NALEO Opposes Naturalization Fee Increases
Naturalization Fees Are Likely to Increase Significantly in 2007
The NALEO Educational Fund is Advocating Vigorously to Combat the Increase
The United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced its plans to impose a significant increase in the fee to file the application that most newcomers use to apply for U.S. citizenship, the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400). Currently, the fee is $400, and estimates for the proposed increase range from a hike to $600 or even $1,000. The agency anticipates that the new fee could go into effect as early as April 2007.
The USCIS’ Rationale for the Fee Hike and the Comprehensive Fee Study
The USCIS maintains that it must comply with federal statutory and administrative requirements to ensure that the costs of services provided to naturalization applicants are fully covered by the fees those applicants pay. In order to determine the agency’s current costs of providing those services and to justify the amount of the proposed fee hike, the agency has conducted a Comprehensive Fee Study that is being reviewed for approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
* The Comprehensive Fee Study has not been made public.
* If the OMB approves the increase, the agency will then continue the administrative process for implementing the fee. This involves publishing notice of the proposed hike in the Federal Register, which is likely to occur in January 2007. Typically, after a proposed fee increase is published in the Federal Register, the public has 60 days to comment on the proposal. Thus, after it reviews the public comments, the USCIS is likely to finally implement the increase in April 2007.
The Fundamental Flaws in Our System of Financing Immigration Services
There have been several significant increases in the naturalization application fee since 1990, when the cost of the application was $90. These increases are the result of a fundamentally-flawed system for financing immigration services:
* Because of Congressional mandates, the revenue collected from naturalization applications and certain other immigration applications must cover the costs of providing services for applicants who are not charged fees. For example, these fee revenues must cover the expenses of adjudicating refugee and asylee applications. Thus, the naturalization application fee essentially contains a “surcharge” to cover the cost of providing services completely unrelated to naturalization. While the NALEO Educational Fund believes that it is humane and fair not to charge refugees and asylees application fees, we also believe that their application costs should not be charged to naturalization applications. Thus, we will continue to urge Congress to make appropriated monies available to fund refugee and asylee applications, and other immigration services for which no fee is charged
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* As the USCIS has continued to increase the naturalization fee, it has greatly expanded the type of costs it takes into account to justify the fee hikes. For example, the costs of implementing massive infrastructure improvements (such as computer technology enhancements), or the costs of settling litigation against the agency have essentially been passed on to applicants. While the NALEO Educational Fund believes that the USCIS should have the resources it needs to operate effectively, the funding of its operations should be much more of a partnership between the federal government and naturalization applicants, with Congress appropriating monies to cover infrastructure improvements or costs not directly related to application processing.
* The agency’s proposal for such a significant fee hike raises serious questions about how it calculates the costs of its services, and how it manages its adjudication resources. The questions are particularly important in light of the fact that the USCIS still needs to improve the quality of services provided to naturalization applicants. While it has made some progress in reducing the naturalization backlog, there are still applicants who face long delays in application processing, or who face difficulties in determining the status of their cases.
The NALEO Educational Fund’s Advocacy Efforts Against the Fee Increase
The NALEO Educational Fund believes that greater naturalization benefits our nation, and we know that a high fee increase will create a significant barrier for the millions of eligible legal permanent residents who are eager to become U.S. citizens. Thus, we will continue to advocate vigorously against the imposition of the fee hike. We are working to educate members of Congress about the issue, and we believe our efforts will help us determine the most effective legislative or administrative action to combat the increase.
We encourage Latino elected officials and civic leaders, and organizations that serve the immigrant community, to contact us if you wish to assist us in fighting the increase. If you need more information, or wish to contact us about the fee increase, please contact or e-mail Ms. Diana Mendoza at dmendoza@naleo.org or Mr. William Ramos at wramos@naleo.org, or at our Washington, D.C. office, or (202) 546-2536.
Because the proposed increase is imminent, we also encourage all eligible legal permanent residents to apply for U.S. citizenship before the fee hike is imposed. If you need information about applying for U.S. citizenship, please contact Fabian Garcia at fgarcia@naleo.org, or at (213) 747-7606, ext. 142.
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