Green cards and other immigration benefits face fee hikes

The cost of obtaining a green card, business visa and other immigration benefits will increase an average 10% under a proposal announced Wednesday by federal immigration officials.

But in a move hailed by immigrant advocates, officials decided not to propose fee hikes for citizenship applications, one of the largest and most politically popular categories of immigration benefits. Citizenship fees were increased by nearly 70% to $675 in 2007, which immigrant advocates say contributed to a sharp drop in the number of citizenship applications over the last two years.

Alejandro Mayorkas, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the proposed fee increases were needed to close a projected $200-million deficit for 2010-11. Budget cuts of $160 million were not enough to offset the gap between the agency’s projected $2.1 billion revenue and $2.3 billion in expenses, he said Wednesday during a national teleconference.

Under the proposal, application fees for green cards would increase from $930 to $985, and fees for family visa petitions from $355 to $420. Foreigners wanting to become a U.S. citizen must hold a green card for five years before they are eligible to apply for citizenship.

In addition, three new fees are being proposed for immigrant investors, civil surgeons and to process visa applications in state department consular offices.

The proposal would reduce fees in a few categories, including petitions for immigrant fiances, which would drop to $340 from $455.

The immigration agency, which oversees the nation’s legal immigration system, is required to be self-supported and relies on fees for 90% of its budget. In recent years, it has received congressional appropriations for specific tasks, such as clearing up backlogs and processing asylum, refugee and military applications.

After a months-long fee review and meetings with community groups in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and elsewhere, Mayorkas said the agency decided that fee hikes on most services were necessary, but chose to protect citizenship and a few other benefits.

“Requesting and obtaining U.S. citizenship deserves special consideration given … the nation’s proud tradition of welcoming new citizens,” Mayorkas said.

Immigrant advocates praised the decision to keep citizenship fees flat.

“It’s very clear the Obama administration has heard the concern of immigrant communities about keeping citizenship affordable,” said Fred Tsao of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Tsao and others said the 2007 fee hike was a major factor in driving down citizenship applications from 1.4 million in fiscal year 2007 to 525,000 the following year. Nationwide, 8.2 million legal permanent residents are eligible for citizenship, nearly half of whom are Latino, according to U.S. government data.

But Rosalind Gold of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ Educational Fund said advocates remained concerned about the current citizenship fee and other proposed hikes. To make the American dream of citizenship affordable to all, she said, user fees should be lowered and Congress should give the immigration agency a steady stream of public funding to make up the lost revenue.

Mayorkas urged the public to weigh in on the proposal at https://www.regulations.gov. The comment period runs Friday through July 26.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com