In the midst of the present economic crisis, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced an increase in the filings fees of all applications except the naturalization application.USCIS is a primarily fee-based organization, with about 90 percent of its budget coming from fees paid by applicants and petitioners for immigration benefits. The law requires USCIS to conduct fee reviews every two years to determine the funding levels necessary to administer the nation’s immigration laws,process immigration benefit requests and provide the infrastructure needed to support those activities.USCIS’s fee revenue in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 was much lower than projected, and fee revenue in fiscal year 2010 remains low. While USCIS received appropriations from Congress and made budget cutsof approximately $160 million, this has not bridged the remaining gap between costs and anticipated revenue. A fee adjustment is necessary to ensure USCIS recovers the costs of its operations while also meeting the application processing goals.