Earlier this week, on a visit to Los Angeles, Alejandro Mayorkas, the new Director of USCIS, stated that the federal agency may have to raise fees and cut the budget for immigration services next year. According to Mayorkas, financial challenges have led to the agency considering to raise fees for immigration services. Currently, USCIS is looking at generating $118 million less in revenue this year, due to a smaller amount of individuals and employers applying for citizenship and visas.

The number of individuals applying for citizenship declined greatly last year; many believe that decrease was due, in large part, to a 2007 increase in fees for citizenship applications. Advocates of immigrants believe that any further fee increases will lead to even more drastic reductions in citizenship applications in the years to come.

According to Mayorkas, USCIS is required to be a self-supporting agency. While USCIS is seeking an increase in federal funding – recently, they requested just over $206 million in funds from Congress – it is possible, Mayorkas says, that immigration services fees will increase again in the near future.