Musings on Immigration

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) decided that they’re not charging enough for application filing fees, so they recently published a notice proposing a fee increase.   I say “proposed” because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must first publish the proposal in the Federal Register and allow 60 days for the public to comment on the fee increase before it becomes a new rule.   So, now is the time to review and comment on the publication by clicking on this link, https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/04/2016-10297/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule .   As you will notice, there are only 60 days in which to make your feelings known, so please comment now because it expires on July 5, 2016!   The new rule will go into effect not less than 30 days after the comment period has ended.   Your voice will make a difference with the proposed fee increases because the comments help to formulate the final rule, so pleas...

Dear Director Mayorkas: Last week in a speech you broached the subject of the possible need to increase filing fees because of a decrease in the number of applications received by USCIS this fiscal year. You also noted that there was over $100 million shortfall in your budget because of these decreased filings. I have some suggestions to meet your budget. First, look at your budget projections from this last year. Last October, who didn’t see the recession? Why weren’t reductions in force made at that time? On April 1 when only 33% of the H-1B applications were filed as compared to the year before, why didn’t USCIS staff get pared down? A monumental increase in naturalization applications occurred before the Presidential elections (as they do every 4 years), who did not not see a decrease in naturalization applications for 2009! My heck, every business in America was laying off employees, but not USCIS! Second, have a heart to heart talk with anyone who issues an RFE that requires more...