USCIS proposed price increase (Merged)

[pittfiler 27]

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/04/2022-27066/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration#page-526

For those who have cases pending, feel blessed that we are paying 600 dollars less.

[mindthegap 2,590]

101%. A steep and completely unjustifiable increase, and massively out of proportion to the other proposed fee increases. Speaking of which, the I-290B fee is also increasing, as is the N-400......and also the I-130 and I-485 for any possible future relative petitions.  

 

However, the biometrics fee is decreasing, from $85 to $30. How kind of them. 

 

Note that these are all proposed increases, not confirmed as yet. 

 

I look forward to getting rinsed by USCIS for my inevitable future filings.

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by mindthegap

[ghostinthemachine 76]

Genuinely thought I misread this late last night when I first saw it. It seems to be entirely disproportionate in comparison to the other changes and the hours they listed in the analysis portion. Guess anyone waiting to file the I-751 later in the year will most likely just be f'd then. Classic USCIS.

[OldUser 6,990]

2 hours ago, pittfiler said:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/04/2022-27066/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration#page-526

For those who have cases pending, feel blessed that we are paying 600 dollars less.

I know it's a steep increase, but I'd pay extra $600 right now to get my case approved within the next two weeks 😅

[pittfiler 27]

6 minutes ago, ghostinthemachine said:

Genuinely thought I misread this late last night when I first saw it. It seems to be entirely disproportionate in comparison to the other changes and the hours they listed in the analysis portion. Guess anyone waiting to file the I-751 later in the year will most likely just be f'd then. Classic USCIS.

The same reaction. I had to check the official file to make sure.

[pittfiler 27]

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I know it's a steep increase, but I'd pay extra $600 right now to get my case approved within the next two weeks 😅

Haha, you know in your soul that they want to take however much they can get and do zero thing

[OldUser 6,990]

Just now, pittfiler said:

Haha, you know in your soul that they want to take however much they can get and do zero thing

Sadly yes 😃

[nastra30 2,298]

9 hours ago, Boiler said:

It is just a money grab, they need the income for the millions of cases they have to handle that are charged little or nothing

Yup. Asylum and Refugee cases.

[MillerTime 22]

Wow, that's crazy! We all know that I-751 cases are very low in USCIS's priority list at the moment. If this happens, hopefully USCIS will finally prioritize I-751 cases then. Unlikely but one can only hope lol. I'm so glad I'm done with all this. I wish everyone going through this the best of luck! 🙏

[Family 4,065]

3 hours ago, OldUser said:

I know it's a steep increase, but I'd pay extra $600 right now to get my case approved within the next two weeks 😅

I believe they will capitalize on your sentiment ( voiced by many others) and roll out the red carpet Premium Processing option for most filings. 

[SalishSea 17,970]

47 minutes ago, Family said:

I believe they will capitalize on your sentiment ( voiced by many others) and roll out the red carpet Premium Processing option for most filings. 

You really think they'll offer premium processing to the masses?  🤔

[Family 4,065]

10 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

1 hour ago, Family said:

I believe they will capitalize on your sentiment ( voiced by many others) and roll out the red carpet Premium Processing option for most filings. 

You really think they'll offer premium processing to the masses?  🤔

It makes financial sense and if complex labor petitions can be dealt with in 2 weeks , then family based won’t be so tough.
But I am speculating and they are going slow and steady about rolling out the promised premium processing for I-765 ..but new filings across the board have been pretty impressive on speed. So , yes I think it’s a practice run

 

Personally , I find attorney fees to be astronomical, and don’t understand why USCIS fee increase is so demonized. 

[pittfiler 27]

3 minutes ago, Family said:

It makes financial sense and if complex labor petitions can be dealt with in 2 weeks , then family based won’t be so tough.
But I am speculating and they are going slow and steady about rolling out the promised premium processing for I-765 ..but new filings across the board have been pretty impressive on speed. So , yes I think it’s a practice run

 

Personally , I find attorney fees to be astronomical, and don’t understand why USCIS fee increase is so demonized. 

I think fee increase is fine, just like inflation. I just find it hard to justify 751 for increasing from about 600 to 1200. 15% increase is understandable, 100% is not. It puts 751 to the pricy end of their forms, but 751 is still a low priority and takes ages for some. I have no opinion on premium processing. For me, I would probably choose a cheaper and slower option, and thus, 600 is a lot, even though I didn’t pay that. 

[Dave Knapp 47]

Maybe the intent of the large increase in fees is to permit them to staff up so that they can get the processing done within the timeframe they used to do it in. Just a thought.

[SalishSea 17,970]

40 minutes ago, Dave Knapp said:

Maybe the intent of the large increase in fees is to permit them to staff up so that they can get the processing done within the timeframe they used to do it in. Just a thought.

Yes, that is the idea.   Whether that translates from theory to practice is to be seen.