April 16, 2004

New Fees Effective April 30, 2004

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Bureau of the Department of Homeland Security announced on April 15, 2004 the final rule implementing fee increases for many USCIS applications and petitions as well as increases on biometric fees such as fingerprinting for certain immigration applications. The new fees average an additional $55 per application and an additional $20 for biometric fees. The new fees become effective April 30, 2004. Any application or petition mailed, postmarked, or otherwise filed on or after this date will require the new fee.

With the steady decline in USCIS’ services, the hike in fees are clearly not welcomed. The USCIS has stated the new fees will enable the agency to prioritize customer service and improve application processing times, in addition to security during the next year. However, the general public consensus contends that the fee increases will not improve processing times or help to reduce the growing backlogs.

Please click on the following link to access the chart which outlines the new fee, the current application fee and the amount of increase per application.

  New Fees Chart (PDF/84 kb, 3 pages)