Prepare for immigration fee increases – file now

Immigration fees continue to increase. Effective November 23, 2010 filing fees for many petitions or applications filed with USCIS will increase. The fee increases will make cost of obtaining immigration benefits even more expensive at a time when the economy has impacted many persons who would be seeking to obtain temporary visas or permanent visas to immigrate to the United States. The DHS USCIS has posted questions and answers on the fee changes on its website as well as a chart which sets out the new filing fees. One of the few good news items is that the fee for Naturalization Applications [insert hyperlink to naturalization page] will remain the same. However this fee has already been subject to dramatic increases and at $680 (with the new fingerprint fee will make the cost of applying for citizenship unaffordable for many.