Immigrant application fees to rise average of 66 percent

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will announce increases in immigration-application fees today that will nearly double the cost of citizenship and almost triple the cost of becoming a legal permanent resident.

Immigrant advocates and some members of Congress said the new fees, reflecting an average 66 percent increase from current costs, could bar poorer immigrants from attaining citizenship.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials countered that the increases were essential to help the overloaded agency reduce its backlog and speed up service.

"The reason we're raising the fees, short answer, is that we need the money," said Emilio Gonzales, director of the CIS. "A lot of people are going to be affected by this, there's no sugar-coating it."

Gonzales said 99 percent of the agency's budget comes from user fees, a system based on the principle that immigrants should bear the costs of citizenship.

Under the increases, which cover almost all immigration benefits, the cost of bringing a foreign fiancé or fiancée will jump from $170 to $455. The price of a green card, or a legal permanent-resident visa, will rise from $325 to $930, and the cost of citizenship papers will increase from $330 to $595.

The fee increases come as the Senate debates a wide-ranging immigration bill that would give illegal immigrants in the United States, estimated to number 12 million or more, a way to gain legal status. Gonzales said the fee increase, which will take effect at the end of July, was not announced with the Senate bill in mind.

Meanwhile, President Bush cranked up his campaign for immigration overhaul Tuesday, accusing foes of unfairly picking apart the compromise bill and of denouncing the legislation without reading it.

The president used his most forceful language yet in support of the Senate bill, which would establish a new point system for awarding green cards and offer a path toward legal status to many illegal workers already in the country.

"The first step to comprehensive reform must be to enforce immigration laws at the borders and at work sites across America. And this is what this bill does," Bush said at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Calif. "For the skeptics who say that we're not concerned about border security or workplace enforcement, they need to read the bill."

Bush accused conservative foes of the bill of engaging in "empty political rhetoric."

"I know there are some people out there hollering and saying, kick them out. That is simply unrealistic. It won't work," Bush said. "If you want to scare the American people, what you say is, the bill is an amnesty bill. It's not an amnesty bill. That's empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our fellow citizens."