The USCIS is recommending to increase fees, perhaps by as early as this June, to improve service (they always say that) and make the program pay for itself and the new security measures implemented after 9/11.
What are you looking at, if public comment doesn't derail the move (and it's likely it won't)?
The
I-129F, fiancee visa, will go up to $455, from the current $170.
The
I-130, petition for immigration of alien relative, will now cost $355, up from $190.
The
I-485, application for permanent resident status or creation of a record of lawful permanent residence, will cost $905 for applicants 14 and older, $805 for children younger. That form currently costs $325. However, the new I-485 will have several previous forms rolled into it -- no additional fee will be required for a request for travel document (advance parole) or employment authorization. These forms (
I-131 and I-765) had cost $170 and $180, respectively. That means a $230 increase, if you had planned to get all three, and were filing for an adult.
The
K-3 petition will be incorporated into the I-130.
Other news gleaned from the Federal Register, where this proposal was released on the first of the month:
The average "processing time" for a fiancee visa is 2.9 months, while
an I-130 will be processed in 6.02 months.
I will pause to let you catch your breath, or release the curse of your choice.
According to the Federal Register, the definition of "processing time" is "the total time applicants and petitioners can expect to await a decision on their case once the application or petition is received by USCIS. The data used for this calculation was taken from Sept. 2005-Aug. 2006."
I came across this information while researching a story I'm planning to write on the increasing difficulties men (and women) face when marrying (or trying to marry) a foreigner.
I'm looking to speak with people over the phone about their experiences, particularly as it relates to causing family/marital problems and/or shows a double standard between those countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program and those on the outside looking in.
Examples. I'm interested in getting the stories that can reveal to the public what I already know: the lengthy waits for a K-3 or K-1, how this forces a relationship to adapt (and sometimes die), the inability to get a tourist visa for a Russian girlfriend (even if she has a good job) or extended family member (after marriage to the Russian daughter due to the "strong ties" clause).
I'm only interested in this and other tales of what you've had to go through in the visa and immigration process. I don't care why you went overseas for a wife, and I don't want to know your views on American women. I've read that article before. It's been done a thousand times.
I want to tell a story most people don't know -- the one about how it's getting more and more difficult, burdensome and expensive to look overseas for a wife, especially if you look outside of Western Europe, from which someone can at least come to the US, marry, say he/she had no intent to marry, and stay in county while waiting for the AOS.
With the new prices, I wonder if this is an effort to slow the flow of immigrants to America, to cut down on the number of people applying for fiancee visas (66,177 last year)? Will some people -- the "undesirable" people, in Washington's eyes -- be priced out of certain types of immigration and non-immigrant visas, because of the new prices? Do families suffer because of how the system is currently set up?
These are the things I'm after. If you're willing to talk to me on the record, over the phone, please respond here, PM me, or send me an email at
StephanClark@gmail.com. Tell me a good time for us to talk. I'll take whatever time you'll give me.
If you want to know more about me, you can visit my blog
http://www.everybodyiloveyou.blogpost.com or look at my past posts, including this one from Dan
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=2867.msg53835#msg53835, the administrator.
I know many of you are hesitant to speak to a writer. You think one thing of writers, just as many people think one thing of people who look for a "mail-order bride." But I'm willing to go beyond the stereotypes if you are.
Where will the piece end up? Can't say. I'm taking an investigative reporting class at USC, in Los Angeles. If the piece comes out nice, I'll shop it around. Otherwise, you're free to see it, and I'll certainly post it on my blog, if that is the best place for it.
I hope you'll share your stories. They deserve not to be locked in a bubble here.
- Stephan
