INS REDUCES FEES FOR IMMIGRATION APPLICATIONS
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 17, No. 1, February 21, 2003

(Note: On Feb. 27, 2003, the INS returned fees to levels in effect before the change described in this article. See "INS Fees Raised Back to Prior Levels.")

The Immigration and Nationalization Service has temporarily reduced the filing fees for a number of applications for immigration benefits. These lowered fees result from amendments made by the Homeland Security Act to section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under former INA sec. 286(m), the INS was authorized to collect surcharges so that it could recover the costs of providing services for which fees are charged, as well as for those associated with processing other benefits, such as asylum and refugee services, for which no fees are assessed. The Homeland Security Act eliminated the language in sec. 286(m) that authorized the surcharges, and, accordingly, the INS decreased the fees for applications.

The decreases took effect on Jan, 24, 2003, the effective date of the Homeland Security Act. The reduction is likely temporary, and as this issue of Immigrants' Rights Update went to print, Congress reached an agreement on an appropriations bill that would restore authorization for the surcharges.

In 1988 Congress authorized the INS to establish the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA) in the U.S. Treasury. All revenue from fees collected from processing applications was deposited in the IEFA. Subsequently, Congress authorized the assessment of surcharges, setting the fees at a level sufficient to fund the processing of asylum and refugee applications as well as other immigration benefit applications processed at no charge to applicants. For example, prior to the fee reductions, the fee for a naturalization application had been $260. Out of that fee, $39.77 went to cover the cost of processing asylum and refugee applications, while $31.87 was used to cover the cost of processing applications for benefits that were granted fee waivers. With the elimination of the surcharges, the INS was required to reduce application fees by an average of $50 (or 25 percent). However, without the surcharges and without an appropriation for asylum and other related services for which no fees are collected, the INS has no funds with which to pay for the costs of providing asylum application processing and other services free of charge.

At least for the moment, the INS has sufficient funds to continue processing asylum and refugee applications. According to INS spokesman William Strassberger, the agency has approximately $125 million remaining in the IEFA. However, it will be necessary to replenish the funds so the agency can continue to process applications for asylum, refugee, and other benefits.

The table below highlights some of the reductions in immigration benefit fees.

Until the fees are finalized, Strassberger noted, immigrants who inadvertently pay the higher fees will receive refunds and those who pay the lower fees will not be expected to pay for the difference if the rates go back up.

68 Fed. Reg. 3,798 (Jan. 24, 2003).

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