USCIS Proposes Dramatic Fee Increases

USCIS recently proposed dramatic fee increases which will burden businesses and their ability to hire the best and the brightest from around the world. In one case, the agency proposes adding a new $600 fee on employers looking to hire foreign workers. While their fees traditionally have gone into a user fee account used to fund the actual cost of adjudicating applications, some of the new fees being proposed will be directed toward the unrelated cost of processing asylum claims. Experts argue that user fees should reflect the true cost of adjudicating applications and that these new fees could deter companies from investing in the U.S. and also deter brilliant foreign workers from bringing their skills and knowledge to the U.S.