US immigrants will have to pay more for many immigration services as of last Friday (April 30th) to help the USCIS fund many of the new security programs it has implemented. These programs are designed to increase the security of the immigration process and improve efficiency. Applicants will now have to pay $320 to apply for Citizenship, a $60 increase from before. Adjustment of Status applications will rise to $315 while Employment Authorization Documents, which are required to work by many immigrants prior to gaining Permanent Residency, will cost $175. Since 1989 there have been numerous price increases, but many would argue that the level of service has not increased. This will be the sixth such increase since then. On average the cost to for most benefits have increased to four times the 1989 dollar amount. In 1989 the cost to apply for Permanent Residency was $60 -- it is now $255 and will increase to $315 after April 30th. "The fee increases will be used to help reduce the backlog of applications and help pay for increased security measures implemented after the September 11 terrorist attacks," officials of the UCIS said. "The agency is committed to delivering immigration services and benefits in a compassionate, effective and secure manner," director of USCIS Eduardo Aguirre said. "The new fee structure will allow us to enhance service without compromising our commitment to national security," said Aguirre. The USCIS officials insist the additional money is required to offset the high and rising costs of conducting security checks and to reduce the large (and growing) backlog of applications. The current backlog topped 6 million benefit applications last year. Despite the USCIS urging the importance of these fee increases, other immigration advocates insist that any money generated from increased fees would do very little to remedy the agency's poor history of processing many types of benefit applications. "These backlogs today have reached crisis proportions, delaying business transactions and separating families for months and years," said Judith Golub, a senior director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (www.aila.org). "This increase will allow them to barely continue to tread water." USCIS officials report that costs have increased sharply since 9/11. Additional background checks and other changes have delayed processing and added many additional procedures that applications must undergo. The USCIS reports that since the fourth quarter of 2003, the agency has been losing $ 1 million a month. They report that last year the USCIS processed about 7 million immigrant applications, with the greatest percentage being those applications requesting adjustment to permanent residency or for US Citizenship. Despite promises from President Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign, when he pledged to reduce the waiting time for immigration benefits to no more than six months, a recent study released by the GAO has indicated that the current backlog has approached 6.2 million applications, a 60% increase in the last 3 years. SOURCE: VISAJOURNEY.COM