Posted at 8:46 a.m., Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Fee to apply for citizenship doubles
By Lesley Clark
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The new fee structure for citizenship and immigration services — which comes as Congress grapples with an overhaul of the nation's immigration system — is aimed at speeding up the processing of paperwork, but critics have suggested it could put attaining citizenship beyond the realm of many immigrants.
According to figures supplied by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Most of the fees include the cost of fingerprints, which were $70.
The agency will continue to waive the fees for military members applying for naturalization.
The new fee structure becomes effective July 30 and can be seen at www.uscis.gov.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Emilio Gonzalez said the agency heard from more than 3,900 people and believes the fee schedule is "both fair to our customers and vital to our nation as we continue to build a secure and efficient national immigration service."
