Becoming a citizen gets more expensive

[CShine]

Isai Jimenez could have waited months to file his application to become a permanent resident of the United States. But like several hundred other immigrants in the Houston area, he scrambled to get his paperwork filed Thursday, the last day before a fee increase takes effect.

"They already take a lot of money," Jimenez, a Mexican native who works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, said of the U.S. government. Beginning today, "they're going to take more."

Starting today, the fees immigrants pay to apply for visas or to become U.S. citizens will go up an average of $55 per application. Those immigrants who have complex requests that require multiple applications could pay hundreds of dollars in increased fees, a hardship for many. For example, if an American man wants to marry a foreigner and arrange it so the new bride can work and travel during the years-long application process, he now would pay $915 in fees, up from $635, said Martha Garza, a local immigration attorney.

Federal officials say the rates, which the government increases periodically, will pay for the increased cost of protecting national security. But advocates say the hikes are too high for some immigrants.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2540449

[Don_G]

1. He Must Have Been Hispanic

Dimbo can't release the four dozen agents assigned to the Cuban detail in the "Hunt" for Al-Queada because the Cuban Detail "fends" off eight million per year in illegal cigar sales.

...As opposed to the four agents assigned to track Al-Queada Funding in the U.S.?

Hello....?

[tritsofme]

2. Gotta pay for them deficits somehow....nt

[Eye and Monkey]

3. More about "pre-screening" than about generating federal income.

No more "poor, tired, and hungry" for Lady Liberty.