HICKORY, N.C. —  Applicants for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could see their application fees increase by more than 100% as soon as May. 

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could soon increase application fees as much as 100% 
  • USCIS says 96% of its funding comes from filing fees, not congressional allotments
  • The fee increase would help in reducing the backlog of almost 8 million cases
  • Funding would go toward hiring more staff, federally mandated pay raises and fully recover operating costs

USCIS says the increase is needed to fix a backlog of pending cases. 

Walter Hernandez moved to North Carolina from El Salvador. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen four years ago, and now he is working to apply for legal status for his children. 

"My 11-year-old son was so excited. He just arrived from El Salvador to North Carolina, we requested the window seat for him," Hernandez said. 

"I want to give him a better life, a better chance to have a way better future than me," Hernandez explained. 

The problem Hernandez is facing this time around is the increasing cost of application fees. 

“I don’t think that’s great at all, because it’s a bunch of people out there are trying to do their paperwork in the legal way, it's not fair for people that are trying to do the right thing," Hernandez said. 

The agency is increasing fees in order to fix a backlog of almost 8 million cases. 

“Processing times have exploded! It’s the number one issue with my clients during the pendency of their case, is when will this case be over," said Brian Smith, an immigration attorney in Hickory. 

Smith helped Hernandez with his citizenship application and is now helping file his children's case. 

He says he's never seen fees increase by this much. 

“A family of four, to adjust their status, lets assume, it could be $10,000 to the government," Smith said. 

USCIS says 96% of its funding comes from application fees, not congressional allotments. The last time fees increased was in 2016. 

Smith says sadly, his clients will have to cut corners. 

“Most people that apply for this benefits, it’s a big priority, and what it will stop them from doing is something else for their families that they should have been doing, because they ended up paying more to the U.S. government," Smith explained. 

Hernandez says for him, it's risking missing a mortgage payment to pay for his children's legal status in America. 

“It's just way too expensive. Think about a house payment, it's $1,000 month. How do you think every month you’re going to cover that plus the government fees?" Hernandez said. 

Smith says his clients are rushing to file and pay the application fees now before the fees go up.