U.S. to hike fees for naturalization, asylum and other immigration benefits

The Trump administration is hiking the fees for a range of immigration benefits, including an 83% increase for petitions from green card holders seeking to become U.S. citizens and the first ever charge for asylum requests.

Set to be published in the federal government's journal of regulations on Monday, the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees will take effect on October 2. Roughly 97% of USCIS' budget is funded by application fees, unlike most other federal agencies, whose funds are appropriated by Congress.

The final rule includes a more than $500 increase in the fee for the form filed by immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship — which among other benefits, allows them to vote. Fees for other forms, including for family members of victims of crimes who assisted law enforcement and for those seeking genealogy records, will also go up.