On June 9, 2010, USCIS proposed to raise fees for immigration applications and petitions. These new fees will increase the average cost of an immigration application and petition by roughly 10 percent; there will, however, be no increases in fees for the application for naturalization. USCIS has projected a $200 million deficit for 2010 to 2011; the goal of these fee increases is to close this budgetary gap. According to USCIS, budget cuts of $160 million were not enough to manage the agency’s $2.3 billion in annual costs. The agency projects $2.1 billion in revenue without the fee increases.

Among the proposed fee increases is a rise in the cost of filing the following petitions:

1) I-140: Fee increase from $475 to $580
2) I-687: Fee increase from $710 to $1,130
3) I-765: Fee increase from $340 to $380

Comments on this proposed fee increase will be accepted by USCIS from June 11, 2010 to July 26, 2010.