US government changed its mind to raise prices for immigration services

The federal government has abandoned its intention to raise fees for certain U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) services. This happened after the promotion was appealed in court. Writes about it Explain.

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The government has filed a motion to voluntarily withdraw its appeal from the trial court ruling in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of eight organizations led by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC). The current prices for USCIS services "in full" will now remain in force.

“This means that cost increases as well as policy changes cannot be implemented by USCIS at this time,” the association of experienced lawyers in this area noted.

This government decision was made after federal judge in Northern California on September 30 blocked price increases for serviceswhich was supposed to take effect on October 2 and would affect dozens of procedures, including naturalization.

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On July 31, USCIS announced its intention to raise prices for immigration services on average by 20%, but in some cases the increase was assumed to be 535%. The department justified the increase in prices with the need for additional funding and the crisis due to COVID-19.

One of the processes most affected by the alleged increase were naturalization... The cost of the procedure was supposed to rise from $ 640 to $ 1, and to this figure, the payment for collecting biometric data must be added.

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In addition to increasing prices, the rule would eliminate most benefits for low-income immigrants.

The coalition's claim indicated that neither Chad Wolfe, who is currently acting head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nor his predecessor, Kevin McAlinan, had sufficient authority to propose such price increases because they were appointed bypassing established procedures. And if the appointment procedure was not followed, then the appointee has no powers, the plaintiffs argued.

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