US government increases immigration fees

27 September 2005

Application fees for immigration to the US will go up after 26 Oct. The fee increase was published in 26 Sept.'s edition of the Federal Register by Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

The fee increases range from as little as $5 more to replace a permanent resident card -- which increases the fee to $190 -- to as much as $20 more to obtain a U.S. visa for a child adopted internationally, which will cost $545.

The department said the fees were increased to cover inflation.

The application fees pay the costs of processing the various immigration applications. In addition, applicants also pay a $70 digital fingerprinting fee.

Fees for the applications last increased in April 2004.