These new fees are so unfair !!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I don't get this argument that if you have a hard time with the fee increases, then you have no business sponsoring your spouse/fiance. What kid of elitist argument is that? What if the fees doubled? tripled? Would that argument still hold water?

My only point with regards to that is that isf you have a really hard time coughing up an extra $500, you are really going to struggle making ends meet during the first few months of marriage when the immigrant spouse can't work, never mind all the ancilliary costs of gettting them over here. The $500 is a pittance compared to that.

[Dan J 277]

I don't get this argument that if you have a hard time with the fee increases, then you have no business sponsoring your spouse/fiance. What kid of elitist argument is that? What if the fees doubled? tripled? Would that argument still hold water?

My only point with regards to that is that isf you have a really hard time coughing up an extra $500, you are really going to struggle making ends meet during the first few months of marriage when the immigrant spouse can't work, never mind all the ancilliary costs of gettting them over here. The $500 is a pittance compared to that.

True, though I still think someone who doesn't earn that much can still do this. But they will need to be very careful with their spending and plan ahead.

[NavarreMan 10]

Well...I was under the impression the fees had been raised in part to speed the process up? I do appreciate it is a considerable "hike up" though from the previous fees .....Good luck with your journey though

Well, according to a memo published by USCIS they have committed to a 20% increase in processing times by the end of 2009. So, obviously well-worth it for those of us paying the higher fees now.

They committed themselves to taking 20% LONGER??? Is that a typo?

[chri'stina 190]

The new fees suck. We are sending in the removal of conditions on Monday or so, we still fall into the old fees thankfully. But I feel bad for people who are just starting the process from the beginning. I was newly out of college and not making much money when this whole thing started and paying the fees I felt was already hard to do for someone like me. And now with how much everything is going up, it can be hard for young couples in my opinion. You have to pay all those fees for the petition and visa, and then after marriage(if K1 route) pay a lot at once for the EAD/AP/AOS=almost $800. It seemed expensive for us back then, and now it's going to be way more expensive for people.

[Dan J 277]

Well...I was under the impression the fees had been raised in part to speed the process up? I do appreciate it is a considerable "hike up" though from the previous fees .....Good luck with your journey though

Well, according to a memo published by USCIS they have committed to a 20% increase in processing times by the end of 2009. So, obviously well-worth it for those of us paying the higher fees now.

They committed themselves to taking 20% LONGER??? Is that a typo?

Its suppose to be decrease. Along with the fee increases, their goal is to decrease processing times by 20%

[trueimage 0]

It would be nice if we could be 'grandfathered' in or something. For those of us that are already in the middle of the process and had it all budgeted, this is causing a major problem....well, I guess I can only speak for myself, but I would assume that there are others like me. Yes, we shouldn't start the petition if we can't for it, but when we started the petition, we could pay for it! Sigh...I'll figure something out I guess. As far as being able to support our SO's when they are here before they can work, two can live as cheaply as one. Unless your SO eats a whole lot...then I don't see how their presence can add that much to living expenses. There's nothing we can do about it, but I did want to add my two cents of frustration. Good luck to everyone!

[*julez* 124]

Well...I was under the impression the fees had been raised in part to speed the process up? I do appreciate it is a considerable "hike up" though from the previous fees .....Good luck with your journey though

Well, according to a memo published by USCIS they have committed to a 20% increase in processing times by the end of 2009. So, obviously well-worth it for those of us paying the higher fees now.

They committed themselves to taking 20% LONGER??? Is that a typo?

An increase in productivity. Like increasing the speed in which cases are processed.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

Yeah, yeah...unfair, unfair. Not surprised to see so many people crying foul and blaming it on those darn "illegals."

I've worked with people without papers for quite some time and have NEVER seen the sense of entitlement that a few people here have ascribed to them.

I'm definitely facing financial hardship throughout this process, and am pleased that I have the opportunity to file for AOS before the fee hike.

But what I find REALLY unfair is not the discomfort caused by a fee hike, which is painful right now, but in a few years will be all paid off. What is UNFAIR is paying a coyote $2000 to be stuffed in the back of an 18wheeler with 60 other people and left to suffocate to death. Or screwed over and left to die in the desert. Until people dealing with immigration are faced with a life situation that makes suffocation or cooked insides sound like an acceptable risk, then I think that discussions about unfair are pretty much navel-gazing.

[Fuzzness 2]

Yeah, yeah...unfair, unfair. Not surprised to see so many people crying foul and blaming it on those darn "illegals."

I've worked with people without papers for quite some time and have NEVER seen the sense of entitlement that a few people here have ascribed to them.

I'm definitely facing financial hardship throughout this process, and am pleased that I have the opportunity to file for AOS before the fee hike.

But what I find REALLY unfair is not the discomfort caused by a fee hike, which is painful right now, but in a few years will be all paid off. What is UNFAIR is paying a coyote $2000 to be stuffed in the back of an 18wheeler with 60 other people and left to suffocate to death. Or screwed over and left to die in the desert. Until people dealing with immigration are faced with a life situation that makes suffocation or cooked insides sound like an acceptable risk, then I think that discussions about unfair are pretty much navel-gazing.

who put a gun to their heads and made them sneak over the border stuffed in a crate instead of applying for a visa?

[mawilson 2,133]

I don't get this argument that if you have a hard time with the fee increases, then you have no business sponsoring your spouse/fiance. What kid of elitist argument is that? What if the fees doubled? tripled? Would that argument still hold water?

Yes, it would.

[Dan J 277]

Yeah, yeah...unfair, unfair. Not surprised to see so many people crying foul and blaming it on those darn "illegals."

I've worked with people without papers for quite some time and have NEVER seen the sense of entitlement that a few people here have ascribed to them.

I'm definitely facing financial hardship throughout this process, and am pleased that I have the opportunity to file for AOS before the fee hike.

But what I find REALLY unfair is not the discomfort caused by a fee hike, which is painful right now, but in a few years will be all paid off. What is UNFAIR is paying a coyote $2000 to be stuffed in the back of an 18wheeler with 60 other people and left to suffocate to death. Or screwed over and left to die in the desert. Until people dealing with immigration are faced with a life situation that makes suffocation or cooked insides sound like an acceptable risk, then I think that discussions about unfair are pretty much navel-gazing.

who put a gun to their heads and made them sneak over the border stuffed in a crate instead of applying for a visa?

What visa can they apply for? Unless you have family here that are LPR's or Citizens, there isn't one.

[chri'stina 190]

Yeah, yeah...unfair, unfair. Not surprised to see so many people crying foul and blaming it on those darn "illegals."

I've worked with people without papers for quite some time and have NEVER seen the sense of entitlement that a few people here have ascribed to them.

I'm definitely facing financial hardship throughout this process, and am pleased that I have the opportunity to file for AOS before the fee hike.

But what I find REALLY unfair is not the discomfort caused by a fee hike, which is painful right now, but in a few years will be all paid off. What is UNFAIR is paying a coyote $2000 to be stuffed in the back of an 18wheeler with 60 other people and left to suffocate to death. Or screwed over and left to die in the desert. Until people dealing with immigration are faced with a life situation that makes suffocation or cooked insides sound like an acceptable risk, then I think that discussions about unfair are pretty much navel-gazing.

who put a gun to their heads and made them sneak over the border stuffed in a crate instead of applying for a visa?

What visa can they apply for? Unless you have family here that are LPR's or Citizens, there isn't one.

Same goes for people from a lot of other countries too though. That doesn't mean they all should sneak across the border.

[Yodrak 7]

No matter when or how a fee increase is implemented, someone is going to be the first to get hit with it and want it to have been handled some other way.

I have my property taxes budgeted too - doesn't stop the town from increasing them every year, and doing a re-assessment that really jacks them up every 10 or so.

If you think you've got problems, just think of all those people who bought more house than they could afford with an initially unrealistically low adjustable rate mortgage. And are facing a property tax on top of it.

Yodrak

I guess I am not complaining about the fee increases but I am irked. If USCIS had at least processed our file in a reasonable amount of time or even stalled working on it for 3 weeks longer, then we wouldn't be faced with a change of the rules nearing the end of the game by doubling the last phase - a phase over which we have no options if we wish to continue to live as husband and wife in the US.

....

It would be nice if we could be 'grandfathered' in or something. For those of us that are already in the middle of the process and had it all budgeted, this is causing a major problem......

Edited July 11, 2007 by Yodrak

[Jenn! 918]

I don't get this argument that if you have a hard time with the fee increases, then you have no business sponsoring your spouse/fiance. What kid of elitist argument is that? What if the fees doubled? tripled? Would that argument still hold water?

Yes, it would.

So at what point would that argument be unreasonable then?

What if the fee were $10,000? Would you still say that if you can't afford that then you have no business sponsoring your immigrant spouse?

Edited July 11, 2007 by jenn3539

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I don't get this argument that if you have a hard time with the fee increases, then you have no business sponsoring your spouse/fiance. What kid of elitist argument is that? What if the fees doubled? tripled? Would that argument still hold water?

Yes, it would.

So at what point would that argument be unreasonable then?

What if the fee were $10,000? Would you still say that if you can't afford that then you have no business sponsoring your immigrant spouse?

But it can cost that much when you factor in income lost due to being unable to work.