Immigration officials consider more fee increases

[Ulrich]

Immigration officials consider more fee increases
By Teresa Watanabe and Anna Gorman
September 24, 2009

U.S. immigration officials are considering another possible round of fee increases and budget cuts next year, prompting concern among immigrant rights groups.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the new director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said during a visit to Los Angeles on Wednesday that "financial challenges" have caused the agency to consider potential fee increases but no decision has been made.

The agency is facing a $118-million revenue shortfall this year in part because applications for citizenship and skilled worker visas are below projections, according to officials.

Citizenship applications plunged to 58,000 last year from 254,000 the previous year in the Southern California district. Most experts blame the decline on a fee increase of 69% to $675 in 2007.

But immigration officials said the agency is required by law to be self-supporting and that the fee increase was required because a special congressional appropriation to help reduce application backlogs had run out.

To help close the shortfall, Mayorkas said, the agency has requested $206 million from Congress.

"It is financially responsible to examine all of the options that are available . . . as the agency confronts financial challenges," Mayorkas said.

Immigrant advocates said, however, that any additional fee increase would severely hamper legal immigrants from pursuing citizenship.

"Right now the high cost of citizenship is putting the dream of naturalization out of reach of low- and moderate-income legal permanent residents, and any future increase will just make the situation worse," said Rosalind Gold of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund in Los Angeles.

Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant and former top Los Angeles federal prosecutor, took over as head of the immigration agency last month. He said he would seek to make it "one of the jewels" of the Obama administration through engagement with the public, efficient service and transparent procedures.

As an example, Mayorkas cited the bilingual website launched this week that includes a way for people to get e-mail updates on the status of their applications.

He said the agency had made significant progress in reducing application backlogs, dropping the wait on citizenship applications from more than one year to less than five months.

In addition, the agency is determined to improve integration of new immigrants and citizens, Mayorkas said. Just last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that 13 organizations, including three in California, will receive a total of $1.2 million in federal funding to expand citizenship education and preparation programs.

And the agency is preparing for the possibility of legislation that could result in millions of undocumented immigrants applying for legalization, Mayorkas said. Already, he said, the agency has more than 130 support centers throughout the nation ready to accept more than 6 million applications.

"We are focused on ensuring that we are ready to address comprehensive immigration reform," said Mayorkas.

Source: L.A. Times

 

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Immigration fee hikes not providing more revenue
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
Monday, September 14, 2009; 6:07 PM

WASHINGTON -- The government has collected hundreds of millions of dollars less than it thought it would from fee increases imposed two years ago on applications for citizenship and other immigration-related services.

The increases were supposed to generate an additional $1 billion in revenue for Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department. Based on that, the agency predicted it would collect $2.33 billion in fees in this fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, but is expecting to come up about $282 million short of that prediction.

Agency officials blamed the shortfall on an overall drop in immigration-related applications being filed, possibly as a result of the ongoing economic slump. The agency has twice adjusted its estimated number of applications and the amount of revenue they would bring in. Immigration officials also are cutting back on some spending, looking to Congress for some relief, and is studying the fee structure as required every two years.

"Given the current economic climate, we anticipate that the current filing trend will continue. We will therefore continue to make the necessary adjustments while remaining dedicated to delivering on our public service mission," Alejandro Mayorkas, who took over as the agency's director in August, told The Associated Press on Monday.

The House Appropriations Committee also said immigration application filings are expected to remain down in 2010, and the agency's costs will far exceed fee revenue. A report attached to the 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill said lawmakers "cannot, in good conscience," allow CIS to spend beyond its projected revenue from the fees.

Under the 2007 fee increases, the cost of applying for citizenship doubled to $595, plus an $80 fingerprinting fee. The cost of applying for legal permanent residency tripled to $905 plus the fingerprinting fee.

Mayorkas said his agency has made progress on cutting application times. As of this July the average processing time for citizenship applications was 4.5 months, lower than the five to seven months goal the agency set when it raised fees. Applications for legal residency were taking about 6.2 months on average, slightly more than the fee increase goal of four to six months.

Mayorkas declined to discuss details of the fee review. President Barack Obama has said his administration would improve the immigration system to make it cheaper and faster.

The agency was flooded with a record 7.7 million immigration applications in 2007 as filers tried to beat the fee increase. Applications dropped off after the spike, as they have historically with other fee increases. But they have not returned to levels before the increase.

The agency had asked Congress for $206 million to pay for fees for asylum seekers and refugees as well as military naturalizations. Those costs are usually waived and included in the fees paid by other applicants.

The Homeland Security Department spending bill approved by the House provides $100 million for the waived fees. The Senate provided $5 million. Lawmakers are negotiating a compromise spending bill.

The application drop does not leave the agency without money. The spike in 2007 brought in millions in fees. About 1,500 people were hired using the money. Congress is proposing to provide $112 million to pay for E-Verify, the Web-based system employers can use to check whether their employees can legally work in the U.S.

Source: Washington Post