HUGE PRICE INCREASE U.S. IMMIGRATION FEES

[Nickleback99]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/05/immigration-cost-applying-u-s-citizenship-dramatically-increasing/3304675001/

Starting Oct. 2, legal immigrants eligible to apply for citizenship will pay $1,160 if they submit their application online, or $1,170 if submitting a paper application.

Under the new fee, immigrants will pay at least $520 more to apply for citizenship. That is more than 80% higher than the current application fee of $640.

Other fees are also significantly increasing; so, anyone planning for spousal or fiance' visas, as well as green card for those here, should apply sooner than later  if possible to avoid the inflated price increases.  

 

[Joey G]

I think the US Fiance' Visa itself was around $50 in 1979... applying for US citizenship was a couple hundred later in the mid 80's... BUT... I am positive the "cost" of getting paperwork through the Philippines red tape system just to get a US Fiance' Visa in 1979 was way over $1,160... I can only imagine what the cost is now.

[Nickleback99]

4 hours ago, Joey G said:

I think the US Fiance' Visa itself was around $50 in 1979... applying for US citizenship was a couple hundred later in the mid 80's... BUT... I am positive the "cost" of getting paperwork through the Philippines red tape system just to get a US Fiance' Visa in 1979 was way over $1,160... I can only imagine what the cost is now.

Dunno, but when I did spousal visa for my asawa to get to US after we married and after I finished an A'stan deployment, we paid next to nothing in Philippines to get anything she needed, which may have been needed nothing, since we'd made it through the red tape for our wedding in PI, and even that did not cost us much.  As for fiance visa, maybe that's a whole different ball game on greasing palms?  I've no idea.

 

[Joey G]

No doubt we paid lots of "extra people"... we were both young and naive... there were no computers back then, everything was typed and hand walked, interviews took forever to schedule, official records were literally handwritten... the best part was after two wasted trips to the US Embassy for her final interview in Manila I decided to go with her the third time. She was sitting there talking to some  US embassy "officer" smoking a cigarette for about 30 minutes in a office with a glass window. I was outside and I finally got up, opened the door, and said "whats the problem"?  He asked "who are you"?  I said "I'm guy she's going to marry, is there a problem?"  He told us both to go wait outside his office... and 15 minutes later he came back, handed her passport to her with a pretty colored fiancé visa stamp and said, shook my hand, and said "good luck".  Whatever I paid in the end... was probably worth it LOLOLOL.

[KC813]

5 hours ago, Joey G said:

I think the US Fiance' Visa itself was around $50 in 1979... applying for US citizenship was a couple hundred later in the mid 80's... BUT... I am positive the "cost" of getting paperwork through the Philippines red tape system just to get a US Fiance' Visa in 1979 was way over $1,160... I can only imagine what the cost is now.

Just for fun, here is the cost progression of the filing fee for just the Fiance Petition, 1997 to present:

US$: 95 - 110 - 81 - 110 - 165 - 170 - 455 - 340 - 535 - 510

 

5 hours ago, Nickleback99 said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/05/immigration-cost-applying-u-s-citizenship-dramatically-increasing/3304675001/

Starting Oct. 2, legal immigrants eligible to apply for citizenship will pay $1,160 if they submit their application online, or $1,170 if submitting a paper application.

Under the new fee, immigrants will pay at least $520 more to apply for citizenship. That is more than 80% higher than the current application fee of $640.

Other fees are also significantly increasing; so, anyone planning for spousal or fiance' visas, as well as green card for those here, should apply sooner than later  if possible to avoid the inflated price increases.  

 

Quote

 

Actually, the Fiance petition fee went down, from $535 to $510.  Of course, the petition is only the start of the process.  Next would be the visa application with the embassy (no recent price change).  Then finally, the application for permanent residence after entering the United States.  That fee actually went down $10, but you no longer get a free work card as part of the price.  Want a work card?  Fork over an extra $550 to 580!

 

Edited August 10, 2020 by KC813
Still learning how to do multi-quotes!

[scott h]

8 hours ago, Nickleback99 said:

Other fees are also significantly increasing;

Low hanging fruit! 

Governments all over the world are running out of money. Get ready, they will be Nickle and diming us to death. I will not be surprised if all sorts of routine transactions with government agencies go up......Any takers that the annual check in fee goes up a little? I am offering 2-1 odds  

[graham59]

Similar has been happenng in the UK.

Cost me 40 pounds to get the first Mrs a settlement visa for the UK in 1991.

Current fees (plus lots of extra paperwork and hurdles) amount to around 1500 pounds...for the first stage. 

I blame all the damned illegals, so-called asylum-seekers, fraudulant applications from British Citizens with (often)  Indian Sub-Continent  backgrounds, for screwing up what used to be a fairly straightforward and inexpensive process .  

[Jollygoodfellow]

16 hours ago, KC813 said:

Still learning how to do multi-quotes!

#1 click on plus button to quote all the post.

Then

#2 Click on Quote button on the right

Or

#3. To quote just part of a post, highlight the part you want and a "Quote this" button will appear. This saves long or unnecessary quotes if you only want to address a certain part of someones post.

 

       

[GeoffH]

The permanent residence VISA fees for Australia have gone way up over the last decade also, currently as listed below (and that's without using a migration agent).

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Visa Application Charge:	$ 3,670 (for Permanent Residence Visas)
Skills Assessment Application Fee	from $300 to $1,050 for most occupations
IELTS or PTE Test (if required)	$ as applicable
Medical Examination	as applicable
Police Clearance Certificate Fee:	on average $ 20 per person
Translations and Document Certification Charges	up to $ 500

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

The permanent residence VISA fees for Australia have gone way up over the last decade also, currently as listed below (and that's without using a migration agent).

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Visa Application Charge:	$ 3,670 (for Permanent Residence Visas)
Skills Assessment Application Fee	from $300 to $1,050 for most occupations
IELTS or PTE Test (if required)	$ as applicable
Medical Examination	as applicable
Police Clearance Certificate Fee:	on average $ 20 per person
Translations and Document Certification Charges	up to $ 500

Slightly different topic but you reminded me to check the cost.  There is a good chance my 16 year old daughter will be able to attend university in Australia, in a few years.  Student visas are also pricey but not too bad.  I don't quite understand the fees at first glance it looks like it will be 1080 AUD + 700?  I don't understand what the 700 "subsequent temporary application charge" is.

Student visas

Applicant in or outside Australia

All charges shown below are in Australian Dollars (AUD).

Visa subclass	Note	Base application charge	Additional applicant charge  18 and over	Additional applicant charge under 18	Subsequent temporary application charge
Student visa (subclass 500)	6a 6b 6d	AUD620	AUD460	AUD150	AUD700