Effect of Rising Fee on Immigration Forms

In July, the USCIS brought forward the final set of rules for immigrants. These rules extend to both individual immigrants and businessmen and there is a significant increase in the fee to be paid for immigration forms. The rules also bring about multiple fees at various stages and limit the number of people that you can set as beneficiaries. USCIS has already stated that these will be implemented from October onwards. They will not be taking into account and newer comments. If you're looking for a deeper understanding of the hikes and the process of immigration in general, then you can get in touch with Goldstein Immigration Lawyers.

How Will This Affect Businesses?

An immigrant worker looking for a visa will now have to pay a higher amount. There is an almost 20% increase from the previous amount. Employers who have more than 50 employees working under them will have to pay a much higher fee as well.

This hike, which will be in place from 2nd October 2020 onwards places an enormous strain on various businesses and individual immigrants. The fee hike is different for different visa levels. If you're applying for the O visa, then you might have to pay as much as 50% more from the previous amount. If you're looking for an L-visa, then the filing fee is almost 75% more than what it previously was. Currently, Form I-129 was the application form number in use for these activities. This will be revised and released again.

Many citizens have seen this move as an unwelcome strategy. The USCIS has justified the hike stating that the current increase in costs has led to this long-awaited change. They have stated that they have long been facing a shortage of funds. They also stated that around seventy percent of their workforce is in peril if such changes are not implemented.

Are There Any Other Fee Hikes?

Hikes have been set at various levels and stages of processing.

• Hike for Immigrants - As stated, the immigration forms have seen a 20 to 23% hike from before.
• Processing Fee Hike - There has been no specific hike in the processing fee required. However, the processing time has taken a dive. Earlier, users would only need to wait for 15 days, irrespective of holidays. But now, they must wait for 15 business days which excludes weekends.
• Employment Authorization - There is also a hike in the fee you will have to pay to receive authorisation for employment. Again, this will likely have a negative effect on those businesses employing large numbers of migrant workers.
• Application to be Citizen Fee Hike - The final hike of almost eight percent is for those who are applying to become proper U.S. citizens. Hence, the process of naturalisation has seen the largest jump so far under the current administration.

A lawsuit challenging the hike was posted on August 22nd at the U.S. district court. To better understand how these can affect your chances of immigration, you can set up a consultation with Goldstein Immigration Lawyers.