In Surprise About-Face on April 1, USCIS Cancels Raised Fees, Lowers Most Fees, and Freezes Other Fees

The agency said it was just kidding about the immigration and naturalization-related fee “adjustments” scheduled for April 1, 2024.

In Surprise About-Face on April 1, USCIS Cancels Raised Fees, Lowers Most Fees, and Freezes Other Fees

In response to reports that a U.S. district judge declined to temporarily stop immigration fee increases, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said they’d do that themselves. The agency announced on April 1, 2024, that it was just kidding about the immigration and naturalization-related fee “adjustments” [<cough> increases] scheduled for April 1, 2024. At a press conference announcing the cancellation of fees, President Biden said, “This is not a joke, folks. No, I’m serious.” He leaned over and whispered into the microphone for emphasis, “No new taxes! I mean fees!”

USCIS had planned to adjust [<cough> raise] fees for the first time since 2016 to “recover operating costs” and “support timely processing.” But among other things, the agency realized that timely processing is but a dream that flits away in the cold light of dawn like an unreliable seagull, so it threw up its hands and decided to cancel the final rule. As USCIS Director Ur Jaddou noted, “‘Clearing the Backlogs’ would be a great name for a band! It markets itself through sheer repetition. But as with many band names, it’s really a mere mist of a possibility, or in the realm of a wisp of hope passing like a ship in the night, or maybe a lonely seagull coasting across a bleak sky against the backdrop of a foggy, only dimly perceivable, horizon at the end of the lagoon of time and memory as we gaze into a future of backlogged, built-up, piled-up, pooled, and cached uncertainty, not to say doom…” Here Dr. Jaddou trailed off, gazed into the indeterminate distance, and held up her hand as if motioning toward a mirage. Doctors expect a full recovery.

Advocates, attorneys, and corporate immigration and HR professionals were agog at the announcement. “It boggles the mind!” said Buster Higginbotham, a reporter from the Binghamton Bangle. There were general blatherings of bafflement about the reverse adjustment, which one wag likened to “realizing you’d just put your pants on backwards.” But these reactions were tempered with feelings of fortune and unflappability.

As of this writing, April 1 wasn’t scheduled to occur until tomorrow, although USCIS said that was subject to change. This has led some to suspect that a bamboozlement about the freezing fees, or droppings, was afoot—or that perhaps USCIS just got cold feet, like a seagull in late fall padding across a wet, sandy beach whipped with the chill wind of approaching winter. Journalists (like gulls hungry for that last piece of fish glinting on the sea, or was it just a mirage?) flocked breathlessly to a hastily assembled press conference at which Director Jaddou’s son’s band, “Clearing the Backlogs,” played to warm up the audience and clear the room of overblown metaphors. When asked, Director Jaddou said she had only one comment: “Happy April Fool’s Day!”

Details:

• No further comments, Your Honor (Apr. 1, 2024).

This is posting is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal advice. If you require further assistance or advice relating to the above, please contact our Principal Lawyer, Janice Flynn at janice@flynnhodkinson.com.