OCA Condemns Increase in Cost to Become U.S. Citizen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 November 2019
Contact: Thu Nguyen | Senior Communications Manager
202.223.5500 | [email protected]
Washington, DC - OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates strongly opposes the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) proposal to increase the cost of applying for citizenship by 83 percent. These changes would catapult citizenship application fees from $640, currently, to $1,170. Permanent residency applications would also be raised by 79% from $1,220 to $2,195. DACA renewals would increase as well, going up 54% from $495 to $765. Further, the proposal seeks to eliminate a program that reduces costs for low-income applicants and impose fees on asylum-seekers for the first time ever. The proposal is currently in a public comment period that ends on December 16, 2019.
USCIS rationalizes these unfair increases by arguing that they overall only total a “weighted average increase” (1) of 21%, which is in line with a past 21% cost hike in 2016. However, it is clear that the burden of these cost increases falls unfairly on citizenship, permanent residency, and DACA applicants, whose costs are rising much faster than 21%. Additionally, USCIS seeks to divert $207.6 million to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Nearly doubling the cost to apply for citizenship is a cruel attempt by USCIS to slash immigration rates. However, immigrants will not stop seeking refuge in the United States. The only thing this proposal will do is put hundreds of thousands of immigrants in danger of going without documentation that they cannot afford to pay for and potential deportation,” said Roland Hwang, OCA National VP of Public Affairs. “Already, applying for citizenship is a long and arduous process that is costly for immigrant families. The disproportionate increase in cost will damage morale, reduce accessibility, and perpetuate a culture of fear and distrust of government. OCA calls on USCIS to rescind the proposal.”
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national organization of community advocates dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
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(1)USCIS uses weighted average instead of a straight average because of the difference in volume by immigration benefit type and the resulting effect on fee revenue. The 21 percent weighted average increase is a change in the average fee for a form that currently requires a fee compared to the average proposed fee per form. The current average fee is $530. The proposed average fee is $640. There is a $110, or approximately 21 percent difference between the two averages.
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