If you enjoy traveling or Mark Twain, you may be familiar with the following two sentences:
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. – Mark Twain / The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It
However, traveling can be expensive, and many of us need to plan ahead if we wish to experience the benefits that can come with seeing other parts of the world.
And if your path has led you to consider moving to the United States, you should review the recent changes to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee schedule.
For example, *the fee for I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) increased from $420 to $535, *the fee for I-131 (Application for Travel Document) increased from $360 to $575, *the fee for I-751 (Petition to Remove Condition on Residence) increased from $505 to $595, *the fee for I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) increased from $380 to $410, *the fee for N-400 (Application for Naturalization) increased from $595 to $640, and *the USCIS Immigrant Fee increased from $165 to $220.
Before these December 2016 changes, the fee schedule was last adjusted in November 2010.
Gary O. Haase is a U.S. immigration attorney admitted in California and Japan (licensed foreign attorney). This article is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact a qualified legal professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue. The opinions expressed are those of the individual author and do not reflect the views or opinions of any nonprofit organization or government agency.