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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials announced proposed fee increases Wednesday that would mark the largest spike in history. The increases are essential for the fee-based agency, which doesn’t receive funding from Congress, to recover its cost to survive and improve, said Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. A 2004 Government Accountability Office report backed the agency’s assertions that current fees weren’t covering costs. “It’s not a transaction cost,” said Gonzalez in a morning press conference. “This is a comprehensive cost of what it takes to keep this agency not only afloat, but moving forward.” The fee increases are unprecedented in U.S. immigration history. Fees had been gradually increasing since 1989 but had never increased by as much as they would with the proposed increases. The average application will cost $454 under the new fees compared to $231. An application to replace a permanent resident card, or “green card,” will now cost $290, a $100 increase from current fees and nearly three times as much as it cost in 1998; $110. An application for employment authorization, the I-765, will cost $340, $160 more than the current fee and more than triple what it cost in 1998; $100. The proposed fees have been posted on the Federal Register and there will be a 60-day public comment period. Congress can weigh in but does not have authority to dictate the regulatory issue. The new fees would likely start about mid-June, Gonzalez said. The agency is promising a 20-percent reduction in process times by the end of fiscal year 2009 in return for the increased fees. To read more about the proposed fee increases, go to: www.uscis.gov/21stcenturyservice.