[Michu]

Nachfolgend findet man einige Infos zu der geplanten Gebuehren-Erhoehung , die derzeit von USCIS vorbereitet wird und bereits im Federal Register veroeffentlicht wurde.

Es wird fuer sehr viele Auswanderungswillige ein Griff in die Geldboerse werden, denn die Gebuehren werden verdoppelt oder sogar verdreifacht.

A Message from USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez - Transcript

By now you've probably heard that USCIS is proposing to restructure its fees. Since we don't rely on taxpayer funding, 99% of our annual budget comes from the fees that we collect from our customers. Recently, we completed a thorough study of our fees and, we've confirmed that our current fees do not cover our costs to do business. Therefore, USCIS must adjust its fees to close current funding gaps – no more and no less.
The new fees reflect the growing costs of keeping our national immigration service secure and efficient. The new fees will enable us to continue to enhance our national security capabilities, modernize our systems, collect detailed biometrics from every applicant, and improve service delivery and efficiency – today, and into the future.

The rule is available for public comment and we look forward to continuing this important dialogue in the months to come. We hope that this page will provide you with a better understanding of how we conduct our business and of how you can contribute with your comments and suggestions.
As always, we will continue to work to build an immigration system for the 21st century, keeping America's doors open, but well guarded.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=725c0d1277470110VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCR D&vgnextchannel=6185bf4c32b50110VgnVCM1000000ecd19 0aRCRD

http://a321.g.akamai.net/f/321/20765/1d/uscisstorage.download.akamai.com/20765/prod/portal/video/Director_Speech.wmv


Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

BUILDING AN IMMIGRATION SERVICE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
USCIS Proposes New Fees for Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Applications
January 31, 2007
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seeking public comment on a proposal to adjust fees for immigration and naturalization benefit applications and petitions. The proposed fee structure has been transmitted to the Federal Register and is needed to improve customer service, strengthen the security of our immigration system, and modernize its business infrastructure for the 21st century.

“As a fee-based agency, we must be able to recover the costs necessary to administer an efficient and secure immigration system that ultimately improves service delivery, prevents future backlogs, closes security gaps, and furthers our modernization efforts,” said USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez. “We’re confident that this fee adjustment will enable the type of exceptional immigration service our nation expects and deserves.”

The revenue from a new fee structure will, if implemented in full this summer, enable a 20 percent reduction in average application processing times by the end of fiscal year 2009, and it will cut processing times by the end of fiscal year 2008 for four key application types that represent a third of all applications filed. These application types are the I-90 (Renew / Replace Permanent Resident Card), I-140 (Immigration Petition for Alien Worker) and I-485 (Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident), which will improve from six to four months processing time, and the N-400 (Naturalization), which will improve from seven to five months processing time.

The proposal highlights an average increase for application and petition fees of approximately 86 percent. The increase in actual costs to applicants and petitioners will be only 66 percent, however, because applicants for adjustment of status will no longer be required to pay a fee to apply for interim benefits. This review found that the current fee structure does not allow USCIS to recover the full costs of providing services associated with the adjudication of millions of applications.

The last comprehensive fee adjustment occurred in 1998 when fees were increased by an average of 76 percent. USCIS has periodically adjusted fees for inflation, most recently in October 2005 and prior to that in February 2002. The agency began charging a fee for fingerprinting services in 1998, and later adjusted that charge in April 2004 to recover the full costs of biometric services.

The proposed fee structure will be available for public comment at www.regulations.gov for a period of 60 days, beginning February 1, 2007. The proposal does not by itself raise fees, but it is the beginning of a regulatory process by announcing an intention to change regulations. For more information concerning the proposed fee rule, please visit www.uscis.gov/21stCenturyService.

– USCIS –

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/PRBuilding1.pdf


Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 21 / Thursday, February 1, 2007 / Proposed Rules

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-1631.pdf

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

BUILDING AN IMMIGRATION SERVICE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
January 31, 2007

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a new fee structure that ensures appropriate funding to meet customer service needs and national security requirements, and modernizes an outdated business infrastructure. The proposed new fee structure is built around a foundation of strategic pillars designed to enhance and sustain a secure and efficient immigration system. Those pillars are, Improving Service Delivery, Enhancing the Security and Integrity of the Immigration System, and Modernizing Business Infrastructure.

Improving Service Delivery – USCIS is fundamentally transforming the delivery of immigration services while continuing to process approximately seven million applications and petitions each year. Considerable progress has been made in improving customer service, such as eliminating the application backlog and enhanced anti-fraud initiatives. The revenue from a new fee structure, if implemented in full this summer, will also:

• Reduce average application processing times by 20 percent from the current six month standard by the end of fiscal year 2009

• Cut processing times by the end of fiscal year 2008 for four key application types that represent a third of all applications filed

• Improve processing times from six to four months for the I-90 (Renew / Replace Permanent Resident Card), I-140 (Immigration Petition for Alien Worker) and I-485 (Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident)

• Improve the processing time for the N-400 (Naturalization) from seven to five months

• Transform the current paper-based data systems into a modern digital processing platform

• Expand on-line services, including e-filing capabilities to both citizenship and immigrant related requests; culminating with start-to-finish electronic processing

• Ensure a high-performance workforce through a national recruitment program, including new retention and training programs

• Improve the Freedom of Information Act program by hiring and training additional staff, resulting in the elimination of backlogs and faster processing

• Exempt applicants for humanitarian reasons from paying a fee from certain initial applications for benefits, including asylum, T-Nonimmigrant Status (I-914) – Victims of Human Trafficking), and applicants seeking immigrant classification under the Violence Against Women Act

• Improve USCIS facilities

Enhancing the Security and Integrity of the Immigration System – USCIS plays a vital role in our nation’s security. It is incumbent upon USCIS to make certain that a fair and equitable immigration system will not compromise public safety and national security. Additional and significant improvements are needed to meet current and emerging threats to the integrity of the immigration system. They include:
www.uscis.gov

• Improving the timeliness of background checks by expanding current name check resolution capacity, establishing co-located name check resolution capacity, and fully funding the FBI background check process

• Enhancing capability for the Fraud Detection and National Security Unit to conduct studies to determine the nature and extent of fraud in additional immigration benefit categories and to develop and implement solutions to mitigate identified vulnerabilities

• Implementing an aggressive site inspection and verification program aimed at identifying fraud among high-risk applications and petitions.

Modernizing Business Infrastructure – USCIS must also modernize its business systems and infrastructure in order to improve overall service delivery. Modernization plans will establish an integrated technology platform that supports the agency, its stakeholders, and its customers. Plans include:

• Upgrading the IT operating environment for desktop computers and transitioning to the department’s standard operating system

• Improving and automating business operations thereby reducing the existing paper-based processes and the underlying antiquated technology

• Enhancing the electronic transfer and information sharing of immigration records through increased digitization, such as electronic on-demand interagency sharing of immigration records

• Replacing and consolidated legacy INS systems

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/FSbuilding.pdf

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

January 31, 2007

USCIS FEE ADJUSTMENTS
(Methodology)
The current immigration benefit application and petition fees are based on a fiscal year 1998 final rule that has been adjusted for cost of living increases and other factors. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a fee structure for the fiscal year 2008/2009 biennial period that is based on a new cost model, and proposed both to improve service delivery and enhance the security and integrity of the immigration system. In conducting its fee review, USCIS used an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology that assigns costs to activities and to products and volume (applications/petitions and biometric services for which the agency charges a fee).
The activities identified in the ABC study include:

• Inform the Public – receiving and responding to customer inquiries;

• Capture Biometrics – electronic capture of fingerprints, photographs; also FBI background checks;

• Intake – mailroom operations, data capture and collection, fee receipting, and file room operations;

• Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) Checks – comparing information on applicants, petitioners, beneficiaries and household members who apply for benefits against various Federal systems (IBIS);

• Review Records – searching and requesting files, creating temporary and/or permanent alien files, auditing and updating files, archiving inactive files;

• Make Determination – the task of adjudicating applications and petitions; interviewing applicants; consulting with supervisors, legal counsel, and researching applicable laws;

• Fraud Detection and Prevention – activities performed by the Fraud Detection and National Security Office in detecting, combating, and deterring immigration benefit fraud; and

• Issue Document – producing and distributing secure cards that identify the holder as an alien and identifies his/her status or employment authorization.

The projected cost for the fiscal year 2008/2009 Immigration Examination Fee Account (IEFA) is derived from current expenses, detailed staffing analysis, and projected future costs.

PROJECTED COSTS FOR FY 2008/2009 IMMIGRATION BENEFIT APPLICATIONS AND PETITIONS

• FY 2007 IEFA Budget = $1,760,000,000

• (Less: Non-Recurring Costs) = (8,500,000) 1

1 Temporary program that will not recur after FY 2007 (temporary expansion of Application Support Centers)
www.uscis.gov


• FY 2007 Adjusted IEFA Budget = $1,751,500,000

• Plus: Inflation = 53,192, 000

• Plus: Additional Resource Requirements = 524,317,000 2
TOTAL = $2,329,009,000

2 Enhancements not in the FY 2007 budget, e.g., service, security and integrity, humanitarian programs, and infrastructure

PROJECTED VOLUME FOR FY 2008/2009 IMMIGRATION EXAMINATION FEE ACCOUNT
Workload volume is based on past workloads (the number of incoming applications and petitions), policy and requirements, and trends. USCIS is projecting a total fee-paying volume of 4.7 million applications and petitions for the FY 2008/2009 biennial period.

The overall weighted average for fee costs (when combined with the biometric fee) is obtained by dividing the projected volume of applications (4.7 million) by the total projected costs ($2.329 million). The weighted average is $491, or 86 percent ($227 above the current average).

REDUCTION IN WEIGHTED AVERAGE
That overall average, however, is reduced to 66 percent when taking into consideration the projected fees for an Application to Register Permanent Status or Adjust Status (I-485).

Currently, the I-485 fee is $325. The I-485 customer will also file, on average, two Applications for Employment Authorization (I-765) and nearly half will file at least one Application for Travel Document (I-131), while an additional 20 percent of applicants will file a second. These additional ‘interim benefits’ applications allow applicants to work or travel while their status application is pending. The combined fee that applicants currently pay is approximately $800.

The proposed fee structure will eliminate instances for applicants to have to pay for these processing delays. USCIS is proposing a $905 fee for the I-485 form. In essence, the increase is $105 instead of $580; therefore, the overall weighted average is reduced to 66 percent because adjustment of status applicants will pay roughly approximately the same fee that is currently assessed when taking into account those associated ‘interim benefits’ that are paid over a multi-year time period.

PROPOSED REDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS

• USCIS will eliminate certain interim benefit fees for applicants who apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

• Proposal to exempt applicants for humanitarian reasons from paying a fee from certain initial applications for benefits, including T-Nonimmigrant Status (I-914) – (Victims of Human Trafficking); and applicants seeking immigrant classification under the Violence Against Women Act.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/FSMethod1.pdf

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

Questions and Answers
January 31, 2007

BUILDING AN IMMIGRATION SERVICE FOR THE 21st CENTURY
USCIS Fee Adjustments

Under the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, applicants and petitioners will see substantially improved service under a new fee structure, with average processing times projected to be reduced by as much as 20 percent by the end of fiscal year 2009. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing to adjust the immigration benefit application and petition fees of the Immigration Examinations Fee Account. The proposal comes after USCIS conducted a comprehensive review of the resources and activities funded by the Account that found that current fees do not reflect the full costs of services the Agency should provide.

The proposal outlines USCIS’ intended fee schedule which is designed to enhance USCIS’ ability to address national security and public safety concerns, prevent and detect fraud, and invest in comprehensive transformation efforts to result in a more efficient and effective organization. It is the policy of the United States government, reflected in OMB Circular A-25, to fully recover the costs of providing benefits and services. The immigration benefits that USCIS confers are extremely valuable, and it is appropriate that prospective immigrants bear the full costs of the services provided.

Finally, the proposed adjustment will allow the agency to both sustain the current six-month processing standard and improve upon it by reducing its application processing times by an average of 20 percent over the next two years.

BACKGROUND
USCIS undertook a careful and comprehensive fee review to revise its application and petition fees in order to ensure it recovers its full business costs. Although USCIS last updated its fees on Oct. 26, 2005, solely based on inflationary increases, the fee review conducted is the agency’s first comprehensive review since fiscal year 1998. At that time, fees increased by an average of 76 percent (from $85 to $150). Today, having concluded its fee review, USCIS transmitted its proposed new fee structure to the Federal Register; it will be available for public viewing and comment at www.regulations.gov for a 60-day period beginning February1, 2007.

The proposed increases will ensure adequate funding to fully meet the USCIS goals to improve customer service and delivery of benefits, ensure national security and public safety, and meet business modernization needs. The agency will also merge fees for certain applications so that applicants will pay a single fee rather than paying several fees for related services.

Under the proposal, the cost to applicants for application and petition fees will now average about $438, an increase of $174 or 66 percent from the current average (when combined with the biometric fee for obtaining applicant fingerprints and photographs). The proposal also raises the biometric fee by $10, to $80.
In addition, in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, USCIS is proposing to eliminate certain interim benefit fees for applicants who apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence. Also, the proposal will exempt applicants for humanitarian reasons from paying a fee for certain benefits including T-Nonimmigrant Status (I-914) – Victims of Human Trafficking; and applicants seeking immigrant classification under the Violence Against Women Act.

USCIS’ current procedure of waiving fees for various classes of applicants, for example those filing for asylum, and members of the U.S. Armed Forces filing for naturalization, will continue. The proposal will also clarify the waiver process by limiting fee waivers to specific situations, including consideration for one’s inability to pay. In granting a waiver, USCIS will consider all factors, circumstances, and evidence supplied by the applicant including age, disability, household income, and qualification within the past 180 days for a federal means tested benefit.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Q: What is the actual increase, and what are some examples of fees that applicants will be paying under this proposed structure?

A. The weighted average increase for application and petition fees will be approximately 86 percent. The increase in actual costs to applicants and petitioners will be only 66 percent, however, because applicants for adjustment of status will no longer be required to pay a fee to apply for interim benefits. Specifically, this constitutes an average of $438, an increase of $174 (66 percent) from the current average. Several examples of current and proposed fees for specific applications and petitions include: (1) Application to Replace a Permanent Resident Card (I-90) – current fee is $190; proposed fee is $290; (2) Petition for Alien Fiancé (I-129F) – current fee is $170; proposed fee is $455; (3) Application to Register Permanent Status or Adjust Status (I-485) – current fee is $325; proposed fee is $9051; and (4) Application for Naturalization (N-400) – current fee is $330; proposed fee is $595.

Q. When are the new fees effective?

A. A proposed rule on the fee adjustments will be published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2007. The proposed rule provides for a 60-day public comment period. After receipt and analysis of the comments, USCIS will draft a final rule reflecting the public input. It is important to note that a proposed rule does not and cannot by itself, raise any immigration benefit application fees. Publication is only the beginning of the regulatory process where an agency announces its intentions to change its current regulations, and solicits public comments on the effect of these changes.

Q. Why does USCIS charge fees for immigration benefits?

A. Congress created a user fee account for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in 1988, transforming it into a fee-based agency. USCIS continues to be a fee-based agency. This means that since 1988 the immigration benefit operation has operated under a user fee account instead of receiving appropriated funds for its daily operations. The transition from funds appropriated by Congress to a user fee to support immigration case processing means that the revenue from application fees support the agency’s processing of each application. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for the collection of fees at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing adjudication and naturalization services, including the costs of providing similar services without charge to asylum applicants and certain other immigrants. The fee received must also pay for the infrastructure USCIS must develop and maintain to support case processing, and the administration of the nation’s immigration laws.
1 Based on USCIS’ analysis, a typical Adjustment of Status applicant pays approximately $800 when taking into account interim benefits over a multi year time period. The proposed increase is only $105 over what they pay today.


Between FY02 and FY06, USCIS received a subsidy of appropriated funds each year for the specific purpose of backlog elimination. This subsidy of $460 million was needed to address case processing backlogs as well as the insufficiency of the fee schedule. The growth of these backlogs was due in large part to failure to recover the full cost associated with the processing of applications; additional security checks and quality controls imposed following 9/11 that were not accounted for in the existing fee structure.

Q. What prompted this comprehensive fee review?

A. USCIS conducted its last comprehensive fee review in FY 1998. A 2004 GAO report concluded that the 1998 fee review had not fully covered cost. USCIS has been cognizant of the shortfalls, but wanted to improve services before increasing fees. The current review focused on a careful examination of resources and activities funded by the Immigration Examinations Fee Account, which resulted in finding that the current fees do not reflect current processes or recover the full costs of services that should be provided. The revised fee schedule closes current funding gaps, expands national security and fraud detection initiatives, achieves performance and customer service goals, and reengineers technology and business processes. In addition, the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO) Act requires fees to be reviewed every two years. The Department of Homeland Security began being covered by the CFO Act with the passage of Public Law 108-330, enacted on October 16, 2004.

Q: Why doesn’t USCIS just phase-in these increases over time to reduce the burden on applicants and petitioners?

A. USCIS has marginally increased fees since its last comprehensive fee review in fiscal year 1998, when fees increased approximately 76 percent. The last fee increase accounted solely for inflation on October 26, 2005. The comprehensive fee review has made clear, however, that these marginal increases have not allowed USCIS to meet its mission responsibilities.

Since the proposed fees are based on current USCIS costs, phasing in costs would require either an appropriated subsidy to bridge the gap during the phase-in period, or a reduction in services that would result in increased processing times, backlog growth, inability to upgrade technology and modernize systems, and inability to implement security and anti-fraud measures.

Q. What are the consequences of not increasing fees?

A. First, processing times would increase leading to backlogs which would eventually grow back to levels beyond what the agency faced at the height of its backlog in 2004. USCIS is concerned that the resulting backlogs could cause degraded national security capabilities increasing the vulnerability to fraud and abuse. Specifically, backlogs create significant public safety and national security risks as applicants remain in the U.S. unscreened while their applications are pending.

Q. How is it possible for USCIS’ costs to increase so significantly?

A. Part of the problem, as the GAO concluded in a 2004 report, is that the last major fee restructuring, which was implemented in 1998, did not fully recover USCIS’ costs. Furthermore, additional security checks and quality controls imposed after September 11 are not accounted for in the existing fee structure.
In developing this proposed rule, USCIS reviewed its recent cost experiences, current service levels, goals for additional services, and various factors allocating costs to particular form types. This rule proposes a fee structure that will allow USCIS to close certain funding gaps, achieve security objectives, modernize its business infrastructure, accomplish performance goals, eliminate problematic incentives, the issuance of interim benefits, and fairly allocate costs.
Q. What will the $524 million in “additional resource requirements” be use to fund? Why is this necessary and are these one-time costs?

A. More than 70 percent of the additional resource requirements in the areas of customer service, security and operations can be directly tied to findings and recommendations identified by external organizations/offices that conducted independent reviews, for example GAO, DHS IG, and the CIS Ombudsman. These resources will be use to improve service delivery, enhance the security and integrity of the immigration system, to include a 20 percent decrease in processing times by fiscal year 2009, and modernize our business infrastructure. The additional resource requirements represent ongoing costs which will allow USCIS to continue to invest in these mission critical areas. USCIS remains committed to reviewing its fee structure every two years and can raise or lower fees based on its findings.

Q. In general, why are immigration benefit application fees so large?

A. The cost of providing the right benefit to the right person, in an appropriate amount of time and without compromising security is a careful and complex process. The proposed fees not only reflect full cost recovery, but also the complexity of the various immigration and citizenship benefits that USCIS administers.

Fees reflect the cost of maintaining operations at a network of 250 domestic and international locations and Application Support Centers for fingerprint/photograph collection. While USCIS has achieved significant process improvements by centralizing certain functions, other functions and applicant interviews are most effectively offered locally.

Since September 11, 2001, USCIS’ costs to ensure a robust quality assurance function in identifying individual applicants who are a risk to national security or public safety, has grown substantially. USCIS completes more than 135,000 security and background checks daily.

It’s also important to keep in mind the large number of benefits provided for which there is no charge. USCIS waives the application/petition fee for various classes of applicants/petitioners, e.g., asylum and refugee applicants, and U.S. Armed Forces personnel. Further, the proposed new fee structure will exempt applicants for T nonimmigrant status (Victims of Human Trafficking), or for status under the Violence Against Women Act from paying certain fees.

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

Q. Why did USCIS take so long to conduct a comprehensive fee review?

A. USCIS received feedback from various stakeholders that it should improve service levels first before taking on a comprehensive reform of the fee structure. One of those services was to eliminate the backlog without passing that cost on to applicants. USCIS met that challenge on time at the end of fiscal year 2006.

In January 2004, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report in January 2004 concluded that the “fees were not sufficient to fully fund [US] CIS’ operations.” GAO stated that “n part, this has resulted because (1) the current fee schedule is based on an outdated fee study that did not include all costs of [US]CIS’ operations and (2) costs have increased since that study was completed due to an additional processing requirement and other actions.” GAO recommended that USCIS “perform a comprehensive fee study to determine the costs to process new immigration applications.” The fee review that is the basis for the proposed fees in this rule addresses that recommendation. In addition, since fee revenues have been insufficient to recover full operating costs, USCIS has been forced to rely on funding from temporary programs, to use premium processing funds for base infrastructure rather than for major business infrastructure improvements to the adjudication and customer-service processes, and to use fees from pending applications to fund applications being
processed. This insufficiency has delayed necessary investment in a new technology and business process platform to substantially improve USCIS’ capabilities and service levels-the purpose originally envisioned by Congress when it first established the premium-processing program.

Q. What if an applicant/petitioner cannot afford the fee?

[i]A. USCIS has historically waived the application/petition fee for entire classes of applicants. For example, there is no fee for filing an application for asylum, nor for members of the U.S. Armed Forces filing for naturalization. USCIS also has the ability to waive fees on a case-by-case basis for “inability to pay.” USCIS considers waiving the fee for a single individual based on his or her circumstances when all others in similar circumstances applying for the same benefit or service must pay the fee. In determining “inability to pay”, USCIS officers consider all factors, circumstances, and evidence supplied by the applicant including age, disability, household income, and qualification within the past 180 days for a federal means tested benefit.

In tandem with the proposed increase in fees, USCIS proposes to modify and clarify eligibility for an individual fee waiver. Individual fee waiver requests have been rising, both in terms of total volume and as a percentage of applications filed. The process of considering a fee waiver request itself has a significant associated adjudication cost.

Since USCIS is funded from application fees, a fee waiver transfers the cost to all other fee-paying applicants. Fairness requires that there be compelling reasons when granting an individual fee waiver to one applicant while making others applying for the same benefit or service pay full cost plus a surcharge to pay for the free service provided to the first customer.

This rule clarifies the fee waiver process by limiting fee waivers to certain situations. Specifically, the proposed rule limits the list of applications for which an individual fee waiver based on inability to pay may be granted to the Form I-90; Form I-751; Form I-765; Form I-817; Form N-300; Form N-336; Form N-400; Form N-470; Form N-565; Form N-600; Form N-600k; and the Forms I-290B and motions filed with USCIS.

Q. What is the legal authority for USCIS to charge fees?

A. USCIS fees are determined under the authority of section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes USCIS to set fees at a level that will recover the full costs of USCIS services, including those provided to some applicants without fee.

Q. Will USCIS conduct another fee review?

A. Yes. USCIS plans to review fees every two years to ensure that it is recovering the full cost of processing immigration benefit petitions/applications. USCIS is committed to update its fees through a similar analysis at least once every two years. In comparison to fee reviews over the last decade, which essentially made retrospective adjustments on a narrowly calculated fee review, future fee reviews will combine assumptions from recent experiences and incorporate productivity gains resulting from the modernization of USCIS operations (which may allow for cost reductions from new efficiencies) and from prospective activity changes (such as those that may arise from additional security measures or performance changes).

Q. Will USCIS continue to raise fees? What is being done to improve efficiencies in the process?

A. USCIS continues to seek ways to improve productivity while decreasing costs. USCIS is firmly committed to seeking new ways of doing business and reengineering processes in order to contain costs and pass on the savings to all of its customers. Large portions of this fee restructuring are designed to
invest revenue in improvements to improve efficiency and effectiveness that will help reduce agency costs. Additionally, for the first time, USCIS has incorporated a productivity measure into the fee model to ensure that productivity gains resulting from automated business processes and better technology will be factored into future fee reviews.

Q. You have increased fees before with the promise of improved service. Why is this fee increase any different?

A. There are two key differences. First, the clear distinction between this proposed fee schedule and prior fee schedules is that the proposed fee schedule does not simply reflect costs and performance retrospectively, locking USCIS into a revenue stream that at best allows it to maintain the status quo. Instead the proposed fee schedule is designed to provide for an adequate and sustainable level of investment in staff, infrastructure, and processes designed to improve USCIS’ ability to administer the nation’s immigration laws.

Second, the recent temporary infusion of appropriated dollars has allowed USCIS to significantly improve service levels at no additional cost to applicants. Thus tomorrow’s customers are not being asked to pay higher fees to allow us to process yesterday’s backlogged cases. Rather, they are simply being asked to pay the full cost of processing their application, including costs that help maintain an organization that will continue to achieve ongoing improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. The immigration benefits that USCIS confers are truly valuable and it is appropriate that prospective immigrants bear the full costs of the service provided.

Q. Why should applicants and petitioners pay higher fees for an inefficient process? USCIS should first become more efficient with improved service levels before it considers a fee increase.

A. USCIS has delayed this comprehensive fee review because we listened to our stakeholders who asked us to improve service levels first. USCIS has already substantially improved service levels, achieving the President’s goal of six months processing times for immigration applications in October of 2006. Even in the absence of full funds to do so, USCIS has undertaken to improve its customer service and national security processes. Yet the necessary improvements, which we all seek to meet the agency’s mission and enhance our current efforts, cannot be met without the necessary financial resources to permanently improve our business model in an entirely fee-funded environment.

Q. What will be the overall impact of this proposed rule?

A. USCIS will be better positioned to fully secure the integrity of our immigration system, to improve fraud prevention and detection efforts, and to introduce new national security enhancements to create a fair and equitable immigration system that ensures public safety.

Applicants and petitioners will see substantially improved service under a new fee structure, with average processing times projected to be reduced by as much as 20 percent by the end of fiscal year 2009. Secure documents will be delivered faster and customer requests for immigration records will be made more efficient. This effort will be bolstered by USCIS’ transformation from its current paper-based data systems into digital processing resources and expanded on-line services, including e-filing and end-to-end electronic processing capabilities. Improvements in service will be more than cosmetic, as our strategy will provide greater access by USCIS customers to office locations and information.

Investments to modernize our business infrastructure will fundamentally transform the United States’ immigration services for years to come. Information systems will be updated to improve service delivery, expand on-line service options and largely eliminate paper-based processes. Finally, the timeliness of background checks and anti-fraud efforts will be improved by various initiatives, such as expanding name check resolution capabilities and adjusting resources at co-located facilities as required.
As a result of these improvements, USCIS is poised to begin a new chapter in its critical national mission with an updated fee structure directly corresponding to the growing costs of administering a secure and efficient immigration system for the 21st century. By creating a fair means to ensure the recovery of operational costs, USCIS will fulfill its responsibility to the American people to protect our Nation and maintain the integrity of our national immigration system.

Q. Why doesn’t USCIS continue to receive appropriated funds instead of receiving fees?

A. Congress created a user fee account for the former INS in 1988, transforming it into a fee-based agency. As a fee-based agency, USCIS uses revenue from application fees rather than appropriated funds to pay for the administration of the nation’s immigration laws, processing of applications, and the infrastructure needed to support these activities. It is the policy of the United States government, reflected in OMB Circular A-25 to fully recover the cost of providing benefits and services. Congress determines the amount and source of USCIS funds in its annual appropriations legislation, subject to Presidential action on enacted bills. The Administration has directed USCIS to become fully fee funded with respect to its adjudicative activities of immigrant petitions. This allows the business costs to be supported by its consumers.

Q. How may I provide comments on the proposed fee increases?

A. To comment on the proposed rule, USCIS requests the public to submit written comments by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

• Facsimile: Federal eRulemaking portal at 866-466-5370.

• Mail: Director, Regulatory Management Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20529. To ensure proper handling, please reference DHS Docket No. USCIS-2006-0044 on your correspondence. This mailing address may also be used for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions.

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Regulatory Management Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20529. Contact Telephone Number (202) 272-8377.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/QABuilding1.pdf

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

Einige ausgewaehlte Antrags-Forms und die zu erwartende Gebuehr:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-1631.pdf

Gruss
Michael

[Michu]

STATEMENT

OF
EMILIO T. GONZALEZ
DIRECTOR
U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (USCIS)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
REGARDING A PROPOSAL TO
ADJUST THE IMMIGRATION BENEFIT APPLICATION AND PETITION
FEE SCHEDULE
BEFORE THE
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP, REFUGEES, BORDER SECURITY, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
FEBRUARY 14, 2007 at 2:15 PM
2141 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

Good afternoon Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member King, and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Emilio Gonzalez, and I am the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). I am accompanied today by the USCIS Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Rendell Jones, and Associate Director for Domestic Operations, Michael Aytes. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today regarding USCIS’ proposal to adjust the immigration benefit application and petition fee schedule.

In his FY 2007 Budget request, the President called for USCIS to reform its fee structure - in line with Federal fee guidelines1 - to ensure the recovery of operational costs. This followed a January 2004 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report2 to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that indicated that USCIS’ fees were insufficient to fund our operations. As a result, the GAO recommended that USCIS “perform a comprehensive fee study to determine the costs to process new immigration applications.” Consistent with that direction, USCIS undertook a careful and comprehensive fee review to revise its application and petition fees to ensure it recovers its full business costs. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register3 on February 1st, reflects the application of that review to the current fee schedule.
The proposed fee structure will allow USCIS to strengthen the security and integrity of our immigration system, improve customer service, and modernize business operations for the 21st century. Specifically, the new fee structure will enable USCIS to:

1) Improve the integrity of our immigration system by increasing fraud prevention and detection efforts and expanding national security enhancements;
2) Reduce processing times for all immigration applications by an average of
20 percent by the end of FY 2009;
3) Address performance gaps identified by the Government Accountability Office, DHS Inspector General, and the USCIS Ombudsman;
4) Upgrade facilities and provide better training to ensure a skilled workforce; and 5) Automate USCIS business operations and modernize information technology (IT) infrastructure, reducing unacceptable paper-based processes.
While these initiatives are characterized as enhancements when compared to our current resources and operations, they are critical investments necessary to meet our current mission requirements.

1 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-25 (“User Charges”) directs federal agencies to charge the “full cost” of providing special benefits to a recipient when calculating fees. “Full cost” is defined as “all direct and indirect costs to any part of the Federal Government of providing a good, resource or service.”
2 See GAO, Immigration Application Fees: Current Fees are Not Sufficient to Fund U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Operations (GAO-04—309R, Jan. 5, 2004).
3Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 8 CRF Part 103, Adjustment of the Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Application and Petition Fee Schedule, Proposed Rule, 72 Fed. Reg. 4887 (Feb 1, 2007).
With regard to reducing processing times, the proposed fee increase, if implemented in full this summer, will enable a 20 percent reduction in average application processing times by the end of fiscal year 2009, and will cut processing times by the end of fiscal year 2008 for four key application types that represent a third of all applications filed. These application types are the I-90 (Renew / Replace Permanent Resident Card), I-140 (Immigration Petition for Alien Worker) and I-485 (Adjustment of Status to Permanent Resident), which will improve from six to four months processing time, and the N-400 (Naturalization), which will improve from seven to five months processing time.

At the outset, I want to emphasize that USCIS published the regulation as a proposed rule with a public comment period of 60 days. This means that no fee changes will go into effect until USCIS receives and analyzes comments and suggestions from the public, and I can assure you that USCIS is actively seeking feedback to the proposal. After analysis of those comments, USCIS will draft and publish a final rule reflecting the public input and will provide an additional 60 days before implementation of any new fee schedule. While USCIS loses $3 million every day under the current fee schedule, it is important that the public have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposal before any changes are made.

I also want to clarify that USCIS’ current procedure of exempting refugee and asylum applicants from paying the fee for certain immigration benefit applications and petitions, and waiving fees for various classes of applicants, such as those filing for military naturalization, will continue. Moreover, the rule proposes other improvements to the fee waiver process. For example, it would exempt certain particularly vulnerable applicant groups from paying a fee, such as Victims of Human Trafficking (T non-immigrant visa) and applicants who self-petition under the Violence Against Women Act.

Another common sense improvement to the fee waiver process is to limit fee waivers to specific situations where one’s inability to pay is consistent with the requirements for the benefit sought. For instance, if someone is sponsoring a relative to immigrate to this country and files an affidavit of support attesting that the beneficiary will not become a public charge, then it is counterintuitive that the same petitioner cannot afford the filing fee. Similarly, a business that attests to the ability to pay prevailing wages should not be able to file a fee waiver. Where fee waivers are applicable, USCIS will consider all factors, circumstances, and evidence supplied by the applicant including age, disability, household income, and qualification within the past 180 days for a federal means tested benefit.

I recognize that this proposed fee structure will increase costs for many legally seeking immigration benefits, including those seeking to become citizens. The proposal reflects an average weighted increase for application and petition fees of approximately 86 percent. However, the proposed rule will re-package the adjustment of status application to include interim benefits, specifically work authorization and advanced parole, without separate fees, at no additional cost. Taking this modification into
account, the actual average increase in costs to applicants and petitioners will be 66 percent.

The alternative – asking USCIS to continue to charge fees that do not cover operational costs – would have disastrous consequences resulting in a less secure and more inefficient immigration system. In addition, it would seriously degrade service delivery and cause applicants to wait longer for benefits that are crucial to their lives and livelihood. And changes to the USCIS fee structure are long overdue. The last comprehensive fee adjustment based on a comprehensive fee study occurred in 1998 when fees were increased by an average of 76 percent. USCIS has periodically adjusted fees since this time, but these adjustments never fully recovered or kept up with costs. As mentioned above, GAO found that our fees were insufficient to recoup our operating expenses and that remains true today despite a fee increase in April 2004 and an inflationary increase in October 2005.

The immigration benefits that USCIS confers are extremely valuable, and it is appropriate that prospective immigrants bear the full costs of the services provided. Law and policy have therefore long dictated that the costs of providing immigration benefits be borne by those applying for them. Part of the funding problem USCIS has faced recently has been a reliance on temporary funding sources, including appropriated funding. This new fee schedule will establish a more stable source of funding. Therefore, as the number of applications increase, USCIS will be able to respond to workload changes and will no longer have to sacrifice customer service or rely on unreliable funding sources.

USCIS has demonstrated that it is capable of putting the increased revenue to good use and that the public and USCIS’s customers will see concrete benefits from the new fee structure. I am pleased to report to the Subcommittee that, with the infusion of $460 million in appropriated resources over the past 5 years, USCIS was able to achieve the President’s goal of a six-month or better processing time for nearly all immigration applications. By the end of FY 2006, the backlog had fallen from a high of 3.8 million cases in January 2004 to less than 10,000. The proposed fee rule will allow USCIS to build on this success and further reduce processing times allowing us to better serve our customers.

USCIS has made other customer service improvements over that time as well, including establishing online filing, online case updates, INFOPASS appointments, change of address online, as well as the introduction of a broad range of fact sheets to help people understand various benefits, eligibility criteria and USCIS procedures so they can better choose their way ahead. These improvements demonstrate what USCIS can do, and with the proposed new fees we can deliver far more significant improvements.

The improvement to our nation’s immigration system resulting from the increased revenue generated by this rule will support increased security and fundamentally overhaul and automate USCIS business operations, all of which will greatly strengthen USCIS’ ability to perform its mission and put the agency in a better position to support
possible future legislative reforms. However, this fee rule is designed to close performance and security gaps that exist today and does not assume passage of legislation.

USCIS is required by law to update its fees at least once every two years and has established a dedicated staff in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to ensure that all future updates are made through a comprehensive analysis. We are also firmly committed to seeking new ways of doing business and reengineering processes in order to contain costs and pass on the savings to all of our customers, and the new fee structure will enable USCIS to make improvements that will ultimately help reduce agency costs. Productivity enhancements which affect hours per completion calculations produce lower cost per unit. Process improvements implemented over the past several years, as well as projected productivity increases, were taken into account in the current fee study, keeping fees lower than they might otherwise have been. Specifically, this proposed fee increase reflects our commitment to a projected 4% increase in productivity for adjustment of status cases, and a 2% increase in productivity for all other products. USCIS will remain accountable for these projected productivity increases in order for fees to support operations as intended.

I am aware that a few vocal opponents have suggested that the proposed fee schedule represents a government-imposed obstacle to legal immigration or citizenship. I respectfully disagree and can assure you that this proposal is being made only after diligent consideration of the results of a comprehensive fee review launched early in 2006. By recovering the full costs of doing business, this rule will enable USCIS to reduce processing times and improve customer service and, in the long run, make the legal immigration process more secure, efficient and welcoming to all immigrants.

The Administration is dedicated to comprehensive reform of America’s immigration laws by increasing border security, while maintaining the Nation’s tradition of welcoming immigrants who enter the country legally.

For immigration reform to succeed, it must be based on five pillars:

1) strengthening security at the borders;

2) substantially increasing enforcement in the interior to remove those who are here illegally, and to prevent employers from deliberately or inadvertently hiring illegal immigrants;


3) implementing a Temporary Worker Program to provide a legal channel for employers to hire foreign workers to do jobs Americans are unwilling to do;

4) addressing the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country; and


5) helping new immigrants assimilate into American society. The Administration’s plan will deter and apprehend migrants attempting to enter the country illegally and decrease crime rates along the border. The plan also will serve the needs of the economy by allowing employers to hire legal foreign workers on a temporary basis when no American is willing to take the job, bring illegal immigrants out of the shadows without providing amnesty, and restore public confidence in the Federal Government’s ability to enforce immigration laws.

I am pleased to take any questions you may have at this time.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Gonzalez_House_021407.pdf

Gruss
Michael