Adjustment of the Appeal and Motion Fees to Recover Full Costs

On March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Service) transferred from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296). The adjudications functions transferred to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This document proposes to raise the fee for filing appeals of, and motions to reopen or reconsider, any decision under the immigration laws in any type of proceeding other than those described at 8 CFR 1003.1(b), over which the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has appellate jurisdiction. This proposed rule applies to fees for appeals and motions relating to the types of cases under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The AAO is an appellate office of USCIS. The BIA remains a component of DOJ, and has appellate jurisdiction over the orders of immigration judges, denials of relative immigrant visa petitions (Form I-130), and decisions involving administrative fines and penalties. Appeals from denials of all other types of applications and petitions, and any subsequently filed motions, are under the jurisdiction of the AAO. In this proposed rule, the fees, which are deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA), are being raised from $110 to $385 to recover the full costs associated with the processing of an appeal or motion to reopen or motion to reconsider. Federal statutes and guidelines authorize USCIS to establish and collect fees to recover the full cost of processing immigration benefit applications, rather than supporting these services with tax revenue.