By Efe Agency
The federal government abandoned its intention on Monday to increase
fees
for some procedures of the Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS), after the measure was challenged in court, reported the Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
The Government filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of its appeal in the lawsuit filed last August by a coalition of eight organizations led by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), so the current USCIS fees will remain in effect "at its entirety ", highlighted AILA.
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"This means that the fee increase, as well as the form and policy changes related to the USCIS fee rule,
cannot be implemented by USCIS at this time,
" noted the association of expert lawyers in the field.
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This government decision comes after a federal judge in northern California blocked the rate hike on September 30, which was scheduled to take effect on October 2 and which affected efforts such as naturalization.
On July 31, USCIS announced that it wanted an average increase of
20% in its rates
, but that in some cases it reached
535%.
The agency justified the increases to finance its operations.
One of the processes most affected by the new increase is the
naturalization process
, which was going to go from 640 to 1,170 dollars, a figure to which the payment of the biometric data process must be added.
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In addition to the increases, the rule eliminated most pay waivers for qualifying low-income immigrants.
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The coalition's lawsuit stated that neither Chad Wolf, who currently serves as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), nor his predecessor Kevin McAleenan had valid authority to propose these increases, a view endorsed by the Government Accountability Office ( OIG) by issuing a decision confirming that both were appointed interim secretaries on an irregular basis.
