Russian Women Discussion
RWD Discussion Groups => Immigration and Visas => Topic started by: Jet on June 20, 2007, 07:40:44 PM
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Schedule of new fees effective July 30 2007
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Jet,
Thanks for the update. It looks as though our timing was finally good, we file the N-400 on June 30th, fully 30 days ahead of the fee increase, $330.00 instead of $675.00. No doubt they'll wait til after the deadline to jack us up on the biometrics.
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Seems like they are jacking up the fees but will the service be any better? I say no.
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I was shocked when seeing this.
The old I129f fee was $170. Now it is $455. That's 2 2/3 increase! Holy cow.
Looks like other fees were jacked way up also.
My question - if anyone might know this - is what was the justification for such a high increase? Is it for better service? Faster service? More complete background checks?
How often do these fees change?
I mean... the $170.00 for me was basically not noticed. But $455.00 for some will be a lot of money. And to be honest I have not looked into the costs after my Elena arrives. For me it will not be that big a deal financially. BUT - for some people it seems this will be a financial burden that might hurt.
In other words - what I am trying to say is the increases do not affect me personally that much. But I question how this will affect others, and how will the increased revenue be spent? Any guesses? Any links to actual references to this on USCIS?
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The justification is all the world class service USCIS has been giving us for years.
NOT!!!
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My question - if anyone might know this - is what was the justification for such a high increase? Is it for better service? Faster service? More complete background checks?
My guess is to dissuade poor people and chancers, our govs don't want:
a. another mouth to feed, and/or
b. untaxable housewives
..in the economy.
Our nice Mr Blair didthe same before he left, our fee-line now is:
fiancee/spouse visa = 500 quid/$1000
FLR (two yr probationary visa) = 385 quid/$790
ILR (sort of Green card) = 750 quid/$1500
Citizenship = always forget this one think it's 290 quid/$580
All this by post, for in person add 250 quid/$500 to FLR and ILR, you looking at a total in fees alone of about $4400...
Nice
Alternatively, under under EU rules it costs, precisely nothing!
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Ste
Yes if you are a German living in UK then you can get your wife through UK ILR free.
So perhaps you can do the same by moving to Germany for a while?
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Ste
Yes if you are a German living in UK then you can get your wife through UK ILR free.
So perhaps you can do the same by moving to Germany for a while?
Working on that Mir, shhhhhhhh
I'm after a fake address in Berlin so I can get my aushaltenlaubnis or whatever it's called although technically I don;t need it for three months, best to have it.
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My question - if anyone might know this - is what was the justification for such a high increase? Is it for better service? Faster service? More complete background checks?
How often do these fees change?
But I question how this will affect others, and how will the increased revenue be spent? Any guesses? Any links to actual references to this on USCIS?
http://www.binghamton.edu/isss/news/isssbu2007/Jun042007.html#three
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/PressConf_052907.pdf
~ sensei
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To understand the reason behind the new fee's you have to be aware that the stats on divorce rates among CIS immigrants K1 visas etc running at 60% or more so these fee's will make people think much deeper before going ahead with it. My experience in dating these Russian women is that 100% , 12 of 12 were divorced with in the first 1-5 years of living here. So, if nothing else, this is a good reason to increase fee's. Very few men will mary an American women they don't know well, so why rush into marriage with a FSU woman after counting the actual cost, you know her and her culture even less than American women? The truth is, there are millions of single Russian women who are sitting at their computer at this moment waiting to meet you without all the cost involved. Men, a little free advice. Get to know her well before marriage,, at least a year or two. One thing I know for sure, if the marriage is not what they expected or they feel you misrepresented yourself, they will walk out of your life just as quickly as they walked in.
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The truth is, there are millions of single Russian women who are sitting at their computer at this moment waiting to meet you...
Men, a little free advice. Get to know her well before marriage,, at least a year or two.
Very good advice, Misha.
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$455? Gulp!
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I have to say I'm very fortunate that Tatiana is a legal resident here. I'm thinking now she has lived here 6 years she needs to apply for citizenship to make sure we have no issues later on. :-) I hear that costs more now as well.
I changed my avatar photo so you can all enjoy her sweetness. You only need to sit with this woman for 2 minutes to fall in love with her personality. I took her shopping for a new dress last week,, Oh what a joy. She treats everyone with total respect, just how she wants to be treated. I was impressed how careful she is with $$ once she set the amount she's willing to spend she wont go over it. After this we went over to friends of hers Lena, and drank shots of Vodka,, and watched movies of her son's wedding. Was like being back in Moscow, they made me feel so welcome and I enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed mine.
:)
Michael
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I doubt if the higher fees discourage anyone. The cost in this venture is high enough that the extra is not that big a deal.
i think it will be just like smoking. They raise the taxes and everyone says they are going to quit as they stand in the counter and buy thier next pack.
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Historically it has been US foreign policy to encourage foreign nationals to visit and study in the USA on the clever thought that visitors or students will gain an appreciation of American society. That intelligent policy has been ignored by the current administration. Worse yet, the unbelievable increase in fees in all types of visa proceedings without a corresponding increase in service is fraudulent. Last week I estimated that in that non-peak period that the Moscow embassy took in a minimum of a half million dollars with a probable secondary cost to applicants of five times that amount. With the number of staff assigned to interviews the average time available for applicants was probably in the range of one minute or less. I submitted a large student visa package on behalf of a judge which was endorsed by the mayor of our city, the county commissioner's court, and a senior member of the Texas Senate who worked closely with President Bush when he was governor. The visa was denied in seconds with no explanation. When I get the package back I intend to have all of the pages analyzed for fingerprints. While federal law grants broad discretion to consular officials, the federal administrative procedures act requires that discretion actually be exercised. That presumably at least requires a reading of the documents immigration law dictates be submitted. I wonder if the persons conducting interviews are US government employees or employees under government contracts. I know that most US embassies hire third party companies to handle security. I wonder if visa applicants are dealing with employees of a subsidiary of Blackwater! What is very clear is that the interview process is damaging our nation's image. I have more visa experience on the Mexican border than in CIS countries and sadly that experience is generally negative. With respect to marriage type visas it seems clear that our policy was, and is, and should be to allow US citizens or permanent residents to bring immediate family members to the USA. Obviously there are serious international human rights issues involved in "family unification". It is incomprehensible that legitimate visa applicants are subjected to the type of abuse reported on sites like this when there are tens of millions of illegal immigrants living here and more pouring across our borders every day.
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Historically it has been US foreign policy to encourage foreign nationals to visit and study in the USA on the clever thought that visitors or students will gain an appreciation of American society. That intelligent policy has been ignored by the current administration. Worse yet, the unbelievable increase in fees in all types of visa proceedings without a corresponding increase in service is fraudulent.
Should we blame the fraud on Bush!t too like we did the fires in San Diego and hurricane in New Orleans? Why not, everybody else does. With the new and improved increased fees, USCIS will hire more employees that will need to be trained of course by the more experience employees which in turn has nobody doing the paperwork that's piling up. My k-1 is currently bogged down but hopefully for others in the future, USCIS will have their act together.
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BillyB,
As a federal employee I can say this much. Don't expect all the new hires at USCIS to be any more proficient that the ones currently employed by USCIS The feds place no value on quality service even though they would lead you to believe they do. The workloads are too high. Most will only scratch the surface because it is all that time allows before they are forced into the next case. There is no excuse for this behavior but if you were presented with lines a mile long it would get to be pretty depressing. There is never an end to the workload.
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New proposals.. so should probably update this one--
On December 14, 2009, the Department of State published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to increase the nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, also called the Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fee, and Border Crossing Card (BCC) fees. The proposed rule also establishes a tiered structure with separate fees for different visa categories.
The application fee for K visas for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens would be $350. The fee for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors would be $390.
http://www.travel.state.gov/news/press/press_4603.html
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http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-13991.pdf
Full proposal
Look at Table 16 for the full list
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So let me get this straight: You pay a king's ransom to get your bride here, then hopefully you have some money left to support her.
Quality of service? What a joke! Vermont now takes 5 months to process your K-1, where they used to do it in one month. Moscow used to take 1 month to schedule your lady's interview . Now they take 2 months. They used to issue the visa in 3 days. Now they take 2 weeks. One week in NVC, now two weeks.
Old total time: 3 months. New total time: 8 months.
That's right: Pay 2 1/2 times as much and wait 2 1/2 times as long.
You pay more and you get less. The motto of our government!
And they wonder why people sneak across the border from Mexico.' :cluebat:
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The NVC will keep the case open for up to a year if you are not providing anything needed to move it on to the Embassy.There is a final fee after the visa is issued, 165 for Green Card issuance, payable to USCIS.--Ray BMark, I have yet to submit the remaining of the Supporting documents for their visa and it does not include fees. THe only expenses I was looking at before all this happened was their Medical fees and the trip to do that since they live in Cebu, then the trip to the interivew, and their plane tickets here. But now, my whole world turned completely upside down. I was thinking if i submit the reamaining of their documents, the NVC will give them an interview schedule which im afraid it will be in a month or two maybe. If i dont submit the documents on the otherhand, the immigration might close their case? But thank you for all your kind words Mark and for taking the time to reply.Thank you everybody for all your replies.
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Sorry if i mis understand the costs ( im upside down in Australia ) but it seems cheap to me .. As An example , your fiancee petition costs $455 . I think the same sort of visa "Prospective spouse " or even bringing a "partner visa " was around the $5500 AUS - for us nearly 2 years ago . It is higher now .
The partner visa is basically the same . So even if married you are still up for around $5000 , plus any children , before you can get your wife or fiancee to live here .
From memory a tourist visa was a few hundred.
Hope this post doesn't come across rude , it just seems like a small amount in the scheme of things , especially when compared to our fees :)
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My view is that your fees seem to be too expensive. ;D
I think the application fee for the fiancee visa has gone down a bit.
http://www.uscis.gov/i-129f
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Sorry if i mis understand the costs ( im upside down in Australia ) but it seems cheap to me .. As An example , your fiancee petition costs $455 . I think the same sort of visa "Prospective spouse " or even bringing a "partner visa " was around the $5500 AUS - for us nearly 2 years ago . It is higher now .
The partner visa is basically the same . So even if married you are still up for around $5000 , plus any children , before you can get your wife or fiancee to live here .
From memory a tourist visa was a few hundred.
Hope this post doesn't come across rude , it just seems like a small amount in the scheme of things , especially when compared to our fees :)
Americans went to war and overthrew the English government because of a tax stamp.
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New Zealand work visa for a partner from Ukraine (because we don't have a K-1 equivalent) has to be done through the Moscow embassy because we don't have one in Ukraine. Cost is 10,800 RUR - $NZ 284. ;D
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I was shocked when seeing this.
The old I129f fee was $170. Now it is $455.
The fee is $340.
http://www.uscis.gov/i-129f
It was $95 [back in 1999 when I applied for my wife].
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The fee is $340.
http://www.uscis.gov/i-129f
It was $95 [back in 1999 when I applied for my wife].
If I remember in 1994 I paid only $60 or $50, something so small I didn't bat an eyelash. Now according to that link its $535
MOB inflation
Boe linked an article to K1 visas on another thread, and the forecasted numbers for next year were close to half what the numbers were just a few years ago. So its not just success in weeding out fake applicants, the fee increases shows an intentional attempt to lower the number.
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If I remember in 1994 I paid only $60 or $50, something so small I didn't bat an eyelash. Now according to that link its $535
MOB inflation
Boe linked an article to K1 visas on another thread, and the forecasted numbers for next year were close to half what the numbers were just a few years ago. So its not just success in weeding out fake applicants, the fee increases shows an intentional attempt to lower the number.
It's more accurate to say dept of homeland security inflation, which didn't exist in the 90's.
Also, the K1 visa is fully fee funded, which makes expensive but had an advantage in that it was not shut down when the gov was shut down in Dec/Jan.
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Inflation has little to do with it at this point-- they name the price...we pay it :cluebat:
As of early 2019, the filing fees for the K-1 process were $535 for Form I-129F (filed with USCIS), $265 to apply for the K visa (paid to the consulate), and $1,225 for Form I-485 and the adjustment of status packet (filed with USCIS), including the biometrics fee.
How long does it take to get a K1 Fiance visa? In 2018 most cases typically take 7 to 9 months on average from the time USCIS receives the I-129F fiance visa application until the K-1 visa is embossed onto the foreign fiancee's passport.Dec 4, 2017
[google]
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Inflation has little to do with it at this point-- they name the price...we pay it :cluebat: [google]
Because I have a Russian wife and I'm a lawyer I'm asked about the permanent residence and naturalization process, costs, timeframe, etc. all the time.
The simple facts are the process is not going to get cheaper in the future nor is the processing time likely to get shorter. If the paperwork is too much there are numerous nonprofit organizations that will help for little or no costs.
I always recommend an immigrant get citizenship over permanent residence. It is far harder to deport a naturalized American than a permanent resident. There are a seemingly endless number of stories of a PR living in the US for decades and then being deported for DUIs or assaults and other minor legal troubles. These acts might cost a naturalized American some costs for fines and maybe some jail time but they wouldn't be stripped of citizenship and deported.
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I think it is fair that we who need the service (immigration, permanent residence status, citizenship) for our spouse/family pay for the full cost of obtaining.
What is unfair is that, after the payments, the delays are unreasonable AND the procedures and life duration of some of the documents are totally illogical causing much anguish for us.
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Because I have a Russian wife and I'm a lawyer I'm asked about the permanent residence and naturalization process, costs, timeframe, etc. all the time.
The simple facts are the process is not going to get cheaper in the future nor is the processing time likely to get shorter. If the paperwork is too much there are numerous nonprofit organizations that will help for little or no costs.
I always recommend an immigrant get citizenship over permanent residence. It is far harder to deport a naturalized American than a permanent resident. There are a seemingly endless number of stories of a PR living in the US for decades and then being deported for DUIs or assaults and other minor legal troubles. These acts might cost a naturalized American some costs for fines and maybe some jail time but they wouldn't be stripped of citizenship and deported.
LOL, I dunno, sounds like a fair system to me
Who wants to keep a wife that is getting DUIs and is racking up enough assaults and other crimes to be deported?
Seriously though, I think the higher fees are so odd. Doesn't the system want to encourage K1 visas with lower fees? The marginal income entrants are going to go to work as soon as they can. That's tax revenue on a Tax ID number that the state didn't have to spend 12 years educating. It will make up for all the revenue lost on the high end. I think just the 1st year alone, I saved 18k filing jointly versus filing as a single tax payer
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Seriously though, I think the higher fees are so odd. Doesn't the system want to encourage K1 visas with lower fees?
It's my understanding that for at least the last couple of decades the government decided the cost of various visas should be paid for by those who use them.
The marginal income entrants are going to go to work as soon as they can.
Many do start working as soon as possible. Some don't. If a new immigrant legal or illegal doesn't have friends or family in the area, doesn't speak any of the local languages, doesn't know how to look for work or have a needed skill set getting a job can be difficult even in times of low unemployment.