The Naturalization Process for U.S. Citizenship May Get More Expensive
If you believe the headlines that have dominated doom scrolling feeds for the past year and a half, then the United States and Canada are mortal enemies, and Canadians who are planning to immigrate to the United States should put their plans on hold. While no one, not even the most eloquent chatbot friend who magnifies your greatest hopes and fears with immediate responses to your questions, would ever suggest that the current administration would put Canada on a list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the United States in all circumstances, Canadians have not been entirely immune to the effects of the seemingly endless parade of immigration restrictions that this administration has brought. Much of this does not jibe with your lived experience, though, since you have had U.S. permanent residency for so long that you are now eligible to apply for naturalization. The people who have to worry more are the ones trying to adjust their status to get a green card after marrying a U.S. citizen, or after their employers completed the sponsorship process for them to get permanent residency, and they are in a stronger position than international students and others whose visas do not come with an expectation of adjustment of status. Now the U.S. government is considering increasing the fees for applying for citizenship and making it harder to waive these fees. If you are a U.S. permanent resident planning to apply for naturalization, and you want to avoid obstacles in the naturalization process, contact a Mississauga U.S. immigration lawyer.
Trump Administration Seeks More Scrutiny of Naturalization Applications, at Applicants’ Expense
Most immigration documents require you to pay a filing fee when you submit them to USCIS. The Department of Homeland Security has recently proposed increasing the fee for filing a petition for naturalization from $750 to $1,330, which is a 75 percent increase. It has also proposed raising the fee for appealing negative decisions by USCIS from $830 to $1,475. It is not yet certain when, or even if, these fee increases will go into effect. First, there will be a 60-day public comment period before USCIS decides whether to implement the change.
The purpose of the proposed fee increases is to enable USCIS to conduct more thorough investigations before deciding whether to approve an applicant’s petition for naturalization. USCIS is not funded by tax revenues. Instead, it derives its entire budget from the fees that immigrants and prospective immigrants pay when filing their immigration documents. The current administration has put a new focus on investigating immigrants’ social media activity, including comments they have posted and accounts that they follow; this may be part of what the fee increases aim to pay for.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Applying for U.S. Citizenship
A family lawyer can help you navigate the process of applying for U.S. citizenship in an era of intensive investigation of applications. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
msn.com/en-us/news/us/dhs-proposes-75-increase-in-fees-for-us-citizenship-paperwork/ar-AA26hWko?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=6a3ae2bd884c4884aefac330d06e6022&ei=45
