Most Recent Tucson Traffic IncidentsS FREEWAY/W STARR PASS BL ,TUC ACCIDENT UNKNOWN INJURIES 19:04
6033 E BEVERLY ST ,TUC TRAFFIC HAZARD 18:43
N COLUMBUS BL/E SENECA ST ,TUC HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT NEG INJ 17:37
updated every 5 minutes - incidents provided by transview.org
RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Construction West-Press Printing Finance and Accounting Charles E. Gillman Company Accounting Specialist Health Care CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Administrative & Professional Tucson Urban League CEO/President Sales and Marketing Everready Glass Sales Reps Administrative & Professional Jorgensen Brooks Group Counselor Hourly UpdateUnprecedented fee increases proposed for immigrationArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.31.2007
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.
|
|