Q: I recently filed for my relative and noticed that application fees seem to have gone up. Why are fees for filing increasing?

A: Immigrant visa fees for all family-based petitions increased in September to better reflect their actual costs to embassies and consulates worldwide. Visa applicants typically pay the fee the day of their interview. Most immigrant visa applicants will pay the new fees if their appointments are after September 12.

Family-based immigrant visas, commonly known as “filings”, increased from US$230 to US$325. These include all immigrant visa petitions filed by family members in the US, such as spouses, parents, adult children, and siblings. Likewise, fiancé(e) visas, known as “K” visas, increased from US$240 to US$265.

Consular officers and staff take a considerable amount of time reviewing each family-based or fiancé(e) immigrant visa application and interviewing each applicant. Indeed, a recent internal cost-of-service review found that family-based and fiancé(e) visas take more time and manpower to process than other visa categories. The new fees better represent their actual costs.

The review also found that some visa fees should decrease based on the same reasoning. Employment-based immigrant visa fees decreased from US$405 to US$345. Fees for out-of-status “green card” holders who want to determine if they are eligible for returning resident status also decreased, from US$275 to US$180. The fee for a nonimmigrant visitor’s visa (B1/B2) remains US$160.

Separately, the fee to renounce one’s US citizenship increased from $450 to $2,350. The new fee reflects the real, unsubsidised cost of providing this service. A renunciation is a serious decision, and consular staff must be certain that the person renouncing fully understands the consequences. Consular officers spend substantial amounts of time on each renunciation case. Further, before a renunciation is complete, the case must then come back to the Department in Washington, DC, for review and a final decision.

US Embassy Kingston processes approximately 100,000 nonimmigrant visa applications and 12,000 immigrant visa applications a year. Each year, the entire US Department of State processes more than 11 million nonimmigrant visas and 600,000 immigrant visa applications. Fees were last revised in 2012.

You can find more information about how to travel to the U.S. on our website, www.kingston.usembassy.gov. Keep on top of Embassy news on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pages/US-Embassy-Jamaica and by following @USEmbassyJA on Twitter. We also answer general visa questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Embassy staff in Kingston will answer questions you may have regarding the US Mission, including consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect privacy, staff will not answer questions about specific visa applications. The embassy employs a visa appointment system, so it is only necessary for visa applicants to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment.

Send your questions to: editorial@jamaicaobserver. com and we will send them to the embassy.

CAPTION:

A recent internal cost-of-service review found that family-based and fiancé(e) visas take more time and manpower to process than other visa categories.