ncy applications, pledging to use the revenue to help shorten processing time and improve service. But the proposal, which would hike citizenship application fees from US$330 to US$595, drew immediate criticism that it would put citizenship out of reach for many poor immigrants. The plan also would increase overall fees for green cards, work permits and other benefits an average of 66 percent.
Some immigrant advocates say that the fee increases build a "new wall" that will make citizenship more difficult to attain.
Immigration officials this month plan to field-test a new citizenship exam they say will be more meaningful, but immigrant advocates fear could be more difficult.
Officials also are discussing a plan to require online application filing, which advocates say will hurt those without computer access.
"All of these policy changes really create another barrier for people who want to go through this process and realize their dreams," said Mark Yoshida, an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles.
The largest proposed fee hikes would be for the relatively small number of immigrant entrepreneurs seeking investor green cards, whose cost would increase from US$475 to US$2,850. Fees for the most widely sought immigration benefit ¡X work permits ¡X would rise from US$180 to US$340, and those for family visas would increase from US$190 to US$355.
Fees for most green card applications would rise from US$325 to US$905, but applicants would no longer have to pay added costs for work permits, travel authorization and other benefits. Those costs can add hundreds of dollars.
In addition, the fingerprinting fee would increase by US$10 to US$80.
The citizenship agency is proposing to eliminate fees for certain applicants, including battered women and human-trafficking victims.
The agency also is proposing to eliminate fee waivers for certain applicants who are required to be financially self-sufficient. Those include applicants for legal permanent residency and family visas.
