INS announces higher fees for services

The Immigration and Naturalization Service on Monday announced its plans to raise the fees it charges immigrants for services such as processing green-card applications and taking fingerprints. Once proposed, the public will have 60 days to comment on the new fees. The increases are expected to average about $17 per service, generating an estimated $127 million for the agency. But the increase also will increase the application process for H-1B visas that many foreign tech workers need to work at U.S. firms. INS hopes to have the final fee system in place around Jan. 1. The increase would affect H-1B petitions for non-immigrant workers -- petitions that employers file on behalf of potential workers. The fee for the process will increase from the current $110 to $130, according to an INS spokeswoman. Budgets for the application and naturalization programs have nearly quadrupled since 1994, to $500 million, and the staff has more than doubled since then. A June General Accounting Office study found that INS' application backlog increased fourfold at the same time.