as it is taking USCIS to adjudicate some I485's, that's not as good an idea as when Marlene filed, John. You know what I mean?

With automatic EAD's and AP's, petitioners will be worry free if they need to travel. They also won't have to worry about employers picking at them regarding an expiring EAD.

I know it's a big fee increase, but honestly, everytime I read a post where someone says they aren't filing for interims because 'greencards come so quick these days', I get ill. Betting your ability to work and travel against the USCIS bureaucracy is pretty risky, and I've got the 17-months of AOS battlescars to prove it.

We didn't need for Marlene to work. The only thing we would have gained early with the EAD would have been a driver's license and she wasn't in a hurry to learn to drive. If it had taken longer, we might have applied for AP to visit her family, but it was a full year before we got around to doing that anyway.

Oh, yeah, I understand.

That situation, though, is entirely different than those folks who need to work but don't file for EAD because they hope they are gonna get lucky on the CSC/AOS wheel of fortune.

[John & Annie 0]

We share some of those same scars RJ. Ours are not as deep yet, We are 9 months and a week into AOS.

We now are faced with applying for EAD to keep Annie's Drivers license. We will do so before the increase.

That being said, I completely agree with the increase.