On February 1, 2007, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the Federal Register that would substantially raise filing fees for most types of cases. If the proposed rule is adopted, filing fees would increase by an average of 66% over current fees. The proposed rule is subject to a 60-day comment period that ends on April 2, 2007. At the end of the comment period, USCIS will review and consider the comments it has received on its proposed rule. USCIS will then send its final proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The OMB will make a final decision on the fee increase and issue the final rule.
Timing of Potential Increase
Fortunately, the "adjusted" fees will not take effect until the public has an opportunity to comment. The comment period was 60 days but is ending on April 2, 2007. The increase in fees should not become effective until June 2007 at the earliest.
Adoption-Related Petitions Affected by the Proposed Increase
Form, Petition Type, Current Fee, Proposed Fee
I-600/600A
Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative $ 545 $ 670
N-565
Application for Replacement of Certificate of Citizenship (used for name changes) $ 220 $ 380
N-600
Application for Certificate of Citizenship $ 255 $ 460
Biometric Services (fingerprints)
$ 70
$ 80
Together, Let's Make a Difference!
This can be fought, but it needs action by everyone in the adoption community. Please forward this e-mail on to anyone who would like to see the increase rejected.
Your action is needed quickly as there is only have a week left to voice your objections.
Submit Your Comments to USCIS by April 2, 2007
Anyone may comment on the proposed regulation. Those interested in commenting should take time to review the proposed regulation and formulate logical, potentially persuasive statements. Comments will be made public, as they will be posted as submitted at www.regulations.gov. One should NOT include any personal detail unless s/he is willing to share it freely.
While no one likes prices to go up, simply complaining about the increase in costs is unlikely to have an impact.
Comments must be received by April 2, 2007, and must reference the agency name (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), as well as the docket number (USCIS-2006-0044). Comments may be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or via mail or courier, in hardcopy, disk, or CD-ROM form to:
> Director, Management Division
> U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department of Homeland
> Security
> 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor Washington D.C. 20529
Conclusion
Voicing your opinion makes you part of the democratic process, and this is how the U.S. government and legal systems are supposed to work.
Although most of us hesitate to publicly comment, the government really does carefully consider the content of comments, as well as the sheer number of those responding. When USCIS introduced regulations to reduce the time for B-2 tourist visits from six months to 30 days, for example, there were more than 10,000 comments. That convinced the USCIS to shelve the proposal. Remember, the key is the QUANTITY of responses they get. It should not be difficult to get at least 10,000 of us to comment. Please take the time today to do this.
This was borrowed from a post circulating on the internet to inform US Citizens potentially affected by these proposed increases.
Submitted by Crystal Stump www.wvadoptionlawyer.com
