Post Titled: Maybe I don't have that much to complain about.
After all, my costs thus far haven't been this bad:
"WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement in response to the announcement by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of a proposed increase in the fee for naturalization:
"The NALEO Educational Fund strongly condemns the exorbitant increase in the fee for naturalization proposed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), because it will put the dream of U.S. citizenship beyond the reach of many of our nation's newcomers. Under the USCIS' proposal, the fees for starting the naturalization process will soar from $400 to $675, an increase of 69%. The agency anticipates that the fee hike will go into effect sometime in June.
"The naturalization fee has grown dramatically since 1991, when legal permanent residents paid $90 to file their applications. The increases are a result of fundamental flaws in our nation's system of financing immigration services. The USCIS is supposed to set fees at a level that it will allow it to recover the costs of processing applications. However, agency policies and Congressional mandates are forcing newcomers' fees to cover massive expenditures for major infrastructure investments and process improvements that are driving fees to a level that immigrants simply cannot afford. For example, according to the USCIS, the agency needs to raise fees to improve the timeliness of background checks, modernize its outdated business systems by upgrading and enhancing its technological capabilities, improve USCIS facilities and enhance its personnel training and recruitment programs. The USCIS also announced that it intends to improve the average processing time for the Form N-400 naturalization application from seven to five months."