Why does USCIS charge fees for immigration and naturalization benefits?
USCIS is authorized by the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 286m, to collect fees that ensure recovery of the full costs of providing adjudication and naturalization services, including the costs of providing similar services without charge to asylum applicants and other immigrants. Without collecting fee revenue, USCIS would not have funding for immigration benefit processing. Why is the fee increasing? USCIS reviewed the costs associated with providing immigration services while ensuring the security and integrity of the immigration system. The main costs being recovered are: costs of additional security enhancements performed after 9/11; administrative support costs (like forms management, human resources and procurement); costs to support new activities such as establishing a refugee corps to improve the quality of refugee adjudications, and establishing the new Office of Citizenship as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002; and, cost-of-living (inflation- consisten
