SERGIO BUSTOS
Citizen Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration wants to raise fees charged to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, legal residency and other immigration benefits.
The plan aims to recoup the costs of conducting background checks and to reduce a growing backlog of applications.

If the proposal is enacted, immigrants would be required to pay $320 to apply for citizenship, a $60 increase over what they pay now. Fees for green cards or residency would climb $60 to $315. Work permits would cost $175, up from $120.

This would be the fifth fee increase since 1989. At that time, immigrants paid only $60 to apply for a green card or citizenship.

Officials with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, posted a list of the proposed fees in the Federal Register last week to get feedback from the public. A final decision will be issued next month.

Immigrant advocates and Hispanic groups are reacting angrily.

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the NALEO Educational Fund, a national organization that promotes citizenship among U.S. Hispanics, said the higher fees would place a financial burden on immigrants. About 45 percent of immigrants with full-time jobs earned less than $25,000 in 2001, according to census estimates.

"This exorbitant increase sends immigrants the wrong message. Instead of welcoming them into the process, it places an unfair and nearly insurmountable obstacle in their path," Vargas said.

USCIS officials argue that the increase is necessary because Congress requires the agency to cover the cost of processing applications using fees collected from immigrants.