WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will announce increases in immigration application fees today that will double the cost of citizenship and almost triple the cost of becoming a permanent resident.
The new fees, reflecting an average 66% increase, led immigrant advocates and some members of Congress to criticize them as a "wall" that could bar poorer immigrants from citizenship. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials countered that the increases were essential to help the overloaded agency reduce its backlog and speed service.
"The reason we're raising the fees, short answer, is that we need the money," said Emilio T. Gonzales, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. "A lot of people are going to be affected by this, there's no sugarcoating it."
Gonzales said 99% of the agency's budget came from user fees, a system Congress devised based on the principle that the costs of citizenship should be borne by immigrants, not taxpayers.
Under the increases, which cover almost all immigration benefits, the cost of bringing a foreign fiance or fiancee will jump to $455 from $170. The price tag for a green card, or permanent resident visa, will rise to $930 from $325, and the cost of citizenship papers will increase to $675 from $330.
The fee increases come as the Senate debates a wide-ranging immigration bill that would give illegal immigrants in the United States, estimated to number 12 million or more, a way to gain legal status. Gonzales said the fee increase, which will take effect at the end of July, was not announced with the Senate bill in mind.
As it is, the workload at Citizenship and Immigration Services is increasing, with historic numbers of immigrants becoming citizens, according to a March report from the Pew Hispanic Center. That study found that more than half of legal immigrants had become citizens, the highest level in a quarter century.
Though applications have increased, immigration fees have not been reevaluated since 1998. An ever-shrinking budget means little money has been invested in technology. Even as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 required costly new security and background checks, the immigration agency has largely remained paper-based.
In 2004, the Government Accountability Office reported that fees were not covering the agency's costs and urged a reevaluation. The fees being announced today represent "arduous, sometimes laborious and painstaking research," Gonzales said. The agency received about 3,900 comments from the public.
