USCIS proposed price increase (Merged)

[SalishSea 17,751]

2 hours ago, jackiegringa said:

Regardless if the K-1 goes away officially or not, this fee increase will make it dead in practice in my opinion.

Our collective experience here at VJ of those who persist in doing a K-1 because they perceive they'll "get to be together sooner" would suggest otherwise.

 

I also don't foresee many CR-1 applicants deliberately delaying POE to avoid ROC, unless it is a matter of a short time.

[Ontarkie 14,193]

~~Similar thread have been merged.~~

[TBoneTX 45,037]

17 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Folks, please be aware of another thread about the fee-increases in general:

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/794170-uscis-proposed-price-increase/

 

We normally prefer just one thread on a topic.  However, the current thread chiefly pertains to ROC.  If your comments are about ROC specifically, please post them here; if more general, post in the linked thread.  Thanks.

 

VJ Moderation

Update:  The decision was made to merge the ROC-specific thread with the larger thread, because the former thread didn't stay specific to ROC.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

5 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

And spend the resources investigating those who marry and AOS after meeting a USC on a two week vacation.

Are you saying that a 25 year old man that got a fraudulent B1/B2 visa saying he was married when he was not can’t come to the US for tourism and fell in love with a 70 year old woman in a week?!

 

C’me on, sometimes loves hits you like ⚡️ 

[SalishSea 17,751]

1 hour ago, Rocio0010 said:

Are you saying that a 25 year old man that got a fraudulent B1/B2 visa saying he was married when he was not can’t come to the US for tourism and fell in love with a 70 year old woman in a week?!

 

C’me on, sometimes loves hits you like ⚡️ 

Imagine the income USCIS could generate if they allowed people to petition partners sight unseen!

[Scandi 4,149]

15 hours ago, Rafagus said:

And the funny thing is that according to the proposed new rule it USCIS dedicates on average 4.7 hours to make decisions on I-751 forms....

Yeah the actual processing and decision-part is quick, it's the wait for an available officer to pick up your case that takes forever.. They need to hire more people. 

[Dave Knapp 47]

11 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Our collective experience here at VJ of those who persist in doing a K-1 because they perceive they'll "get to be together sooner" would suggest otherwise.

 

I also don't foresee many CR-1 applicants deliberately delaying POE to avoid ROC, unless it is a matter of a short time.

You wouldn't see them unless you were analyzing their timelines daily. There well may be many of them, and the way the costs are spiraling it may increase.

[Scandi 4,149]

38 minutes ago, Dave Knapp said:

You wouldn't see them unless you were analyzing their timelines daily. There well may be many of them, and the way the costs are spiraling it may increase.

True. But my bet is that the majority of CR-1 people don't have a clue about that ROC-or-not-to-ROC "rule" and enter the country as soon as they get their visa. As we see on VJ, a ton of people (most people?) don't research the next step in the process until it's time to file (this is especially common for K-1ers though, appear to have no clue about the AOS step and what is needed until they are already in the US and start thinking about maybe getting a greencard). 

[Tereza 27]

12 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Our collective experience here at VJ of those who persist in doing a K-1 because they perceive they'll "get to be together sooner" would suggest otherwise.

 

I also don't foresee many CR-1 applicants deliberately delaying POE to avoid ROC, unless it is a matter of a short time.

I think that depends a lot - do you already live with your spouse/fiance in another country? How long have you been together and what are your needs (some people handle the separation better than others)? do you have kids/ expecting them? Eg. Me and my husband have been long distance for 5 years (met online), seeing each other once or twice a year for 4 weeks on average (1/10 would not recommend). So waiting 7 extra months to save the ROC fee is ridiculous to us (nevermind I will hopefully make that money and more in the time I will already be in the states where my earning potential is higher than back home). Some people have aleady been living together, maybe they can visit each other more often so they wanna avoid the hassle of ROC. Others are maybe expecting a baby so its important to move as soon as possible. So I think it depends, people's life situations are the variable that matters, that even if at first sight certain type of visa "doesn't make sense" for most, it probably still makes sense to thousands of poeple with particular life situations that they're in.

[beloved_dingo 1,976]

5 hours ago, Tereza said:

I think that depends a lot - do you already live with your spouse/fiance in another country? How long have you been together and what are your needs (some people handle the separation better than others)? do you have kids/ expecting them? Eg. Me and my husband have been long distance for 5 years (met online), seeing each other once or twice a year for 4 weeks on average (1/10 would not recommend). So waiting 7 extra months to save the ROC fee is ridiculous to us (nevermind I will hopefully make that money and more in the time I will already be in the states where my earning potential is higher than back home). Some people have aleady been living together, maybe they can visit each other more often so they wanna avoid the hassle of ROC. Others are maybe expecting a baby so its important to move as soon as possible. So I think it depends, people's life situations are the variable that matters, that even if at first sight certain type of visa "doesn't make sense" for most, it probably still makes sense to thousands of poeple with particular life situations that they're in.

It's all relative. I'm sure there are also people in a similar position to you who would wait those 7 months, because in the grand scheme of things that is not a lot of extra time when you've been long distance for 5+ years already. But there is always a balance between what is best emotionally/mentally and what is best financially or otherwise. 

 

We chose to do K-1 in 2018 even though it wasn't the best choice financially (because of AOS). The reasons were mostly related to feelings instead of logic, and it all worked out fine in the end. 

 

As a side note though, the people that suggest waiting to enter on the CR-1 visa to avoid ROC aren't really doing so because of the fee (though that is part of it). It is because ROC is such a long, annoying process that leaves LPRs in a weird limbo especially if it takes over 2 years. For some, getting the 10 year green card and avoiding the hassle and stress of ROC is worth being long distance a little longer. 

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,037]

11 hours ago, Scandi said:

As we see on VJ, a ton of people (most people?) don't research the next step in the process until it's time to file (this is especially common for K-1ers though, appear to have no clue about the AOS step and what is needed until they are already in the US and start thinking about maybe getting a greencard). 

And this underscores the reasoning behind becoming an "A" student of the entire immigration process, as recommended by pushbrk and others.

[Jason and May 79]

On 1/3/2023 at 3:39 PM, JeanneAdil said:

looks like since the I 130 only goes up $15 and all the fees for fiancee including AOS  ( adjustment of status (green card) application costs would jump from the current $1,225 to $1,540.)

 

USCIS is attempting to persuade USC to marry and abandon the fiancee visa (my opinion only)

 

Not only does the I 129 involve the extra fees and more documents for the USC with the AOS and ROC requirements but it adds a lot of office time to USCIS officers with the additional forms and interviews 

 

seems if they had their way,  the fiancee visa would be discontinued altogether 

AOS, all in, filed together, will jump to I believe $2,880 under their proposal. 

That said, this proposed budget cleared the White House, so I can't imagine it will not be approved. 

I can only imagine the hardships some couples are going to face financially putting this money together for visas. Yikes. In our case, I think I am going to have to forego my third trip to see my wife while we are waiting for her visa. I'm afraid to spend any money out of savings with the enormous fee hikes that are coming. 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,086]

18 hours ago, Jason and May said:

AOS, all in, filed together, will jump to I believe $2,880 under their proposal. 

That said, this proposed budget cleared the White House, so I can't imagine it will not be approved. 

I can only imagine the hardships some couples are going to face financially putting this money together for visas. Yikes. In our case, I think I am going to have to forego my third trip to see my wife while we are waiting for her visa. I'm afraid to spend any money out of savings with the enormous fee hikes that are coming. 

Though even at the much-increased rates, my argument that you shouldn't base your decision on what path to follow based on government fees still stands.

 

The biggest cost of an international relationship before your partner gets to the US for an American (presuming your partner is not in Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and/or living in the same area as you overseas) very likely isn't USCIS fees, it's travel costs.

And the biggest reason why a CR-1 is "cheaper" isn't avoiding AOS/EAD/AP fees, it's that your spouse can work right away on a CR-1 and you're forgoing that income until EAD (especially if your spouse can expect to make significantly more than minimum wage).

[Boiler 45,346]

The largest cost is usually lost wages

[Jason and May 79]

17 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Though even at the much-increased rates, my argument that you shouldn't base your decision on what path to follow based on government fees still stands.

 

The biggest cost of an international relationship before your partner gets to the US for an American (presuming your partner is not in Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and/or living in the same area as you overseas) very likely isn't USCIS fees, it's travel costs.

And the biggest reason why a CR-1 is "cheaper" isn't avoiding AOS/EAD/AP fees, it's that your spouse can work right away on a CR-1 and you're forgoing that income until EAD (especially if your spouse can expect to make significantly more than minimum wage).

Hi Dave, 

 

I wasn't insinuating anything regarding your argument. I know very little about K1s, because I never entertained a K1. So, cost comparison isn't something I would involve my two cents in.

I was just commenting on the overall cost of AOS, namely, using VJ as a sounding board for frustrations on something none of us can control: The enormity of the proposed and pending changes to the fee structure. 

 

Warmly, 

 

Jason