immigration fees

Why DHS Fees Are So Unjust - GAO Finds DHS Did Not Adhere to Federal Accounting Standards and Principles

We knew there was something very wrong with the new fee schedule released in Summer of 2007, now GAO explains why these fees, in fact, have no basis.   

In February 2007, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed a study to determine the full costs of its operations and the level at which application fees should be set to recover those costs.  Based on its analysis, in June 2007 USCIS's new fee schedule increased the cost of some applications by over 300%!  For e.g., the cost of applying for Legal Permanent Resident status went from around $300 to $675 ($595 plus an $80 biometric fee) - and that does not include the cost of hiring a lawyer to assist throughout the application process, which most immigrants can't afford (and people wonder why immigrants fall out of status).  The cost of applying for citizenship went from around $192 plus a few additional fees, to $460, plus additional exams and fees.

This GAO report, released today, to investigate USCIS fee review found that the costing methodology USCIS used to develop the fees for each application type did not consistently adhere to federal accounting standards and principles and other guidance (surprise surprise).  The GAO reports:

While federal accounting standards allow flexibility for agencies to develop managerial cost accounting practices that are suited to their needs, they also provide certain specific guidance based on sound accounting concepts. USCIS's methodology was not consistent with federal accounting standards and principles and other guidance in the following aspects: (1) costs paid by other federal entities on behalf of USCIS were not included in its estimates of costs, (2) key assumptions and methods used for allocation of costs to activities and types of applications were not sufficiently justified, (3) assumptions about staff time spent on various activities were not supported by documented rationale or analysis, (4) the cost of premium processing services was not determined, and (5) documentation of the processes and procedures was not sufficient to ensure consistent and accurate implementation of the methodology.

USCIS charges fees for processing the millions of immigration applications it receives each year, and intends to fund the cost of processing and adjudicating them directly through fees paid by applicants.  We hope the Obama Administration reviews this GAO data closely, and that under Secretary Napolitano, one of the first actions taken by this administration is to return fees to a schedule that is affordable and stops serving as an obstacle for people to renew or adjust their legal status.
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