As most of you have probably heard, there has been a lot of news in the world of fee waivers in the last few days.
First, USCIS has proposed a new fee schedule (federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/04/2016-10297/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule?utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_medium=email&utm_source=federalregister.gov) for all immigration forms, including the N-400 and the N-600. Under these proposals, the N-400 will now have a sliding fee scale: the standard fee will be raised to $640 (plus the $85 biometrics fee), while applicants whose incomes are between 150% and 200% of the federal poverty guidelines will be eligible to pay a reduced fee of $320 (plus the $85 biometrics fee). The N-600 will have a fee of $1,170.
The second piece of news is that USCIS published a new I-912 Request for Fee Waiver (uscis.gov/i-912) yesterday. The new form is 11 pages long, and asks for quite a bit more detail than the old form. USCIS also published a new page, “Additional Information on Filing the Fee Waiver (uscis.gov/forms/additional-information-filing-fee-waiver#common),” which provides guidance and information on issues like household members and acceptable forms of proof for income and means-tested benefits. There has not yet been any information on when USCIS will stop accepting the old I-912.
As with the new N-400, we are working hard on updating the partner materials to reflect these changes. If you have any questions in the meantime, please send them our way.